Makita 36V Mower

Back to Makita twice in 3years – I bought this mower from Sydney tool's in October 2023, was great for about 9 months then the mower started to lose power and wouldn't mow my small lawn, about 45sqm. I took it back directly to Makita and they had it for about 3 weeks and fixed what they said was a faulty motor. I have been using it again since then and it is now doing the same… Read more

thing, I can't get through cutting my small lawn. This time a took it back to Sydney tools and asked them to send it back. I asked about getting a full refund of $580.00, the warranty will run out soon and no doubt this will happen again, they said no. I will never buy an electric mower again, just went out and bought a petrol one from Aldi for $299 with 5 year warranty, so when this finally packs it i. I have a backup. I would not recommend this mower.

Battery mowers almost good enough – Fairly happy. Was tossing up between the 460 and 535. Ended up with the 460. The 535 is rated at 8 additional kilos, and even the 460 is heavy at nearly 30 kilos. This mower is less powerful than I expected, even after reading the 1 star reviews here. That being said, adjusting the height setting to 4 stopped the mower from frequently stalling.… Read more

For people who want a very short cut, you will be extremely disappointed. It just does not have the necessary power/momentum. I owned a cheap Homelite corded electric mower from 7 years ago, which had more power than this Makita.

The steel frame should add to the durability of the mower. The mulch/catcher guard at the back is plastic, but likely replaceable. Most electric mowers are plastic. My last plastic mower completely destroyed it's deck in two years of mowing a rocky yard.

My yard is 500sqm of lawn. I got 2/3 of it done on two 5ah bartteries. The 40 minute estimated runtime was accurate. I will be buying a couple generic 9ah batteries so that I can do the whole yard in one charge. I would not recommend a self-propelled model, as Choice showed they get half the battery life of the pushed models.

Performance was barely acceptable for a yard that didn't need mowing. Anything over 6 inches and I doubt this mower will cope. The mulching attachment is nice, but contributes to clogging, as the grass is not expelled. Using the catcher would probably make it perform better.

So the goods:

No electric cord No petrol fumes Should be less maintenance than petrol Cheaper to run than petrol Steel deck Generic and cheap aftermarket batteries available

Anyway, my main motivation was to save the damage to my lungs and body from the exhaust and fumes of a petrol mower. I am definitely a fan or corded electric mowers as well, but not having one is very nice.

So far a very good lawn mower – I was originally a battery-mower skeptic, however, after using a relative's Stihl RMA510 I was sold. I did a heap of research and settled on the Makita DLM536 for 3 reasons - a wide 21" deck, the swing-back blade system, and I already have invested in the Makita ecosystem and have plenty of batteries. The good: * I get through my fairly large… Read more

(1000sqm block) lawn easily on 4 x 5.0Ah batteries, only switching to the second pair towards the end of the cut. * The motor has plenty enough power for thick grass. * Pressed steel deck is heavy duty * Swing back blades give a finer cut and pickup performance compared to a bar blade * The variable self-propel function is great, it even works when the blades are not running and is more than fast enough for me. * The mulching function works very well * This thing is SOLID - no rattles or squeaks, and build quality is really good * It's very quiet * The controls are really simple with just an on/off button, a quiet mode button, a battery display, and the adjuster for the self-propel speed.

The cons: * The handle doesn't fold - not a deal breaker for me but would be for others * It's heavy - I don't think it would be any lighter than a comparably sized petrol mower, certainly wouldn't want the non-self-propelled version * It's not cheap especially if you don't have batteries already

I didn't buy a battery mower because I'm an eco warrior or anything like that, I have been gradually changing everything over to battery - it just works well. But this is a serious piece of kit that will easily hold its own against the big-brand petrol mowers (which I did cross-shop.) The added convenience of not having to worry about fuel or oil and no more pull starting is just a bonus for me.

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… Read more

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.

