I haven't used either of these, but I will say I still use my 7-8year old Ryobi mower and I've had no issues. Original batteries are still being used too.

 

Thank you for the response! Are you using an 18V or 40V Ryobi mower? I've got a bunch of 18V Ryobi batteries and noticed they make an 18V Whisper Mower that uses two batteries, effectively making it 36V.

 

The important question is how many sqft are you mowing? Without even looking at the quality of the cut, these small battery mowers won't get you very far.

I have an Ego, which I can recommend, but even that goes through some decent batteries to mow a half acre of dense grass.
I know you don't want another ecosystem for batteries, but I don't consider power tools and lawnmowers in the same group.

The battery that goes into my lawn mower would be way to big to run a drill, I use 56V 10AH batteries.
If you were to use an 18V battery, it would either have to a 31AH battery, or in more typical power tool sizes, about eight 18V 4AH, to have the same juice as the one battery.
I use about two charges/batteries to do my yard. Which would mean you would need sixteen 18V 4AH batteries to do the same, or do a lot of extra charging.

 

I'm mowing about 10k sq.ft, but I mow the front and back yards on different days. I'm also rarely taking off more than an inch of grass and my yard is flat and level, so i've got ideal conditions. You've echoed my concerns about batteries and runtime, which is another consideration for me to stay in the same ecosystem.

I've never used any Ego products, but hear nothing but good things about them. It probably would have been a good decision for me to get into their product line first, in which case i'd be buying the mower only. I'd rather not spend the extra money for the battery/mower combo when I won't be able to use that battery for anything else and vice versa.

 

I have 9ksqft, fairly flat. I have the 2156SP ego mower using the high lift blade for now and with a 10AH battery I end with 1/5 bars, using the walking assist most the time. The mulching blade will give slightly longer run time as well. I have multiple batteries (have snow blower too), so am not concerned about switching out.

 

Thank you for the response! What's your grass type and HOC?

 

KBG, maybe some TTTF mixed in (sod mostly from build). HOC I've done is between 2" and 3.5", at 3" now, which I may keep at instead of 3.5". I do mulching and bagging, no side discharge. Grass thickness ranges from thicc to... acceptable, on average it's above acceptable.

I imagine as I do better irrigation this year that it'll use up more of the battery, we'll see if 10AH can still do the whole yard, high lift blade or mulching blade.

Keeping the blade sharp and not cutting when the grass is at all damp helps a ton.

 

Gentlemen, many thanks for your input--i purchased a new mower yesterday, and your experiences lead me toward two conclusions. First, an 18v Ryobi Whisper Mower wouldn't be enough to tackle my yard. Second, choose the best mower, and live with another battery ecosystem.

In the end I surprised myself...I purchased a Makita 21" XGT 40V mower. I stumbled across it while checking out the Milwaukee M18, and when I researched the Makita, I realized it's as much mower as I need. They're currently marked down from $999 to $699, so at $400 less than Milwaukee, it was a no brainer. I'll upload a formal review after I've used it a few times. It handled my yard very well on the first cut yesterday and did an excellent job. It's probably not as stout as Milwaukee or perhaps even Ego, but it appears to be a good mower, and I can always buy more batteries if needed. Thank you again guys!

 

If it works for you it works for you