(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
For years — nay, decades — I've spent most weekends standing on my lawn, yanking on my mower's pull cord like I was trying to wrestle a chainsaw into submission. It was exhausting. Eventually, I just snapped — I could no longer abide the oil leaks, the spluttering, the stopping for no reason and refusing to start up again. It seriously felt like the machine was personally offended by doing the one thing that justifies its existence. I'm talking years and years of constant maintenance for very little reward.So, yeah. I ditched it. Hasta la vista, you piece of junk.I decided to go electric, and now I'm kicking myself for waiting this long. The very first time I held down the start button and pulled the bail bar, there was just a quiet whirr. No fumes. No failed starts. It simply worked. Within seconds, I was gliding across the lawn with very little effort (largely due to my model being self-propelled). And when I was done, I could go back inside without smelling like a servo forecourt.Mowing feels like less of a chore
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)To me, the change feels less like a simple upgrade and more like breaking free from a toxic relationship. Sure, my front and back yards haven't changed, but the chore itself? Suddenly, it’s completely effortless.The biggest change was no longer dealing with oil or petrol. The Ryobi model I bought came with a 36V 6.0Ah rechargeable lithium battery, and all I have to do is slot it into place and the lawn mower is ready to go.On a full charge, that battery gives me about 35 minutes of mowing in Smart mode, though switching to Eco mode can stretch that time. There’s also a Power mode for tackling really dense or tall grass, but it drains the battery faster. Honestly, I haven’t come across any grass that Smart mode couldn’t handle with ease.Swapping petrol power for batteries
