DeWALT brushless lawn mower. DeWALT 20V Cordless Self-Propelled Mower: 2023

DeWALT 20V Cordless Self-Propelled Mower: 2023

The DeWALT Self-Propelled lawn mower is a 20V machine that is trying to break into the electric mower space. The electric mower space has been dominated by folks like Ryobi, Greenworks, Sun Joe, and more.

This is actually a sweet mower with the longest run-time of just about any battery-powered mower.

Oh and if you like DeWALT’s mower, check out their DeWALT weed eaters.

First impressions of the DeWALT self propelled lawn mower

I must admit, I have my doubts when it comes to electric lawn mowers. Other electric mowers that I have reviewed have had issues with battery life. The self propelling function of the mower can easily chew through battery and have you with a half-mowed lawn and a wasted weekend afternoon.

Interestingly, the DeWALT battery-powered outdoor line used to be 40V products. These have since been discontinued. The majority of equipment is now 20V, with a mower that requires two 20V batteries. Makes sense if you don’t think about it.

We have reviewed some of the other 20V DeWALT products, including their 20V leaf blower and their 20V hedge trimmer.

DeWALT is a company that is highly regarded for their tools and outdoor equipment, so I was willing to give it a go. Let’s check out some of the features of this mower.

Usability

Frankly, all electric lawn mowers are very usable. They are quiet, light, store easily, and do not bother your neighbors. In other words, they are boring. The DeWALT self propelled lawn mower comes with a push to start button and will begin walking for you once you get it going.

The DeWALT mower has a slight edge over other electric mowers in that it is about 5lbs lighter than its competitors. One thing I love about how easy to use this is is the push-to-start feature. This is an often overlooked feature because we are all so used to pulling the dang cord to get our mower started.

It also features a great self-propelled function that will lurch the mower forward so that you don’t have to push as hard. This is a great feature if you mow steep hills and banks.

Durability

One thing I appreciate about this model is the wide steel deck. Having a wide steel deck will make the mower feel less “plastic” and make the mower last much longer. A wide deck on a lawn mower also helps with a cleaner cut with less passes.

DeWALT knows this is one of the more durable electric mowers on the market and has put their money on the line by offering a three year warranty. They also offer one year of free service (which you will not need) and a ninety day money back guarantee. This basically gives you an entire free spring season to try it out. If you don’t like it, you can get your money back.

Battery life on the DeWALT self-propelled lawn mower

Battery life issues on electric mowers are what drive me CRAZY. The DeWALT electric mower has a pair of batteries that you can use to get this baby fired up. What I absolutely LOVE about this mower is the run time. The run time is 75 minutes on this mower which puts it as best in class.

Compare the 75 minutes on the DeWALT mower to 40 or 45 with the Ryobi one. This gives it a huge advantage over its competitors.

Lithium-ion batteries are great because they don’t slowly sputter and weaken your lawn mower when the battery gets low. The machine will continue to run full speed until there is nothing left in it.

Using the DeWALT battery with other DeWALT tools

Just like Ryobi and some of the other multi-electric tool companies, you can use the batteries from this mower on other DeWALT devices. This feature is of course to build brand loyalty. After all, if you already are charging DeWALT batteries in your garage, why would you want to add others?

Due to DeWALT’s massive suite of products, you can use the batteries from this mower on over 200 products of DeWALT’s. The closest competitors only have maybe 40-50 tools that can also use their battery. I have personally used and tried the DeWALT 20V hedge trimmer and review it here as well as the DeWALT 60V chainsaw and the 20V blower.

If you already have the DeWALT batteries in other tools of yours, you can purchase this mower for a reduced price as a “tool-only” option. For those that are DeWALT loyals, you can rest assured that your loyalty will be rewarded.

Where it is made

This does not matter to some people, but to me it does. This mower is made in the good ole’ United States of America. Most electric mowers are made in China and shipped over. For those that care to support an American-made product, check out this mower.

Storage

One of the beauties of electric mowers is their light weight and storage capabilities. This mower is no different. You can basically fold this mower in half and stand it up on its side. When folded, it sticks straight up and can be pushed into a tight space in your garage, crawlspace, shed, or wherever else you can make room. In the below picture that I got from DeWALT’s website, this gentleman is putting the mower in his truck. It is a great example of how the mower can be used, but sadly there is not a single blade of grass anywhere near this man (LMAO).

The great thing about storing an electric mower is that it will fire right back up when winter is over. Gas mowers may require a little bit of oil and gas plus several yanks of the cord. This one will start back up at the press of a button.

Should I use the bag on this DeWALT mower?

I am almost never a fan of using bags on mowers. The bag will keep the grass clippings off of your lawn. While this can be aesthetically pleasing, your yard actually can benefit from these nutrients.

With electric mowers, every second of battery life counts. Keeping a bag full of damp grass to weigh down the motor and cause it to exert more energy is a loss in my opinion. Do not slow down your mow and go bag free!

To self-propel or not to self-propel?

This mower comes in two options: standard push and self-propelled. The self-propelled option is nice for those that like an easier experience when going up hills or over rough terrain like long grass. The downside of self-propelled mowers will be the battery life reduction you will experience by keeping that function on.

The push option is your standard push mower. Nothing sexy but gives you great exercise.

Cost and value of the DeWALT self-propelled lawn mower

While certainly more expensive than similar bodied gas mowers (like the Troy Bilt push I reviewed), the DeWALT comes in at the lower end of the price range.

This mower has almost all of the same features of the Greenworks mower, but about 70 less currently. This mower ranges from about 400-450 and has better battery life. The added benefit for those that already own DeWALT tools and have other uses for these batteries makes it a clear winner.

DeWALT vs Greenworks vs Ryobi

As you may know, I have also reviewed the Greenworks electric mower as well as the Ryobi electric mower. To be frank, the DeWALT one is the only that appeals to me from an aesthetics perspective. The Greenworks and Ryobi mowers are neon-green and stick out like a sore thumb.

While the DeWALT self propelled mower is slightly more expensive, I think it is the best buy of the three. The metal deck allows for more durability despite being slightly heavier. I also like the Ryobi mower, but the compatibility with other tools is less than DeWALT. I also like DeWALT’s tools more than Ryobi, so would rather build out an entire suite of DeWALT products than Ryobi.

Greenworks is really on an island from a battery perspective, so unless you have no other DeWALT or Ryobi tools with the appropriate battery, I would ignore this one altogether.

The official review of the DeWALT self-propelled lawn mower

For links to the manual or to parts for the DeWALT electric lawn mower, check out the below:

DeWALT 20V Lawn Mower Review

The 20V DeWALT Lawn Mower Tool Review is sponsored by The Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product (tools). All ideas and opinions are my own. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

No gas, No Pull-Strings, No Carburetors, No Problem! We have almost fully converted to all battery operated yard equipment (tiller is our last one standing). I can’t believe how amazing the battery operated yard tools perform with the new battery and motor technology these days, it’s hard to tell the difference between gas powered and battery powered tools. DeWALT has a battery operated lawn mower that runs off of 20 volt batteries! Say What.

DeWALT 20V Lawn Mower (21 1/2″ self propelled)

Today, I am reviewing the DeWALT model# DCMWSP244U2 20-Volt 20-Volt max lithium-Ion 21 1/2″ self propelled walk behind Lawn Mower. I’ve been excited to see how a lawn mower running off of 20 volt batteries would perform. 20 volt, seriously, that is the same voltage as much of the DeWALT platform. You can use the 20 V battery to power your drill, saw and lawn mower.

