MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: grafy82 on November 28, 2015, 02:29:09 PM
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Has anyone had any experience or know someone who has with these new Victa 80v cordless mowers? I'm seriously considering selling my ride-on (too big for our yard) and getting one of these.
Obviously they are not toys anymore with a 21" steel deck, 80v li-ion batteries and a 1200w variable speed motor. I would like to get away from fuel and pull starting and I have a solar panel set up to charge all my cordless batteries so I think this might be the go. Opinions please?
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Can't really comment on the Victa, but do you own any cordless tools? ie. Makita 18V.
They have a range of 36v (2X 18v batteries) garden stuff, including a lawn mower. Might work out more cost effective in the long run if your batteries and charger have multiple uses, not to mention easier to obtain in years to come. With the new 5ah batteries, the stuff would have reasonable run time. Haven't seen the 36v mower in the flesh, but I've got the 18v line trimmer for camping and for the missus to use around her veggie garden. Works a treat!
I have seen Makita's 36v straight shaft brush cutter work in the flesh, pretty impressive. I'd consider one, IF my trusty Shindaiwa ever died.
http://www.makita.com.au/power-garden (http://www.makita.com.au/power-garden)
Having said all that. The Makita mower looks a bit toyish compared to the Victa
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I was thinking about the ryobi that uses 2 18v batts as I already have a heap of ryobi gear, but the deck is quite small and plastic and it just looks like a toy. Was thinking the victa at more than double the voltage should have a lot more guts for when the lawn gets left a little long. The missus will kill me if I bring home a toy mower after selling the ride-on.
Cheers
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Ok; I recently went down this route -- but bought the Ego 56vt mower -- from Masters....
This was WED week ago when it was on special for $629; less $100; less another 10%; less an extra 10 bucks.... (that bit only because the "me generation" that was processing my sale can't use the 10% button on the calculator; me thinks; LOL..... ) then they were also throwing in the rapid charger into the deal as well... (worth $230 I recall)...
Anyway I degrees. ....
So the thing with the 80vt Victas according to the sales dude is that the piece under the deck that holds the blades is made of plastic. ... this is true as he rolled one over and showed me....
Now the thing is I can only be 95% sure it was the victa .... I recall the 80vts thing.... but either way I suggest you check that out before getting sold on the victas....
At the time I was distracted -- chomping on the bit and stoked with the discounts.... :)
Got the same deals that night on their chainsaw :)
Shake&Bake BB
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no yard is too big for a rideon! **** I hate mowing....
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no yard is too big for a rideon! **** I hate mowing....
So I thought too bird, but alas, with only 900 squares to mow and a lot of trees, sheds and the like to maneuver around, the back/forward 48 point turns get pretty annoying.
Ok; I recently went down this route -- but bought the Ego 56vt mower -- from Masters....
This was WED week ago when it was on special for $629; less $100; less another 10%; less an extra 10 bucks.... (that bit only because the "me generation" that was processing my sale can't use the 10% button on the calculator; me thinks; LOL..... ) then they were also throwing in the rapid charger into the deal as well... (worth $230 I recall)...
Anyway I degrees. ....
So the thing with the 80vt Victas according to the sales dude is that the piece under the deck that holds the blades is made of plastic. ... this is true as he rolled one over and showed me....
Now the thing is I can only be 95% sure it was the victa .... I recall the 80vts thing.... but either way I suggest you check that out before getting sold on the victas....
At the time I was distracted -- chomping on the bit and stoked with the discounts.... :)
Got the same deals that night on their chainsaw :)
Shake&Bake BB
I have seen the EGO 56v online but we don't have masters here and it's $100 bucks postage from Cairns. The big unanswered question is, how does it go mate. Does it have plenty of guts?
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Well if you're not in a super hurry.... I can get you that answer in a week or two ... when I take her out of the box and charge er up for er very first outing....
