I have an electric mower. It's got a cord. I aggressively avoid battery-powered devices, especially when they don't have to be (that is, the usage pattern would allow them to be powered by mains directly). When I saw a battery Dremel the other day, I thought "Oh, no, not another thing they've ruined". Then I went back to using my Proxxon FBS240E, which is mains powered. ![Laughing :-DD](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/smiley_laughing.gif.pagespeed.ce._hfWAz_QHO.gif)
I concur. The last thing I need is another rechargeable battery to maintain. I love my corded electric mower. No hassle. (Practically) no maintenance. No fuel storage. Little noise. I've had it so long I can't even get replacement parts for it anymore.
Same here. It came with the house many years ago and still working fine ![Smiley :)](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xsmiley.gif.pagespeed.ic.R8GFI-pF6f.png)
I think the dividing line here is how much of an actual "yard" you have to deal with. Our last place had a front yard approx 4m x 8m... and the back was patio. The house came with a .4m cut electric mower, and even tho wrangling the cord was a PITA, it was only a few minutes a few times a month, so I put up with it.
This place is tiny inside, but large front & back yards (for the 'burbs); more like 10m x 15m plus 25m x 50m in the back. That takes over an hour just to mow even with a .55m cut self-propelled gas mower. Even if it weren't half the usable cut of my gas mower, no way in hell I'd put up with wrangling a cord over that area.
The trick to gas-powered lawn tools is maintenance; and it doesn't take much to ensure your gas-powered freedom works every time and with little difficulty starting. Anything made in the last 30 years has electronic ignition which is crazy reliable, so even the black magic of points & condenser is no longer a factor. Just keep the carb clean and not gummed up by using high-octane fuel and fuel stabilizer and you're 90% of the way there; the rest for the most part is simple cleaning and filters.
It used to be that learning these very basic mechanicking skills was considered a rite of passage to manhood; nowadays, anything with "learning" in it seems to be a dirty word. ![Face Palm :palm:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xfacepalm.gif.pagespeed.ic.EBDwh1hCfo.png)
mnem
![](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/?action=dlattach;attach=1099846;image)
Way back in the day, corded electric mowers were relatively common in Oz, but that was when I was subteen, which is pretty much early to mid 1950s.
They were all made from diecast metal, & well pre double insulation-------add 240/250v Mains supplies, & "what could go wrong?"
Idiots galore ran over the power cord, many fatally.
I can't remember an actual ban, but they disappeared from use, having not been sold new for some time.
I have never had a lot of success with petrol (gasoline) driven garden tools, although the second hand 4 stroke "Rover" rotary mower I had in the 1970s was pretty reliable.(& it had a "recoil start")
All the others were a serious "pain in the bum" to keep running, both 2 & 4 stroke.
I have no problem with "mechanicking" on cars, as the bits are big enough to get a grip on, & they are/were designed to be dismantled.
I have been seriously looking at battery mowers, but they are not cheap, if you want something with a bit of grunt.
I was also looking at maybe having a goat to keep the grass down, but due to a series of mishaps, I now have dogs, who, I must say, have kept the unruly grass down, by incessantly running back & forth.
As an old fart, I now get gardeners to come & tidy up the front yard, so I occasionally "put the dogs into lockdown", & get them to do the back.
Somehow, the back yard grass has never reached the "early DSO aliasing" levels it did before, so I guess I don't need a mower at all.