Let’s check out some of the features of this DeWALT model:

What comes in the package –

• DeWALT 21 1/2″ Lawn Mower
• 2 – 10 Ah 20 volt Max batteries
• 2 – 20 volt battery charger
• Clippings Bag
• Mulch Plug
• Safety Key

Features

• It is powered by 2 – 20V DeWALT Batteries, so technically it’s a 40V mower that runs off of 20V batteries and the 10Ah batteries provide 400 watt-hours.
• This lawn mower has a 21 1/2″ deck.
• It has Auto Sensing technology which increases or decreases the torque depending on what you are cutting.
• The lawn mower’s 3-in-1 capability allows for mulching, bagging or side clipping discharge.
• 6 cutting heights that range from 1 1/2″ to 4 1/2″, depending on your preferred lawn height.
• The Self Propelled feature is adjustable depending on how far back you engage the handles, allowing you to choose your walking pace.
• There are 2 height options for the handle, great for us shorter folks!
• Compact upright storage option.

How It Works

One of my absolute favorite features about this DeWALT Lawn Mower, is its compact storage design.

Place the mower on it’s wheels, then rotate the two side knobs to rotate the handle.

Put the handle in the high or low position, and rotate the knobs to engage the pins securing the handle location.

Open the lid and insert 2 charged 20V batteries.

Then if bagging the clips, pull up the back flap and place the clipping bag into the slots.

Insert the safety key into the console.

Finally the safety sequence to start the lawn mower.

I let the yard grow for 2 weeks, to really put this mower through the paces. The DeWALT lawn mower did an excellent job cutting the longer than usual grass. It would only occasionally bog down on large chunks crab grass (the worst grass). It really is a champ. I have a little over 1/3 acre, and it mowed about 2/3 of the yard on a single charge. On a normal grass length, I’d be able to almost mow the whole yard on one charge. If you have other DeWALT tools, you can always pop those 20V batteries in to finish up any work. That is one fantastic feature about this 20V20V lawn mower. For the best run time, I would suggest cutting frequently (usually weekly at my house) and waiting for the grass to be dry before mowing.

Conclusion

Overall this DeWALT lawn mower is an excellent battery powered lawn mower. The 20V20V battery platform offers so much versatility being able to be used on 200 DeWALT products. The included 10Ah 20V batteries offer a long run time. The ergonomics of the DeWALT lawn mower are great. I really like the self propelled speed control, but I love the compact storage design. The DeWALT lawn mower is and excellent addition to your DeWALT tool collection (or a great place to start ).

“I acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with me to participate in the Tool Review Program. As a part of the Program, I am receiving compensation in the form of products and services, for the purpose of promoting The Home Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own words. My post complies with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines.”

Related

Attention: Any do-it-yourself project involves risk of some sort. Your tools, materials, and skills will vary, as will the conditions at your work site. Hertoolbelt LLC will not assume any responsibility or liability for damages or losses sustained or incurred in the course of your project or in the use of the item you create. Always follow the manufacturer’s operating instructions in the use of tools, check and follow your local building codes, and observe all commonly accepted safety precautions.

DeWALT Cordless 21.5″ Deck Push Mower Review

I’ve been trying to mow my yard with the new 21.5″ deck DeWALT 2x20V brushless push mower ( DCMWP233 ) since April, but Mother Nature hasn’t been cooperating. Up until a month ago, I had only been able to use it 4 or 5 times because of the drought. It has only been the last few weeks that I’ve really been able to test it under relatively normal circumstances.

I reviewed the previous version of DeWALT’s cordless mower back in 2018, and I’ll refer to some of the differences later in this post, but first let’s start with the relevant specs of this mower.

DeWALT Cordless Mower Features Specs

One interesting feature is the auto sensing technology DeWALT uses for the blade speed. The mower senses when the grass is thicker and increases the blade RPM. As far as I can tell, there are only two speeds: low and high. This is presumably done to eke out more battery life. The mower stays in low speed when you are positioning it for the next row, or are in an area with sparser grass and high speed only when needed in thicker grass.

This push mower is regularly sold for 399, but I’ve see it marked down several times this summer. It comes with (2) 10.0Ah 20V Max batteries (DCB210), (2) 20V Max 1.25 amp chargers (DCB107), a collection bag, side discharge chute, safety key, and instruction manual.

Cable Management Issues

Right off the bat, I had issues with the handle pinching the cable as it’s being folded open from its storage position.

I later discovered a second way that I could pinch the cable in the handle when folding it down for storage. On DeWALT’s previous 2x20V Max mower, they had a similar cable pinching problem, so you’d think they would have found a better way to run the cable.

Safety Features

This mower has a new safety feature in addition to the safety key and strict starting sequence — a switch that doesn’t let you start the mower when the handle is folded closed. Above you can see the actuation lever that the handle presses into the switch body when it folds down.

I’m not sure if there’s a new safety regulation that covers this type of switch, but it seems redundant. It is pretty unlikely that you are going to accidentally press down the button on the handle and push down the bail accidentally when the handle is folded. And if you are worried about it, just remove the safety key.

Blade and Deck Size

DeWALT is calling this a 21.5″ mower. The mower deck measures slightly over 22″ on the outside and slightly under 21.5″ inside because there is a folded lip. The actual blade itself measures 20.75″.

I’m still not pleased about companies using deck size to sell their electric mowers while they use cutting width to measure their gas mowers, but DeWALT seems like they are meeting us halfway with this mower. They easily could have called this a 22″ deck, but yet they choose 21.5″ and put in a blade very close to 21″.

Stuart’s Note: We inquired about this, and apparently it has become the industry’s de-facto standard for cordless mowers to be advertised by their deck size. So, when comparing cordless mowers, you have to look up the blade size in order to make apples-to-apples comparisons between different models’ cutting widths.

As you can see in the above photo, the blade is made by MTD — which is no surprise because that’s who makes this mower for DeWALT (which is now owned by Stanley Black and Decker).

The blade has a very curious design. Only 1-1/2″ at the tips of the blade actually cut at the set height. The rest of the cutting edge leaves the grass 1/2″ longer.

What’s more is that the blade has a proprietary connection to the mower shaft. It does prevent you from installing the mower blade upside down (which I have in fact done on another mower), but at the same time I can’t find any local sources for compatible MTD or aftermarket replacement blades. I can only find a replacement blade on the MTD part website. This could be an issue if you damage you blade and can’t mow you lawn for a few days minimum.

Update: Home Depot also carries the replacement blade (online only so far), with part number DWO1DT233. The same replacement blade fits this mower (DCMWP233) and the new self-propelled mower as well (DCMWSP244).

Noise

As I mentioned before, the mower runs at two different speeds. I measured the noise at each speed level and found sound pressure levels to be 73.5 dBA for low speed and 77.3 dBA for high speed. It has been pointed out to me that dBC might be more appropriate for a lawn mower than creates noise on the low end of the audio spectrum, but this is the sound level meter I have and used for other reviews.

Further supporting that this is probably the wrong scale, even though the SPL meter says it is quieter than the Ego LM2101, I cannot comfortably listen to music using over-the-ear headphones using the DeWALT mower, while I can with the “louder” Ego.

Still, this is quieter than any gas mower. People have walked by and commented that they are amazed at how quiet this mower it, just about every time I used it.

Charging and Battery Runtime

DeWALT supplies two 1.25A chargers with this mower to charge the two included 10Ah batteries. If you do the math, 10Ah / 1.25A = 8h charge time if the batteries are fully drained. So if for some reason you can’t fully mow your “up to 1/2 acre” property on one charge, you’ll have to wait 8 hours to finish mowing.

There is no external battery gauge on this mower to tell you the charge state of the batteries, there is only a warning light that is supposed to come on when the batteries are low. I only saw the battery warning light come on after I stopped the mower, which I did because I noticed the mower speed audibly slowing.

The lack of a battery gauge is kind of annoying, but on the previous DeWALT mower I found the mower battery gauge and the gauge on the batteries did not match anyway.