But imo it will be a very good test - because it will be dealing with 2 hilly (guessing 20-30 degree) sloping yards.... full of everything from stones and small rocks; lots of twigs and bits of branches; thickets and small ruts....
When I went through all of that with the mower specialist at Masters. ..... he said:
"yep -- the Ego will do anything a petrol mower will do....."... I said REALLY.... are you sure??
He said he was very confident about it ..... I asked well if it can't hack it ... can I return it for a refund "not fit for purpose"... he said YES I can....
Shake&Bake BB
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Nice, good to know. The YouTube videos I've watched on them look promising.
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Based on past experiences with various battery tools, the bit that scares me is replacing the battery if / when it dies in a "couple of years"?
Will a replacement even be available & how much - $300 - $400?
Or do you just toss it & buy a new $600 mower?
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Based on past experiences with various battery tools, the bit that scares me is replacing the battery if / when it dies in a "couple of years"?
Will a replacement even be available & how much - $300 - $400?
Or do you just toss it & buy a new $600 mower?
Batteries are $220ea at this stage, but they do have a 2 year warranty and the mower comes with 2 batteries included. I think the EGO 56v batteries have a 3 year warranty. The victa batteries have a stated life of 500+ cycles so even if you mowed once a week, that's potentially 9.5 year (if they don't die). Even at half that life, that would be a good innings for a battery and hopefully the replacement price will come down by then.
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Is it wrong to use a ride on for 20sqm of grass?
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I was thinking about the ryobi that uses 2 18v batts as I already have a heap of ryobi gear, but the deck is quite small and plastic and it just looks like a toy. Was thinking the victa at more than double the voltage should have a lot more guts for when the lawn gets left a little long. The missus will kill me if I bring home a toy mower after selling the ride-on.
Cheers
Had a quick look at the Makita in Mitre 10 this morning and seems the same as Ryobi. Small and almost all plastic.
Would be perfect for my folks 20sqm townhouse yard, but not much else.
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Is it wrong to use a ride on for 20sqm of grass?
Ha-ha, I got called all sorts of lazy when I first got the ride on.
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Had a quick look at the Makita in Mitre 10 this morning and seems the same as Ryobi. Small and almost all plastic.
Would be perfect for my folks 20sqm townhouse yard, but not much else.
Sent from my GT-I9507 using Tapatalk
Yeah mate, I think they wouldn't last too long just looking at them. I like the idea of the steel deck on the victa, and the 21" cut seems a winner too. My petrol rover is only 18" cut. Doesn't sound like much but it will add up in the amount of passes needed.
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I must have been living in la la land until I read this post !!
Was aware of multi 12v stuff like ryobi etc, but had no idea about the lawn mower and this new 80v victa really has me excited.
Also very intersted in the blower.
When my 4stroke masport karks it I will definately be getting one of these...if I can wait that long >:D >:D
Think I can already hear that ohv making too much clatter >:D >:D
Cheers
Rob
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Thanks Grafy82,
like some others who have posted - I wasn't aware that battery powered mowers were available. Thus I have no experience with them so cannot comment on the model you are researching. I will certainly consider these when my current mower or line trimmer becomes troublesome. The EGO brand ones (only 56 volts though) seem very popular - anyone have experience with these to add to the mix?
SORRY - just noticed others have already mentioned this brand... I am a bit slow sometimes...
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Is it wrong to use a ride on for 20sqm of grass?
Nope, although my block is a bit bigger than the norm. I had the same concern when we purchased the Hustler, it's my new best friend
GG
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I have had the Victa 80V mower and line trimmer for a month with no worries yet.
I am on half an acre and the hand mower does the areas the ride on can't reach.
The blade is bolted to the mower with a nylon nut to a plastic hub which I think would be to reduce centrifugal rotation weight.
I picked up a 3rd battery on eBay brand new for $100 so that was a bonus.
The batteries in real world seem to last between 25 and 30 minutes but the rapid charger fully charges a flat battery in 30 mins so with 3 batteries I have no issues.
