Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Kudos to Sun Joe for making a cool, little mower that can get the job done (within reason) and make mowing the lawn a relaxing, environmentally-friendly task. I am 65, and have mowed too many lawns in my lifetime (thanks, Dad). Oldest son, analytical, high self esteem, and Dad knew he could count on me to mow not only our lawn, but the neighbors’ for a pittance. So, experience I have. Spouse and I love our Michigan summers and mowing the lawn is not one of our favorite things. I could hire it out, but our lawn is only 5000 sq ft. And, according to my calorie-counting app, I can burn 375 calories per hour mowing a lawn. Four years ago, I realized that my gas-burning Husqvarna would be the last gas-consuming mower I would own. So, I bought a Black and Decker MM875, Corded, 19 inch mower. I used (suffered thru) it for 3 years. It wasn’t long before my spouse refused to mow the lawn, no matter how many calories were involved. So last December I got a Black Friday special on Amazon and purchased a Worx WG788, Cordless, 19-inch mower. My first few months of mowing with Worx have been bliss, but that is another review. The Sun Joe is a different beast. When it arrived, I couldn’t believe how easy it was to set up. I didn’t even need the manual to assemble it. Just make sure the lower arm is positioned correctly, or the height adjustment won’t work properly. The ‘fit and finish’ of this mower is admirable. It doesn’t reek of cheapness. The design has been engineered and I think this is a cool looking mower. I finally did look at the manual because I didn’t want to abuse the battery. This is a 40V lithium battery and the manual has quite a bit to say about how to maintain it safely. I plugged it in to make sure it was fully-charged for the maiden voyage. There are indicators on the charging station that let you know when the battery is charged. Additionally, there is a button on the battery itself that you can press to see the charge state of the battery. The Mowing experience: Plug in the battery, and the safety key, you’re ready to go. Forget about oil, gas, spark plug. This little servant is at your beck and call with just an overnight charge of the battery. Press the start button and squeeze the start bar. A momentary silence and the mower starts up. The blade spins and spins. And, spins. This mower is a bit louder than the Worx mower I have used. In fact, I felt the need to put on my ear mufflers to block the sound. It is much quieter than a gas mower, but not as quiet as my Worx. A neighbor questioned why I was wearing the ear muffler, since she thought it was quiet. Everything’s relative. With this mower, you have a choice of ‘mulching’ the grass, or picking it up in the bag. It will not let you shoot it out the side. There is no mulching plug if you decide not to use the bag. The bag is another sweet unit. It is small, but nicely designed. It has an indicator that shows you when it is full. Sorry, but I did not test the bag….I am a mulcher. I had the grass setting on 3 and started mowing our back lawn, which had a good week’s growth. It was obvious that the Sun Joe struggled thru the thicker grass sections. The mower speed would slow down and even my wife noticed this. I noticed that the mower was not mulching the grass as well as the Black and Decker or the Worx. It was leaving some nice piles of grass behind, which maybe I could get my spouse to rake up. (wishful thinking). I realized that the height setting should be set higher, since you should maintain at least a 2” length on your grass according to the powers that be. I set the mower to a height 0f 5 for the front lawn. The Sun Joe was so easy to push, being so light in weight. I could walk at a fast pace, and the mower kept cutting. The Black and Decker was not good at this, requiring me to slow my pace to get an even cut. With the Sun Joe, the cut was even, and I did not see any missed sections in the overlap. That said, the 16-inch width required a few more passes than the B&D or Worx models. I can’t say it added a lot of time to my mowing job; a few more minutes at most. Did I finish the job? Well, I mentioned I have about 5000 sq ft of lawn. With 100 sq ft left, the mower just stopped. This was about 40 minutes into the job, which is what the manufacturer claims is the battery life. However, I stopped for about 5 minutes to talk to a neighbor about this mower. So I think my battery life was 35 minutes. Mind you that I mowed through some thick lawn at a low height setting for the first 10 minutes of this job. That may have depleted the battery more than usual. Would I trade my Black and Decker corded unit for the Sun Joe? Yes, definitely. Cords are a pain and the B&D required me to use a slow pace to get an even cut. BTW, I had to donate the B&D to Goodwill, as I could not even sell it at our garage sale last weekend. The Sun Joe beats out the B&D corded unit, in my opinion. Would I trade my Worx cordless for the Sun Joe? No. The Worx is heavier, but the battery could do 2-3 times the lawn I have before depleting the battery. And, the Worx is quieter and will shoot the grass out the side. The Sun Joe is a great mower for someone who has a 4000-5000 sq ft lawn that can be mowed in under 40 minutes. It is light and easy to maneuver. The build is great, maybe better than the Worx. I like this mower, and would recommend it to someone who has maybe a cottage or small home that needs a dependable cordless unit. I wish it had a better mulching capability, but the engineering behind this unit is admirable. I think the price is good for a mower like this. My advice, for those of you with smaller lawns, get rid of your gas mowers. Electric mowers are so much better and they won't pollute your neighborhood with sound or gas fumes. Thanks for reading this, and I hope this review has been helpful to you.