The battery compartment is large enough to fit the 9Ah FlexVolt batteries I have, which means the 12Ah ones should also fit. I’m not sure if the larger 15Ah FlexVolt batteries will fit though.

I found that my yard (a little less than 1/4 acre) isn’t large enough to fully exhaust the batteries. In a span of a few weeks I ran the battery down after 82 minutes. I mowed my entire yard in 44 minutes one time, and spot mowed 38 minutes over a period of 3 weeks because my grass wasn’t growing consistently in the drought. Now that we have been getting consistent rain, I have found that I can mow my entire yard twice using the included batteries. This actually meshes with DeWALT’s claim that the mower is “perfect for properties up to 1/2 acre.”

I have also tried mowing with 9Ah FlexVolt batteries and I really can’t tell any difference between the two sets of batteries.

Side Discharge, Bagging

The mower comes with a detachable side discharge chute. To attach it, you lift up on the spring-loaded plastic cover on the right side of the mower and hook the tabs of the chute under the hinge bar. When you let the spring-loaded cover back down it holds the chute in place.

Once I discovered that the mower performed better using the side chute than mulching, I started using the side chute more. Unfortunately because of the drought this summer, I don’t have any really thick wet grass to test how well the mower throws or if it spreads the grass evenly.

To install the bag, you lift the spring-loaded rear lid of the mower. There’s no plug to remove, because the plug is built right into the lid. With the door open, the bag drops into place on a nice curved “track.” Then the rear lid swings down and seals over the bag to keep it in place.

Once again the cable likes to get in the way. I had to move it many times to get the bag to drop into place.

Even when the mower is running in low speed, it throws the clippings into the bag pretty well. It’s impossible to see, but there is only a small area in the back that where the grass isn’t filled as high. It’s not perfect, but more acceptable than some other mowers I’ve owned that filled the front of the bag first and prematurely blocked the clippings from entering the rear of the bag.

I like the new bag design. It has a single-piece plastic bottom. The previous DeWALT mower had a fabric-over-plastic bottom. With the old design, dust would accumulate between the layers, and so the empty bag gets heavier and heavier over time with no easy way to remove the dust.

Cut Quality

First off, it is really hard to photograph grass, but I think I was able to capture it well enough to get my point across.

This is the worst mulching cut quality, at the lowest blade height, I’ve seen from any mower. Above is a section of my lawn after cutting at height 2. It may look like I didn’t overlap the rows enough, but I assure you I overlapped the cuts by several inches at least. After discovering this, I pulled out my Ego mower, set it to the same height, and mulched — while it wasn’t perfect it was way better.

Most of my yard is thin bladed fescue, and I’ve always had issue with my grass flopping over. Even with a prosumer Toro, once I raised the deck to the upper 50% of cut height, it would leave some grass uncut. I noticed this somewhat with the previous DeWALT mower and my Ego when I started raising the deck, just like the gas mower. But this DeWALT mower, in default mulching mode on height 2, is leaving significantly more of my lawn uncut.

After further testing I discovered that cutting with the side discharge chute or with the bag attached, the mower cut the grass significantly better. So it is just the mulching performance on thin grass that is terrible.

Mulching Mode

We’re going to need to step back here and discuss mulching. I’ve been mulching my lawn ever since I bought a mower with no side discharge chute. Several mowers now don’t even have the option of not mulching if you are not bagging. This mower is set up out of the box to operate in mulching mode, with no instructions on why you’d want to use each mode. Most people don’t think about how they are going to set up their mower, they pick a setting and use it like that every week.

Mulching recirculates the grass under the mower so it gets cut up into tiny little pieces, hopefully small enough so they don’t clump. In a mulching mower, the blade is designed so that air flows up around the outer perimeter of the deck to pull grass to the top of the deck. Then the grass falls back down in the middle to get cut again. When you use side discharge or bagging, the grass gets pulled up and then directed towards the outlet, getting cut only once.

I believe the reason I’m seeing better performance is that when you have an outlet, there is stronger/more directed air flow that helps pick up the grass, vs the more turbulent airflow when mulching that doesn’t lift the grass as well.

I think there are two issues: the cutting speed and the blade design. The mower is hardly ever kicking into the high speed cutting mode, which would generate a little more lift and more cuts at the same walking speed. Second, looking at the blade design, very little of the blade is actually cutting at the finished height. It is getting cut at an intermediate height first and then this shorter grass may be getting knocked over easier, missing the final cutting height.

When I mulch cut a section of my grass that is mostly thicker grass and weeds, but still a little sparse and I get a pretty consistent cut. Meaning, users with thicker lawns will probably see better results.

I understand that the blade design and dual cutting speeds are done to extend the battery life, but I think they over-emphasized the battery economy in this case. The problem is that this mower has been so optimized for battery life, the mulching just doesn’t have a strong enough lift for thinner grasses. But then again, if the grass is so thin that mulching doesn’t work well, you probably don’t need to be mulching in the first place.

Why is this an issue? People are going to get upset when the mower doesn’t perform equally well on all parts of their lawn or under changing conditions. Most users are going to set the cutting height and the mowing mode one time (except maybe for bagging). Once they get the mower set to where it performs to their liking, they’ll never think about it again. Who is going to waste precious cognitive power trying to figure out what the proper settings are for each time they mow the same lawn, when they could be daydreaming about new tools instead?

Additional Thoughts

I did not actually measure the temperature of the batteries because I never had an issue with them overheating. At their worst, the 10Ah batteries were barely warm to the touch.

I did stall the mower a few times, not that it was really the mower’s fault. I don’t always clean up the sticks in my yard and a few times one would get jammed and stop the blade. When this happens, I just let go of the mower, restart it, and keep on mowing.

I do not understand why DeWALT got rid of the single lever height adjustment in favor of the two lever height adjustment: one for the front and one for the rear. While this is still better than having adjustment levers for each wheel, the single lever is very nice for people who mow their backyard on a lower setting than the rest of their yard, such as for dog poop to be more visible.

I wish DeWALT would have made the running speed adjustable — after all, most gas mowers have a throttle speed. Hypothetically, such a lever could offer several speed settings between the mower’s out-of-box low and high running speeds. The mower could still sense the cutting resistance and automatically boost the running speed, but you would still be able to speed it all the way up to mow problem areas or slow it down when you wanted to maximize battery life.

Summary

Before I summarize my observations and thoughts about DeWALT’s new cordless push mower so far, I’d like to restate the major limitation with this review. My area of the country was under drought conditions for most of the summer, and so I don’t feel I was able to fully test the mower under normal summer conditions with healthy well-hydrated grass.

It’s a given that a battery-power mower is not going to have the same cutting ability or lift as a gas lawnmower, especially one that has been optimized for battery life. That said, I’m still pretty disappointed with the mulching cut quality in my yard. The cut quality while using the bag or the side discharge chute was good, I found it to be closer to the Ego LM2101 or previous DeWALT mower while mulching. Bagging performance was also adequate with grass clippings and a few early leaves.

This mower is priced to compete. At 399, not only do you get over an hour of runtime, but you get 2x 10Ah batteries. If you were to buy similar batteries separately, it would cost you somewhere between 300 and 350. Even a pair of 9Ah Flexvolt batteries will cost you over 300. So basically you are getting high-capacity DeWALT batteries and having a lawn mower thrown in for a few extra dollars.

Should you buy this mower? Again it’s a hell of a bargain if you take the batteries into account and you don’t try to mulch a sparse, thin grass yard. I did not have a good experience using the mower on thin grass in mulching mode, but as long as you bag or use the side discharge shoot, or have a thicker variety of grass that doesn’t need much lift to be cut, it may be worth looking into.

Thank you DeWALT for providing the test sample used in this review.

