The GreenWorks 25302 works as most of the other reviewers as stated when it works. I like that it is very quiet and couldn't start any easier. I've only mulched with it, and it does a fair job as long as you don't try to cut too much with it. One battery usually lasted me for my whole fenced in area, so I was pretty happy with that. It is also light and I could easily transport it to cut my mother's grass when needed. I've had several people ask me about it and I told them how much I liked it.
So, you're probably wondering why the three star review*. Well it was working fine and I turned it off for just a minute. It wouldn't start after that. After calling GreenWorks, they had me take it to the closest repair dealer that is an hour away. I should have been tipped off at how bad experience I was going to have when I wheeled the GreenWorks 25302 into their shop and they said "Oh no, not one of those." I was told it would be three weeks to repair.
After three weeks, I called and they said they hadn't had a chance too look at the GreenWorks 25302 yet as they only have one technician certified to repair it. I called several days later, and was told the technician looked at it but couldn't figure out what was wrong and to call back later. Several more days passed and I called again and was told they had to order a part. Never once did this repair facility call to update me on the status of the repair and I didn't have any options to have it repaired also.
Two more weeks passed. I called again and was told the part was on backorder. Getting very frustrated, I called GreenWorks and they agreed to send me a new replacement GreenWorks 25302 lawn mower. That was three weeks ago. I was originally told it would take up to two weeks to replace. I called GreenWorks to see where it was and they referred me to the repair shop as they said it is there responsibility to fill out the paper work. Then I called the repair shop and was told it was faxed to GreenWorks and they should know if it is approved and being shipped.
I can't get a straight answer from anyone and they are all saying it is the other parties responsibility. Maybe someday I'll get my replacement. At this point, I don't expect to have one until the end of October. So for $370, I got three months of use and no lawn mower to use. It took two hours round trip to take it be repaired and probably 15 phone calls so far. I'm still not done with the process yet.
So if you get lucky and don't have any issues, you should be very happy with the GreenWorks 25302. Just be prepared if something goes wrong to be without a Greenworks lawn mower for a very long time.
***EDIT***
Just wanted to follow up. I received the replacement GreenWorks lawn mower. It took about 10 weeks since I dropped it off at the repair shop. I'd advise anyone buying the GreenWorks 25302 lawn mower to find out where you'll have to take it for repairs before buying to make sure you know in advance what you'll have to do. I only buy products with four star ratings on Amazon so I rely heavily on other reviews. Hopefully you will have no issues. It's a good lawn mower as long as you don't need to repair it. I upped the rating to two stars since I finally got a working lawn mower, but it was a horrible process to go through.
***Update May 2015***
Decided to keep the replacement lawn mower instead of putting it on Craigslist. It has worked well for three weeks and I'm keeping my fingers crossed it holds up. The good thing about getting the replacement is that the repair company let me keep the batteries and charger, so now I have four batteries and two chargers. At least something good came out of the hassle I went through.
I strongly suggest that you find out where your local GreenWorks 25302 dealer is in case you have to use them. Mine was 50 miles away. Hopefully they will be better at repairing them as more and more come in.
Rating: 3/5
Review 2: GreenWorks MO40B410
NOTE: This is for the 20" GreenWorks lawn mower only! Apparently Amazon merged several mower sizes into this one product.
My wife and I wanted a lawn mower that wasn't as loud and noisy as a gas lawn mower, didn't require burning oil, and didn't vibrate as much. This GreenWorks MO40B410 fulfilled all of our wishes. We have a 1/3 acre lot, and this lawn mower with two batteries works just fine. The only time we need to recharge the batteries half way through mowing is when we wait way too long between mowings, and the motors need to do some extra work to chop down the tall weeds. This GreenWorks MO40B410 is fairly easy to push, since it is much lighter weight than a gas lawn mower. We also bought the electric trimmer that uses the same battery system, so we were sure to buy that kit with an extra charger and battery. Sometimes we use the extra battery, but it is nice to have just in case. Overall, I would buy this GreenWorks MO40B410 lawn mower again and am quite satisfied.
Review Update 5/17/2014
Still using this GreenWorks MO40B410 all the time, and it still works great. I've taken to only using one battery at a time, and keeping the other on the charger while mowing. Not sure it makes a difference, but I like it anyway to take a little break while mowing to switch batteries. When done mowing, I do tip the GreenWorks MO40B410 lawn mower on its side and clean the underside. Some more expensive lawn mowers have a water hose attachment to clean the underside, but I'm not sure I would spray water into the motor on this unit. :-) Using a stick works just as well, and seems to keep things working better.
