Cordless Electric Mowers: Mowing Down Pollution

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All the mowers should run for about an hour on a full charge. That’s variable, though: In difficult conditions the charge doesn’t last as long. And as batteries age, they hold a charge for shorter periods of time. Most of the batteries can be fully charged in eight to 12 hours when they’re new, but charging can take up to 24 hours for older batteries.

Black & Decker

At 76 pounds, the Black & Decker CMM1200 is the heaviest mower I tested. It’s a bit of a load to push up the sloped parts of my lawn — so it’s most fun to use on fairly level ground.

If you’re concerned only with results, only need the mulching mode and don’t care about the weight, this model is the best choice.

Even if I’ve let the grass get too long, this mower chops it into small pieces and makes it disappear. I think this is in large part because the machine keeps itself free of grass buildup on the deck underside, even in damp conditions. I tested the CMM1200 in tall, wet grass, and it did well. It was superior to my gas mowers under these conditions and better than any of the other cordless mowers. Cutting height of the CMM1200 is easily adjustable to 31⁄2 inches maximum.

Although it’s rated at 24 volts (the same as the smaller Neuton model), the Black & Decker seemed to maintain blade speed in heavy cutting just as well as the 36-volt Neuton and the 60-volt Remington. It seems that there is more to useful power than simply voltage rating. (See Cordless Electric Mowers: Facts and Figures.)

The Black & Decker battery is not easily removable, so you can’t pop in a spare if you run out of juice before the job is done. But the charger has a nice feature: A red light changes to a green light when the battery is fully charged.

The side discharge chute is an option that wasn’t supplied with the machine I tested, but the mower works so well in mulch mode that I can’t see a reason to use the side discharge. The bagger works well, too.

Remington

The 60-pound MPS6017A electric mower from Remington is unique in that it can be run either plugged in or cordless. Most of my lawn is a long way from an electrical outlet, and I don’t like to deal with a tether as I mow, so I didn’t try the plugged-in mode. There is a “power burst” in plugged-in mode that increases tip speed of the blade for heavy cutting conditions.

The blade, and therefore cutting width, is notably smaller (17 inches) than the Black & Decker and the Neuton 6.2 (both 19 inches). You can adjust cutting height to a maximum of 31⁄2 inches.

“It looks like a little sports car,” my wife said on first seeing this mower. And it handles pretty much like a little sports car, too. It’s easy to maneuver around trees and bushes, to U-turn at the end of a straight run, or to snake along a curving lawn edge.

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