About Benjamen

Benjamen Johnson grew up watching his dad work as a contractor and woodworker. He became an electrical engineer and took an interest in woodworking. Check out Ben’s projects at Electronsmith’s 3D Prints or Instagram.

63 Комментарии и мнения владельцев

Going from the gen I to the gen II, I did prefer some aspects of the gen I that I was disappointed did not carry over: – Carry handles – Battery gauge (though as you said it was not the most accurate) – Single handle height adjustment – Batteries vertically “dropping” into battery compartment rather than horizontally “sliding” in – Higher blade speed (I think I never actually measured) – Small front wheel, larger rear wheels It does definitely offer better battery life than the gen I. I have the self propelled model and my lawn is thick, well maintained, and around 12,500 sq ft – and I double cut my 1,000 sq ft front yard for pronounced stripes. Mulching at setting 4 (2 3/4″), I still have two bars left on the 10Ah batteries when the grass is dry and under 3.5″. It primarily runs at low speed. During my testing I used a pair of 6Ah batteries and was just able to finish my yard. With the gen I, the same conditions would eat up 9Ah batteries and leave me about 1,000 sq ft short. Now if I drop the deck down, it is a different story. Mulching on setting 3 (2 1/4″), it is in high speed pretty much 100% of the time, it also starts to leave behind clumps at that point (again my grass is thick), so I throw on the side discharge or bag for setting 3 or under. I’ve never had issues with the cables getting caught when folding, but I too do wish there was an override for the auto high/low speed. I would likely run it in high almost exclusively because the higher blade speed creates more suction, pulling the grass up more so you do not get the missed grass blades as you alluded to. I also am not crazy about the blade. I would prefer to have more options. Overall, I knew what to expect when I got this mower, and it met my expectations and the 10Ah batteries made it too good of a deal to pass up.

To be fair they only removed the rear carrying handle. I don’t think I ever had a reason to use both handles. I do use the front handle quite a bit because I store it vertically and I grab the handle to move it around. The more forward front handle actually makes this easier than the top mounted handle. I also had quite a few issues removing batteries from the “drop in” bay of the first one. They tended to stick. I haven’t had that issue with the gen II. I’m assuming the identical wheels on Gen II are to cut costs even more.

I should have specified, you are correct in that the push model has a front handle, the self-propelled model does not.

My mistake. I blanked that you were talking about the self-propelled version and assumed it had a handle like the push version. That is rather annoying that there is no front handle.

I switched from a Toro gas to Ryobi 40v a couple seasons ago. While I love how quiet it is, light weight, decent power, can store it folded easily, etc the lift isn’t the best. Haven’t checked to see if there’s a high lift blade available but it also has the auto shift to higher power. Would be nice this fall to leave it in higher power mode I’d gladly sacrifice runtime to not leave all the leaves behind. Probably the only thing I liked about the Toro better.

Hi Jason, when the many safety cutoff switches start to fail on your Ryobi (and in my experience with two generations of the 20′ mower, they will – i’m a slow learner) hopefully there will still be some warranty left. My advice is to not tinker with it too much ( I’m a master tinkerer). Just take the thing back to where you got it and try to pick up a new one, or get your money back. This course of action will be best for your sanity. I have spoken.

Living that now with the one I bought for my sister in law. They did send a replacement mower, but it showed up with a broken back wheel. My mower has a problem with the rear wheel anchor plate screws coming out from the plastic body

I have the self propelled version, no cable pinching but it looks laid out differently. Mulchs fine on St Augustine. As for the handle safety lock out, pretty unlikely wont be much of a defense in a product liability lawsuit.

I do not yet find the electric mowers to be compelling for my purposes, but as you state it is almost worth buying for the batteries.

Perhaps not in my lifetime – but battery electrics are going to have to get better and more powerful across the spectrum as the world tries to move to zero-net carbon emissions. I don’t yet see my landscaper replacing one of his engine-driven zero turns with a battery-powered one quite yet – but its coming. For a homeowner it might be practical now. I saw a Ryobi that was advertised as being able to handle over 3 acres per charge so that might suit my needs if I were in the market.

It’s just a matter of time. Cordless tools were more or less a joke compared to their corded counterparts 30 years ago. Now many are not just on par, they’re flat-out superior. Corded power tools are already taking on and surpassing weaker gas engines like those in trimmers, it’s only a matter of time before they do the same for mower class engines. But we’re not at that point yet.

My ryobi cordless trimmer made be a believer in cordless yard tools. I bought it more then a decade ago just clip a fresh battery in and put some more line in every once in a while. No maintenance no hard starting damn thing just works. I still use a gas mower mostly because I can’t decide which cordless one I want yet (plus people keep giving me free ones). I have a cordless blower I love for quick clean ups of the patio or driveway and some light leaf blowing, but I just bought a new gas blower for leaves in the fall. A bigger electric one would work but with the amount of batteries to do a yard in a day it’s just more economical to use a gas one.

In my experience the current cordless OPE performs well around the 1-2 horsepower power range. Stuff like string trimmers, hedge trimmers, small blowers, small chainsaws, etc, work great. But the none of the models I’ve seen are able to compete with the ~5HP power level of a standard gas push mower. I think it could theoretically be done with larger battery platforms like Milwaukee MX, a dual-Flexvolt system, etc, but there’ s just not enough power in a pair of 18V class batteries to run a ~5hp machine for a reasonable runtime. I think it’s only a matter of time before that will change though, batteries keep getting bigger and better.

I agree it is a matter of time, just not yet there for my purpose. If DeWALT put out a 2x60v version I would be awfully tempted. Even then, I could only justify the cost as I have already invested heavily in flexvolt tools/batteries.

I think the batteries are here, just not at a consumer level price. I have no experience with them but am guessing that a Milwaukee MX Fuel lawnmower, if it existed, would meet the requirements that people expect from average gas mowers. The problem is the price; 1 battery costs more than most mower/battery kits currently available.

I bought this same mower earlier this year. I have a third of an acre with about half being zoysia grass. If I mow once every 7-10 days I can get through my yard on one charge. I’m really happy with this mower overall and have had no problems except when I haven’t had time to mow consistently.

I’m curious how well this would perform in the fall while mulching leaves. That’s a huge factor for a lot of people when choosing a mower. You can buy a nice gas mower with a Honda motor for 400……which is also cordless.

Most cordless mowers are pretty poor at doing leaves, its just too stressful on a system which is clearly optimized for battery life. I have a kobalt 40v and the best approach is to set it up for side discharge and mow a leaf covered area in decreasing circles so there’s a tidy pile, then come along with a different tool to mulch and bag the leaves. Purely mulching can barely cut any given leaf in half, and bagging just doesn’t have the suction to get leaves off of all but the shortest cuts of grass. Leaf duty is the biggest letdown about this mower, and so I’m going back to gas once one more of my batteries gives up the ghost.

I’m convinced this wouldn’t suit my needs. If this could totally replace and meet the performance of a gas mower, I think I’d jump on it. The cost isn’t that bad being you get two batteries with it. Granted I only use about 25 worth of gas a year, I could use the batteries on my other DeWALT tools. I used to have the DeWALT 20v trimmer but it bit the dust after 5 years. I would have thought the brushless motor would have lasted longer. Sold it on Craigslist for 20 as spare parts. I replaced it with the Kobalt trimmer/blower/battery combo when it was on sale and have been extremely happy with them. The trimmer isn’t as robust as the DeWALT, but it has more power in my opinion. Thanks for the reply.

The older DeWALT 40V does well with leaves, especially bagging, but also mulching. However, the battery life isn’t great. As a supplement to my large John Deere, it’s fantastic – one battery can get all of the corners and small areas where the tractor can’t get to, and the power and cut quality is pretty much identical. And the rest of the 40V system – blowers, chainsaw, and trimmer, make it completely worth it. I have one engine to maintain, the tractor engine, and the rest can just sit there and be ready to go on a moment’s notice. So the chainsaw and backpack blower only being used annually isn’t a big deal.