The motor auto adjusts to the torque required and ramps up when going through thicker stuff and there is certainly no issue with power and I still can't believe how quiet they are, you really won't believe the noise levels.
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I have had the Victa 80V mower and line trimmer for a month with no worries yet.
I am on half an acre and the hand mower does the areas the ride on can't reach.
The blade is bolted to the mower with a nylon nut to a plastic hub which I think would be to reduce centrifugal rotation weight.
I picked up a 3rd battery on eBay brand new for $100 so that was a bonus.
The batteries in real world seem to last between 25 and 30 minutes but the rapid charger fully charges a flat battery in 30 mins so with 3 batteries I have no issues.
The motor auto adjusts to the torque required and ramps up when going through thicker stuff and there is certainly no issue with power and I still can't believe how quiet they are, you really won't believe the noise levels.
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Very good to know, thanks mate. Do the nylon nut and plastic hub look like they'll last well? I guess if your not hitting rocks and stumps they should be fine.
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There is a guy based in Brisbane who only uses rechargeable units for his mowing business. He uses all the brands and makes comments here and there which are as real world as it gets. Check him out on facebook - EcoMow
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Grafy82,
Is this going to be another essential bit of kit for clearing camp sites? >:D
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There is a guy based in Brisbane who only uses rechargeable units for his mowing business. He uses all the brands and makes comments here and there which are as real world as it gets. Check him out on facebook - EcoMow
Cheers Coiled, will definitely check him out.
Grafy82,
Is this going to be another essential bit of kit for clearing camp sites? >:D
Ha-ha, no way. If I have to do that much work just to clear the site, I'll move on.
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There is a guy based in Brisbane who only uses rechargeable units for his mowing business. He uses all the brands and makes comments here and there which are as real world as it gets. Check him out on facebook - EcoMow
Just checked his page out. He puts those mowers through some seriously thick grass with no troubles. He bought the Kobalt 80v which is essentially the same as the victa motor and battery but a slightly different shape. The Kobalt has a 5year mower and 3year battery warranty compared to the victa which is only 2years on mower and batteries. Problem is, the Kobalt is only available at Masters which we don't have here in Townsville. Its $100 delivery from Cairns and it would obviously be a pain to get any warranty issues sorted without a local store to return it to. I also wonder if there will be any warranty in years to come with the way Masters is going.
Thinking the Victa might be the go. Just gotta spruce up the cox ride on and sell it to fund the new toy.
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lf it dosent make noise ,use petrol then it not in my shed . Nobody would ever know l was working if the mower is so quiet >:D :cheers:
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lf it dosent make noise ,use petrol then it not in my shed .
So the poor camper trailer has to live outside then? ;D
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If ya want a good electric mower with plenty of grunt.....
These are pretty good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuoS6axodxQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuoS6axodxQ)
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Or one of these, for the slightly larger block you need to mow in a hurry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVkTyew_bC0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVkTyew_bC0)
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Ha-ha, was wondering when you'd chime in Jeepers. :cheers: Classic
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Digging up an oldie.
I ended up buying an 80v Victa cordless mower about a week after the last post on here. It was the last one on the shelf so Bunnings knocked $100 of the price for me which got me the mower, 2 batteries and a charger for $600. A couple of months later, they started running out the 80v range as they said it was only a promo thing with Victa. So this sucked that I'd just bought into a system that would now be phased out, but it meant the other skins would be getting cheaper.
I picked up the 80v straight shaft whipper snipper for $75 down from $299 originally (it's a brilliant, powerful and light line trimmer). A week later I grabbed another battery which had been reduced from $259 to only $50 and got another charger for only $25. I was eyeing off the 80v chainsaw which started at $399 and every couple of weeks when I was back at bunnos I would check the price out. They dropped to $299, then $199, then to $99 then down to $50! I waited until the last one was on the shelf and then asked the Bunnings guy what the best price was that he could do. He said, "how does 20 bucks sound?" Needless to say, i grabbed it there and then. So now I have the mower, snipper, chainsaw, 3 batteries and 2 chargers which are all performing well after just over a year.