Worst tool I have ever purchased – Worst tool I have ever purchased. I very much regret not purchasing a petrol mower. As other have stated battery life if terrible. about 10 minutes per set of batteries. If the lawn is longer, the mower constantly stalls and must be pushed at about 1 meter per 10 seconds to avoid stalling. Battery performance may have degraded over the 2 years I have owned it. $750 for lawn mower, charger and 4 batteries. But 4 new batteries is $600. Show details

Hopeless, buy a Victa instead – My Mikita DLM380PT2 is a toy. In fact, I think Fisher Price make a better toy lawnmower. It lacks power, is flimsy and importantly cuts my 100sqm lawn poorly. The rear wheels disintegrated within 2 years of purchase. I bought this lawnmower as I have many Makita 18V power tools but I wish I had purchased a Victa lawnmower instead! Show details

Worst mower I’ve ever owned – Purchased because I have all makita battery tools, due to recent I’ll health thought it would make life easier, wrong,I have approx 200 squ metres Santa Anna lawn, speed is too slow to cut cleanly and if it hits a heavier patch it tears the lawn rather than cut because the front wheels are sprung, the front can dip when hitting a heavy patch and… Read more

it carves a large semi circular patch out of lawn. It is heavy and cumbersom and with motorised wheels difficult to manoeuvre in tight areas. Cost over$1200 am now back to using my 20 year old 4 stroke.

Could be better for the price – Low speed (quiet) mode not powerful enough to throw moist grass into back of catcher. Slightly moist grass gets stuck in chute. Bar Blade doesn't cut as well as a disc and blade setup, nor does it draw debris and garden litter up as well (mow over a leaf and it stays on grass). Different cut finish between low speed and high speed mode. I would… Read more

guess motor power at 2.5 HP at best. You need a firm grip to hold the "Dead Man Bar" tight enough so motor doesn't cut out.

Worst mower I have ever bought in 50 years of mowing my lawn – Every 4 stroke mower I've owned was far easier to manoeuvre and operate. Normal household grass and totally flat and level. When mowing I empty the catcher every 5mins or the mower becomes to heavy, sinks into my lawn and stops or I can't push it. Show details

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… Read more

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.

Struggle street – The overall build quality I believe is questionable, as the mower seems to buckle under weight on its handles. Doesn't seem to be enough resistance to steering this mower. Plus, the batteries will run out within 10-12 minutes of use, needing more batteries and power packs. I would never buy one again, option to go back to petrol. Show details

Poor Build very pricy – I bought this Makita DLM382PT2 36V LAWN MOWER 380MMMM from Sydneytools last week used it for twice not enjoying, for $600 who would want a plastic weak build machine, not capable to cut the grown lawn, battery wont last more than 30 minutes when you use it for thick grown lawn, it is actually a toy of capable to mow a very small area of short lawn! Very disappointed. Show details

WHEEL CONNECTION POINTS POORLY DESIGNED. Front wheel BROKE off !! – The axle for the front wheel appears to be only 1/4” thick. I realized over the last 2 years that the wheel was towing in…….if I put the mower on a flat surface (driveway)and gave it a push it would travel in a circle and not in a straight line. A terrible oversight in design. I’m sure I have to try and take the housing apart and replace the whole… Read more

front wheel assembly. Three years old and only used for trim work and cost over $550. CA. Grass is growing and I’m out of commission! Repair shops for Makita hard to find, so I hope I can get parts quickly.

Cheap plastic frame and wheels make it horrible to mow evenly – Purchased a Makita battery mower for approximately $699. The entire frame is plastic as well as the wheels and the axles are very weak. The front axle has broken and the lawn i mow are not arduous conditions at all. Really disappointing for the price. Id personally steer clear and buy a mower with a better frame at the minimum. 2x 5A batteries last approx. 40 minutes for those wondering. Show details

Very poorly designed, bad ergonomics and flimsy – front wheels are far too small in diameter and too narrow such that pushing through buffalo grass simply makes the nose bury itself, it then becomes almost impossible to push, meanwhile the plastic base is distorted too, the whole frame flexes under any sort of load. The fact that the handle is non adjustable is a nonsense..I"m 6" ft. my wife… Read more

5'2", who was designed for? Does it cut grass? Well yes, but only light growth, anything thick and it becomes useless