I have used both the Gen I DeWALT and my Ego and they both do a decent job of mulching leaves, as long as you do it regularly and don’t only do it once at the end of the season when the leaves are wet and 3 inches deep. I’m interested to see how this gen II will perform both mulching leaves and bagging.

I’ll stick to gas mowers for a while. Li-Ion/Brushless makes sense for leaf blowers, trimmers, clippers, etc, but I don’t think battery tech is good enough for mowers yet.

It really depends on your application. My Ego works just fine — just as well as my old Toro prosumer model — for what I use it for. I think battery powered mowers are getting close, but I agree they aren’t a one-for-one replacement.

For my 1/3 acre lawn this sounds about what I want. I have been going back and forth on this the Makita or the Ego. I came real close to a clearance Kobalt but I haven’t talked to many people with experience on the Kobalt 40V system. I have other DeWALT 20V tools which would be the biggest draw for me to this mower. It is basically like buying just the batteries and getting a mower. But the DeWALT gets very inconsistent reviews. The Makita seems to be almost universally loved by everyone that tries it but in this price range it’s an 18″ instead of a 21″ also smaller batteries but a better charger and an extra set make up for it. Plus a new system when I already have Ryobi and DeWALT. The Ego seems to hit all the technical points and just behind the Makita in the reviews. Acme had some great sales on them over the summer but again wondered about a new battery system.

I have a 40V kobalt mower, for my 1/4 acre lot with centipede grass its perfect. This fall I’m going to try using it to mulch leaves in my natural area and I’m sure it’ll be good enough. I have a Kobalt 24V string trimmer, blower and hedge trimmer, too. Good experiences with all of those, too. I’m more than satisfied with the performance for the price I paid.

Reminds me of the first time I saw an electric screwdriver on TV when I was a kid. I thought it was the greatest thing ever and ran to tell my dad about it; his reply was entirely deadpan: “all my screwdrivers are already cordless”.

We used Hios electric screwdrivers in our fabrication shop – but alas – none of them were cordless. Kidding aside, “cordless” has of course come to mean “on-board-battery powered”. Back on topic, one would think that a lawnmower might be something that Milwaukee could add to its MX battery platform for commercial use. Perhaps they judge that their is not enough demand for such – as it would push the cost up beyond the typical homeowner’s price point and might not appeal to many landscape contractors.

A contractor grade riding mower starts at around 7500. I’m thinking at that price point they could probably make an MX platform work. But I think the charge time is still a concern for contractors. It takes very little time to pour gas into a gas tank while it takes a while to charge batteries. So they’d either have to have some kind of special high-speed portable charger that runs off the landscaper’s truck, or they’d have to start the day’s work with enough batteries to make it through the whole day. An arborist I know loves small cordless chainsaws for climbing and pruning work, they have obvious advantages over the gas models and he can toss a small number of batteries in his truck and he’s set for the whole workday with that saw. But he finds the larger cordless models, even pro brands like STIHL, unusable for larger work because it’s impossible to keep up with charging batteries fast enough to use them and it’s impractical to bring enough pre-charged for a full day’s work with a crew of guys, meanwhile when a gas saw runs out of fuel it’s back up and cutting a minute later and one can of gas runs every saw on the truck all day. And that’s talking about replacing a typical pro chainsaw of perhaps 5 HP equivalent. A commercial riding mower, being much more powerful, has a an even worse problem. Some really rough math: A commercial riding mower might start around 25 HP, that’s about 18.5 kW. Meanwhile a typical north american wall can supply a max of 1800 watts or 1.8kW. So if we assume the battery, charger, and motor are all 100% efficient then it takes 10 times as long to charge that battery compared to the runtime it gives. This is a big problem. Want the battery to last an hour at full power? It takes ten hours to charge. Want a batteries that can run for 6 hours, enough for a full workday of mowing like a pro landscaper might want? Two and a half days. In order for this to be practical there must be some kind of high-power charging system involved similar to those used for electric cars because no matter how good the battery tech may be there’s still the wall socket bottleneck for getting that power into a battery.

You nailed MM Electric cars started with 110 volts residential and 220-240 charging stations. That wasn’t enough so 400-600 volt stations were added. 800 volt is coming. and higher battery density will be here in hopefully a few years. the big ticket item manufacturers are paying for the research on faster charging and higher battery density. It will keep moving down to lower priced items like tools – one of these days an electric mower will be a good choice. Not yet for me.

While the battery powered zero turns currently available are sort of wimpy compared to their engine powered brethren – the technology will advance. That’s particularly true as climate change mitigation initiatives move forward. But just to add to Комментарии и мнения владельцев already made and for some perspective about the challenge: 1.8 gallons of gasoline (typical zero turn usage per hour) is about the equivalent of 59.4kWh of energy. Even if the engine/transmission system is only 10% efficient – that is about 6kWh of useful work. Ryobi – for one example makes a zero turn with 100Ah of batteries operating at 48V = 4.8kWh equivalent. That’s – probably OK to get through my lawns – then come in for a recharge/topoff – but it wouldn’t do for a contractor mowing all day

Is this any different than cordless screwdrivers and other such tools? Didn’t saws all used to be handheld before being electric and then cordless battery-powered? I figure there are 3 types of powered mowers – gas engine, electric (AC), and cordless battery-powered. Search engines do their own thing these days, but I figured readers searching ToolGuyd’s archives would likely use “DeWALT cordless mower” as the main query, and so I tried to make the post easier to find.

Nope, no difference at all. And I think that was the point. It was really just his way of saying that he didn’t use tools often enough to warrant buying powered versions. He didn’t have a power saw or drill either, though he did eventually get a cordless drill much later in life. He was not a contractor, and while he was very much into DIY it was all electronics related, HAM Radio, electric guitars, amps and whatnot. Thinking back it made perfect sense, he simply didn’t have a use for a cordless screwdriver.

There are the 20v slide on power adapters for DeWALT batteries. They have a 3 light fuel gauge to indicate power left in battery. You would need to remove the battery from the mower to check power status. There might be a % power adapter, but i haven’t seen one yet.

I am now on my 5th DeWALT mower. Three 1st gen, two 2nd. The first ones couldn’t handle heat buildup and so if you had a larger yard and went through multiple batteries the thing would melt in different ways. The 2nd gen had problems with blade balance and the service center couldn’t get me a new blade for a couple of months so they refunded me and I bought another one. The self-propelled version is nice and has enabled my 9 year old to be able to mow. Can’t handle heavy grass, but is fine for weekly maintenance. We’ll see how long it lasts…

Worst mulching cut you’ve ever seen? Have you used Husqvarna? I’m sure they can give this thing a run for it’s money.

I wonder how many seasons the batteries will last before end of life? Or put another way how many charges can a 10ah 20 V battery take before its dead. Around here mowing season is April to October. Usualy cut once a week but in spring sometimes twice a week. Figure 40ish mowings. On the lower end I would expect the batteries to recharge 400 times so you’re looking at 10 years. Mower deck will probably rust out before then. Wonder if the electric motor will hold up that long. Probably would be replaced with beter tech before then any way. I don’t have a dog in this fight. My yard is too big for electric and I am way to meticulous in my lawn care for anything but a perfect cut. Still at some point it will probably get there. An autonomous electric mower that I can set the travel pattern on would be tempting. Mow every three days with alternating stripes! I think I would miss mowing too much. Yeah Im weird like that lol

I don’t own a lawn, but I’ll just throw this out there. It’s possible to have a yard that doesn’t need mowing in the first place. There are many ways to do it, like say with low growing ground covers, pebble or stone cover, tall grasses or bushes, etc., all depending on your location and how you want to use the space. Also, some cities in the West are paying people to get rid of their lawns and replace them with something that doesn’t need so much water. So you can reduce maintenance needs and make some money too. Of course, getting there might take some work and money. Also, consider the fact that not only is mowing your lawn a pretty big chore, it’s one of the few places where electric tools haven’t quite caught up with their gas-powered ones (you can see that from the Комментарии и мнения владельцев here.) And those tiny gas engines just spew pollution, much more than your car, for instance. So. I know people love their lawns. I just wanted to mention some alternatives.

