Yes, mower week is still here. Today we are covering the 80V Kobalt Lawn Mower. If you missed our head to head, feel free to check out head to head mowers and how they all performed against each other. If you would rather just check out the Kobalt, feel free to keep on reading. As a spoiler alert, the Kobalt was not our top pick and scored 358 out of 400. So does this mean it’s not worth a look? No, not at all. While there are things we see need improvements, there are also things to love about this mower. It’s just wasn’t our top pick when you take everything into consideration.
Kobalt Lawn Mower Overview
You may look at this mower and the Greenworks and think to yourself, hey they kind of look a like. Well I am sure it’s because Greenworks makes the Kobalt mower, but it’s more of an observation than a researched fact. The Kobalt lawn mower is based on an 80V platform which has power, but unfortunately the batteries are only a 2Ah battery. Good news is the charging wait time is only 30 minutes. While some manufacturers decided to go with a composite plastic deck, the Kobalt has a steel deck which has it’s own pros and cons. The steel is great for durability, but the extra weight can be cumbersome for those people who are dealing with hills. Now I am not sure if the 21″ steel deck has anything to do with it, but I have to admit, this produces a great cut and the bagging isn’t bad either. The mower offers 3 mowing options where the user can either bag, mulch or use the side discharge. Did I mention this is made with a brushless motor? The brushless motor should give it more power and a longer runtime since these types of motors are more efficient.
Starting the mower is easy. Just press a button and pull back on the lever, yes it’s that easy to get up and running with this mower. One item we liked about this mower is how easy it is to adjust the heights. With a single lever you can adjust the height either up or down. No more messing around with each wheel. There are 7 different positions you can pick from for mower height. If storage is a premium in your garage or shed, no worries as it’s easy to lower the handle over the unit to save on space. As a final note, the mower comes with a 5 year warranty for the peace of mind.
Kobalt Lawn Mower Thoughts
Bottom line the Kobalt mower isn’t too bad. Would I buy this mower? No, I would pass on this mower for a couple of reasons. First, the price tag is hefty at $499. The 2Ah battery is pretty weak. Yes, it’s 80v, but voltage isn’t everything. I am not a huge fan of the extra weight of the steel deck and the mower does seem a little clunky. The wheels and handle are a little sloppy also. However this does do an awesome job with the cutting and bagging. The cut quality is a huge improvement over their older model. I have to say it was one of the best cuts we tested and if you check out Lowes, people are extremely happy with this mower and giving it 4.5 stars out of 5. I just think for $499, there are other mowers that are a better buy.
499 seems a bit expensive for that mower especially when the build quality isn’t as great as others in that price range
The other down side to the Kobalt besides the price is the fact for some reason Lowes/Kobalt decided not to offer the Greenworks Snow Blower as a Kobalt branded tool. While the battery packs look the same they are not compatible. The name of the game with any cordless equipment is to stay with one battery platform you save the most money that way.
Yea i agree with logan, 5 bills i can get an awesome honda that will far outlast this thing #tiacrew PS shouldn’t cordless mowers be cheaper than gas mowers??
I have one of these and it sucks. Maybe it will work if you have a tiny yard. My yard is 1.03 acres. I spend 20 minutes mowing and 45 minutes charging. It takes forever to mow and at some point I just have to give up and do other things.
This is a garbage mower. Avoid.
Woah, Kase! It wouldn’t take much research to realize today’s battery mowers are not nearly where they need to be to do a full acre!!! Pretty unreasonable expectations.
It’s like complaining that a currently available electric car can’t go coast to coast without stopping.
I just purchased one from Lowes.com for $180 which I thought was a great deal. Should I keep it or return it.
That’s a great deal! I would definitely give it a go and see how you feel!
we are considering a Kobalt 80 volt but the salesman actually talked us out of it, saying that everyone with st. augustine grass returns them because they’re just not powerful enough to cut thru the thick, matted grass. that is what we have, so we didn’t buy it. any comments would be helpful…IF this site is still active??? thank you.
I think u should have bought it.
If you like to wait 10-15 days in summer to
Mow then yea. Probably not a good choice.
It isnt going to go thru tall thick grass fast.
You might have to cut at a higher deck level then cut again a day or so later.
If u like to keep a nicely manicured lawn
Then yes. This baby will do fine as long as u cut
Once every 7-9 days in South in the summer.
I love mine. I love no carburetor issues.
No gas. No oil.
No pull cord (breaking)
No nasty smells. No storage issues with gas.
