Getting one of the best lawn mowers for your lawn is essential for maintaining grass growth and health from spring to fall. I was fortunate to be offered the opportunity to review the Worx 40V 17 Cordless Lawn Mower. It's battery-powered with some familiar tech, pitched for small-to-medium lawns.
We have a lawn sized at 400 sq. ft at the back, and we also have front and side lawned areas in our house. This meant I could test the Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower in stages throughout the day, between charges, or when I was distracted by other tasks to complete in the yard. It took less than a couple of hours to recharge both 40V batteries fully, so I didn't have to wait too long until I could restart a mow.
I found that the cutting performance was fantastic. There are seven cutting heights; I struck a happy medium by opting for a grade 4 cut across our yard to tackle the uneven ground. There were many grass cuttings, so I was grateful for the grass collector, although I could have done with this being larger. This is just a teaser of how I found the Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower, which, as I'm sure you can tell, was riddled with pros and cons. Keep reading for the full run-down.
Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower: Key specs
Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower: Price & availability
The Worx 40V 17-inch Cordless Lawn Mower has a list price of $329.99 and is available from Amazon. When writing, it was out of stock at Target and discounted to $251.99. I have seen it regularly discounted, so if the budget is tight, it would be worth watching the reseller sites.
This RRP puts the Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower in the mid-range price bracket. It comes with two 20V batteries, a charger, a mulch plug, a 1.2-bushel collection bag, and instructions.
Price & availability score: 5 out of 5
Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower: First impressions
It arrived in a cardboard box wrapped in thick plastic; my first impression of the Worx 40V 17-inch Cordless Lawn Mower was that it was big and heavy. I did manage to get it through to our living space instead of dragging it out to the garage in the rain, but this wasn't without putting in some effort.
Upon cutting through the plastic and opening the box, it was evident that not much assembling was required (hurrah). While there were instructions, I didn't need to refer to them, but having them as a backup was good.
The box could have been recycled, but the plastic had gone into the trash. Inside the box was the lawn mower, 45L grass collection bag, 2x 20V PowerShare batteries, charger, and instruction manual.
Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower: Setup
Setting up the Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower was (thankfully) a breeze. All in all, it took me just 10 minutes to unbox and assemble this lawn mower.
All the parts were self-explanatory, so I didn't feel that I needed to refer to the instructions, but they were good to have as a backup. The blade was already in position, so all I needed to do was attach two sides of the handle and the grass collector bag.
Before the first use, I fully charged the batteries so I could attempt to tackle the overgrown backyard in one run. It took less than two hours to fully recharge two 20V batteries.
Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower: Design
The Worx 40V 17-inch Cordless Lawn Mower measures 41.34 x 17.72 x 56.99in (h x w x d) and weighs 35.3 lbs, according to the specs. It looks and feels like a lawn mower with a few little quirks.
One of those quirks is that while you can extend the handle bar 110 - 115cm it doesn't collapse to enable easier storing. I found that adjusting it to 115cm which gave me a height of 100cm was the most comfortable for me (I'm 5ft 8in tall). To store, it'll mean that you'll need to be prepared to take the handlebar apart and / or remove the collector bag, as I did, so that you can fit it into a secure storage space.
It also has a removable 40-litre grass clippings collector that attaches to the rear of the mower. The handle on top of the grass collector, which can be slid on and off, is useful for emptying because it makes it easier to tip out the clippings.
For a shortcut of the grass, you can adjust the height of the deck and the 30-cm blade with a lever found in the front left-hand-side wheel. This lever can be adjusted when the mower is not in motion, but be prepared to use your other hand hold down the mower for adjusting because moving and lifting the mower from the ground with said lever can be stiff.
The two 20V 4.0Ah batteries neatly sit under the hood at the front of the lawn mower, which can be accessed by lifting the front of the hood to release them. A neat little design feature is the ability to check the remaining battery power levels by pressing a button next to the hood. This will light up a display in green to give an indication of how much battery is remaining, which is helpful to gauge whether or not it would be worth challenging another patch of lawn with the remaining battery charge.
Design score: 4 out of 5
Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower: Performance
The Worx 40V 17-inch Cordless Lawn Mower was surprisingly easy to use and didn't make much noise while cutting, but it didn't come without some quirks.
To start up this mower is one of the easiest I have experienced. There's an safety key which slots in the a designated spot on the side of the handle bar, and then there's a lever that spans the full width of said handlebar that's required to be held down at all times while in use.
