> I have the same issue every year with a ride on lawn mower. Do I just pay someone weekly or buy one outright and do it myself? In this case I loathe mowing,

I bought mine, ran great for 4 years, then ran into a bunch of trouble, which made me recognize the other hidden cost of ownership is simply just maintenance. A very expensive mower just sitting there, nearest potential repair shop far away, no idea how I'd even get it there let alone the cost. And if I decide I don't want it, I've got to pay to get rid of it now too.

Luckily I was able to watch a bunch of youtube videos and order myself some parts to get it up and running again, but definitely sunk quite a bit of time and energy into it.

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theoreticalmal 3 days ago | parent [-]

I just scrapped an ICE mower for a battery powered one. No more winterizing, changing oil, or worrying about filling with gas. I still don’t like mowing, but it sucks a little less now

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IncreasePosts 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

Sure, but you're just deferring moderate yearly maintenance cost for a rig that will need to be totally overhauled in 5 years due to battery degradation with current battery tech offered in mowers

At least, that's the conclusion I came to this year when researching ride-on battery mowers vs ICE. Electric push mowers seem like a no brainer though

	▲	namibj 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		LiFePO4 will be even cheaper in 5 years, so go for it and have a project for then?

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david422 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

That's actually the situation I was in though. When your electric mower breaks you're probably on your own. I would not want to go back, but going forward definitely has it's own issues.