Homelite 24 Volt 20" Cordless Electric Lawn Mower UT13126

Okay for small to average yards – First of all to clear up any confusion, this is the 3 way, 20" STEEL deck version as Bunnings also sell a Homelite 18" 24V plastic deck version. I've had my Homelite 24 volt mower now for a year, so here are my observations. The weakness of this mower is the sealed lead acid battery system. To get the best out of this mower, users need to be… Read more

aware of a few things.

Firstly, the supplied charger has no auto level cutoff, so if you leave it on too long the battery will overcharge and reduce the number of charge cycles from it's lifetime. Either use it with a timer switch, or get a charger meant for deep cycle batteries.

The batteries are hard wired so they can't be swapped out for a fresh set to continue mowing. You have to stop, recharge and continue the next day.

To get the greatest number of charge cycles, don't mow until the battery is totally drained.

Always recharge straight after mowing. Don't let it sit discharged.

This mower prefers to mow at the 3rd height notch or higher. It doesn't like to "scalp" lawns. It simply doesn't have the power of a petrol engine, but if you mow frequently the lawn will look great.

I really like how this mower mulches. Passing over leaves atomizes them leaving no trace.

Side chute works great and is the best option on longer grass.

Being battery powered it's easy to stop, empty the catcher and restart again.

But this mower could have been better. I would have liked to have seen the mower powered by lithium batteries instead of two heavy SLA's. This would have saved 10+ kg of weight. I have since converted mine to lithium batteries. A brushless motor would also have been more powerful and efficient.

This mower isn't for everyone. There are some lawns that just need the grunt of a petrol mower. And there are better battery mowers out there, but all in all this one will do the job, as long as the battery is cared for and you don't have a jungle to mow. Instant start, no fuel, no oil, no mess, 3 way mowing for mulching, catching or side discharge all in one unit. Basic charger can overcharge the batteries. Lead acid batteries are heavy, have limited life and are expensive to replace, start lever is flimsy..