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Listen Now: Segway Navimow Glides Into Robotic Mower Market
Jessica Schwartz
You Have a Wealth of Mower Choices
There’s never been a better time to purchase mowers — that is if you like variety. Twenty eight mower suppliers exhibited at the 2016 GIE+EXPO in Louisville, Kentucky. Most manufacturers displayed multiple models. Commercial-grade ZTRs (riders and stand-ons) dominated both the show floor and the outside demo area. In terms of the riders, these included both mid-mount and versatile front-mount models. But if you were looking for even a rugged little 21-inch trim mower, the GIE+EXPO wouldn’t have disappointed you. If the sheer number and variety of mowers being displayed weren’t enough to excite you, perhaps the many different available engine and fuel options did. Again, there was a wealth of choices. On display were large rugged commercial zeroturning radius mowers powered by Kawasaki, Kohler, Briggs & Stratton, Kubota and Yamaha engines. Each of these manufacturers offered power plants in a range of horsepower ratings. Yamaha, the latest manufacturer to enter the ZTR market, debuted its engines on select Gravely commercial zeros for the 2017 season. Engine choices for small walk-behind mowers at the event included Honda, Briggs & Stratton and Subaru. Contractors attending the GIE+EXPO saw machines powered by gasoline, propane and diesel fuel, along with the promise of more battery-powered commercial cutters by Greenworks, joining industry pioneer Mean Green in that space. And manufacturers that displayed another crop of new models or models with exciting new features at the GIE+EXPO included: Altoz, Ariens and Gravely, Bad Boy Mowers, Cub Cadet, Dixie Chopper, Worldlawn, Exmark, Ferris, John Deere, Mean ...
Why Battery-Powered Mowers are in Your Future
Electric cars, whether hybrid or fully battery powered, command a small percentage of new car sales. Even so, they’re hardly a novelty on our highways anymore, and their acceptance in the market is established. Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that electric vehicles will command 35 percent of new car sales by 2040. Will electric commercial mowers follow a similar sales trajectory? Don’t bet against it as battery technology continues to advance and battery prices fall. Should the price of oil rise, the economics of battery power over internal combustion engine (ICE) powered equipment will look even better. “Lithium-ion battery costs have already dropped by 65 percent since 2010, reaching $350 per kWh last year,” according to the Bloomberg report. “We expect EV battery costs to be well below $120 per kWh by 2030, and to fall further after that as new chemistries come in.” To date, only one company, Ohio-based Mean Green Mowers, has had the audacity to challenge the ICE commercial cutting market with battery-powered products. While, more than a few manufacturers offer smaller corded or battery-powered consumer mowers, Mean Green offers the only alternative to ICE mowers in the production-driven contractor universe. Mean Green introduced its first product soon after its founding in 2008, a zero-turn model powered with a lead acid battery. Aimed at the homeowner market, it created little enthusiasm from mow-for-money contractors. That began changing, however, in 2012 at the GIE+EXPO in Louisville, Kentucky, when Mean Green drew a steady stream of show goers to ...
