Customer Reviews for Makita 21 in. 18V X2 (36V) LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless Walk Behind Self Propelled Lawn Mower Kit with 4 Batteries (5.0 Ah)

Effortless cutting. The batteries last forever. Great mower!

It’s a hefty price, but, far exceeded my expectations and I am very happy with his mower. Super satisfied with Makita products!

This thing is in an entire league of its own. I had my doubts but after buzzing through knee high wet grass like it wasnt even there im here to tell you that youll regret not buying it sooner. Four 5AH batteries and a double quick charger is worth morth than $300 on their own. Take the deal.

This is my first lawn mower. It's convenient to have a cordless machine. We used the charger (sold separately) to charge the batteries. The mower came with 4 batteries, but it only requires two at a time to run the unit (if you put in all 4, it just doubles the battery life). It took around half an hour or 45 minutes to charge the pair of batteries. While mowing, a pair of batteries lasted for about 75 minutes of on/off use, which was plenty of time, so we're happy with that. The mower works well overall and has lots of features. For example, you can swap out the grass basket and mulcher plug, and it has different speed settings for the battery push assist. It's easy to adjust the mowing height. The biggest inconvenience of this unit is that the screws that hold the power/mower on switch to the rest of the mower keep falling off. I don't know if that's a peculiarity of our unit, or if that's common to this product. So, we're going to get longer screws or a couple bolts or something to securely fasten it in place. Otherwise, everything seems high quality.

This is a heavy duty battery powered mower, quiet and powerful. The mower itself is built for durability. It is self-propelled which offsets the actual weight of the mower and significantly reduces the pushing effort. The self propelled speed is variable. The self propelled control is separate from the mower blade control so you can move the mower without engaging the blade. Assembly is easy. Switching from the mulching mode to bagging mode and vise-versa is quick and simple. It cuts grass as effective as a gas powered mower, but without all the noise, smell, and mess of a gasoline engine. I did test the cutting efficiency and power on tall damp grass using the mulching mode. The heavy grass would periodically clump and pause the blade until the mower was moved off the clump, similar to a gas powered mower. There was really no difference on dry routine lawn cutting. The handle is “fixed” and cannot be “folded” down onto the body of the mower for storage. That would be a nice feature for smaller storage spaces, but not enough of a negative to affect my rating. The mower deck is made from commercial grade steel and the mower itself weighs about 94 lbs. There is a “pick up” or “carry” handle built into the mower to assist with a manual lifting, if necessary. The battery compartment will hold four batteries, but only two batteries are used at one time. Two batteries will easily handle an average ¼ acre residential lawn, but if the area is “hilly” more battery power will be used to power the self propel feature. The second set of batteries is optional but useful if cutting a ½ acre residential lot or a hilly area. If using a four battery arrangement and the first set is depleted, simply turn a switch to engage the second set. If you only have two batteries, stop and recharge, which will take about 30 – 45 minutes. I did not notice much difference between the regular running mode and the quiet mode. Both are much more quiet than a gas engine. This battery powered mower is more expensive than most gasoline powered mowers but changing from gas to electric power is also associated with other motivations than just the price of the mower. With that framework, this mower does the job, is environmentally more friendly, clean and quiet and eliminates the gas can.

How many ways can I say awesome! I have to admit to being hard core skeptical about electric mowers. Thinking they are just for small level yards. Nope, I was very wrong. This thing takes on hills, and thick tall grass. Not just that but stacked up against and all wheel drive mulching mower, it beats it hands down. In just mulching form, without side discharge or rear bagger, it took on thick grass that would stall a gas mower. It's extremely safe to leave sit, provided you follow directions and remove the batteries and key. It has the same safety features of a gas mower. Yes, it's heavy too. It does auto adjust the cutting speed for thicker grass. And the big difference from a gas mower is the walking speed it adjustable. From an old man shuffle right up to a full run just about. While it's not wisper quiet, it's still a lot less than gas mower. You do have to watch it on hills as it rolls real easy and unless the drive is engaged, it will roll backwards on a hill. As with any mower, cautions must be observered. And while it may not handle limbs or walnuts, not recommended for any mower. It does handle thick tall grass and goes up hill. That surprised me bit time, and with the double batteries you can easily flip a switch and keep going even with a larger yard. Very nice and very surprised. For those who hesitate, perfect Christmas or birthday present. Not only better, but better for the environment too. Really well made for years of use. While there is much more I can say, like how easy it is to adjust the height. I'll let the pictures and video speak for me.

As stated by other reviewers, the height adjustment will drive you crazy, prolong your mowing, and cut deep holes in your lawn. The mower shuts down when this happens and you have to wait for about 15 seconds for it to start running again. I contacted Makita and haven't heard from them. Good thing I kept the box.

