I bought this mower, and it’s a fucking beast. I mowed wet grass halfway up my shin on setting 2. it is most definitely worth the money. I’m happier about this lawn mower than I am about vacation next month!
After seeing a picture of the "Milwaukee High Lift blade" on the website, I knew it would be a waste of time and money. I welded a set of wings to the original blade to make my own high lift blade. Much better vortex and bag inflation. I used the ego high lift blade as a model.
That's is some usefull information there in that video. Those high lift blades appear to suit the mulching process as it shreds the leaves and grass as it passes multiple times through or over them. I don’t own that Milwaukee yet but it looks like if you keep the standard blade sharp and don’t go too fast in self propelled mode and run the turbo switch that should be adequate for a clean cut look. Note I have a Honda hru216 which has the 4 swing back blades and I run 2 high lift and two low lift blades, but the only difference between the blades is the high lift has a steeper wing tip on the rear of the blade, it has no cut outs or fancy shapes to it.
Hard to tell the difference on video, Mark. 24 hours after mowing, it all looks the same anyway! I find that anti-rotation spike Makita provides to be very useful when changing the blade. What do you use to sharpen your blades? I use a vice and a hand file. You mentioned powerwashing the deck. Is it safe with an electric motor? I realize the batteries are taken out first. But I thought it is like powerwashing the engine of your car. It can fry the electronics. Did you powerwash the Makita? A video of "how to clean" would be nice if you are able to clean and record at the same time. Your lawn looks good! Thanks!!
It annoys me that milwaukee call that a 'high lift' blade when its very clearly a gator (mulching) blade. I guess a proper high lift blade would chew through the run time too much for those m18 batteries. I am glad they've made this mower though.. because it'll set the standard for what kind of power commercial operators need and want for future mowers (of any brand). I was on the fence about getting one. But i think i'll wait for someone to release a mower with the same kind of torque as this one and have one of those backpack batteries that slot in to hopefully last 4-5 hrs in between each charge. I know they say this has got between 40-60 mins of run time on 2x 12amp batteries. But i realized that as a commercial operator i don't run my gas mower to empty before i fill it up each time. I fill up every other job usually when its at a quarter full to avoid running out. No one wants to have dead batteries in the middle of the job and have to walk back to the truck for new ones, which is what you'll likely need to do with this mower. But technology is getting close. My guess is two more years before we finally hit the sweet spot.
I welded a set of wings to the stock blade to make my own "high lift blade." I have not noticed a loss and run time but when the mower steps up the RPMs it seems to stay at the higher RPMs maybe 20% longer after the heavier load has passed. Much better vortex and vacuum suction. As for walking back to the truck, I usually just change the batteries at lunch time and all is well. I've been using electric mowers for my lawn service for more than 2 years now, and this is the first mower that is actually a competitor with the gas mowers. My only concern is that energy efficient blade.
Thank you for your comparision video. Great to know that there is little difference in the lawn cut. Could you please tell us more about the catching process? My concerns are: 1. Does the high lift blade do a better job of filling the catcher? Is the bag completely full and is there more grass in the catcher by weight because the clippings are compacted a little more? 2. Is there less grass clippings in the chute region of the mower. My Milwaukee seems to use the next lot of clippings to push the last lot through to the catcher. The chute region is always full of clippings. 3. Does the high lift blade cause the mower to use the battery faster and by how much? 4. The inner perimeter of the underside of the deck also has a lot of grass stuck to it as if there is a big gap between the blades and the deck. Does the high lift blade aerodynamics reduce this build up? Value your thoughts and thanks again.
"My lawn -- is growing like a weed." Proceeds to show MY lawn 10 minutes after I last cut it. "I cut it . . . less than a week ago . . . five or six days ago." - - Can I have your grass? Please. After two days, mine will be twice that height. - Also -- I found that with my mutant, speed-grow grass, the high-lift blade plus a setting of three on the height worked best for suction. Lower settings were too low and pushed the grass down too much with the front of the deck, and any higher resulted in the blades missing way too many stray blades. Have to go way slow (tall grass) to allow the mower to pull up and effectively dissect the grass as it passed. On top of that, overlap should not exceed 49% cut as the mower can easily leave a mohawk down the centerline in tall or wet situations. Milwaukee -- it's a powerful mower, please fix the suction issues and make it a great one.
