Ozito PXC 36V PXBMK-4047

My home lawn area is about 400 m2. I mow on the 2nd (rarely 3rd) lowest positions. With 2 x 4000 mAh (18 V) batteries I can mow the entire lawn with ease, provided the mower does not have to increase power too often to handle longer grass or lots of large fallen leaves. In my area (the NSW Northern Rivers) that means mowing every 1-2 weeks in the grass-growing (and leaf-falling) season. If the lawn is left to grow longer, it is necessary to mow at a higher setting and/or wait while the batteries recharge. It is also possible to use higher capacity batteries, but they are expensive.

My other mower is a Victa Commando 2-stroke (same cut diameter of 18 inches = 460 mm). Over the years, I have repaired it with new fuel tap, air filter, spark plug, plug boot and carby kits, none of which will be needed for the battery machine. The rechargeable batteries will eventually die, but should cost much less to charge and replace than all the fuel and oil I would otherwise use. The Ozito 36 V, 460 mm steel-deck mower is much lighter than a comparable petrol mower, and therefore faster to use. I need to lift the mower over a wall, which is much easier with the lighter machine. Some people say the wheels look flimsy on this Ozito model, but they seem fine for the mower weight. I will probably sell or donate the Victa (beloved for 20 years), as now I always choose to use the Ozito (let’s hope it will last as long - seems sturdy enough).

No mucking about with measuring a fuel-oil mixture, priming an engine, pulling a starter cord, or inhaling the smoke. I recharge batteries after mowing, so the Ozito is ready to go. It cuts beautifully. There is no mulching function, but it is easy to use the catcher, which works amazingly well. The mower stops and restarts easily each time the catcher is emptied. It has less vacuum-cleaner action than the Victa, so it gets all the grass clippings and leaves without sucking up the soil. I have not tried it on wet grass: mowing is so quick and easy, I just wait for the lawn to dry between showers.

For an average suburban lawn, I would not recommend a smaller (narrower cut) mower. It is not worth all the extra pushing back and forth. Spend a little more on a 460 mm machine, which is probably also more robust. Commercial operators and farmers may be better off with petrol mowers, but battery mowers are now much better in suburbia. The up-front cost is still higher than a comparable petrol mower, but that should be recovered in lower running cost over the machine life, and this battery machine is much easier to use.

Some people say Ozito is low-end, but I think you have to look at each machine to decide what best suits your needs. I have some Ryobi tools, so I already have their batteries, but for me this Ozito was the better mower and I was prepared to buy it. If you want, you can buy an inexpensive 3rd-party adapter for different battery shapes.

Edit: After a few months, the handle came loose. It is attached to the steel cowl by bolts with nyloc nuts. Those at the front/top are accessible from both sides and can be tightened. For those at the rear/side, the nuts are behind a plastic shroud, which has to be removed to tighten the handle bolts. This is a design flaw. Removal of the plastic shroud requires complete disassembly of the rear part of the mower, including the height adjuster, the rear axle and the rear spring-flap. Most of this (including the rear axle) is secured only by screws into plastic: so be careful not to over-tighten the screws and strip the plastic on reassembly. The rear flap requires removal of at least three circlips (which is difficult, but possible with the right tools). The circlips do not spring back to shape after removal. Having no spares, I had to wire them closed after reassembly. I also turned the rear handle nuts to the outside, so I will have a fighting chance to tighten them without disassembly next time. Overall the mower can be improved by simple attention to the design. But it still seems like a fair deal for the current price, at least for those capable of performing such repairs.