19 in. 36-Volt Cordless Walk Behind Self-Propelled Lawn Mower with 12 Ah Sealed Lead Acid Battery and Charger Included

I am very happy with this mower. Note, please, that I have little basis for comparison. It replaced a darling little totally person-powered push mower which I bought second hand off Craig's list. Darling, but given my propensity to mow, oh, every four weeks or so, and that I live in Oregon (read: the rain forest), not adequate to the task at hand. I am a single mother, quite fit and independent, but among the tasks my ex-spoused alleged he would take care of was the yard work. I can sew, cook, handle the finances, earn a living wage, perform CPR, disassemble and descale a dishwasher, but really, yard work remains a bit of a mystery. Before the wasband, my dad mowed the "lawn" of my childhood home, which was essentially five blades of grass in a really, really, really shady yard. Mom taught me how to clean the gutters and pull up bamboo. All of this background is intended to demonstrate the user-friendliness of this fine mower. If I can use it with confidence, my friends, clearly you can too. I like that it's not spewing carbon monoxide at me while I attempt to contain my urban meadow. It's louder than I expected for a electric mower (again, zero basis for this expectation and of course it's whirling and chopping things), but I didn't use hearing protection and didn't feel noised-out after wrestling with knee-high dandelions for almost two hours. The self-drive function is a bit faster than I want on its slowest setting, but perhaps I'm just timid. The blades did well with the aforementioned overgrown habitat, and the catch bag is easy to pull off and dump into the compost bin. The instructions are user-friendly enough that I didn't get so impatient with them that I tossed them to the side, risking life and limb (again, timid). I'm amused at how many times the user guide warns you that THIS THING HAS SPINNING BLADES IN IT (as it no doubt should?) but then lawyers need money too. I'm tempted to say that the end-of-row u-turns are clunky, but given my lack of experience, I hesitate to blame the mower for that. I hope you enjoy this mower, or at least my review thereof.

First let me say that I got the mower for a song as it was an unused display model so I can give a fair review after one season of use. First is the battery. This is the reason I got the mower so cheap, the battery was dead and wouldn't take a charge. All it needed was three new cells which are available anywhere. I found the exact same cells that B&D uses and had to pay $60.00 to replace all three. The battery case is easily disassembled to access and replace the cells. Initially, the mower would run for about 45 minutes but after one season of use, the most I can run it is 30 minutes. Testing the batteries and motor, I discovered that both were causing the lower run time. The motor was starting to draw more amps and the battery losing its power due to the heat generated during use. Next is a problem with the handle. It would not stay locked in on one side because the metal bracket was loose which allowed one spring loaded pin to pop out of the hole. I had to completely remove both covers just to access the bolts. After tightening all bolts the handle would stay in position but not very well. The pins really need to be longer (see picture) so they will protrude through the bracket farther. This is a design flaw and, because this is metal on plastic, I assume the bracket will come loose again. Next, the motor is built very cheap and not designed for the environment it operates in. When I removed the covers to fix the loose brackets, I noticed the motor was covered in dirt from the yard (see picture) . The motor uses a plastic end frame which supports a bushing which is already worn from the dirt. To be honest, my yard is not perfect and has patches of dead grass which make more dust and dirt but a mower should be designed to handle dirt better than this one does. It's the dirt along with the cheaply made motor that is causing the higher amp draw on the battery which in turn generates more heat and lowers the life of all parts involved. Next, the knob which changes from mulch to bagger is extremely difficult to rotate from the dirt also. A handle instead of a knob would be a better design. Lastly, the height adjustment handle will not release so the wheel height can be changed. Again, this is caused by the dust and dirt which is getting into the pivot points but any mower should be designed to prevent this. I have used a Murry gas mower on my lawn for over 20 years and never had a problem so I imagine I will be using it again once this B&D cordless mower fails which I'm guessing will be sometime this season. I'm just glad I have less than $100 invested in this mower.

The mower was easy to assemble. All you have to do is connect handle to mower. It only takes a few minutes. The battery only took a short time to charge, and I used the mower the same afternoon that I unboxed it. The self propelled feature takes a little getting used to, but I am glad it has that feature. It does a great job of mulching.