I’ve thought long and hard about this and the problem is that you are switching one larger task for a whole bunch of smaller tasks. That works for some people and doesn’t for others. Rock needs to be maintained. It migrates everywhere (notice the dings in my mower blade?) and detritus builds up in if you aren’t diligent about blowing all the leaves and other plant matter that accumulates. If you don’t, in 5 to 10 years you have weeds growing. Then it’s harder to fix than just starting over. You have to be careful where you place tall grasses, you shouldn’t have them close to the house because they dry out in the summer and pose a fire danger. Not really a more work issue, but it limits where you can put them. Gardens need constant attention. Ground cover can migrate where you don’t want it and need to be monitored. We are still trying to convert more area from grass to things like hosta beds and gardens. Some days I just want to convert everything to astroturf.

I used to own a getaway house on a large property in a rural community that had one been primarily small farms. There was some “lawn” – but neither I nor my neighbors much worried about what was growing. Nature seems to always takeover unless you are crazy-diligent. The local contractor who maintained the “lawns” (more fields than lawn) came in one in a while with a Gravely tractor with gang mowers and a sickle bar. My current main residence has actual lawn that requires what some would say is an unconscionable amount of maintenance ( fertilizer, lime, seeding, weed control insect control chemicals, mowing, thatching etc.) that I pay to have done. Considering that its all for show. I’m not sure for how many generations more the practice will be sustainable. Since we moved in we cut the backyard lawn area in half – adding about 1/2 acre to the garden. Both garden an lawn areas require TLC – but my wife and I somehow feel better about the environmental consequences of having less lawn and more garden. If we had figured out an attractive way to cut the acre of front lawn in half we would have done that too. My take on all of this is that we (particularly suburban dwellers) are slaves to convention with a minds-eye view of what our properties should look like. That sort of landscaping – aided and abetted by post WWII real estate developers – may also translate into resale property value and “curb appeal”. Energy use, Global Warming and Water Conservation may ultimately change our thinking.

Great thoughts, fred. “I’m not sure for how many generations more the practice will be sustainable.” Technically, it’s never been sustainable, because sustainability means there’s no net damage to our resources or environment. Even if lawns do a tiny amount of damage, it’s not sustainable, because given enough time, they will wreck things. And I believe they do more than a tiny amount of damage. The big issue for us in the west is water consumption, but there’s also pesticides, fertilizers, etc. as you say. IIRC, mowing and even collecting leaves disrupts insect populations, which are harmless to both lawns and people, but are necessary to support bird and small mammal populations.

I’m told that the idea of having a manicured lawn first gained popularity in the 17th century on the estates of the wealthy. The idea caught on – not surprisingly – as folks with lesser means wanted to emulate their richer cousins. A whole industry (perhaps multiple industries would be correct) grew up around it and now e have companies producing grass seeds, sod, fertilizer, soil amendments, pesticides, and all manner of maintenance implements from aerators to lawnmowers to rakes and sprinklers. Many owe their livelihoods to our lawns and their maintenance. With the growth of the suburbs after WWII I suspect that the acreage devoted to lawns grew exponentially as did the businesses to support them. Moving away from having a lawn to something better will require a paradigm shift of major proportions. And – akin to what Benjamin says there is no perfect solution that is immediately apparent. Somewhere deep in our brains we probably recognize your points about the harm that fertilizer and pesticide runoff is doing, that our precious water supply has much better uses than on lawns, and that using energy (fossil fuels or even renewable) to maintain a lawn is illogical. But then we get flooded with those “house beautiful” images of a lawn party or toddlers crawling along on an expanse of green – and all logic is put aside. Green concrete is not the answer (concrete BTW is very energy intensive to produce) nor is Astroturf – so I’m afraid that for a while we will be stuck with trying to make lawnmowers better.

Absolutely right. I didn’t mean to imply that alternatives to lawn would eliminate your yard maintenance chores. It would just reduce them. Anyway, for me, the real point is not reducing the amount of work you do, but reducing the air and water pollution, water consumption and ecosystem disruption that grass lawns create.

My point was that I’m not convinced that the alternatives would reduce them that much after you include the work required to implement them. I’m actually really surprised that I did not get a comment like: “Why didn’t you just water your grass — then it would have grown and you could have tested it more.” I was really disappointed at how many people in my area had perfectly green lawns during the worst drought we’ve had in a long time, because they were watering them (and the street) every other day. Switching to battery powered OPE, letting my grass go dormant, letting my clippings stay on the lawn rather than collecting them, and growing grass that is actually appropriate for my climate, are some of the ways I’ve tried to address my own concerns about pollution and water consumption.

Right, I know that was your point. My point, or actually my main concern, is different. I’m glad you are taking care to reduce the environmental impacts of your lawn though!

The DeWALT cordless mower is assembled by MTD. On inspection in Home Depot, the DeWALT deck and a Troy-Bilt built by MTD deck were identical in construction and placement of mounting points. MTD, I believe, has been purchased by SBD. The use of a deck not specifically designed for an electric mower may be less than ideal if a mower can’t match the power output characteristics of a gas engine.

I bought this mower, used it for about 3 months and returned it. First time I used it, it worked great. It’s only about a 1/4 acre lot, including the house. By month 3 it would only run for 10 minutes and I would have to recharge batteries. By this point I had stopped using the self propelled capabilities and was just pushing it to conserve battery. Still about 8-10 minutes in, batteries dead. Went back to a gas mower, very disappointing as I assumed electric would have been fully capable at this point. But in fairness perhaps electric is, and the DeWALT batteries just can’t handle it. Or maybe I just got a lemon.

Sounds like you killed the batteries, or possibly as you said you got some lemons. Every time you run a lithium battery completely dead, it will lose some of its charge capacity. Do it often enough and that 10Ah battery becomes a 5Ah battery. I still don’t know why manufacturers don’t stress this more in the manuals. Maybe they want people to keep buying batteries, but cases like yours also lead to negative reviews. they do offer this advice though: https://www.DeWALT.com/DeWALT-dna/featured-articles/best-practices-for-battery-life Ideally you want to have spares and never let them go below 30% before charging (on DeWALT batteries 1 bar is Check out some studies that have been done of depth of discharge and cycle life of lithium ion batteries.

We got used to NiCad’s where constantly topping them off resulted in “memory” problems resulting in batteries that were seemingly never able to give their all. As you say – translating the NiCad use strategy to LiIon batteries creates a new set of problems.

That made sense 10 years ago when lithium ion was new. It’s just odd that people understand the logic when it comes to their cell phone. They charge them every night regardless of the percent because everyone knows if you run them completely dead regularly, they never last as long afterwards. Somehow that common knowledge is lost when people use other battery powered devices, like tools and OPE. I don’t know how many dozens of batteries I have across multiple platforms and voltages, and I can honestly say I have never had a premature failure on any of them. Maybe I’m lucky, maybe I’m a wizard, who can say.

I own near 40 tools and maybe 40 batteries. All DeWALT and Milwaukee including HO and 60v. I own both mowers. All have been amazing in terms of durability… except the Milwaukee HO 12 amph battery. Some of the high draw HO tool get to hot and trip out to often. It killed a 12 amph.

My first thoughts went to making a go-kart or something from the engine like I did when dirt poor to make money.