It did a fantastic job of cutting our 400sq.ft lawn in the backyard, but I never quite finished the first mow in one go because the battery ran out. The first mow challenged longer, older grass; other subsequent mows were shorter, lusher green shoots. This lawn mower is advertised as suitable for lawn sizes up to 500sq.ft/1/8 acre, which ours is not, yet it failed to meet that specification when combating a more wildly lawn.
Fortunately, the two 20V batteries only took a couple of hours to charge, so I could finish the mowing that day (if I still felt like cutting the grass). If you have other Worx items in the PowerShare collection, switching to one of those batteries (fully charged) could be a good backup option.
While cutting the grass, the 45L grass collection bag quickly became filled with grass clippings. This is probably because I only mow once a week; if you mow more regularly, there will be less grass to collect. The filling up of the bag meant that I had to frequently stop to empty the grass clippings in the garden waste bin. If you prefer to add mulch back to your yard, you can use the mulch plug to return the nutrients to the grass. I did not do this because we're combating an embarrassing amount of weeds in our lawn, which I do not want to regrow.
Thankfully, the grass collection bag was easy to remove with the handle. It then hooked back over the rear of the mower to be refilled.
To test the cutting performance of the Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower, I mowed over an apple. It's suffice to say that there wasn't much apple left; most of it had been turned into juice with a few scraps of peel scattered around the sides of the mower. What I was demonstrating here is the cutting power. Go over uneven ground with a low cutting height. The mower will automatically cut out (that blade is sensitive, too), so I'd adjust by selecting a sensible height - start high before dropping it to gauge the most suitable level.
I have a fence that runs both sides of our yard, so I like to get as close as possible to that before getting out the string trimmer. But this battery-powered mower didn't get as close as I wanted. It has chunky wheels and a chunky 17-inch deck to boot, which the blade edges couldn't surpass. Still, it didn't take too much effort to trample on the longer blades, remove the grass, or, as I say, get out the trimmer.
Getting to the end of the yard is a bit of a pinch point, too, although I'd say that there is still ample room to turn a lawn mower. The Worx 40V 17-inch Cordless Lawn Mower didn't make light work of this; it made a meal out of maneuvering. I resolved it by doing an awkward 5-point turn, which made its weight (38.1 lbs) feel a lot heavier than it actually was.
As a battery-powered, cordless lawn mower, it didn't cause a smell when operating and didn't generate a lot of noise. I measured 89dB on my noise level meter (lower than the advertised 92dB) similar to a food blender or dishwasher.
Cleaning and maintenance were super easy. All required is to charge the battery and ensure the empty grass collector bag. The blades may need sharpening or replacing after some months or years of use, depending how often or challenging the terrain is.
Performance score: 4 out of 5
Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower: User reviews
Looking at the reviews on Amazon, this cordless mower is a clear winner for small yards. Customers have rated the Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower 4.2 out of 5 stars. They really like the size, quality, and weight of the lawn mower. One reviewer says, "It cuts well and is ideal for a smaller area," with another echoing, "It works well for my small front and back lawns."
Some appreciate maneuverability, but there are mixed opinions about the power and battery life.
Should I buy the Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower?
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
How does the Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower compare?
The other cordless mower I reviewed is the EGO Power+ LM2135SP 21-inch Select Cut Lawn Mower. The main difference between the Worx mower I have on review and this EGO is that it isn't self-propelled. This comes at a cost, though; it'll cost you half the price to go without this tech.
If you have a yard of 200 sqft or less, it would be worth getting another battery-powered mower with a smaller cutting width. The Greenworks 40V 19" Brushless Lawn Mower (Amazon) could be more suitable. It has a cutting width of 19 inches, folds down nicely for storage, and has a more palatable list price of $279.
Owners of larger yards would benefit from a ride-on lawn mower. We gave the John Deere Z370R ZTrak Electric Zero-turn Riding Lawn Mower five stars for its awesome battery power, little maintenance, and zero-turn power.
How I tested the Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower
The Worx 40V 17in Cordless Lawn Mower was used for two months in my backyard. It was delivered to my house by courier. I then set it up, charged the battery, and cut the lawn several times. I adjusted the cutting height to see how that fared on uneven ground and even ran over an apple to see how well it turned to mush. Other specific tests I carried out included recording the noise level reading and how long it took to drain and recharge the batteries.
Read more about how we test.
