Battery–powered outdoor equipment has no emissions and runs quietly, making it perfect for use in-town, especially in noise-restricted neighborhoods or locations with limits on gasoline-powered equipment. It’s also very low maintenance, and you can save significant money on fuel. Battery power is a great choice for homeowners and for many commercial applications as well.
If you’re thinking of making the move to battery-powered outdoor equipment, you have a lot of options. As battery-powered technology becomes more reliable, it’s also becoming more accessible. You have a much wider variety of better tools from more equipment brands than we did when battery-powered lawn tools first became available.
With all those options, it can be hard to pick the best battery-powered equipment brand. Battery-exclusive brands like Greenworks, EGO, and Ryobi are often recommended, but they’re not the only options. Many well-established outdoor equipment brands like STIHL and Echo also have battery-powered equipment lines in addition to their familiar gasoline-powered equipment.
Battery Exclusive Brand: EGO
EGO is one of the top-rated, top-recommended battery-exclusive brands. It consistently ranks highly, and often the highest, among battery-powered brands rated by places like Consumer Reports. It’s also the #1 rated battery-powered suite of products by real people reviewing their equipment purchases. This is the brand that we carry here at Richardson Saw and Lawnmower.
EGO offers universal battery compatibility. In other words, all their batteries work with all their tools. This is incredibly important if you’re switching to battery-powered tools, especially if you have a commercial lawn or landscaping company. Being able to interchange batteries and tools makes it much easier to keep up with charging and make sure you can power whatever tool you need at the moment.
EGO’s line includes walk-behind mowers, riding mowers, leaf blowers, string trimmers, chainsaws, hedge trimmers, pole saws, snow blowers, and multi-tools. They also offer a pressure washer, misting fans, augers, Bluetooth speakers, compact inflator, wet-dry vac, backpack sprayer, area lights, and a mini bike.
Established Equipment Brands: STIHL, ECHO, and Toro
These three brands are well-established in the outdoor equipment industry, and they have battery-powered lines designed for commercial work.
Toro 60V Max system includes over 75 tools, and you can swap their batteries between all the tools. Their battery-powered line includes walk-behind mowers, zero-turn mowers, snowblowers, trimmers, edgers, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers, chainsaws, pole saws, and multi-tools.
With the STIHL AP Professional Battery System, one battery works with over 60 tools. Their battery-powered line includes chainsaws, trimmers, blowers, hedge trimmers, edgers, pole pruners, multi-tools, wet-dry vacuums, cut-off machines, pressure washers, push mowers, and zero-turn mowers.
ECHO’s next-generation 56V Battery System uses the same battery across all their equipment. Their line of tools includes blowers, chainsaws, edgers, multi-tools, hedge trimmers, trimmers, pole pruners, and walk-behind mowers.
Charging Options
For homeowners, charging battery-powered equipment is a simple task. For commercial crews, though, charging is a major hurdle. You either need to carry enough charged batteries to get through the workday or have a way to charge batteries partway through the day.
Lawn equipment brands making battery-powered equipment for commercial clients recognize this challenge and offer several solutions. Most offer commercial charging docks to simplify charging large numbers of batteries at once, allowing overnight charging and rapid charging during the day. Some also offer on-the-go charging solutions for rapid charging in the field. ECHO has a 6-port field charger coming soon. EGO’s Commercial Charging Power Bank can charge two batteries in as little as 25 minutes and works off the grid. STIHL’s quad charger lets you charge up to 12 batteries (with three chargers stacked) in a covered trailer or truck while driving.
Narrowing Your Choices
The main thing to keep in mind when purchasing battery-powered outdoor equipment is to pick a battery-powered line and stick with it. It will be much more convenient if all your equipment and batteries are from one brand and you can interchange batteries between the different pieces of equipment. It’s much harder to keep up with charging if you have a STIHL trimmer, an ECHO blower, and an EGO walk-behind mower. It can also be more expensive if you need to buy extra batteries and chargers from each brand. Keep things simple with one brand for batteries, chargers, and equipment.
You’ll also need to decide which tools you want to power with batteries, then choose a brand that has all those tools available. If you just want basic hand tools like a trimmer, blower, and edger or a multi-tool powerhead, then you can go with any of the brands. But if you want a zero-turn riding mower as well, you’d need to go with Toro, STIHL, or EGO. And if you want to power other tools like a pressure washer or wet-dry vacs, then STIHL and EGO are your best options.
A Dealer You Can Trust
When you buy from a lawn-equipment dealer instead of a big-box store, you get high-quality products at competitive prices. Dealerships can often spend more time with customers as well, and we’re experts on the products that we sell. Here at Richardson Saw, we’ve earned the distinction of Master Service Dealer for STIHL and Toro Master Service Dealer, along with many other certifications.
Richardson Saw & Lawnmower is your local dealer for trusted battery-powered brands including EGO, STIHL, Toro, and ECHO. We’ll be happy to help you find a battery-powered brand that will cover all your needs for different tools. And for commercial clients, we can advise you on your different options for charging batteries to power lawn equipment on a commercial scale. Stop by today to browse our inventory, chat with equipment experts, and compare options for battery-powered lawnmowers, trimmers, and more.
