When you think smart home, the lawn mower might not be the first thing that comes to mind unless it was some kind autonomous robot one. But the Troy-Bilt TB30 E with its lithium Ion battery is more smartphone than gas guzzler in some respects. For this lawn mowing season Troy-Bilt sent us the newest ride on mower in their line up. This is so new that it isn’t even out in many stores yet. We was lucky enough to be among some of the first people to review and we definitely will be putting it to the test. The Troy-Bilt TB30 E claims to have an 1 hour run time or being able to mow 1 acre before needing to be recharged. So we will see how correct this is and our general experience this season. Before we proceed, in any lawn mowing device that you want to use, you will need ample ear protection to lessen the harm it may cause to your ears. Head over to BestOfMachinery site to check out the best hearing protection for lawn mowing.
First Impressions
When the Troy-Bilt TB30 E was dropped off to us all shiny and new it came fully charged and ready to go at 100%. We were given a brief walk through of some of the features; you know how to mow in reverse, releasing the parking brake, and general start-up and shut down functions. I wouldn’t let them show me too much as self discovery is all apart of the process. Now the day they dropped it off wasn’t the day I would be performing the first cut I mainly drove it to the shed for storage until later. I will say this, it is whisper quiet! Having heard a few gas-powered ones before from neighbors in the area, compared was so quiet. I would say the non-mowing noise was as loud as a golf or club cart. Being super quiet in operation, and then having instant go when you press the accelerator is just as cool. Since the TB30 E is all-electric, there is no transmission, no choke to get it started, no gear to put it in. You turn it on and press the accelerator and go!
First Cut
Now we’ve been waiting for the Troy-Bilt mower to arrive so we had forgone cutting the grass at first so we could see how it handled some overgrown grass. But due to some shipping delays, we couldn’t wait any longer (the grass to turning into a jungle haha). For the first cut with the TB30 E we had some moderate to maintained grass areas for it to go through. It handled both quite well so no complains there. With the cutting deck now on, the sounds while riding was comparable to any other mower as it was loud but not overbearing. But to those around me like my neighbor, he remarked that it was definitely quieter than other ride ons he’s seen and used. This was interesting, as from my experience was right on top of it I thought it was loud like most, but further away it didn’t seem to be the case.
The Troy-Bilt TB30 E has a 5 position cutting height, I started out with it set at 4 and mowed my way through my front and back yard. Total size I would put at less than half an acre of cutting area. But this wasn’t all routine cutting maintained lawn. With the mix of fresh-cut/maintained lawn and some area that were overgrown, by the time I was done I had about 40% battery power left down from 100%. As this was the first cut, I’ll definitely have to see how it handles once dealing with more maintained routine cuts. Does it leave up to its claims? I’ll need some more cuts to answer that but it does get the job done of cutting all of this grass easier. And when you consider that I just need to plug it in to power back up and not haul around a gas canister that right there gives it a leg up. Speaking of charging Troy-Bilt claims instead of having to plug it in overnight to have full power again, it can do it in 4-6 hours. I will say from 40% after plugging in I was back to 100% in about a little less or more than 2 hours from the time I plugged in. This was great after which I rolled it back into the shed and was ready to go for next time.
What’s Next
Stay on the look out for future posts this summer and at the end of the mowing season. Currently I’m using the include mulching attachment when I cut, so I’ll be mowing weekly to maintain the grass this season. Next month I’ll talk about how it has been going and a little more into the experience of using an all-electric ride-on mower. The Troy-Bilt TB30 E retails at $2499.00 and can be brought at Lowes. Though right now it may be a little tough to get one as it looks like Lowes locations are slowly starting to get them. If it isn’t available at your location yet, keep checking back.
