I have got the 480mm Makita XGT lawn mower. Had it since 31st of March. Got the kit with single charger and two 5 ah batteries and got the blower. Purchased power head accessories because i get powerhead and chainsaw attachment free via redemption. Caved in and got dual charger and two 8 ah batteries. Love this mower. I am getting way longer than 30 minutes at max power, self propelled, even on one 8ah battery on a maintenance cut. I reckon, i get maybe 30 minutes maintenance cut on one 5 ah battery. On auto mode - absolutely. The most i have used is 9-10ah/16ah mowing over an hour in 1 1/2 - 2-foot tall dense kikuyu. That was 80% self-propelled and 50/50 auto and full power. It's very easy to push so i only use self propel if i need it. I didn't time it, but my brother who was there agrees as i was there for 3 and a half hours and mowing was at least 30% of that time. I chose the smaller 480mm over the 538mm. It has higher rpm at 3200rpm vs 2800rpm. RUclipsr 'Tools and Stuff' test both mowers and both users preferred the smaller unit. Clears more grass out the small chute. The throttle activating bar has that large dead zone for good reason. It allows you just enough room to push the right handlebar with minimal interference with right wrist without the self propel bar engaged. A lot of testers say its silly not having the hand gap on the right side like the left has it. Well, if they did that the only way to use self propel is with at least one hand on top of the handlebar. Noth both hands symmetrically. Right hand reaches over, presses red power button while left hand pulls red bar that physically holds the red power button in. Right hand is free to engage self-propel. You can hold both bars in with right hand and actuate the speed lever with left hand. My battery plastic lid doesn't rattle fortunately. The right lower handlebar quick release has a tiny gap leaving a bit of play. Left side stays rigid. Not a major issue. The wheels have ball bearings not bushings, I may have mis understood the bit about bushings you mentioned. I think the tyres might be a hard rubber compound. I have a Rover with plastic tyres and they aren't the same. That lo-fi blue mesh fill indicator works brilliantly. My hard catcher was always a guess and check when it was full. The mesh is lighter and easy to see when its close to full by how much the blue mesh lifts. I use blower to clear the catcher of debris when finished so i haven't had airflow blocked yet. Mower is great at compacting catcher to the brim. Mower comes with a 'wrench' to replace swing back set. Make sure the half-moon pins are in the swing back slots before tightening disc. Otherwise it will come loose. Thanks for the review.
Thanks for the comments , overall its the best battery mower I have used to date. I would like to try the 480mm to compare it to the wider cut . I was using the self propelled all the time which would affect run times . The bushings are on the axle not the wheels yes the wheels have bearings . I think the blade carrier disc was not tight from new and just loosened up a bit over the day ,once I tightened it up it was fine
Great Video. Refreshing to watch a tool video without the drama. Im a home owner in NZ and have some XGT stuff. I think what i like the most was to have a contractors and homeowner considerations both laid out.
Thanks for no BS review. Hopefully Makita get a lot of feedback from other commercial operators that point out the importance details you raised. One thing I have been trying to work out is a maintenance cost comparison between a petrol mower and a battery powered one. The wild card is being able estimate how long the batteries last vs petrol/spark plugs etc.
Couple of things I would like to comment on I have done some rough calculations regarding the rpm difference. The 2800 to 3200rpm is approx a14.3% difference but is only translated into an approx 2.75 % difference advantage to the 480mm at tip speed. Eg as the diameter goes bigger the tip speed increases for the 21 inch 534 wide cut model. Based on the rpm X 3.14 x diameter formula. The 480 should cut the really thick grass better being a narrower deck eg less grass to displace, but the 534mm being wider for regular cut lawns means less mowing time.
@@shanew7361 Not exactly sure about that but from research I think IMO that the previous model 36 volt was 1600watt and the newer 40 volt xgt has 1900watt motor.
The front axle is actually attached to metal. The plastic is just a cover. You can verify this for your self by going to the makita website, navigating to the mower in question and viewing the parts pdf. Edit: looking at buying one myself. Weighing up my options between this, an Ego or sticking with fuel and getting a honda
What'd you decide to get and why? I own the Honda hrx 217hya lawn mower with the 200cc hydrostatic transmission, and it's a dream machine for 5 years, zero complaints other than I'm sick of gas, etc. I'm eyeballing this Makita and the Ego LMX5300SP commercial version.
