Is Craftsman's Electric Riding Lawn Mower Worth The Hefty Price Tag? Here's What Reviews Say

Lawn mowers have come a long way since the main power choices were gas or plain human effort. Electric mowers are cutting their own path to becoming staples in the average homeowner's garage, as battery power typically requires a lot less maintenance than dealing with oil, gasoline, and spark plugs. Gas-powered yard tools also tend to be noisier than their electric counterparts, plus they emit fumes. If you've noticed signs it's time to replace your lawn mower, you may wonder how to decide if gas or electric mowers and tools are right for you. While battery-powered push mowers are already fairly standard and readily available from countless companies, electric riding mowers are getting some attention, too. As with their gas-powered cousins, an electric riding mower may be worth considering if you have a lot of land to mow or if you just don't have the energy or desire to maintain that lawn with a walk-behind mower. The Craftsman 56V cordless, brushless 30-inch compact riding mower sells for just under $3,800 at Lowe's. 

According to Craftsman, you can mow up to an acre on one charge before needing to plug in again. The company states that its mower is 65 percent quieter than a gas mower, which is nice if you're not a fan of the noise that accompanies machine-assisted yard work. The mower also has cruise control, plus a light for mowing in low light. Though there aren't an abundance of reviews for this mower model, it gets a little less than 4 out of 5 stars on both the Craftsman and the Lowe's product pages for it. Not being aware of the pros and cons ahead of time is one of those common mistakes when shopping for a mower, and with a hefty price tag, it pays to be informed first.

On the Craftsman site, 7 out of 12 reviewers gave the mower 5 stars, while 15 out of 35 gave it 5 stars through Lowe's. Those who favorably reviewed the mower say it has plenty of power and battery life, noting it doesn't handle slopes well at all. A Lowe's reviewer said it's fantastic for flat areas, but that he had to lean back and shift his weight to get traction going uphill. He said it can tip over easily when mowing sideways on a slope. Another reviewer echoed these sentiments; they felt the mower couldn't handle more than a 10-degree slope, noting the potential for injuries. 

Several users said the mower doesn't move smoothly, in that accelerating to full speed seems to happen all at once rather than a progressive speed increase, resulting in jerky motions. A few users reported the mower was dead on arrival or that it displayed error codes as soon as they got it home, so they returned theirs after store representatives were unable to solve the issue. One reviewer said the mower worked great for a year, then it got error codes that couldn't be resolved despite numerous tech-support calls, including one promising a new part that never arrived. "When the mower worked I was very pleased with it, but it has to be the most unreliable mower you can buy," stated reviewer UnhappyDude. 

The reviews on Craftsman's product page are mostly favorable, but they appear to mostly be from compensated reviewers who demoed the mower once rather than regularly using it over a season or two, so keep that in mind. The negative reviews on the site again mentioned error codes that resulted in a mower that wouldn't work.