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About 10 years ago I had a battery-powered lawnmower made by DR, which was perfect for the barely 1/4-acre that I had at the time. The only downside to it was that the deck was only about 12" or 14" wide, so it took a while even to mow that small of a yard. At that house we were allowed to put out grass clippings with the trash, so I used the bagger.
Unfortunately I made the mistake of leaving the mower outside one day when I went in to answer the phone (this was in the Pre-Cell Era ) and when I came back about 1/2 hour later my mower had disappeared. Since I knew I was shortly to move to a different house on a larger property which would require a lawn service, I didn't bother replacing it.
Looking ahead to the coming year and being tired of paying $55/week just to get the grass cut and edged, I'm thinking about getting another battery-powered mower. DR's current one is the Neuton and the bigger 6.2 has a 19" cutting width. There's no grass clipping collection allowed anymore, so I'm wondering how well the mulching feature works. Also whether it will chop up fallen autumn leaves as well as a gas-powered mower does?
I see that Black & Decker and Toro both make cordless (rechargeable battery) mowers but I have no experience with them. Anyone here have one? What do you think?
One thing I really like about the Neuton is that the battery itself can be swapped out for a fresh one instantly. That's what I did with my old DR: bought a second battery that was always kept on the charger, so that when the one I started with began to run down, I'd just lift it out and put the second one in to finish. I'm sure that now, since we're looking at houses on at least 1/2 acre, it wouldn't make it through on a single charge. Even DR says the Neuton is for yards "up to" 1/3 acre.
But the thing I'm most concerned with is mulching efficiently (finely chopped) and ability to also cut up leaves without getting clogged up. Any experiences or comments here? Thanks!
My dad had a Black and Decker for over 14 years. He took the kept the battery charged with a trickle charger type charger when not full charging after using it to mow the lawn. So with the battery never running down he never had to replace the battery. His yard was maybe 180' x 300' It did a good job for him.
Hi
I want a new lawn mower in the spring and one that is either electric or battery, tired of fighting my gas mower..My neighbor a lady in her early 70's just bought a Neuton ..Look at their web site neutonpower.com..it comes in two sizes and just lots of easy to use features..they will send you a cd explaining it all...its most definitely slick and easy to use...I'm looking at this one and the Black & Decker electric mower which everyone I know who has one loves it. Lowes cares them and Neuton is mail order..
Hope this helps
Happy mowing
The neuton comes in two sizes; one is very small and one is standard size. I have been using the smaller size at one of my clients homes for about six months. It seems to chop the clippings finer than my gas mower. But, the small one only has a 14 inch blade and to get a descent cut from it, you have to overlap by half. That makes for a seven inch cut on each subsequent pass so it takes forever to mow. The larger one is a standard 22 or 26 inch blade [ not sure which]. I found that I could mow for up to two hours on one charge before switching batteries. My client bought the string machine attachment with it. I do not like it. I use my own string machine instead. It is also very quiet, I have used vacuums that were much louder.
Hi
When I mow its after I have dead headed ect basically clean my yard, rake it and then mow..How did the neutron due over basic small yard waste and do you like the grass catcher?? I'm leaning on the electric black and decker..I don't need the weed eater have a new one..
thanks
The neuton only picks up the grass clippings, anything else like leaves and twigs are left behind. This is the small neuton, not the larger one. The whole mower is tiny on the small one. The first time I used it, I felt like I was pushing a little tike mower or a vacuum cleaner. My client bought it and insists that I use it, even though I have my own mowers and it takes me three times as long to mow and thus costs her three times more. I personally would not buy the neuton because I maintain 12 yards and it would not keep up with the demand. I will say one thing, it is a cute mower
The neuton comes in two sizes; one is very small and one is standard size. I have been using the smaller size at one of my clients homes for about six months. It seems to chop the clippings finer than my gas mower. But, the small one only has a 14 inch blade and to get a descent cut from it, you have to overlap by half. That makes for a seven inch cut on each subsequent pass so it takes forever to mow. The larger one is a standard 22 or 26 inch blade [ not sure which]. I found that I could mow for up to two hours on one charge before switching batteries. My client bought the string machine attachment with it. I do not like it. I use my own string machine instead. It is also very quiet, I have used vacuums that were much louder.
