Black & Decker offers 15 different electric mowers. Here we will look at the best one, why it is the best and how it compares to other brand’s electric mowers…
Black & Decker is a pioneer in the power tool and DIY industry, so before getting into the best lawn mower, let’s look at the company’s cool and interesting history.
Did you know these Black & Decker company facts?
- Started out selling machines for making bottle caps and candy dipping (1910).
- Invented the portable electric drill with a pistol grip and trigger (1916), which started the power tool industry in America.
- Started selling electric lawn edgers and hedge trimmer for residential use (1957). The first company to target residential consumers.
- Acquired the DeWalt brand of power tools (1960).
- Helped to design and build the Moon drill used in the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 (1963 – 1972).
- Invented the Dustbuster portable handheld vacuum (1979).
Black & Decker focuses on electric and portable. They always have. And so it makes sense that their lawn mower offerings are electric and portable. Their entire line is battery powered. Here’s the one most people think is the best:
Best Black & Decker Electric Lawn Mower
1) Black & Decker Self Propelled 19-Inch Cordless Electric Mower
The best B & D mower for most people is the self propelled SPCM1936. It is a little heavier than most mowers at 90 pounds, but the self propelled rear wheels more than make up for it.
You can choose to mulch, bag or rear discharge the grass and can adjust the speed of self propulsion to match your walking speed. It has a 36-Volt removable sealed lead-acid battery that provides enough charge for 42 minutes of mowing – depending on lawn conditions that’s between 1/10 and 1/3 an acre, or 1 – 3 pro-basketball court sized lawns.
If you want electric, cordless and self propelled (and you lawn isn’t large) then this mower is a great option, as over 800 customers have rated it an average 4/5 on both Amazon and Home Depot websites.
Benefits
Here’s a video that summarizes the benefits of the Black & Decker cordless electric lawn mower. Below the video is further detail of how the benefits will make your mowing better.
Removable Battery
You can have a spare battery on standby. If you have a large lawn you may need to own 2 batteries – one for standby. If the first battery runs out of charge before the mow is complete, you can put the spare in.
Large, Self Propelled Rear Wheels
Easy to move around garden beds and reverse direction while mowing. The larger rear wheels on this mower allow you to pivot easily without having to push down on the handle more than an inch. And the fact the mower is rear wheel self propelled instead of front wheel offers the same advantages of a rear wheel driven car: better weight balance, easier handling and better control.
Customer’s Who Were Not Happy Said This
Although many of the customers rated the SPCM1936 (self propelled cordless mower) highly, some others were not so happy.
What were they not happy about?
The majority of complaints were: the battery doesn’t last long enough. B & D advertize the mower lasts for 1/3 acre on 1 charge…
Here’s the math behind that calculation (my guess):
- A flat, dry, already trim 1/3 acre lawn at average walking pace of 3.1 mph with a 19-Inch mower (no overlap between each 19-Inch mow lane) takes 34 minutes to mow. Factor in a few minutes for overlap between mowing lanes and turning and that’s about the calculation that B & D have done. One charge is 42 minutes is 1/3 acre.
The problem with the calculation is we don’t live in a perfect world. You might not walk at that speed, you might not have the same grass they use in their calc, you might have more overlap or need to re-mow patches, and so on.
So if you’re buying this mower to mow 1/3 acre I’d encourage you to purchase an extra battery so you definitely have enough power to get through it. 1/10 to 1/4 acre is a more realistic estimate of mowing area you can cover on 1 charge.
Wrap-Up
Black & Decker have a long history making portable electric power tools. They’ve learned over the years how to incorporate batteries and electric motors for highly efficient power equipment.
Their lawn mowers, not surprisingly, are all electric and the best one featured here is a cordless electric that will allow you to mow your lawn early in the morning or late at night without disturbing your neighbours. It will allow you to retire your jerry can and save that gas money.
If you want all these things and more then check out the self propelled mower from Black & Decker at the link below.
Sources And Further Reading
1. Home Depot has over 100 customer reviews for this lawn mower. They also have detailed specifications that I used to discover the estimated run time of the battery.
2. The cool facts about Black & Decker the company were sourced from multiple place. The 100 year anniversary website has a timeline listing major events from 1910 to 2010. The B & D product page for the SPCM1936 was used for further technical data and also FAQs. An of course, the trusty Wikipedia page for B & D was reviewed for any further information that may have been useful.
3. To convert from acres to equivalent basketball courts I needed the dimension of a basketball court.
4. As a catalog, this website’s pages are inherently linked. The best B & D mower for most people mower is also one of the best electric mowers overall. So those pages on this website were used to ensure coherence.
5. Another great cordless electric option is this one by GreenWorks. Don’t want electric? Check out Huqvarna’s best petrol mowers.