There are a couple changes. The rear wheel model has larger rear wheels, single lever height adjustment, and is available kitted with 2x12Ah FlexVolt batteries, in addition to the 2x10Ah 20v battery kit.

They should not have made a front wheel drive mower. MTD research center has enough knowledgable people and past experience to know better than to make one. The front drive mower preformance may turn off a lot of buyers from buying DeWALT products. Thank you for letting us know about these upcoming new products, Big Richard.

The one nice thing about front wheel drive is that you can keep your hand on the wheel engage “throttle” the entire time, and just push down on the handle a bit to raise the front wheels to come to a stop, do a turn, or whatever. But overall, I think rear-wheel drive is the preferred option. It does look like it is going to cost 100 more than the front-wheel model, at least with early pricing.

Trust me, rear wheel drive is a lot better with a rear bagger. My wife’s mom had an MTD made gas front wheel drive. When the bag starts getting full, too much weight is in the back and it will not pull. I had to pickup the back wheels off of the ground to make the front wheels pull. Big Richard, do you work for SBD? You seem to now when all of the new stuff comes out.

I have heard that complaint about front wheel drive mowers. I personally rarely ever bag so I have not encountered it, but I can see the issue. And no, I do not work for SBD. I just do a lot of tool repair, testing, and review, so I like to be ahead of the curve and share my knowledge. I keep an eye on tool shows across the country and look for leaks through retailers.

I can share the complaint, though it’s been many years since I have ever used a bagger. Once I discovered mulching blades I never looked back: less work for me, better for the environment and my yard looks better. But even with no bag rear wheel drive has better traction as the handlebars tend to put more weight on the rear wheels than the front. The commercial walk-behinds have this designed very well. As much weight as possible over the rear axle with large, low-ground-pressure drive wheels, and swiveling caster wheels up front which bear relatively little weight. I did think that front wheel drive mowers did have one beneficial feature, however: by pushing down on the handlebars one can easily feather how much pull the front wheels provide, or even disengage it entirely, by pushing them off the ground. I found that technique gave a lot more control than dis-and-re-engaging the propulsion. This was especially true when there was no differential in the propulsion and you needed to make a tight turn. But it’s really moot today, an all-electric mower likely has great speed control rather than the brutal ON-OFF overcenter clutches the old gas front drives had.

Makita Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Vs. DeWALT 20V Max Mower: Which One Wins?

A self-propelled, battery-operated lawnmower can keep your lawn pristine with minimal effort and without harming the environment. Finding the best tool, however, can be challenging. Makita and DeWALT are two popular brands. The former is the go-to choice for landscapers and business owners. The latter addresses homeowners. This guide to the Makita self-propelled lawn mower vs. DeWALT 20V Max mower should help you pick the right equipment.

Makita Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Vs. DeWALT 20V Max Mower: Side-by-Side Comparison

Makita and DeWALT are two popular power tool manufacturers. Both make tools for home and commercial applications, but Makita has a reputation for its high-quality equipment geared toward business owners and heavy-duty use. DeWALT manufactures a range of commercial tools, but equipment from the brand is not as performing or long-lasting as Makita. When it comes to the self-propelled lawnmowers from these brands, they are both worthy options, though. Here’s a brief comparison between the two.

• Folding handles for easy storage
• Zero emission and lower noise
• Up to 40 minutes runtime per charge
• Quick height adjustments

Makita Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Vs. DeWALT 20V Max Mower: What’s the Difference

A glance at the table above shows minimal differences between the DeWALT 20V Max mower and the Makita self-propelled lawn mower. However, these machines perform differently. While they are both a good choice for same-size lawns, Makita is a heavier-duty option ideal for frequent use. Yet, DeWALT might suit your needs, too, and save you some bucks.

Deck and Cutting

One vital thing to check when buying a lawnmower is its ability to cut grass smoothly. In this sense, both Makita and DeWALT deliver.

Makita self-propelled lawn mower features a true 21-inch blade with 3,000 rotations per minute. While this system might not match the performance of the multi-blade system seen in mowers like the EGO 56V mower, it can slice through tough and wet grass effortlessly.

DeWALT features a similar blade system but a longer cutting swath of 21.5 inches. The extra half-inch might not change your world, but it does help you complete the chore faster. On the downside, it makes the mower harder to maneuver around multiple obstacles or fit in narrow spaces, so this is something to consider based on your lawn’s layout.

The true difference between these two mowers is their cutting height range and the number of cutting height settings. The Makita self-propelled lawn mower features 10 cutting height settings between 1.25 and 4 inches. DeWALT has a slightly lower range, from 1.5 to 4-inch cutting heights, and only six settings.

While those numbers might not mean much for most residential needs, they can be important if your turf is a demanding grass type. height adjustments may also be important if you want to start a landscaping business and want a lawnmower to cut all grass types perfectly. In this aspect, Makita wins.

Power and Runtime

On paper, the main difference between the Makita self-propelled lawn mower and the DeWALT 20V Max mower is the power. The latter comes with two 20V batteries for a total of 40 volts of power during operation. Makita also features two batteries for a total power of 36 volts.

However, both mowers aren’t that different in reality. That’s because Makita uses the nominal voltage of batteries in their descriptions. As written in the manual, you’ll get 36 volts of power – no more, no less. DeWALT, on the other hand, uses the maximum voltage. While you get 40 volts of maximum power from the brand, the truth is that each battery has a nominal power of only 18 volts, bringing the total to 36.

Another important difference is the capacity of the batteries each brand uses. Makita’s batteries have a capacity of 5Ah, while DeWALT’s feature 10Ah of capacity. The result? torque for DeWALT, enabling the mower to perform perfect cuts even on wet or tough grass types. Despite the lower battery capacity, Makita also delivers impressive cutting performance.

For DeWALT, however, higher capacity means sacrificing runtime. The brand promises around 60 minutes of runtime, but in reality, you can get less than 25 minutes in worst-case scenarios. In best-case scenarios, you can expect around 30 to 40 minutes.

Makita promises around 40 minutes of runtime. In easy conditions, it actually delivers more – about 43. Things change when mowing wet or tough grass, but the runtime is still better compared to DeWALT. Both mowers come with see-thru battery housings that allow you to monitor the charge, and Makita even comes in a bundle with two additional batteries (a total of four) for over an hour of uninterrupted work.

Waste Management

Makita and DeWALT 20V Max mower feature three grass clippings management options: discharge, bagging, and mulching. Neither mower has separate blades for these functions, but clippings management is effective regardless of the preferred method. The only real difference is how each piece of equipment discharges the clippings.

DeWALT features side discharge, common in residential lawnmowers but not necessarily the best. While side chutes throw grass clippings away from the path, they often make it challenging to mow around obstacles, including flowerbeds, driveways, and fences.

Makita features rear discharge, which basically throws the clippings behind the mower. You might end up with your feet covered in grass clippings, but you won’t have to worry about them ruining flower beds or ending up dirtying a fence or driveway.

Maneuverability

Makita and DeWALT’s lawnmowers are not that different in terms of maneuverability. Both feature plastic wheels that roll effortlessly on all terrains. The half-an-inch extra cutting swath of DeWALT doesn’t significantly impact maneuverability, although Makita fits in narrower spaces.

What makes the Makita slightly more controllable and easier to maneuver is the infinite speed control. This self-propelled mower can reach speeds between 1.5 and 3MPH, but you can set any speed in this range without limitations.

DeWALT doesn’t disclose the self-propelled speeds of its lawnmower, and the only options you have are slow or fast. No in-between might be frustrating for people who can’t choose top speed due to their physical limitations but who don’t want to go too slow either.

Build Quality

Design-wise, both Makita and DeWALT mowers are pretty minimalist, but the former feels more robust. The Makita lawnmower is made of alloy steel, a relatively lightweight but durable material. Powder-coating resists elements, and the unit can withstand rugged use.

