If it's "Made in China" then NO
It is, I did some research on them the other day... Parent company is Chinese., just like 90% of everything else today and that don't make it a non starter for me. If you are about not made in China you'd better crawl in a hole and die. Most everything you use has Chinese origins. It's called 'World Class Manufacturing.
Been reading along and not commenting.
Here is my take on them.. No more changing the oil, no more oil filters, no more dealing with stinky gas dribbling from the stupid EPA approved gas cans that are a joke, no more replacing the starting batteries that puke at least every other year, no more replacing worn out belts and worn out spindle bearings, no more 'winterizing with gas stabilizer, no more worrying about hydrostat transmission issues
The cost is right in line with my present 2 ZTR's, yes I have 2, one for the wife and one for me and both are gas hogs.
The Ego comes with 4 batteries, you can add 2 more for extend run time. The batteries fit all their cordless tools and the supplied charger charges ALL of them at one time in 2 hours. I mow about 2.5 acres of lawn and yes I'm buying one and selling at least one of my gasoline ZTR's. Projected battery total life is 3 years (projected). May last longer, may not. The gas engines in the ZTR's also have a projected life, usually under 1000 run hours, some well under that and engine replacement isn't a cheap date either. I'd rather replace batteries than an engine myself, much easier. Battery technology has come a long way so I expect good life out of them.
No belts (blades are direct drive with brushless motors which are very efficient) (why drones and the newest cordless power tools use them). No hydrostatic drive units either. Brushless high efficiency motors. Don't much care if the deck is formed steel sheet or fabricated, my one ZTR has a stamped deck and it's 10 years old and I keep it clean underneath and free of grass 'cud' when stored over the winter, no corrosion issue with it, never has been. The mower is 100% solid state controlled so it's highly efficient to begin with.
Where it's made only slightly concerns me, not all that much really. Where to you think your cordless tools like Milwaukee are made, they ain't made here, I'll tell you that. If you think they are, you'd be dead wrong. Might be assembled here, but the guts came from China or Taiwan.
I'm gonna buy one for certain. Like I said, the price is right in line with the current gas powered ZTR's.
One thing I am going to do is, I'm going to buy and erect a solar array behind the shop to power the charger for the mower when it's parked so it won't have any impact on my utility bill at all. In as much as mowing is a weekly chore, it can sit on the charger for a week at a time so it will be fully charged when I need it and, I'm going to purchase 2 extra batteries that fit in the slots on the mower that I can use on the other EGO cordless tools that I will also be purchasing.
Real tired of the constant upkeep of the gas powered ZTR's I own. Constant thing. Not an electric car person. I drive a very fuel efficient buggy (40 mpg) and I don't drive much anyway, being retired, I don't have to. My farm truck as well as the farm tractors are diesel but the fuel that goes in them is one, a deductible expense and two is covered for the most part in the profit I make from the crop I grow and harvest.
Mowing the lawn isn't a covered expense or deductible expense. Neither are the mowers themselves.
My personal opinion is, it's a mower who's time has come and I'll be buying one this year for certain.
I'll use it for a solid year and do a review at that time.
Until then, keep on filling yours with expensive stinky gas drippling from the EPA approved gas jugs that are a joke, keep buying belts, air filters, motor oil, spark plugs and all the stuff I won't be buying. Have fun with it.