The reason i brought this back up is because Bunnings now have the new Victa 82v range in store and it appears to be almost identical, but it unfortunately looks like the batteries aren't interchangeable which is a real shame as there's a new 4.0ah battery which would give ample run time to do my whole yard on one battery. But a little birdy in Bunnings today told me that you only need to file off some plastic to make the batteries fit so I may have to try this out.
Cheers
Grafy
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I noticed the 82v stuff on the shelf at the smaller of my two local Bunnings about a year ago. The big one hasn't got them in yet. The Kobalt 80v stuff that masters sold was almost identical and the batteries just needed a small modification to fit in the Victa so is probably the same as that. I am pretty sure it is all just rebaged greenworks stuff out of the US
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Very interesting fellas !!
Next time I need a new mower, this is what I'm going to change over to.
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I noticed the 82v stuff on the shelf at the smaller of my two local Bunnings about a year ago. The big one hasn't got them in yet. The Kobalt 80v stuff that masters sold was almost identical and the batteries just needed a small modification to fit in the Victa so is probably the same as that. I am pretty sure it is all just rebaged greenworks stuff out of the US
Yep tryagain, just rebadged Greenworks gear and Greenworks do a 6.0ah battery which would be even better again.
Very interesting fellas !!
Next time I need a new mower, this is what I'm going to change over to.
Definitely worth a look archer63. I've had no dramas with my gear so far.
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Stuff that get a mowing contractor :cup: There all Great blokes :cup: :cheers:
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Yep tryagain, just rebadged Greenworks gear and Greenworks do a 6.0ah battery which would be even better again.
I had my eye on some of the chainsaws (were about 6 left) at my local bunnings and were down to $50 but were also waiting for the Kobalt batteries to get cheaper when masters were ramping up their discounts, then one day walked into bunnings and they had all gone and the same at masters, would have been good for the camper but alas wasn't meant to be.
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Stuff that get a mowing contractor :cup: There all Great blokes :cup: :cheers:
I've heard of a few mowing blokes of questionable character, known for cutting other blokes grass 😉
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I'd be interested to work out how the got to 82v. I understand that in the states they market 18v stuff as 20v (36v as 40v) becuase of the nature of the lithium batteries and their open voltage or something.
Makes sense that 80v might be marketing speak for 4x18v. 82v could be something different, meaning that while the batteries might be able to be filed down the internal voltages could be different.
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Wife wanted an electric mower at the end of last year so needless to say we ended up with the new 82v Victa, I was deadset against it having seen how Shit electric mowers have been in the past.
Got it home, charged it up and went out to show her just how Shit they really are.
Let's just say I was totally wrong, It handles our yard without missing a beat and has done so for the last 4 months, and the best part of it, she enjoys using it that much that she gets out and does the lawn leaving me to do the rest of the gardening at the same time :D
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I'd be interested to work out how the got to 82v. I understand that in the states they market 18v stuff as 20v (36v as 40v) becuase of the nature of the lithium batteries and their open voltage or something.
Makes sense that 80v might be marketing speak for 4x18v. 82v could be something different, meaning that while the batteries might be able to be filed down the internal voltages could be different.
I think from memory there are 23(?) 18650 cells that make up the battery pack, the cells are wired in series to make up to 80ish volts, the cells don't give off constant voltage so they're usually rated at the average voltage across their discharge curve from 100% to full discharge, for most Li-ions, that's from 4.2 to 2.7. A lot of the batteries discharge curve flattens out around 3.6 volts so that what many of them are rated at but you add 0.1v what you claim each battery is and you easily gain an extra 2v rating for the pack.
From memory, I heard rumours of issues between Victa and the manufacturer so I am guessing the slight tweaking in design/specifications is to do with licencing, this is mostly just speculation though.