@@shanew7361 Havent bought one yet. Getting a new home built on a large acreage and planning to have a large lawn area. This won't happen till years end though so I'll let you know when the time comes
Thanks, that was valuable. Got this in the 48 cm flavor this winter, in Lithuania, and then found out Bosch (a better company, imho, as it managed to completely leave the russian market, while Makita keeps on doing business with this aggressive terrorist dictatorship) released their first mower in the professional line, the GRA 18V2-46. It is extremely similar to the Makita ones in terms of exterior design, but has an "only" 46 cm blade. It seems nobody has reviewed it yet, unfortunately, it would be a very interesting watch... Anyways, Makita seems to have a regular blade pretty much everywhere except Australia and some neighboring regions perhaps, which get this x shaped one. As far as i know, nobody has made any comparisons in terms of running time and performance, which is a shame. On the other hand, I couldn't find this x shaped replacement blade for the 48 cm version on sale anywhere online (in Australia, or elsewhere), so perhaps it's only the thing with 53 cm one. Anyways, sticking with Makita and we'll see how well it does this summer in a homestead, where the conditions are rough and I'm not trying to maintain "a lawn". By the way, I get a strong feeling from watching 53 cm reviews the rear discharge hole is way larger on this one, compared to the 48 cm version, because the motor area is the same on both models. Frankly, I will be pleasantly shocked if mine will be able to fill this bag over 70 percent. By the way, Makita also has 64V mowers, which have considerably more power (2300 W vs 1900 W of these 40V ones), but take ridiculously large, otherwise worthless batteries. They also have a polycarbonate deck (apparently), which is supposedly both extremely tough and light, but I consider it a major minus due to the high toxicity of PC. EDIT: there's also at least one 64V mower (LM004J, 53.4 cm) with a metal deck too.
I have got the 480mm Makita XGT lawn mower. Had it since 31st of March. Got the kit with single charger and two 5 ah batteries and got the blower. Purchased power head accessories because i get powerhead and chainsaw attachment free via redemption. Caved in and got dual charger and two 8 ah batteries.
Love this mower. I am getting way longer than 30 minutes at max power, self propelled, even on one 8ah battery on a maintenance cut. I reckon, i get maybe 30 minutes maintenance cut on one 5 ah battery. On auto mode - absolutely. The most i have used is 9-10ah/16ah mowing over an hour in 1 1/2 - 2-foot tall dense kikuyu. That was 80% self-propelled and 50/50 auto and full power. It's very easy to push so i only use self propel if i need it. I didn't time it, but my brother who was there agrees as i was there for 3 and a half hours and mowing was at least 30% of that time.
I chose the smaller 480mm over the 538mm. It has higher rpm at 3200rpm vs 2800rpm. RUclipsr 'Tools and Stuff' test both mowers and both users preferred the smaller unit. Clears more grass out the small chute.
The throttle activating bar has that large dead zone for good reason. It allows you just enough room to push the right handlebar with minimal interference with right wrist without the self propel bar engaged. A lot of testers say its silly not having the hand gap on the right side like the left has it. Well, if they did that the only way to use self propel is with at least one hand on top of the handlebar. Noth both hands symmetrically.
Right hand reaches over, presses red power button while left hand pulls red bar that physically holds the red power button in. Right hand is free to engage self-propel. You can hold both bars in with right hand and actuate the speed lever with left hand.
My battery plastic lid doesn't rattle fortunately. The right lower handlebar quick release has a tiny gap leaving a bit of play. Left side stays rigid. Not a major issue. The wheels have ball bearings not bushings, I may have mis understood the bit about bushings you mentioned. I think the tyres might be a hard rubber compound. I have a Rover with plastic tyres and they aren't the same.
That lo-fi blue mesh fill indicator works brilliantly. My hard catcher was always a guess and check when it was full. The mesh is lighter and easy to see when its close to full by how much the blue mesh lifts. I use blower to clear the catcher of debris when finished so i haven't had airflow blocked yet. Mower is great at compacting catcher to the brim.
Mower comes with a 'wrench' to replace swing back set. Make sure the half-moon pins are in the swing back slots before tightening disc. Otherwise it will come loose.
Thanks for the review.
