Black & Decker Lawn Hog 18-Inch 12 Amp Electric Mulching Mower #MM575

I mowed over my first cord two weeks after buying the mower, but there was more user error to blame than product design.

For a quiet, clean, dependable mower, I recommend this one. If I could change one thing, it would be the width of the mower deck. A 22" model would be awesome.


Great Electric Mower   August 29, 2005
J. S Thomas (Arlington, Texas USA)
38 out of 38 found this review helpful

Ive been on a battery/electric operated yard tool craze. When my gas mower died a few weeks ago I started looking into electric mowers as a compliment to my battery operated BD, weedeater,blower,hedge clippers. I was hesitant as an electric mower for a 12,000 lot is a big step, giving up on ease of movement and power and selfpropelled feature or so i thought.

Well i ordered off of Amazon and it came within 72 hours, free shipping WOW and the price was terrific compared to local stores and no tax...

Anyway, i put it together and it was ready to use within 10 minutes, really!!!

You do need an electrical cord to operate and i had 100' cord which is perfect for my yard. My yard has not been mowed in several weeks as my gas mower died and i did not want to spend the money for reserection of a 4 year old mower plus gas prices are crazy right now. I did plan my route since i would have a cord i was pulling. Turned it on and it was amazing on how much less noise it was compared to my gas mower. My wife came out and asked when i was going to start but had been mowing for 15 minutes, lol.

I started in the mulching mode at first and not paying attention had it on the lowest setting....it was going fine but when i hit thicker deeper grass it did bogg down. I inserted the discharge shute and even on the lowest setting in taller grass it mowed fine. Once i realized i had it on the lowest setting and moved it up in height comparable to my gas mower the electric mower never bogged down one time even when mulching!!! The cord is not bad at all although i did have to get used to it as i wrapped it around the tree once and just laughed at myself. I thought i would miss the self propelled feature, however, this mower is sooo light its like pushing a vacum cleaner so i was managing the cord with my left, pushing with my right and no problems, mowed like a champ, no uneven cuts. My neighbors came out and were admiring the mower all commented on how nice and sleeked it looked for a mower and how quiet it was.

I would recommend this mower to anyone wanting to go electric as the cord is not that big a deal like i thought i would be when reading the reviews. So far so good B&D has a home run with this mower.


Electric Mower Review   July 10, 2001
P D Cantrell (Cumming, GA USA)
35 out of 35 found this review helpful

I was looking for an electric lawnmower because I found the gas one to be difficult to start and too heavy to push around our hilly yard. The electric mower met all my needs- starts at the flip of a switch and I (an average sized woman) can push it with one hand and moniter the cord with the other. On one hand, keeping up with cord is annoying, especially with a large, hilly yard. On the other hand, the other features of the mower make the cord merely a minor hassle. The mower was easy to assemble, with no tools required-- I put mine together while my crawling infant son and my preschooler "helped".


Just about perfect for those with small yards   May 27, 2004
maxxpwr (Virginia)
35 out of 35 found this review helpful

We live in a townhouse with a 1600 square foot lot, so we didn't need a self-propelled gas mower. A cheap gas push mower would have costed about half as much as this electric mower but the bother of gas, starting, etc - just not worth it. I just plug this mower in, pull a switch and go. I was really struck by now much less of a hassle an electric mower is the first time I used it.

I really like the single-lever height adjustment, and the 40-pound weight makes it easy to manuvre. There was some dancing with the cord, but not enough to be a bother. It is also a very quiet mower, which I am sure the neighbors appreciate.

It did bog down a bit when I went over some 8" tall thick grass, but other than that, this mower had plenty of power. So this is not the mower to use for big jobs on big yards. But for me, it's perfect.


Quiet, Easy to Operate, But Not Dependable   May 4, 2005
James Duckett (St. George, Utah)
25 out of 28 found this review helpful

Positives:

1) Quiet. I could keep a conversation with my son while mowing.
2) Easy to Operate. Just pull the handle and push. Anybody can operate this mower.
3) Easy to Transport. It is real easy to pull the handle off and put it in the trunk of a car if you need to take it anywhere.
4) No gas/oil. Just plug in the electric cord and go. Great for smaller yards, but when you start getting a distance from the outlet, cord management can become infuriating.

Negatives:

1) Here is the BIG ONE!!! As a kid, my father only owned two mowers. The first lasted over ten years and the second is still going. Not only did these mow his good sized yard on a regular basis, but it also supported several summers where I made a good chunk of change mowing the neighbor's yards. This one by Black & Decker lasted two years and never turned on again. I would expect lawn mowers to last longer and this one barely made it past the warranty. The saddest thing is that this mower never got used much... I can only imagine what it would do if I was mowing more than my little lawn. This is what causes me to rank the mower very low.
2) Corners. If you have grass in a corner, this lawn mower isn't going to get it at all. Use a weed wacker. I suspect there is a lot of wasted space under the hood of this mower.
3) The Cord. What a pain, especially when you are mowing near the outlet. Be careful not to run over it. I'm not going to fault Black & Decker, but electric mowers in general, for the difficulties a cord can cause.

Will I buy an electric mower again? Not for a large yard, but maybe for something less than 500 square feet. It is pretty nice to not have to put gas in it.

Would I buy this brand again? Well, Black & Decker is normally a name I can trust but they really struck out on this one for me. I was equally disappointed by the lack of help from their customer support. So, unfortunately, the answer is no.