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Ok My current health situation brings me here .. Get a mower guy in $50 + each shot for about 12 months worth [ 2 mows a month so about 24 give or take ] of mows or fork out for the electric ..
Even after Ive healed up pull starting the mower will be on a barred list for a good 12 months .. Wife / family cant start the current petrol mower either ..
Those that have Battery powered mowers, How have they been stacking up ? over how many years ? .. Battery troubles replacement parts etc etc ..
Our 10 + year old Rover 4 stroke Briggs is feeling a bit of age and I cant do the pull start thingy with the O'l girl .. Yard mow is Ok in around 45 minutes with some double passes needed over a single carport area if left for too long between mows .. Preferred cut grass length is about 50mm out the back and a bit shorter front ..
The old 3.5 Briggs used to do it reasonably well ..
Would say an 80+ V battery mower something be roughly the same torque as a 3.5 Briggs ? [ cant find the specs on Briggs for torque ]
TIA
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Hi,
No chance of making it electric start?
I took the winder of an old mower and used an electric drill and a bodged socket in the chuck to spin the recalcitrant mower till it started.
Cheers
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk
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Ok My current health situation brings me here .. Get a mower guy in $50 + each shot for about 12 months worth [ 2 mows a month so about 24 give or take ] of mows or fork out for the electric ..
Even after Ive healed up pull starting the mower will be on a barred list for a good 12 months .. Wife / family cant start the current petrol mower either ..
Those that have Battery powered mowers, How have they been stacking up ? over how many years ? .. Battery troubles replacement parts etc etc ..
Our 10 + year old Rover 4 stroke Briggs is feeling a bit of age and I cant do the pull start thingy with the O'l girl .. Yard mow is Ok in around 45 minutes with some double passes needed over a single carport area if left for too long between mows .. Preferred cut grass length is about 50mm out the back and a bit shorter front ..
The old 3.5 Briggs used to do it reasonably well ..
Would say an 80+ V battery mower something be roughly the same torque as a 3.5 Briggs ? [ cant find the specs on Briggs for torque ]
TIA
Edz, just as an alternative have a look at the EGO 56volt range, they have a mower which is self propelled and gives a run time of approx 1hr from memory.
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Hope your recovery is coming along nicely.
:cheers:
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Given how I usualy improvise most things the drill idea would work great Aust, Id just have to get someone to work on the top of the mower ATM though ..
Cant bend or put too much strain between the chest and the hips for the next couple of months ..
Thanks Potts , Yep pushing up on 5 days post OP , Trying the best to rest the Torso section as much as possible .. Funny how it effects most everything you do . :'(
Besides a Shiny new toy is always nice to play with, Even if it is in a very limited capacity . :laugh:
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I reckon this would be the easier way to go:
https://www.stihl.co.uk/VIKING-Products/120891/iMow-Robotic-Mower.aspx (https://www.stihl.co.uk/VIKING-Products/120891/iMow-Robotic-Mower.aspx)
If that's cost prohibitive, then I reckon that option 2 is one of these. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat)
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80v Victa still going strong after lots of use. No problems so far. I see Bunnings have just released an 18" deck version of the 82V mower for $499 which is a fair bit cheaper than the 21" cut model. Might be an option for you.
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Thanks Graffy thats what I wanted to hear , Yep the 18" Deck is one of them I was looking at, at the Big green shed and youtube vids etc..
Hows that camper trailer of yours holding up now over the years ?
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Buy a Honda Key Start mower..
http://www.melbournesmowercentre.com.au/key-start-mowers (http://www.melbournesmowercentre.com.au/key-start-mowers)
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I've been happy enough with a ryobi 36v mower. I bought it 2nd hand too see if it would cope with the lawn. It is a little underpowered, but in reality it's only a problem when I've left the yard a bit long, and only for the thick bits. It'll do my 350m2 of lawn on a 5ah battery, except when I need to do two cuts on the long stuff. It's light, quiet, easy to start and requires almost nil maintenance. I won't be going back to petrol.