
Choosing electric lawn equipment for your lawn
Electric lawn service companies are relatively new in the lawn and landscaping world. Advancements in battery technology have proven to render electric equipment to be more effective than it has been in previous years. When you search “Electric Lawn Care Near Me” on your favorite search engine, it’s likely you won’t find many results in your area. Reason being, electric lawn service companies have a hefty upfront cost to start their business. Second, many electric lawn care providers go out of business in a very short period of time when they realize the difficulty of operating and maintaining a 100% battery powered operation.
While the lawn and landscaping industry continues to make advancements in the field of electric lawn care, there are many frustrations business owners and operators must face to keep their operation profitable. Some of the key factors electric lawn care companies have to manage on a daily basis are:
- Battery quantity and capacity to render a full days work.
- On-board charging capabilities
- Electric equipment failures
- Additional time needed to complete a job well done
EcoMow has conducted thousands of hours of on-site field testing and we’ve concluded that electric lawn equipment can render itself to be equal or substantial to the popular gas powered alternative. For the do it yourself lawn care folks we’d like to share some field tested feedback that will help you make an educated decision when choosing battery powered equipment for maintaining your lawn. We will refrain for citing any specific electric lawn equipment brands and focus more on what we’ve learned. You can find more information about certified electric lawn equipment on the American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA) website.
Don’t Skimp on Quality

The following is likely the biggest mistakes many people make when choosing electric lawn equipment for their weekly maintenance.
- They buy cheap equipment
- They don’t check the warranty
- They don’t research before they buy
We hear it time and time again. Homeowners decide they want to get a battery powered setup after they see our fully loaded service vans and trailers in the field but they all make one big mistake. They immediately go to Lowes, Home Depot, or Amazon and purchase the cheapest electric lawn mower the big box retailer has, only to unbox the unit and find themselves in disappointment when the machine doesn’t cut their grass as well as their gas mower. If you’re considering switching to electric, we recommend buying nothing less than high end electric equipment if your budget allows it. While you may be tempted to spend less as there are cheaper battery powered lawn mowers out there, Don’t do it!
Most battery powered lawn equipment manufacturers offer several different models to fit the buyers budgets. It’s important to understand that just like anything else, you get what you pay for when buying electric lawn equipment.
Start with the hand tools

If you’re reluctant to drop a couple thousand dollars on a full battery powered lawn care setup, we recommend starting by picking up a couple electric hand tools. Battery powered hand tools offer the convenience and power equivalent to gas powered hand tools and the cost won’t break the bank. A few hand tools we recommend for entry level battery powered are:
- String trimmer
- Handheld blower
- Hedge Trimmer
- Stick Edger
After using all of the above for a few years, the experts here at EcoMow can certainly speak to the advantage of the battery powered string trimmer and the handheld blower in particular. Both tools are incredibly convenient, they have brushless motors to reduce vibration, less noise so you can pass on the ear protection, and light weight to ensure you don’t wear yourself working in the lawn. Many of our clients have a few of these tools in their garages now that they’ve had a chance to try our equipment out. The handheld battery powered blowers are particularly popular for homeowners in need of a quick cleanup before company arrives for the evening get together.
Worthy of notable mention, the battery powered hedge trimmers and stick edgers are quite convenient for a Saturday afternoon cleanup and reduce the need for dragging an extension cord around the yard. Not to mention they’re a much safer alternative as there is no risk for electrical cords getting severed.
Learn your battery powered tools

Using battery powered lawn equipment can be a fun and rewarding experience. But, like any other tool, the more practice you have perfecting your craft, the more you’ll enjoy it. The battery powered string trimmer can be an absolute joy to use and our lawn crews love this tool the most of any tool on the trucks. Most battery powered string trimmers have a relatively long runtime and you will find that you’re able to complete most jobs on a single charge.
The electric leaf blowers, while much quieter than gas powered, have a tendency to run through the batteries quickly. For most brands the average run time for a battery powered blower is around 20 minutes at full power. While some manufacturers do have longer run times we consider this an industry average for the handheld leaf blowers. Often the battery powered leaf blowers don’t need to operate at full speed to achieve a cleanup job that requires only half power. For this reason, we suggest taking some time to use your battery powered equipment so you can learn how to maximize the run time and efficiency of your electric tools.
Arm yourself with extra batteries

It’s true, battery powered equipment can be a very effective alternative to gas powered equipment, but it doesn’t come without a cost. Depending on the size of your lawn, you may or may not need to grab yourself an extra battery or two. For most 1/4 – 1/3 acre lots you’ll find that one battery per machine will be sufficient to achieve your goals, assuming you started with a fully charged battery. As batteries age however, their efficiency will decline and you’ll find yourself longing for another battery to finish while you’re in the middle of a job. This can be frustrating.
Most electric equipment manufacturers now offer interchangeable batteries so you can use your lawn mower battery in your handheld leaf blower if needed. While this is useful we do recommend having an extra battery or two on hand to complete a task that may take longer than the usual allotted time. For instance, when the grass is growing fast in spring your electric mower may require more power to finish the job. There’s nothing worse than having to pull a depleted battery off a unit and wait for it to recharge so you can finish your work.

Have fun with it
It’s exciting to be living in a time when battery powered lawn care tools have become so readily available. While there are specific brands of electric equipment we use here at EcoMow Lawn & Landscape, we recommend trying out several brands to find out what works best for you. It’s a rewarding experience to use battery powered tools for the sake of the environment, and for the benefit of reducing noise pollution.
EcoMow has built our business running 100% battery powered tools. While it hasn’t come without its’ challenges, we’re incredibly happy with the quality of life we’ve created for our employees, the environment, and the clients who love the alternative low noise lawn care solutions.
Please feel free to reach out to the EcoMow team if you have any questions and we’d be happy to help you with you with your lawn care goals, and the use of battery powered lawn care equipment.