Thanks for the comments , overall its the best battery mower I have used to date. I would like to try the 480mm to compare it to the wider cut . I was using the self propelled all the time which would affect run times . The bushings are on the axle not the wheels yes the wheels have bearings . I think the blade carrier disc was not tight from new and just loosened up a bit over the day ,once I tightened it up it was fine
Great Video. Refreshing to watch a tool video without the drama. Im a home owner in NZ and have some XGT stuff. I think what i like the most was to have a contractors and homeowner considerations both laid out.
Thanks for no BS review. Hopefully Makita get a lot of feedback from other commercial operators that point out the importance details you raised. One thing I have been trying to work out is a maintenance cost comparison between a petrol mower and a battery powered one. The wild card is being able estimate how long the batteries last vs petrol/spark plugs etc.
Couple of things I would like to comment on I have done some rough calculations regarding the rpm difference. The 2800 to 3200rpm is approx a14.3% difference but is only translated into an approx 2.75 % difference advantage to the 480mm at tip speed.
Eg as the diameter goes bigger the tip speed increases for the 21 inch 534 wide cut model.
Based on the rpm X 3.14 x diameter formula.
The 480 should cut the really thick grass better being a narrower deck eg less grass to displace, but the 534mm being wider for regular cut lawns means less mowing time.
What is the torque on the 21-inch mower? I reside in the USA, only 21 inches available.
@@shanew7361 Not exactly sure about that but from research I think IMO that the previous model 36 volt was 1600watt and the newer 40 volt xgt has 1900watt motor.
The front axle is actually attached to metal. The plastic is just a cover. You can verify this for your self by going to the makita website, navigating to the mower in question and viewing the parts pdf.
Edit: looking at buying one myself. Weighing up my options between this, an Ego or sticking with fuel and getting a honda
What'd you decide to get and why? I own the Honda hrx 217hya lawn mower with the 200cc hydrostatic transmission, and it's a dream machine for 5 years, zero complaints other than I'm sick of gas, etc. I'm eyeballing this Makita and the Ego LMX5300SP commercial version.
@@shanew7361 Havent bought one yet. Getting a new home built on a large acreage and planning to have a large lawn area. This won't happen till years end though so I'll let you know when the time comes
Been eyeing this mower, haven't seen any good review yet. so thanks mate!
What reviews? I’ve only seen positive ones besides this one.
Thanks, that was valuable. Got this in the 48 cm flavor this winter, in Lithuania, and then found out Bosch (a better company, imho, as it managed to completely leave the russian market, while Makita keeps on doing business with this aggressive terrorist dictatorship) released their first mower in the professional line, the GRA 18V2-46. It is extremely similar to the Makita ones in terms of exterior design, but has an "only" 46 cm blade. It seems nobody has reviewed it yet, unfortunately, it would be a very interesting watch...
Anyways, Makita seems to have a regular blade pretty much everywhere except Australia and some neighboring regions perhaps, which get this x shaped one. As far as i know, nobody has made any comparisons in terms of running time and performance, which is a shame. On the other hand, I couldn't find this x shaped replacement blade for the 48 cm version on sale anywhere online (in Australia, or elsewhere), so perhaps it's only the thing with 53 cm one.
Anyways, sticking with Makita and we'll see how well it does this summer in a homestead, where the conditions are rough and I'm not trying to maintain "a lawn". By the way, I get a strong feeling from watching 53 cm reviews the rear discharge hole is way larger on this one, compared to the 48 cm version, because the motor area is the same on both models. Frankly, I will be pleasantly shocked if mine will be able to fill this bag over 70 percent.
By the way, Makita also has 64V mowers, which have considerably more power (2300 W vs 1900 W of these 40V ones), but take ridiculously large, otherwise worthless batteries. They also have a polycarbonate deck (apparently), which is supposedly both extremely tough and light, but I consider it a major minus due to the high toxicity of PC. EDIT: there's also at least one 64V mower (LM004J, 53.4 cm) with a metal deck too.
Great video mate. I share the same thoughts having also tested it out for a week. Its my preferred battery mower so far too. 👍🏻
Thanks mate, good to hear your opinion on these machines. I'll stick to my 216's for the time being.
I have been looking at the reviews of the Masport 60v mowers, they seem like well specified mowers.
Great review! I'll wait for the 80v :)
Can you turn the self-propelled off?
Great vid. Keep up the good work