Greenworks debuts first UL-certified battery-powered ZTR and stand-on mowers

Corey Fisher, engineering manager of mowers and vehicles, gives a run down of the 60″ zero-turn mower.
Photo: Jill Odom

The mantra Greenworks Commercial lives by is, “Battery power is not coming; battery power is here,” and it proved its point last week after debuting its first battery-powered zero-turn mower and stand-on mower.

The company is known for its commercial 82-volt line of handheld products, including everything from blowers to string trimmers to chainsaws. Much like how automakers are investing more in electric vehicles, Greenworks too believes that battery power is the future of outdoor power equipment.

Unlike other brands that are offering both gas- and battery-powered tools, Greenworks says that by focusing only on battery, they are able to become a market disruptor, and lithium-ion technology has enabled batteries to be lighter, run longer and charge faster.

The stand-on mower has 18 different cutting height positions.
Photo: Greenworks

Greenworks highlighted six main benefits of battery power during their press event. Tony Marchese, director of independent retail, shared how battery-powered tools now have the same power as gas, are convenient to operate with a push to start button, create less noise and vibration, provide significant fuel savings, produce zero emissions and the modular system allows for interchangeable batteries.

“With battery-power equipment, landscapers don’t have to waste time teaching new employees to use two-stroke equipment,” Marchese said.

Because battery run time is often scoffed at by landscapers who say they run their equipment all day, Greenworks made a point to study just how long a two-man crew is using each piece of outdoor power equipment in a day.

With an average property size of 0.86 acres, the company found that a crew using a Ferris Z2 SRS 52” stander on 10 properties would run it for three hours and 26 minutes in a day. As for backpack blowers, the crews would run their Stihl BR 600 for an hour and 52 minutes in the course of a day and a Stihl FS 91 R string trimmer for two hours and eight minutes.

GZ 69R ride-on mower.
Photo: Greenworks

Armed with this knowledge, Greenworks is confident its 60” Lithium Z zero-turn mower and 48” stand-on mower will have more than enough energy to get the job done. Both are powered by an 82-volt 13.8kW lithium-ion battery and use three 1.5KW brushless blade motors and two 1.7KW brushless drive motors.

The GZ 60R ride-on can cut anywhere from 4 ½ to 6 hours per charge, while the GZ 48S stand-on mower can cut 6 hours on a charge. Both mowers have a 10-hour charge time.

“These products have been highly anticipated by the industry since we first showcased early prototypes at the 2016 GIE+EXPO,” Marchese said. “At GIE 2017, attendees saw and experienced models that were late-stage prototypes, and every moment since then our efforts have been spent on tweaking and perfecting these machines.  We have field tested them with some of the biggest pro landscaping companies in the country this spring and without exception, they have received rave reviews as true gas alternatives. Since May, our dealers have just been overwhelmed with pre-orders, so we are excited to make them widely available beginning today, as the industry’s first ever UL-certified, professional-grade, lithium-ion zero-turn mowers.”

While Greenworks says they could have brought the mowers to market sooner, they wanted to make safety their priority and pursued UL certification for the machines first.

When operating the ZTR and stand-on, you don’t realize the machine is even on at first after turning the key, as the machines are near silent. Even when the cutting deck is down, both machines are remarkably quiet compared to traditional mowers, which could allow crews the luxury to start working on jobsites earlier in the day without disturbing others.

The GZ 60R ride-on mower has a top forward speed of 10 mph and top reverse speed of 5 mph. Operators can electronically adjust the cutting deck height from 1” to 6”.

The stand-on model’s top forward speed is 6 mph and the top reverse speed is 3 mph. Users can manually adjust the deck height from 1.5” to 6”.

Users can adjust the cutting deck height on the ZTR via the LED screen.
Photo: Greenworks

The zero-turn has 13” front tires and 23” tires while the stand-on has 12” front tires and 18” rear tires.

One of the benefits Greenworks highlights about the machines is the reduced maintenance and longevity of the machine. Any issues that do occur are instantly diagnosed via the LED screen.

The GZ 60R ride-on mower will be sold for $25,000 and the GZ 48S stand-on will be sold for $22,500.

Each mower comes with a 90-day blade warranty, 2-year or 500-hour frame warranty and a 3-year battery and motor warranty. The mowers are now available at the Carswell, Carswell OEI, Conniff, Edney and PACE and Steven Willand independent dealer networks.

Other recent introductions this year are the GBB 700 duel battery port backpack blower, GE 080 stick edger, GHX 200 pole hedger and GHD 260 26” hedge trimmer.

The GBB 700 is notable for its ability to provide up to 690 CFM and 165 mph, while the backpack housing unit can carry two batteries of varying amp hours to suit the operator’s needs. The backpack battery can also plug in and power any of the other 82-volt equipment.

Also coming in the fall are the GN 200 snow thrower and the GS 181 chainsaw.

The snow thrower will have a 22” width and a 12.5” clearing depth. Operators will have 180-degree directional chute control that has a 25-ft. maximum discharge. The GS 181 chainsaw will feature a 2.5KW brushless motor and 18” bar and chain.