Electric Lawn Mower (Worx WG782)

After moving back to Phoenix, the house I’m renting has a lawn. Naturally, I’m without a lawn mower since I’ve not needed one for nearly 5 years. I’ve had too many years of pulling rip-cords and changing oil for something that simply mows the lawn, so I decided it’s time to invest in an electric lawn mower. After seeing the different expensive ones, I ran across one that fits me nicely. I picked up a Worx WG782 battery-powered lawn mower from a guy on craigslist locally. Now, it’s definitely not for those that judge their testosterone levels based on their tools & lawn equipment since it’s very quiet and tiny. The one I picked up has a mowing base of 14-inches which isn’t great for larger lawns. However, mine is only about 30′ x 40′, so it’s fine.

The Worx WG782 is quite nice, in my opinion. The handle has 2 cam-action lockable folding joints which is great for those that want to store the mower in an area the size of the 14 inch base. The battery is a sealed lead-acid battery (proprietary), and is quite light. When storing the mower, the battery is lifted from the rear of the base, and stored anywhere that is desired. The battery has an external plug-in charger which resembles a laptop charging pack. It charges in 4-5 hours, and theoretically will step down the amperage once it’s finished in order to trickle charge the battery, but there are conflicting reports that there are flaws with that. I personally just charge it until the red light on the charging pack changes to green, and then remove the battery from the charger to store it. Since the battery is sealed, it’s quite easy to manage as it’s like lifting a normal Ni-Cd battery that weighs about 3-4 lbs.
The mower itself is approximately 35 lbs, and after lifting the battery from the base (proprietary metal contact connections, just lift) the entire body can be turned over and cleaned/maintained with no worries. The blade is easily removable/replaceable, as well.
My first run with this mower was performed the night I brought it home. Yes, it was night-time about 9-10PM, with neighbors on each side. The battery was fully charged prior, and I started mowing the back yard. There’s a switch that is pushed to the side at the same time as handles are pulled, which avoids issues with the handles being pulled back on accident. The mower was easy to push, with very little resistance. It really felt like a toy, honestly. However, the results are what matter, and it cut the grass very nicely. This Worx model has “Power” & “Quiet” settings, and for all of my tasks the “Quiet” setting was used.

For a couple of sections I did have to pull the mower back to get a “clean” cut, but this lawn had grown for a bit before I moved in which made the first run interesting. The blade spinning sounded like a box fan, and the volume was very docile. Even the grass being cut was quiet. The docs say the battery will last 30 minutes on “Power” mode, and about an hour or “Quiet”, and my mowing was about 35-40 minutes. The results were exactly what I wanted, mowed grass. I chose to use the mulching style which left the grass remains on the lawn for nutrients, however this model does come with a bag with a “bag full” indicator. After I was done, the battery charge indicator on the top of the battery showed a full charge, still. Oh well, I plugged the battery into the charger, and left it there for an hour or two until the green light came back on. The battery was then stowed away in a safe place (so I don’t lose it), and I flipped the mower to brush the remains off real quick and rolled it into the corner of the garage. Sure, the handle could be folded, I just have no reason to do that.

All in all, I’m happy with the purchase.  It’s light, relatively maintenance-free, doesn’t leave a smell of exhaust & oil through the garage, and is extensively quiet.  The very fact that I mowed my lawn at 10PM without the neighbors knowing is testament to that, alone.

EDIT 07/21/2015:
The Worx 24v battery doesn’t have a very long lifespan, apparently.  It’s kind of fickle on where you store it, and the charger doesn’t hold true to the lights.  (red means charge, green means it’s still charging but your battery is fully charged… lol)  My battery is now pretty much shot, unresponsive to charges and the charge indicator button on the top.  Replacement batteries are about 80-100 bucks.
Since I don’t really use it that often with living in Arizona and not having a very large lawn, I’m debating on just ditching it and selling the lawn mower without getting a new battery.  I can easily get a gasoline lawn mower used.  I’ve worked on gasoline powered lawn mowers since my high school years.  I don’t really enjoy the gasoline smell or the easy explosion that can happen from a can of gasoline, but at the same time I don’t enjoy putting out 100 every year for a new battery either.

I’m still on the fence.