Thanks so much for all the info! Now I understand why my previous small Neuton mower took so much time to cut even a small yard... it was the overlap, as you said. I forget the blade size but it was probably either 12" or 14" ; the 7" new cut factor that you explained, accounts for why I felt like I was covering very little area!
Here's a question: if the larger Neuton has a 22" or 26" blade, how come they say it has a "19 inch cutting width"? If the blade is, for instance, 22", would it not have a 22" cutting width? Is the very tip, or the centermount, area of the blade not counted as a cutting surface?
I confess that I hate using a handheld string trimmer. I swear I'd rather get down on my knees and trim edges with a pair of grass shears than use one of those things. So I was indeed planning on getting the string attachment so that I could place it at a right-angle to sharply edge the planting beds. Do you not like the Neuton attachment because it doesn't perform well at that chore, or is there another reason? That's all I'd be using it for, so I'm really interested to know.
One thing I recall about my old DR/now Neuton is that it didn't like unexpected dips and hollows very much. How does your larger Neuton handle a lawn that isn't flat as a pancake all over? I don't mean a slope, but a normal yard that tends to have an assortment of smallish depressions and bumps scattered throughout it.
The neuton only picks up the grass clippings, anything else like leaves and twigs are left behind. This is the small neuton, not the larger one.
Does the large Neuton handle leaves and small twigs okay? Or does it choke on them complainingly? We're not allowed to bag clippings here, so I'd have to use the mulching plug at all times.
Does the large Neuton handle leaves and small twigs okay? Or does it choke on them complainingly? We're not allowed to bag clippings here, so I'd have to use the mulching plug at all times.
I only use the small neuton mower on a yard with a 20 by 20 front lawn and a 30 by 30 back lawn. It is not my mower. It mulches very fine, just does not pick up leaves or twigs, only the lawn clippings. I do not like the string attachment because you cannot angle it, only horizontal or vertical. I also like to edge by hand, but with twelve yards that I maintain, half of my work would be edging. I use an edging blade and maintain it with the string machine after that.
Ah, I see: I accidentally misread your earlier post, sorry. I now see that you said you are USING the small Neuton, but KNOW OF the larger one. I misunderstood and thought that you had, or were using, the large one as well, because you said it runs an average of 2 hours on a charge. My bad!
The small Neuton doesn't sound too much different than the one I had ten years ago as far as how it reacts to leaves and twigs. I'm glad to hear that it mulches grass finely though, because I hate those long clippings that many mulching mowers leave behind. We've been spoiled because the lawn service uses big bagging mowers and takes the clippings away to wherever they dump them all at the end of the day.
I didn't realize that the string attachment's "adjustable" feature is only 2 positions; had assumed that it had some kind of truly adjustable positional gear. Hm. I can definitely see that a straight vertical position would kick up a TON of dirt from the planting-bed side! Drat it.
Your client's yard sounds about the same size as the one I had when I had my old Neuton. But nowadays (using my last yard as an example, because it's what we're now looking for) anything I buy would need to handle a grass area of at least 80x40 EACH in backyard, front yard, and at least one side yard depending on where the driveway would be located. So minimum of three 80x40 grass areas. I'm now wondering if even the large Neuton wouldn't take forever to do it.
The lawn service comes in now with one riding mower, one push mower, one guy with a string trimmer, and one guy with a blower, and is in and out of a half-acre of grass (the rest are beds and woody edges, so not touched) in about 10 minutes. Literally. Which is very nice except that it's $55 for each visit, about $1600 each season. Money is getting very tight right now, and I'm not sure we can continue it. I plan to ask the company if they will agree to mow every other week next season (we don't fertilize, nor use the sprinkler system other than in August when things are literally frying) so there really is not much growth other than in spring.
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) and when I came back about 1/2 hour later my mower had disappeared. 
Since I knew I was shortly to move to a different house on a larger property which would require a lawn service, I didn't bother replacing it. 
We're not allowed to bag clippings here, so I'd have to use the mulching plug at all times.