No worrying about if it’ll start come March or april.
I bought the Kobalt 80V Max self propelled mower 2 years ago. I have St. Augustine in my front yard, relatively thick. It cuts flawlessly. My back yard is large and is Bermuda Grass. It also cuts great. The mower automatically increases speed when in thick grass. My model came with 2 batteries. After 2 years the batteries are decreasing in time of use but still sufficient to cut the whole yard. I also have the Kobalt string trimmer and Kobalt leaf blower, all 80V Max to keep with the same battery. I do my whole yard, using about 2.5 battery charges. I keep all three batteries charged in between uses of about every 8 to 10 days during the summer. Very satisfied with the whole set. Kobalt does not offer an edge trimmer (metal blade) attachment but the string trimmer is designed to be a quick disconnect that accepts 3rd party compatible attachments, which I purchased and use them both every time I mow the lawn with no problems. The mower has developed an uneven cutting pattern, which I am in the process of diagnosing. It is cutting lower on the right side than on the left.
Have had the 80V for two years, now in my third season. Lowes had an ad for a Kobolt 40V that came with two batteries on sale for $299. I checked inventory, went to Lowes and they did not have one, even though inventory showed they did. So the manager 7knocked the price down to $299 for the 80V 6amp self-propelled unit that was sitting at $599. Needless to say, it’s a GREAT $299 mower! 🙂 The only problem I ever had was that I was cleaning the underside and had taken off the bag in my driveway. I went inside to get a drink of water, and in that moment, my daughter goes out and backs her Jeep Gladiator over the bag, bending the frame. I contacted Lowes for a replacement and they only had the replacement bag, and did not included the frame. That was $20 plus shipping. So, I contacted Greenworks. I gave them the model number and serial number. They were able to look it up and find the correct replacement item (the entire assembly) which, with shipping, was $29.99.
I enjoy not having any gas issues, oil change issues, spark plug issues, no fouled carb issues or stuck floats. No pulling a cord in exasperation, or broken pull cords, either. I can turn it on its side to clean the underneath of the deck, remove the blade for sharpening and never have to worry about oil or gas issues. I use on Zoysia in my back yard and St. Augustine in my front yard. Nice, smooth cuts.
I have one complaint and one observation: 1. it’s that the self-propelled wheels are in the rear instead of the front. I live on a slight hill, with a 7′ rise in 30′. It’s too easy for the front to pop up when going uphill, so I’ve learned to mow in a direction where all my cuts go either sideways or downhill. The observation is that it is much lighter than a gas mower, so it does not sit down into the grass as well as a gas mower. If you don’t keep a sharp blade, you will leave a few stragglers of grass blades that stick up. Also, when I used a gas mower I could get that well-defined look where when you mow one direction, then back the other direction, you get these stripes in the yard. This does not do that. It is more of an overall even cut, and I think that’s because the blade may spin at a lower RPM than with a gas mower. I could be wrong. Either way, it does a very good job on one cut. My lot size is 17,000 sq. feet, but probably only have 10,000 square feet that I mow.
I have this exact model shown in the photo. I’m on my 4th season and have no negative issues. Cuts like a dream. I need 2 charged batteries to get through a 75′ X 50′ patch of lawn. I cut every two weeks, I cut raising the deck one notch above the lowest setting. The batteries are beginning to wear, but I expected a 5 year life, so I’m right on target. Just replaced the blade this season. Couldn’t find a 21″ so I installed a 20″ blade made for the 40-V model. Works great. I’m a lazy homeowner, so I never clean the machine other than when I empty the hopper. Sits all winter in the garage, starts up immediately with a charged battery in spring.
Best mower I ever had. Hoping Kobalt continues to make this product as I will purchase a second time when this one wears out.
Sivia: I bought mine in 2017 80V with two 2.5h. It was not self-propelled. It has been good for a long while until yesterday when I went to cut my lawn and despite the fact the batteries were fully charged the unit kept shutting down. It is time to retire this one, so I just bought another one this time a self-propelled 80V with a 6h battery that will do the job on just one charge instead of the two charges I used to do. My lawn is blue grass front and back and the area is not that big 80′ x 105′, I hope to be able to handle the new one I am old and would not like to be self-propelled to the moon. lol
I have a kobalt 80V that is about 3 1/2 to 4 years old and stop running. Lowes and kobalt won’t do anything about it because I can’t find the receipt. The light will come on to say fully charge for the battery and the bells will sound but it will not start.