DecisionalReview.info

Overall Rating

Terrific mower!
Our old gas mower keeled over halfway through the lawn last weekend … and then it rained every day all week. By Saturday, the grass was sopping wet and ankle deep.

We unpacked the Worx cordless mower from the box and - wow! - it gobbled through that grass! It cuts beautifully, neat and even, and the motor doesn’t complain even when you run over sticks (not that you are supposed to run over sticks, but sometimes it happens). The mulching function makes the clippings literally invisible.

We knew we wanted a cordless electric mower. There are half a dozen choices on the market now; this is one of the more expensive ones, but it’s worth it. As other reviews have noted, it’s very thoughtfully designed. There’s no assembly needed - it unfolds ready-to-go out of the box (and folds back down, with the squeeze of a lever, for storage). Yes, it’s 80 pounds, but the better gas mowers are up there too, and great ergonomics mean you won’t strain yourself pushing it. At 5′0″, I particularly appreciated the height-adjustable handle and easy-to-hold deadman switch. The grass height adjuster is a giant joystick, easy to see and reach. It starts instantly with the push of a button - get used to just letting go rather than letting it idle when you stop to think or sneeze; it’s not like a gas mower where you worry about starting it up again. It’s so quiet you can hear your iPod over it, and best of all - you smell nothing but sweet cut grass.

One great virtue of this model is that it has a removable battery. That means you can charge the battery indoors, if your mower lives in an unelectrified shed. It also means that the battery can winter indoors, where it will be safer and last longer. If you have acres and acres of lawn, you could even buy a second battery and swap it out when the first is spent. The battery compartment is well-designed and easy to access; the battery has a carrying handle (it’s heavy!) and a connector that snaps on in only one way. It’s just like charging your cell phone, only bigger.

The battery has a charge indicator - full, halfway, and empty. Our house sits on a ~7000 square foot lot. I mowed all the grass, front and back, and the indicator light went from full to half. (I don’t know if it really started out tippy-top full, though, because I didn’t charge it - I just unpacked and mowed). The ad copy says it’ll go 17,500 square feet per charge. From what I’ve seen so far, I’m not worried.

The downside: the manual is confusing. It talks about a “mulching attachment”, but really you mulch by leaving the only provided attachment off, not by putting it on. And of course it would be even better if cordless lawnmowers used NiCad batteries rather than lead acid (longer life, less pollution, much less heavy), but no manufacturer’s doing that yet.

Overall Rating

frustrating customer service, difficult to address product defects
My mower worked fine upon arrival, but then the battery wouldn’t charge. I thought it was the charger, but tests with a friend’s Worx mower showed it was a defective battery. It was nearly impossible to get through to customer service, as they put you on hold and then hang up on you when there are many callers in line. The first Worx customer service rep I finally reached was very unhelpful, telling me I had to return the whole item to Amazon. That didn’t make sense, since the 100 pound mower was already used and mostly functional except the battery. When Amazon couldn’t help me with replacement parts, the second Worx customer service rep was nice, and she hooked me up with a rep at the company that supplies the parts and accessories. I have a standing order for a new battery, but it’s taking weeks. I called again, and the ETA is September. Ridiculous, since I got this new mower for this summer season. Update: My new battery is now due to arrive June 12, thanks to my pestering of the rep and his subsequent attention. If I could edit the star rating I would put it back to 2 or 3 stars, but this process has still been frustrating. The mower, when it works, is admittedly nice.