Summer is here which means I have to get the lawn mower out and actually do some work. In the past, this was something I always dreaded but since I have moved over to cordless battery powered OPE (Outdoor Power Equipment), I have to admit, I really don’t have any excuses. I just put the battery in, push the button and I am off to work. No more messing around with gas, spark plugs and pulling my arm off. As you know I am a huge EGO fan. But when a company like Dewalt launches a lawn mower, I am always eager to see how it performs. So let’s take a look at the Dewalt 20V Lawn Mower Review.
Dewalt 20V Lawn Mower Review Overview
We saw the lawn mower last year at the Dewalt event. When I first saw it, I thought it was cool, but wasn’t too impressed. Probably because we didn’t have a chance to use it and play around with it. Well now that I had a chance to cut some grass, work with it and test it out, I’ve changed my mind.
The one thing I can say right off the bat is this is one of the highest quality lawn mowers we have tested to date. There is just something about it that feels solid and feels like a real lawnmower but without the weight and the gas motor.
Dewalt 20V Lawn Mower Review Features
The Dewalt lawn mower, model DCMW220P2, uses a brushless motor which means it should be more efficient and run longer.
The Dewalt lawn mower is powered by two 20V batteries. The lawn mower comes with two 5 Ah batteries that feature a 3 LED light fuel gauge.
The batteries slide into the top of the mow and as you can see, there is plenty of room leftover. Which means you can also use the Dewalt Flexvolt batteries for this lawn mower. As a note, you do need to run this lawn mower with both batteries as it will not run with only one battery. This also means that they need to have the same charge. if you run one battery full and one battery with 10% left, you will only get the 10% run time.
On the back of the mower head, there is a 3 LED light that shows you how much battery life is left on each battery. So as you are walking, you can look down and see the fuel status. Personally, I would rather have a 4 or more LED light indicator, but not a deal breaker.
To start the mower, make sure the safety key is inserted, then press back on the yellow handle and then press down on the yellow push button. The startup time is only a couple of seconds, so it starts pretty fast and doesn’t have a long delay like we have seen with some other battery mowers.
You have three options for this mower. You can either bag the grass, side discharged (Not shown) or you can mulch with the plug.
One very nice feature to this mower is the ability to adjust the height with a single lever instead of having to adjust each wheel.
The mower uses two larger back wheels while having two smaller wheels on the front.
The mower uses one of the nicest metal bars we have seen on a battery mower. Most of the mowers we have tested always use a cheap, flimsy handle, except the Ego. I am happy to see Dewalt built this with a quality handle and I think this is one of the reasons this feels like a solid machine.
If you need to lift this mower, there is a handle on the front and back which makes it easy to lift up and down.
The deck is a 20″ deck that is nice and high which means the grass can really move around and provide nice mulching capabilities.
I am not sure the thickness of steel, but it’s not too thin where it will dent easily but not too thick where it makes it weight a ton.
The handle has a nice set up where you can use your hands on the side or on the top depending on your height and the setting of the handle height.
The mower has two different height settings which are easy to adjust. Just pull a knob out and you can raise or lower the handle to adjust to your height.
When not in use, you can fold the handle down to store under your workbench or in an area that doesn’t take up a lot of room.
Dewalt 20V Lawn Mower Review Performance
This is the area we cut with two fully charge Dewalt 5 Ah 20V batteries. They state you can cut a 1/4 acre, which this might be. For me, I am not really happy with the runtime. The machine is quality and I love everything about the mower. I do have a hard time getting around the runtime with the batteries though. Can I invest more into Flexvolt? Sure, but then if I am going to do that, why not go with the EGO?
In regards to cut quality, it’s the only battery powered mower that performs to EGO standards. It’s the only mower that truly cuts all the grass and doesn’t cut some and fold the rest over. I love the cut quality as it performs like a gas mower.
Dewalt 20V Lawn Mower Review Value
You can pick this mower up on Amazon for about $350 which includes the batteries. I think the value isn’t bad at all considering how well this is built. However, with the substandard runtime, it is a hard justification unless you already own Flexvolt batteries.
Dewalt 20V Lawn Mower Review Final Thoughts
This mower is bittersweet. While I love the mower and think the quality is top notch, I have a hard time with the runtime. When I am done mowing, I would have to wait and charge the batteries to use my blower and string trimmer. The mower truly cuts grass and doesn’t just fold it over and in the end, it’s an awesome mower. If you own Flexvolt or own extra Dewalt batteries, it might be a great mower to own as long as you understand the runtime isn’t great. If you are looking to get your first mower and aren’t part of the Dewalt line, I think the Ego might be a better platform to get into.
I too have this mower and was left a little disappointed at first. I bought 2xFV 9AH batteries though and it is perfect now. It should of come with those to start even if they had to up the price by $50. There is a really big difference especially if you are have grass that is tall or a little wet. I have a 1/4 acre lot and can usually finish with the 2x9AH batteries even with the wet grass but just barely. When dry I have at least one light left on both batteries.
Hey Matt! That’s great to hear that it runs better with the 9Ah batteries, we have had a lot of questions about it. Quality and cut are definitely great, but we agree, bigger batteries to start would have been better.
Thanks for the honest review. Definitely a Flexvolt tool, I wonder what the runtime is on those?
Another review maybe?
Hey Jeremy, thank you! We have heard the higher Ah battery increases the runtime, we may try and do that soon too.
This mower is so problematic that Lowes was dumping it for 50% off the list price. Underpowered, no real run time. This was DeWalts worst design choice.
A for real mower needs 120volts, 2 60v / 12 amps. Self powered, and cuts tall grass when wet, and mulches.
I am a retired Landscape Contractor and have relied on a Honda mower. The one I have now is 7 plus years old and still starts on the first pull. That said, I wanted to go battery to see the results so I bought a Dewalt. It’s not equal to the power of my old mower but certainly cuts well. Doesn’t catch the grass that well when bagging. Going to try the Flex Volt to see if it will fix that problem. Thanks for that recommendation.