What is a Cordless Lawn Mower?
Every since grass has been growing, people have needed some method to keep it in check. While our ancestors may have been forced to use knives and scythes, we are fortunate enough to benefit from technological advances and spare ourselves the ineffective manual labor. The earliest form of the modern lawn mower was invented in 1830 by Edwin Budding and made lawn maintenance much simpler by attaching a cylindrical blade to a propeller.
Budding’s invention was improved over time, and made lighter and easier to use. In 1897, the Benz Company of Germany and the Coldwell Lawn Mower Company of New York made the first gas-powered lawnmowers. Although these gas motors were rudimentary, they paved the way for the power motors that we still use today. When engines became lighter and more powerful in the early 1930s, the easier to use rotary mower was invented. Once the rotary mower became more common in the 1950s, it paved the way for more advancement in energy sources.
Currently, rotary mowers are powered by two main methods: liquid fuels or electricity. Liquid fuels can include gasoline, diesel, or ethanol. Electric powered motors are either corded, or cordless. While an electric motor is a big cost and environment saver, the obvious drawback to a corded mower is that a power cord plugged into an energy source limits its travel. Not only is it a challenge to use a corded mower on a large lawn, but it is also dangerous to use sharp blades around an electric cord. That is why the cordless electric mower is the best solution for cost effective and environmentally friendly grass cutting.
The cordless electric mower is powered by a set of rechargeable batteries. The specific number of batteries can change depending on how much run time or power the mower provides. Simply by charging the batteries overnight you can mow up to an acre of grass. Some cordless mowers are even set up with their batteries placed externally so you can replace a used set with a fully recharged one. There is no cord to wrestle with as you mow the lawn and no danger of electrocuting yourself on exposed wires. The cordless electric lawn mower shows just how far the lawn mower has evolved since Budding’s first model.
Under the right circumstances, a cordless lawn mower can be a nice middle ground between two previously unsavory choices — noisy, fume-belching gas models and hundreds of feet of clumsy extension cord. The advantages are obvious: Gas mowers are often difficult to start, can be deafening to those in close proximity to them, and are one of the prime villains in increased air pollution. Riding lawnmowers may eliminate the start-up problem (no cords to yank), but they also eliminate the peripheral exercise benefits of do-it-yourself lawn care. And if your lawn is studded with trees, bushes, lawn sculptures, etc., trying to operate with a long cord can be an exercise in frustration. Enter the cordless lawn mower, which runs off a battery — typically 24 volts. This is more than enough power for the average small lawn, equal to roughly five horsepower in a gas-fueled mower. And although the battery will generally need to be recharged after each use, it can rejuvenate itself within 24 hours.