DeWALT has a steel deck but a rather flimsy battery enclosure. This mower can withstand elements and frequent use, but it is more suitable for residential rather than commercial applications. Meanwhile, the Makita withstands both.

Another difference is how command cables run from the handle to the various controls on the deck. These cables are exposed on the DeWALT. Not only do they look messy, but they are easier to damage accidentally. Makita runs all its cables neatly along the handle. You don’t have to worry about damaging them, and the visual appeal is increased.

Price

A winning point for the DeWALT 20V Max mower is the price. The bare mower is about 200 cheaper than a bare Makita. go up for both options if you choose a mower and battery kit, Makita’s going as high as 988 for the mower and two batteries. The brand launches discounted bundles now and then, though, and you might be able to find better deals, such as a similarly-priced mower kit with four rather than two batteries.

DeWALT typically sells its batteries separately, a 20V Max 10Ah battery setting you back around 170 (the mower needs two batteries). The good news is this lawnmower is compatible with almost all Max batteries in the brand’s ecosystem, including different voltage options.

Likewise, Makita’s self-propelled lawnmower is compatible with interchangeable batteries from the brand but only with the nominal voltage and capacity specified in the mower’s manual. This lawnmower uses two 18V 5.0Ah batteries.

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Home » Latest Tool Reviews » Lawn Garden » DeWALT 2X20V MAX Cordless Mower Review

DeWALT Model DCMWSP255 2X20V MAX Cordless Mower Review

2X20V MAX Cordless Mower

Manufacturer: DeWALT Model number: DCMWSP255Y2 Price: 799.99 Power source: 20V MAX Li-Ion Batteries Weight: 75.0 Lbs.

This year DeWALT added a new model to their cordless battery-powered lawnmower lineup. This tool review will FOCUS on the new DeWALT Model DCMWSP255Y2 2x20V MAX cordless mower. This mower features a rear-wheel drive self-propelled operation system powered by the proven 20V MAX battery platform. Additionally, the DCMWSP255 is cross-compatible with the FLEXVOLT series of batteries which provide extended runtime. Speaking of runtime, the 2X20V designation means that this mower uses two batteries in series to provide up to 70 minutes of continuous use per charge.

In June ToolBoxBuzz posted a new updated Head-2-Head comparison where we evaluated a total of sixteen cordless lawnmowers. The DeWALT DCMWSP255Y2 was featured during this test and I will reference information from the H2H as well as my own experience in this review. Check out the full Best Cordless Mower 2022 article for more details.

DeWALT 2X20V MAX Cordless Mower Features

• Brushless Direct Drive Motor
• Top Folding Handle for Storage
• 21.5″ Cutting Deck
• Front Lift Handle
• Options for Mulching, Bagging, and Side Discharge of Clippings
• Cutting Height Settings From 1 1/2″-4″ Tall
• Single Lever Deck Height Adjustment
• CONTINUOUS SPEED/Auto Sensing Technology

Operation and Controls

The small black override key is pictured pointing downwards from the yellow housing. The mower will not operate without this safety key.

The Start-up and operation of the DeWALT MAX mower are similar to a traditional gas-powered mower. Only without the potential wrenching of the operator’s back and spewing of obscenities after it doesn’t start after three, four, or even five-plus pulls. The DeWALT uses a large easy-to-reach main power switch that is activated in conjunction with the spring-loaded safety bar pictured above. Releasing the safety bar will shut the mower off automatically.

The included grass collection bag. Rear plug option for mulching or side discharge of clippings. Spring-loaded cover on the side of the deck.

DeWALT describes the DCMWSP255Y2 as a 3-in-1 machine. Essentially the mower comes from the factory with options for side discharge of clippings through a chute, rear bagging, and also mulching using a rear plug and spring-loaded side cover. The rear bagging option installs and removes with one hand while holding up the spring-loaded door with the other. Whatever your preference for lawn care, the 2X20V MAX mower gives you options.

Battery Life and Performance

During our Head-2-Head test, the DeWALT took fourth place overall in our Run-Time Performance category. We found that the DeWALT MAX cordless mower is capable of over 18,000 square feet of mowing on a single charge. The 2X20V battery system draws from two 20V batteries in series. Therefore the two included 12.0 Ah FLEXVOLT batteries work together to greatly extended the runtime. In fact, the mower is good-to-go for almost two miles of marathon grass cutting. I used the DeWALT primarily as a trim mower, for cleanup in areas my larger zero-turn can’t get to. Typically a full battery charge lasted for three to four separate cuttings.

Better stay hydrated. We’re going to be out here for a while.

While the performance of the 2X20V MAX system is excellent, I do have an issue with the included hardware. DeWALT includes two DCB107 battery chargers with the mower. One for each battery. This charger is extremely slow charging the large 12.0 Ah batteries. Charging the batteries completely took approximately eight hours when I first unpacked the mower for review.

Both batteries are inserted into the motor housing. A spring-loaded plastic cover protects them from dust and debris. The two included batteries pictured with the DCB107 chargers. Batteries charging. See you tomorrow!

Given the extended run-time performance of the DCMWSP255Y2, the ability to recharge batteries fast shouldn’t be an issue for the majority of homeowners with average size lawns. However if planning to cut multiple properties or use the same batteries in other tools, a larger and faster battery charger would be desirable.

CONTINUOS SPEED System

As mentioned before, the 2X20V MAX mower features a self-propelled drive mechanism. The mower is rear-wheel drive and is propelled by the 11″ solid plastic wheels. DeWALT included what they describe as their CONTINUOUS SPEED system as well. This feature acts as an automatic load-sensing system. During use, the self-propelling feature is activated by squeezing a control lever built into the handlebar housing. The more pressure/squeeze applied, the faster the mower will travel. This is excellent for adjusting for a comfortable walking pace for the user.

However, the CONTINUOUS SPEED system will monitor the amount of load the motor is experiencing and will then automatically adjust the speed of the mower to optimize performance. This results in the mower slowing during use, regardless of the amount of pressure placed on the drive controls. This feature saves battery life and protects the motor and electronics, but can be frustrating at times during use. Another data point to this is that the self-propel system will only engage while the cutting deck is engaged. So if traveling across grass that you do not wish to cut, be prepared to push the mower manually.

The CONTINUOS SPEED slowdown described above was far less noticeable when side discharging clippings, due to the mower experiencing less resistance. When mulching or bagging clippings, the speed adjustment is more common because the mower is working harder to move the clippings. The decrease in speed does result in a cleaner and more uniform cut.

Overall Impressions

The benefits of battery-powered lawnmowers are well known and thoroughly discussed here at ToolBoxBuzz. They are quiet, easy to maintain, fold easily for storage, and eliminate the hassle of fuel. The DeWALT 2X20V MAX cordless mower embodies all of those qualities. I thoroughly enjoyed using it and evaluating it during the review process. It is large and well-balanced and feels nearly identical to a traditional gas-powered mower. There are a few areas of improvement to be pointed out. Given the cost of the mower, a higher-quality dual-port battery charger should be included. The ability to turn off the CONTINUOS SPEED system and also engage the self-propel drive without turning on the cutting deck would also greatly enhance the user experience.

So how much does it cost? The current MSRP at the time of writing this article is 799.99 for the full kit. This includes the mower, two batteries, two chargers, and all of the other accessories. Overall I think this is a good value for individuals currently invested in the 20V MAX or 60V FLEXVOLT platform. Two 12.0 Ah batteries can provide a lot of additional work output if considering other battery outdoor power equipment such as a trimmer or blower. This mower as a kit would also be an excellent entry purchase for someone considering investing in the DeWALT platform.

Below is a Buy Now link to purchase the DeWALT DCMWSP255Y2 from our friends at ACME Tools.