Review Update 9/25/2014
So, I may have let the lawn go a little. I ignored the grass for a few weeks thanks to overtime at work, family matters, and just generally being lazy when I got home. The grass in the back yard made it up to a good 8-10" tall. I thought for sure I would need a gas lawn mower to power through that. Sure enough, my battery powered GreenWorks MO40B410 powered through it. Sure, I had to empty the silly bag way more often than I wanted (I never mulch), but the GreenWorks MO40B410 never stopped mowing because it was too thick. I'm still impressed, and still happy. Only thing I'm looking for is a grinder to sharpen the blades. Apparently a set of two replacement blades cost less than a "jackson" on Amazon with Prime shipping. I've found if I wait until the afternoon to mow when the grass is more dry, there is no need to clean the underside of the lawn mower. Still 100% satisfied with this GreenWorks MO40B410, and 100% recommended.
Rating: 5/5
Review 3: GreenWorks mo12b00
I'm updating this to 5 stars because even given the issues below, I would buy this GreenWorks mo12b00 again over any competitors I could find in this product category of lawn mowers. I've used this for 4 years now and it still works the same as it did new. I remarked below on poor cut quality in some scenarios where blade speed can fall too low which is still a problem, but this really only occurs when mulching. Cutting thick or tall grass with the discharge open improves the pace and cut quality in this scenario but there are limitations, mowing fields is still going to produce a crappy cut no matter what you use.
Let's get a few things out of the way, these do not impact the product score, as they are common to all products in this category:
1. This is a corded lawn mower. Dealing with the cord is sometimes a pain. If you have a lot of trees or obstacles you may want to consider something else.
2. Maximum power is limited to a 120V outlet and what can safely make it out an extension cord (about 1650W, for reference 1HP is ~745W).
3. With no batteries to wear out or engines to refuel/re oil, this is very cheap to operate. Running this GreenWorks mo12b00 lawn mower at peak output generally costs 8-25c/hour. You also hit an advantage in purchase price as gas or cordless lawn mowers with the same features generally cost 50-100% more.
4. Short of hitting something, bogging down an electric motor generally allows it to produce more power and speed back up again (unlike a gasoline engine).
So, what's good about this GreenWorks mo12b00? Well:
1. 21" Steel deck. The actual blade is 19.5" leaving you a little less than an inch on either side of the deck that won't be cut. You can get a much closer cut with this than the B&D plastic models that have a very thick plastic housing. It's also going to survive rocks/sticks much better than the plastic ones. Both the discharge cover and bag seem to attach easily and solidly. It also makes it look more like a lawn mower and less like a big kid's toy.
2. Light (<55lbs). Since you're not carrying your power source onboard it will be lighter than any other GreenWorks lawn mower in this size class (compare to 75-90lb for gas or battery electric). Larger rear wheels give easy maneuverability. Single lever height adjust works well and is spring loaded so you can raise or lower it with one hand.
3. 3 in one operation - A lot of electric lawn mowers whether they're cordless or corded are limited on power, most get around this by using more efficient blade designs that generate less lift but mulching can be slower. With a reasonably well manicured lawn it doesn't matter much, but cut quality and performance drop off a lot if mulching tall or really thick grass. Since this GreenWorks mo12b00 has a side discharge that remains an option for thick grass and improves cut speed significantly without wasting your clippings, quite a few electrics don't have a discharge option.
The bad?
1. Wheels/axles could be shielded a little bit so the cord doesn't tend to wrap around it and go under.
2. Mulching anything thick is slow, mowing through thick grass can take quite a bit of time (and tends to clump the output.) I think this is more related to the blade design, when you move fast through thick patches it will cut but leave a few standing, if it had more lift I think it would draw these up (and also help propel the discharge better). Unfortunately the blade seems to have proprietary mounting holes so that's hard to do.
Now, into the nitty-gritty:
This GreenWorks mo12b00 lawn mower is powered by a brushed DC electric motor (Globe 7080). Brushed DC motors are lighter and cheaper than AC synchronous motors or induction motors. However they're generally less durable or efficient.
The Globe 7080 has a peak efficiency (their spec) of 68%. Peak efficiency at 3500RPM (590W output at 7.3A), Peak power at 2245RPM (860W output at 13A). Here's why that's a problem:
Lawn mowers are generally limited (by agreement) to a maximum blade tip speed of 19000 feet per minute (for safety of items that may be thrown from the GreenWorks mo12b00). Higher blade speeds give more lift helping the grass get lifted into the cutting path and making cleaner cuts. At max efficiency RPM the blade is moving about 17,800FPM on this lawn mower. If you start cutting too fast you'll bog it down. Because it's electric it picks up torque so it will keep spinning but you don't hit peak power until about 11,600FPM. This is far too slow and you'll start seeing missed cuts and ragged lines (I noticed this in actual usage).
So since you can't really cut that slow, maximum usable power is closer to 600-650W, or less than 1HP. By comparison, a Honda GCV160 engine at 3600RPM (a common governor setting for push mowers) outputs about 3425W, falling to around 2800W at 3000RPM.
Obviously there are electrical supply limitations to a lawn mower like the GreenWorks mo12b00. It's perfectly serviceable but nothing amazing, if they ran a brushless motor in here it would undoubtedly cost more but the efficiency could be much higher (>85%) and could be designed for peak power much closer to the ideal blade speed.
Rating 5/5
