Brushless Vs Brushed Motors For Electric Lawn Mowers

Brushes can be an important component of lawn mower motors as they are part of the reason mowers can generate the power to cut grass and other landscaping debris. However, some modern lawn mowers have brushes, and some don’t. Brushless motors often have other methods for generating power.

Do All Electric Lawn Mowers Have Brushes?

Not all electric lawn mowers have brushes in their motors. Instead, some electric lawn mowers generate power through a system of magnets. These brushless electric lawn mowers have several advantages over traditional mechanical or electric-brushed lawn mowers.

If you’ve never seen a lawn mower without brushes, you might not know what benefits you can gain from using one over a traditional mower setup. Read on to learn more about electric lawn mowers and the brush systems that run them.

What Is a Lawn Mower Brush?

A motor brush, also known as a carbon brush, is a part of all combustion engines. The motor brush conducts electricity between stable and rotating wires inside the motor’s generator. Lawn mower motor brushes are usually associated with mechanical lawn mowers, but some motor brushes are also found in electric lawn mower motors.

Motor brushes can be broken down into two major categories: mechanical and electric. In mechanical lawn mower brushes, the brush is pushed into a slip ring or communicator by a push spring.

In electric lawn mower brushes, the brush is designed to maintain intermittent contact with the communicator in the engine. Electric carbon brushes work best due to their high levels of electric resistivity. This helps prevent electrical arcing in the motor. (Source: Renowned Electric)

How Do Electric Lawn Mowers Work Without Brushes?

Electric lawn mowers that don’t operate with a brush system are constructed with a permanent fixed magnet system instead. These magnets operate using electronic wiring and a sensor to provide a much more energy-efficient mowing action than in traditional mechanical mowers that use a carbon brush system. (Source: GardenToolExpert)

If you are new to electric lawn mowers be sure to check out the three articles below to learn more:

How Does An Electric Lawn Mower Work

Advantages of Brushless Electric Lawn Mower Motors

The main reason that many homeowners and landscapers swap to electric lawn mowers with a magnet system is that they provide many benefits that brushed lawn mowers don’t have. Here are just a few of the advantages of using a brushless electric mower:

Less noise: One of the biggest upsides of using a brushless electric mower is that these mowers are significantly quieter than traditional mowers. Homeowners living in close suburban quarters who prefer to mow late in the evening or early in the morning can make mowing less disturbing to neighbors and the household.
Speed and energy control: The smart technology in brushless electric lawn mowers makes it easy for the mower’s motor to control torque and speed, significantly increasing its efficiency.
Less maintenance: Unlike mowers that use brush systems and traditional combustion engines, brushless electric motors require less regular maintenance and cleaning. Gas mowers can require a lot of tuning and other service.

Increased power: Brushless electric motors can handle bigger, longer landscaping jobs because their batteries hold power more efficiently, and they’re capable of a higher power output. This makes them useful for landscaping businesses or people with large properties to maintain.

Brushless electric lawn mowers are definitely an investment for your yard since they’re more expensive and complex than a traditional mower. However, the electric mower can eventually pay for itself in skipped gasoline refills and maintenance parts.

Disadvantages of Brushless Electric Lawn Mower Motors

Even though brushless electric lawn mowers offer several advantages for the people who use them, they also have a few drawbacks. Here are a few reasons you might want to reconsider getting a brushless electric lawn mower:

Expensive: Brushless electric lawn mowers are more expensive than either brushed electric mowers or gasoline mowers. While traditional mowers run between $150 to $400, brushless electric lawn mowers start at around $200 and can run up to several thousand.
Difficult to service: Mechanical lawn mowers are simple enough in construction that many people can service and repair them at home. Like smart cars, brushless electric lawn mowers are much more complicated and can be difficult to fix without a lawn mower technician.
Vibrations: Operators might notice a strong vibration in brushless electric mowers at lower speeds due to resonance. These vibrations are usually reduced when the mower is operated at higher speeds.

The drawbacks to a brushless mower are often outweighed by the advantages of owning one. At the end of the day, it comes back to what kind of budget you have to work with.

Conclusion

If you can afford one, buying an electric lawn mower with a brushless motor can be a good investment in your landscaping equipment. With the capacity to handle much larger jobs without increasing noise pollution in the neighborhood, these futuristic mowers have many useful features to bring to the table.

Most of the lawn mowers on our list of Best Electric Lawn Mowers contain a brushless motor. Go ahead and check them out!