SOLAR MOWER - test drive

Test Drive
	My first run was really thrilling, the first thing I noticed was the quiet. The whoosh of the blade sounds like a big fan and then as I started into the cut I could actually hear the grass clippings shredding. Since my rural "lawn" is mostly weeds I take a particular delight in hearing the taller weeds being shredded as I roll over them.
First Day - June 30, 2005 In operation I noticed that the Ammeter shows around 20 Amps when cutting an inch or so off the lawn, and as I hit taller grass the current draw goes up toward 30 Amps in long grass. The Volt meter hovers around 10 while the motor is running. The motor speed does seem to change a bit as I hit denser grass, but it still cuts as fast as I can walk. I am not planning to use the mower for more than 20 minutes to 1/2 hour at a time so as not to wear down the battery. The deeper you cycle a battery the shorter it's life will be.
July 16, 2005 review Now that I have used the mower over 6 times, I can say that I am really pleased with the performance! It performs as good or better than my 2 year old 5HP Sears Craftsman. I have used the mower for periods of up to 1/2 hour, and found that my 40 Watts of solar panels will re-charge it in less than 24 hours on clear sunny days. Cloudy days take longer, of course. I have broken up my 1/8 acre of lawn areas into 3 sections that take 20 minutes or so each to do, and I am able to hit each area every 5-8 days which works just fine for me!
June 2008 I have use the mower exclusively on our 1/4 acre property for 3 years now on the same battery and blade and it is still performing very well. At the beginning of each season, I remove the blade and sharpen it on my bench grinder. I also do a thorough systems check. At the end of each season, I disconnect the battery and store it inside to protect it from freezing which could damage it - we get lows below -10F here in Maine! Overall I could not be more pleased with the mower and its performance. It may only run for about 25 minutes per charge - but then so do I! It is a heavy mower to push around and slopes make it hard, sweaty work in the summer.
June 2009 The battery finally died! I have been abusing it and running the mower until the blade really slows down and now the battery barely holds a charge and runs at about 8 Volts. Time for a new one. As a rough guess I think I have run the mower about 150 times for 20+ minutes. An new one is $70.00 plus a core charge (to recycle the battery) of $3.75. Lead acid batteries are one of the most recycled products on the planet and all the parts can be recycled, lead, plastic, and acid. So be sure to turn your used battery in to the place you bought it or take it to an auto service place for recycling.
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