Makita DLM461PG2 36V Cordless Mower

Does the job – Newly purchased and test driven once. With around 800M2 of lawn (old Buffalo with some cooch and Kyke) the Makita is replacing a 20 YO Victa which was wearing out (Wheels mainly, the old 2 stroke was still running well). With 2X6A batteries it worked well although at around 500M2 it cut out in heavier grass around the sprinklers, refitted spare batteries (2X5A) and completed the job without issues and plenty of spare battery capacity at the end. (Product specification says 800M2, it might have done that but I didn't want to stuff around) Dislikes - 1. Handle interlock becomes tiring on hands (was glad for the break), suggest new models have lighter spring and that interlock handle recesses into main handle for easier grip. 2. I like to be able to hose down the mower at the end of the job, I'm worried that water will get into the battery chamber and deteriorate/corrode the battery connections, suggest a drain hole be fitted in newer versions so water corrosion is not a long term issue. 3. I used the mulcher rather than the catcher, it seemed to be a bit clogged at the end and required a bit of washing to clear, although I didn't notice any issues while cutting. Likes. Easy enough to push, similar performance to the old Victa in that I would normally have to refill the fuel tank at the 600M2 mark, but a lot quieter, and no issues starting.

good for small well maintained yard, not so good for typical suburban medium to larger yards – As a reference, my previous mower was a 30 year old 2 stroke Victa, which served me well. This is my first electric/battery powered mower. I chose Makita as they have been around for a long time in electrical tools, so figured they should be decent quality and have parts support for a long time. My property is 722m², but only around 30-40% of that is actually lawn.

I chose this model as it had a proper steel chassis and didn't seem too 'plasticy'. Our yard has a lot of rocks and an excavator for a dog, so it has undulations, and quite a few random rocks around. A plastic body mower wouldn't last 1 mow before it had a hole in the side.

Pros: * electric power is great, no more storing or mixing fuel, no oil changes (on 4 strokes) or maintenance apart from a wash every so often. *battery charger is easy to use * easy to start, no more cranky mowers that don't want to start, no need for choke, yanking on pull start chord. * metal chassis to handle yards with rocks and better endurance, ball bearing wheels, not toy like as are a lot of other battery powered mowers * Automatic speed control is, in theory good that it automatically adjusts speed according to load, but it doesn't work that well (refer cons) * very quiet, can mow in the evening without annoying neighbours * overall quality reasonably good. Need to be careful with battery cover on mower, could easily be snapped off and the plastic rear catcher flap seems very flimsy. * mulching attachment is handy, although questionable how effective it actually is in mulching

Cons: * Battery life is poor. This comes with the largest capacity batteries Makita offers in the 18v range (6Ah). I have a 722m² typical Aussie backyard, however only around 30-40% of the yard is lawn. In summer, when the grass gets even a little thick, it will chop through the batteries. I would get maybe 20 minutes before the batteries are flat. It has taken me up to 4 charge cycles to mow the yard sometimes. And charging takes about an hour, so ends up taking a day to mow the grass. I will now have to invest in a second pair of batteries which is going to cost around $320..... So it has become an expensive mower. There is ample space in the battery compartment for physically larger batteries. Why not offer the option of fitting larger batteries like a 10Ah.

* Not nearly enough power. My old Victa would run circles around this mower for power. If the Victa was 3HP, I reckon this thing would be lucky to be 2HP. If there is any thickness in the grass it will constantly cut out and need resetting every time. Even when reducing the walking speed down to a crawl. Resetting requires releasing the hand lever, pushing and coordinating the button in on the grab handle and then pulling the lever again. Gets very frustrating very quickly. If I've got thicker grass, I end up having to lift the ride height to level 6 to get the level down, and then drop it back down to 4 or 5 to get the desired length. You really need to preempt what you are about to mow and adjust walking speed to compensate.

* The auto speed/torque controller is good in theory, but not great for a yard with patchy grass. It is too slow to react to from slow to fast speed which results in the mower cutting out when it hits a thick patch suddenly. And then when you reset the mower, it starts in low speed again, so will cut out again as soon as you move the mower forward into the the thick grass. It desperately needs a high speed override. It does have a low speed override ('whisper mode'), but more importantly no high speed override. The Makita line trimmer I have has both an auto and full speed override control.

* Grass catcher system is terrible and the catcher itself fairly fiddly to mount back on the mower. The grass doesn't throw to the back of the catcher, so so it just all backs up at the front of the catcher instead. I prefer the old hard plastic catchers that maintain their shape. You'll rarely manage to fill a catcher before it all blocks up the mower. Don't even bother to use it if the lawn is even remotely damp. When I remove the catcher, I have to hand scoop out all the grass from the back of the mower back into the catcher or a big lump gets left on the ground. The mower itself also doesn't throw the grass into the catcher very well either. Grass gets all backed up under the mower so motor has to work a lot harder and it grass is left behind on the ground.

* Needs the option of a 4 blade. The double ended bar type blade doesn't throw the grass clippings into the catcher properly. The cut quality is poor, it hacks the grass rather than cut it. Need to keep sharpening the blade every couple of mows or it just rips the grass out of the ground. A 4 blade disc (as per the petrol mowers) would also assist in directing the grass clippings into the catcher. Also the blade is solid mounted, doesn't pivot like the petrol mowers. So as soon as you strike something solid, instead of the blades pivoting back to absorb the shock, the mower just senses an overload and cuts out.

*Not fussed on the large offset of the wheels on one side. My old Victa was the same. Means you can only mow along a fence line in one direction, otherwise be forced to 'crab' the mower along the fence line.

I would recommend this mower for small, smooth, well maintained yards. But for the average Aussie medium to large suburban blocks, where grass is mowed fortnightly rather than weekly, has some weeds and inconsistent grass patches, then I wouldn't recommend it. I really believe battery powered mowers have some great potential, but based on the Makita, I think they still have a long way to go before they completely replace the trusty old fossil fuel powered mowers we are accustomed to.