Looking for the best electric lawn mower? If you had asked me last month, I might not have recommended the Greenworks lawnmower I have been using for the past four years. That said, I actually do like it a lot. It’s wonderfully lightweight and quiet, and it has two ports to hold batteries up to 5 Ah each. That’s always more than enough juice for my entire front and backyard, which means the whole job can be done without having to take a break to recharge. The mower also offers a dual-blade design so you can mow everything in one pass, as well as five different height settings that couldn’t be easier to adjust.
That’s all terrific, but there’s one thing about the mower that I don’t like: it’s not self-propelled. It’s so lightweight that this missing feature doesn’t even matter most of the time, which is the good news. But I do have some areas of my lawn with relatively steep slopes, and pushing the mower up those inclines can get tiresome after a while. That’s why I happily agreed when Greenworks reached out to me last month and asked if I wanted to try the Greenworks 20-Inch Brushless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower.
My hope prior to receiving it was that this new Greenworks mower would take everything I love about my current model and add in a self-propelled drive system to get as close to perfect as I can imagine. Well, guess what: That’s almost exactly what happened.
The Greenworks 20-Inch Brushless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower is a bit heavier than my old mower, but that obviously isn’t an issue since it’s self-propelled. There’s a small lever to adjust the speed right on the handlebar and you can also tap the “turbo” button for a quick boost if you need it. Height adjustments are even easier thanks to a lever that has been relocated to the back of the mower instead of near the front, and it even has a nifty new feature that lets you store it vertically so it doesn’t take up much space in your garage or shed.
My only complaint when it comes to this mower happens to be something that I fully expected. Since the swappable Greenworks batteries now need to power a self-propelled drive system in addition to the cutting mechanism, this model doesn’t last anywhere near as long as my old mower. That being said, it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make so I don’t have to keep shoving the mower uphill myself without any assistance from a drive system. Greenworks says the mower runs for about 45 minutes with two fully charged 5 Ah batteries, and I’ve found that estimate to be accurate.
Greenworks’s 20-Inch Brushless Self-Propelled Lawn Mower is priced in line with comparable mowers at $499, but there’s a hidden listing on Amazon that gets you a great bundle for the same exact price. In addition to the mower itself, two 5 Ah batteries, and a battery charging dock, you also get a free cordless drill/driver that’s powered by the same swappable Greenworks POWERALL batteries.