Knowing that Makita has a reputation for quality, I purchased this mower hoping to finally make the jump into electric outdoor power equipment. While there was a lot to like about this mower, any positives were overshadowed by poor QA. As you can see in the images, the height adjustment has very little to no tension and thus does not stay in place. I didn't notice this at first and instead, selected my height and started mowing. ever slight bump i hit, the deck would drop all the way down and scalp my lawn. After a couple times of this I pulled it aside to make sure there wasn't something I was doing wrong. From what I could tell, it seemed that the rear shaft holder on the right rear was not flush and therefore added distance between the wheel and the deck, which caused there to be no tension so that the height adjuster wouldn't stay in place. As I waited roughly 3 weeks for this mower to come in and of course badly needed to mow my lawn, I strapped the height adjustment handle to the mower to hold it in place. These are the pros and cons I found: Pros: - Self Propelled function is very powerful. The actual rubber tires coupled with the self propelled drive on this mower function beautifully. This is a heavy mower and I have a hilly yard, yet the mower would drag you uphill with ease. - Powerful Motor! Gone are the days of the gas mower bogging down and dying in heavy grass. My lawn was partially wet, and very thick. This mower only increases RPMs when it senses a heavier load. - Sturdy. after bolting the handle in place (very little assembly) this mower feels like it would last a lifetime. It is very solid with no wiggle in the handle whatsoever. Cons: - Does not fold for storage. The handle bolts in place on the lower and upper portions. If you wanted to take advantage of the vertical storage capabilities of electric mowers, then you'd have to remove and replace 4 bolts each time. - Height Adjustment not usable. As previously mentioned above, this was definitely the biggest issue with the mower and seemed to be one of quality assurance. Worth mentioning: - Battery Life seemed less than advertised; however, it was probably due to thick, wet grass, and having to constantly stop and try to figure out the height adjustment issue. Either way, for 0.4 acres it used one battery bank (2 18v's) fully and about 1/3 of the other using the mulch setting. - Motor runs fairly quiet at low RPMs until it senses a heavy load and ramps up speed. Seems to do a good job Overall I'm giving it 3 stars as Makita has the makings of a work horse; however, their customer service instructed me to return the unit saying that they believe the deck was bent, and therefore not fixable. I do not believe that was the case, and I really wanted to keep the mower and was hoping to make the fix myself with some instructions. Also, after calling in, it seems that this is a frequent issue with the XML08 mower, and would therefore not recommend.

A beast that is worth every single penny. Have to use the 5 AmpH batteries. Old school steel deck that will last forever. Be prepared, it weighs 90 pounds without the battery. Mows beautifully. Manual knob to switch between battery pair banks. With the speed of a rapid charger, you can mow all day. The blade is super weird, thin, and hard to find.

This machine is definitely consumer grade, in no way suited to commercial or heavy use. It has two serious design flaws. 1- It only does a really great job of cutting and collecting grass when in high-power mode, but unfortunately the user has no control over the mode. This is intended to extend battery life but people like me with many, many LXT tools really don’t care about that. If the lawn is short it stays in wimpy mode and cuts and collects grass poorly. 2- The self-propelled feature is maddening. The speed of the wheels should plain and simply correspond to the position in which the actuating lever is held. It does not. Instead, it does this very confusing ramp-up to speed over several seconds. You cannot “finesse” the forward speed. On uneven terrain you need continuous variable control over speed. Both due to poor mechanical design.

Meet my expectations. However it takes a 2nd delivery to get my completed order .

First it arrived in a damaged carton with the hardware needed to assemble missing. I emailed Makita. They were not helpful at all and after a couple of messages started ignoring me. I bought the missing hardware to assemble it. I didn't want to but had no choice since Makita wouldn't help me or even respond. Once assembled, I found the 4 batteries weren't enough to mow my small yard, and the cut is uneven. I spent a lot of money for this so I am stuck with it, but I would NOT buy again

Mower was great. However packaging was a fail. Missing lock key.

This mower is a great alternative to a gas mower. After fighting to keep my gas mower running, I went electric and I was not disappointed. The 4 batteries are enough to do my whole yard. Make sure you sharpen the blade first! This is a solid mower, not flimsy at all. Made in Japan is also a plus.

The first time I use this mower I thought I had hit the jackpot but when I say every since then it has been a big disappointment. After first use now the lawnmower sounds like it's about to fall apart. The vibration is very aggressive. It seems like I have to mow my yard every other day just for it to consistently cut. The mower bogs down and looses power after 5 minutes of use. The battery life is horrible and it takes me all day just to mow the front or back yard. This is not a product I would recommend at all.

works well for my yard. had new sod installed and let it grow long before the first cut. this mower had no problem with that. the 2 sets of batteries works great, i get through my yard using the full first set and about half the charge on the second set.

Do not expect the same performance as a gas mower. You'll be paying more without the umph! to navigate through thicker grass, so chalking this up as the cost of going green. Nice thing is these mowers are in demand and I should be able to sell and get most of my money back when I eventually end up handing the cutting over to a professional lawn guy next year.

Love it. Easy to assemble and use. Quiet

Awesome!. Quiet, good size bag for shavings, Single family home uses 1 set of batteries for more then enough power and reserve charge. Good solid build quality. Would highly recommend for non commercial homeowner use.

I have owned this mower for a little over a year now. This mower is great when it works. However, while trying to cut my grass in the summer it overheats and won't start back up until it has sat in the shade for 10-15 minutes. The batteries have a great life and when the mower doesn't overheat, I can cut my 1/4 acre lot without swapping batteries. Quite expensive to only work some of the time. Upon picking this up from the store when I bought it, the box was full of grass.

Shipping took longer than promised. Box came pretty banged up. I had to sharpen the blade. Missing bolt but went and got one from the local Ace.

As I cannot update my original review. Run and run fast from Makita. It has been three weeks since my "Repair" and the lawnmower does not work. Makita is giving me the run around and by saying they will get back with a solution and so far nothing has happened. My city is now warning my about the lawn and either I have to purchase another lawn mower or pay a company to come out. My neighbors have Sun Joe and Ryobi lawnmowers and have been using them for a couple of years with no issue.

Battery lasted about 30 mins before having to change. The recharge took an hour which meant they weren’t ready to finish the lawn. Rpm’s were too slow to get a good cut. Returned the mower.