I’m in the market for a new battery powered mower. With the steel deck and 10lbs of torque, this looks promising. I’m just trying to figure out if this TOO much mower for a typical homeowner.
It's a pretty aggressive mower. That said I like a bit of overkill. I have a video that goes through the EGO, Makita and Milwaukee. if you can excuse the crappy audio on that one it might be worth a watch for you. Both have their Highs and lows. I was really happy with the Makita and it's much less. Many people love the EGO. I changed to Milwaukee for battery ecosystem. The best way to put this mower is that for a battery mower it is the closest to having a commercial grade honda. it's a bit louder then most electrics because it stays at a higher RPM but you'll almost never worry about power. I don't know if that helps.
@@markpuzas That was actually the first video of yours I saw. You guys brought up a good point about an Eco system of OPE. I’m not a fan of the single battery from Ego and would prefer 2-4 battery systems like the Milwaukee, Ryobi or even the Worx mower. For the same reasons you’re leaning away from your Makita, I likely would too. Decisions, decisions..
@@Stwok240 If you value a long running time, check out the 21- and 25-inch walk-behind mowers from Greenworks. Like Milwaukee, they hold two batteries, using one, then the other. But the Greenworks batteries hold vastly more energy: 218 watt-hours per battery Milwaukee 18v 12AH 270 watt-hours per battery Greenworks Pro 60V 5AH (6AH available but pricy) 368 watt-hours per battery Greenworks Pro 80V 5AH 588 watt-hours per battery Grednworks Commercial 82V 8AH
@@PaulStregevsky I had a 21' 60v GW Pro last year for 60 days. Warranty parts were non-existant. Had HD pick it up and got a full refund. No parts = no warranty. Bought the Makita 21" 36v mower from HD this year. Couldn't be happier!
@@PaulStregevsky with the much higher ground speed that the Milwaukee has, I haven't been disappointed with the number of minutes that it needs to be running. I seem to cover the same if not more ground than I ever did with my 10 amp hour battery in the ego mower.
High lift blades serve two purposes. Bagging and a more even cut, but it comes at the cost of more energy to drive it and more buildup under your more, if you’re not bagging.
Did you have any issues with the mower? I see you used an impact to tighten the bolt and not a torque wrench like the manual states. Manuel says this. ( Tighten the blade nut to 313-347 in.lbs, using a torque wrench. ) I want to do this as well but don't want to kill myself because I didn't torque the bold correctly lol
I've used both for my lawn service. And I welded a set of wings to the stock blade on the Milwaukee following the pattern of the ego high lift blade. Now my ego is my backup mower instead of my primary mower.
So the blade your calling a high lift isn’t a high lift blade. I work professionally in lawn care and this is a mulching blade. Mulching blades pull less vacuum then standard blades which is why your seeing better results with the normal blade. A true high lift blade would like like the mulching blade you have as far as high the fins are only they wouldn’t be fins it would just be solid just like your standard blade. And just let me tell you then you would notice a huge difference. I’ve run all types of blades and there’s no mistaking a real high lift blade they are insane the vacuum and discharge they can do. Anyway just my 2 cents on it.
@@thirstbuster78 the blades are specific to the mower, as far as I can find there are only 3 styles available, the standard blade that comes with it, a basically “zero lift” that prolongs the battery life and the mulching style.
@Steve Sherman nice! I am looking for a nice rotary mower for my bermuda, something with cut quality as a priority. Yes, I know reel mower and low cut is the way to go but I don't want to use gas and my lawn is not leveled enough for low cuts yet 😅. So for now I am really trying to see who has the better cut quality for maintaining a lawn, ego or milwaukee .......
@@robertthompson3447any EGO mower ever produced is a “real” mower. But the commercial grade 22” aluminum deck with a 11.1 ft pounds of torque motor is now available in the US. If you’d want that tank.