This mower is a marked improvement on the previous Black & Decker 24 VDC cordless mower that I purchased approximately 7 years ago. The addition of electric drive is very useful but takes a few minutes to get used to. The 36 VDC removable battery is a great feature. Overall, I am more than pleased with this purchase.

My new mower was easy to assemble. The handle has two positions to adjust for a person’s height. The lower position is comfortable for me. The adjusting levers also allow the handle to fold over for storage or loading in a vehicle. Since the battery is removable I take it out before loading the mower in my car, making the mower twenty pounds lighter. The self-propel option is wonderful. I look uphill, pull a lever and smile as the mower drives itself uphill. Adjustable speed is useful. Low speed is for thick grass or medium grass when going uphill. High speed is to get job done faster if grass is not thick or if I am trying to finish in a hurry before it rains. For a small yard or lots of obstacles I would recommend a lighter mower that turns more easily. I need to release the self-propel lever half second early so the mower will roll freely and be maneuverable by hand. This becomes habit quickly, but if I forget I might run into a wall or fence. The battery weakens after about an hour of running and needs ten to twelve hours to charge. But in that hour I get much more done than with a push mower. The self-propel goes faster than I can push and I don’t get hot and winded nearly as soon. Also I am getting to an age when I want to take strain off my hips, back and shoulders. A self-propelled mower makes a big difference. Mower is quieter than gas but not quiet enough for early or late operation. The blade makes a motor noise and the self-propel has a whine. I doubt I save money by going electric. My previous mower used perhaps $30 or $40 in gas a year, less than buying a $129 battery every two or three years. Another reviewer suggested setting height to the top, turning on mulch and using the bag to collect dead leaves. I intend to try this idea. No raking and bagging already done. Lithium-ion batteries are starting to come onto the market but this model doesn’t have one. Since the battery will probably wear out before the mower I wrote to the manufacturer to recommend they build a lithium-ion replacement battery for this mower. This is an excellent mower with very good reviews so I see no reason to design a new mower just to upgrade the battery. A fast-charging battery is the only thing I would want to see changed on this mower. Except for the long charging time I am very happy with the mower.

This is a great mulching mower... and it bags well also if you go that route... very easy to adjust cut height... oh and did I mention it doesn't need gas? First battery powered mower I've bought and it works! This is coming from a dedicated Honda gas mower guy who had to be talked into even considering electric.... NOT going back to gas

I'm 67 and can't deal with a pull cord on a mower any more. I wanted to try the Black and Decker Battery Powered self-propelled mower. It's been the best decision. It holds the charge for the entire lawn which is approximately 4,500 sq. ft. I just tried the mulcher and it works great. I have reduced my carbon footprint and have fun mowing the lawn!! I highly recommend this product.

The box arrived mangled & ripped, it was open and re-taped .. so I thought 'well, I guess I'll be returning this mess' .. but that was not the case for the inside! This little baby has spunk, get up & go. I'd liked a cord to attach the key to the mower handle, but a shocking color shoestring does the trick. I'm not in physical shape to use the full-on bunny speed, but if I was, you'd see my hair sticking straight out, with me running behind this powerhouse. I like that one can use the self propel with the mower off to move the machine when finished mowing and end up on the far side of the lawn BUT would also prefer mower would remain ON when let go of the turning blade bar.

The grass catcher bag would not hang on the device when I received it and attempted to use it. The grass catcher bag hanger hooks ( photo Q4 in the manual) have a distance of 12 1/2 inches while the stainless steel bar the bag attaches to is longer. However, the stainless steel bar had shifted to the left ( or is too short) during manufacture and delivery. The right side bag hook would not attach to the bar. I was able to reposition the stainless steel bar so the bag would hang. I am not convinced, however, the bar will not shift left again with continued use. The attached photo shows the stainless steel bar after I repositioned it. The bag now hangs as designed.

Smooth operation. Charges quickly and run time on a charge is good. Cuts well. Maneuvers easily. One slight drawback is that the self propelled speed on its lowest setting is a little too fast for wife's pace when doing edge areas.