I started out this year on a quest to find a mower that both my wife and daughter could start easily enough so that they could help with the mowing. As soon as mowers started showing up at the lawn and garden departments, I began looking at all the electric start mowers I could find. I couldn't find very much. Virtually all of the retailers carried only one model, if any. It was usually a Toro, and it cost $80-100 more than a comparably sized pull start.

Sometime in early spring, I saw an ad for the Neuton. They advertised this as perfect for those with small lawns. My lawn is bigger than some, but it still usually only took about 20-25 minutes to cut with my Toro 20" gas mower. I figured I fit the mold. The kicker that really enticed me to order the Neuton was their 6 month, no questions asked, free return policy. What did I have to lose, except the $40 return shipping charges if I didn't like it.

I ordered the mower on the Country Home website. The total cost was $379 and included a free bagging attachment and a free mulching kit. The mower arrived in about 5 days in a box that seemed much too small. Upon opening the box, there it was. The handle was in 2 parts, but other than the simple task of putting those together, it was pretty much complete.

I charged the battery as directed for 24 hours. During that time, I changed the blade to the mulching blade and put in the attachment that closes off the discharge port to allow for the mulching. Both very simple tasks. In fact, I really love the tool that they give you to change the blade. Its a special wrench-like device that holds the blade still so that you can use a socket wrench to remove the nut. Why other manufacturers of mowers don't include these is beyond me.

The next day, I dropped the battery in, put in the special key, and started it up. It sounded more powerful than I expected. I started cutting and was pretty impressed. It was very easy to push since it's so light. It was about as quiet as a small vacuum cleaner. Quiet enough that I could talk to my daughter while I was cutting, without shouting. I noticed while cutting that it seems to require that you overlap more than with mowers that I have used in the past. I think this has to do with the "outboard" mounting of the wheels. This configuration also doesn't allow me to get as close to the edge of my gardens as I would like.

I have used this mower for three months now, and have no real complaints. It doesn't mulch quite as well as my Toro Recycler did, but it still is OK. I found that it actually does a better job of mulching if you use the regular blade and not the special mulching blade. It takes me a little longer now to cut my lawn because it is a lot smaller, only a 14" cut as opposed to the 20" I was used to. Still it only takes me about 30 minutes.

I really would recommend this mower to anyone who is tired of buying gas and oil and having to deal with all of the issues associated with internal combustion engines. Also those who are concerned about saving their hearing.

I have owned this mower for 2 seasons now and thought I would update my review.

Since the time I bought the mower, I have added the optional trimmer/edger. What a fabulous tool this is for edging along the sidewalk! I would buy this mower just for this feature. On the other hand, it is not a good trimmer for using around flower beds. It cuts too wide of a swath for my taste. In any case, if you are currently using any type of edger along hard surfaces, this is a great addition. I bought the edger on a special offer they sent me for a refurbished item. It was way cheaper and I couldn't tell it wasn't brand new.

I also have learned that the bagging attachment really works well. It even picks up leaves, much like my old Toro did. I was quite surprised at its capability.

At the beginning of the second season, I started having some issues. The mower would slow down to about half power after about 20 minutes. It would never completely stop, just run so slow that it was no longer effective. I called customer service and here is where I found out some good and bad things about this company. First the good:

1. Most of their customer service people are very friendly.
2. Most of their customer service people know their products very well.
3. They really seem to want to help.

Now the bad:
1. They seem to want to always find a cheaper solution to the problem, whether it's the right one or not. I was pretty convinced that I had a bad battery, and that is exactly what it ended up being, but not before I had talked with six different customer service agents over a 2 month span. They had me try all different kinds of things, including taking my charger down to Radio Shack to have the output tested, as well as replacing an electrical relay. It would have been better, faster, and ultimately cheaper if they would have just recognized from the start, as I did, that I had a bad battery. Once all these other things were tried, they sent the battery promptly, even paying Fedex Saturday delivery charges!

I am still pleased with this machine and would still recommend it as I originally did.

Recommended: Yes