A little over a year ago WORX very kindly lent me a cordless lawn mower to test and review. I'm a huge fan of WORX cordless tools in general and their range of garden power tools is as good as it gets in my opinion.
The WORX WG743E.1 may not have a very sexy name, but is a cracking bit of kit! It is exactly what I want from a domestic battery powered lawn mower. Lightweight, but powerful, easy to operate and with sufficient power per charge to mow a typical domestic lawn. I have used it 50+ times now and know it well as gardening tool. It has weaknesses in certain situations, but its strengths more than make up for it.
Set up was very easy. Straight out of the box and all I had to do was screw on the handle (see highly technical video below).
Then I popped in the batteries (below)
and away we go!
Ordinarily I use a petrol lawnmower in my garden, having previously had a large lawn that took ages to mow. In my new home, I still have two good-sized lawns to a total of around 800m², but when I'm only cutting one of them, getting the heavy petrol mower out and ready to go is a hassle that I don't always want. The convenience of a lightweight mower that can easily be carried from the storage shed to either front or rear lawns and used with minimal physical effort is a huge boon.
I say 'lawns' laughingly; I'm not a big 'lawn guy', firstly they are full of weeds and moss (characterful, if you will and certainly biodiverse) and secondly, I'd rather have plants than grass growing. Over time, I will erode the lawns as I add more and more planted space, so a larger petrol mower may ultimately become pointless to own. This more compact and lightweight mower stores and moves easily.
As I write, petrol prices are rising exponentially and so electrically powered tools are more favourable to use (albeit electricity costs are also rising, though less rapidly). This mower takes two 20V batteries and unless you already have these because you own other WORX tools, you must make sure to buy a model that includes batteries, ideally one with the double charger as well. WORX has a unified battery size and fit, called POWER SHARE that extends across their range. I can remove a battery from my cordless drill and one my nail gun, or any other tool and put them straight into the mower where they will work perfectly.
While all batteries are 20V there are versions with different amperage (Ah = Ampere hour) and the 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0Ah versions will offer greater charge, so longer use, particularly on the lawn mower range. The bigger the lawn areas, the longer you'll need to I'd recommend buying a model with 2 x 4.0Ah minimum (like this one) for good performance on lawns of 300m²+. Less than 200m² and you should easily enough get away with a cut on a single charge from 2.0Ah and 2.5Ah battery models (see below), especially if you have the blade speed set to 'Eco' and not my prefered 'Turbo'. With a minimum of 4.0Ah batteries, the WG743E.2 can do up to 500m² on a single charge. I find it is usually quite a bit less than this (again, set to Turbo) and when the lawn is longer and in need of more work to trim it. 150m² is definitely within reach on a single charge of the batteries providing the lawn isn't over 70mm+ at the start.
A few years ago I was diagnosed with arthritis in my spine (not fun, but such is life), while I am still perfectly capable of controlling a motor driven petrol mower, the convenience and lower weight (nearly half the weight of the Mountfield) of the WORX mower is definitely less of a physical battle than an uneven irregular surface can be to mow with my Mountfield (which I do love, just sometimes want an easy life). That's not to say that it is actually difficult to do, but the WORX mower is just so easy to operate, even though it isn't motor-driven. My wife is a big fan too and where she hated using the petrol mower, she has no issue with the battery powered WORX. It was a breath of fresh air for me trying it the first few times and I intend to keep one of these myself at all times.
I'm not a huge fan of the collection basket on the WORX mowers. Rigid plastic in the main and not huge. Fine if you have a small lawn, but a few too many emptying runs for my liking when using at home. This, of course, will be remedied when I remove more lawn in place of beds and borders. Other than the collection basket being a little undersized, I have no other gripes at all.
PROS
It is quiet to run
It performs at a consistently high standard while charged
Quite quick to charge from empty
Lightweight and very manoeuvrable
Much easier to start that typical Recoil Transmission Starters on Petrol Mowers
Interchangeable Power Share battery system across WORX products
Batteries with greater Ah (Ampere hours) available to give enough power time for large spaces, so scaleable.
Relatively low cost for a high-end battery product
Adjustable blade speed and cut depth
Pretty compact to aid storage
No power cords to risk mowing or flammable fuels to store
CONS
Not designed with commercial use in mind, so very focused on domestic gardening (not a con if you are a domestic gardener, just worthy of note if you planned to use professionally.
Battery Charge time is finite and so may not be suitable for large lawns.
Collection basket on the small side
Cut is arguably not as precise as a petrol mower which has a much faster blade speed
Cut is not as wide as most petrol mowers, again making it more suitable for domestic gardens.
No motor driven options that may come on other models/types
Takeaways
Perfect for most modern domestic gardens, where cutting the grass will take less than 30 minutes on average. Easy to operate, lightweight and pretty durable. Quiet to run and easy to store. A real option worth considering. I genuinely will not be without one going forward as it has made the task of weaving around irregular beds or on uneven surfaces and moving from back garden to front to cut SO much easier.
A little Technical Detail
Weight: 17.3Kg
Cutting width: 40cm (Edge to edge of machine cutting)
Battery: 2 x 20V 4.0Ah Power Share batteries
Charge Time: 2 hours from empty for both batteries
Cutting Heights: 7 settings for single, easily adjusted handle. 20-70mm
Stop/Start: Two phase, keyless start using switch and handle. release either to stop.
RRP: £339.99
Guarantee: 3 year manufacturer guarantee on all WORX products.
Worx Promotional Video for the WG743E series.
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You can buy the reviewed model with two batteries and a charger by following the link below.
Looking for something a bit less beefy for a smaller lawn? the WORX WG743E.2 has a 34cm cut width, weighs 12Kg and comes with 2 x 2.0Ah batteries for a cut of up to 280m². I've tried it and found it to perform really well.
Still too much work? Get a robot to do it!
Still not convinced? Mountfield Petrol Mowers are top bits of kit. I use the an older model equivalent to the modern S421RPD (self-propelled with a roller)
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