LawnMaster 48V 41cm Review

Introduction

A wilder, bigger garden can require a bit more oomph to mow it properly, which is what the LawnMaster 48V 41cm is designed for. Using two 24V batteries to deliver the 48V cutting power.

Well specified and easy to push around, this lawn mower has enough power to handle anything. However, it does feel a bit cheap in places, and the lack of self-propelling may put some people off.

Design and Features

• Runs off two 24V batteries
• Adjustable power
• Mulch plug included

With its 41cm cutting width and large soft 42-litre grass box, the LawnMaster 48V 41cm is quite a beast of a lawn mower. It’s available in two versions. The one I have on review comes with two batteries and two chargers; there’s also a version that ships with four batteries for longer runtimes.

LawnMaster provides its fast charger as standard, which can recharge a dead battery in just one hour. As the battery system is compatible with LawnMaster’s other tools, you can use any other batteries that you have.

Note that to use the lawnmower, two batteries have to be installed at the same time, and they’re used together to deliver the 48v power required for the motor. With other lawn mowers, such as the STIHL RMA 248.3, you can install two batteries for extra run time, with one battery drained first, and then the second battery drained after.

For safety, there’s a key in the battery compartment. Without this installed, the mower can’t be used. It’s recommended that batteries and the key be removed when the lawn mower is not in use.

Although the lawn mower is quite large, it weighs 14.2kg without batteries. That’s not nothing, but it’s a lot lighter than the Stihl RMA 248.3. LawnMaster provides a handy carry handle on top, for those times you need to lift it.

There’s a little bit of assembly to do before the LawnMaster 48V 41cm is ready to go: I had to fit the handles to the unit, and screw them into place, and I removed the pre-fitted mulching plug so that grass would be collected in the grass box.

The handlebars can be locked in various positions, depending on your height. That’s useful, but getting both sides adjusted equally takes a bit of time, and I first of all started with wonky handles.

The handles have a thumb screw in the middle that let me fold them in half for storage. It’s not the simplest of mechanisms: the Stihl RMA 248.3 has a mono handle that folds quickly, while the smaller Stihl RMA 235 has a clever double-threaded bolt, where you can quickly undo the screw for folding. Here, I had to loosen the screws until it felt right, but before they were completely undone, and then fold.

The grass box is a soft one. Unclip the metal retainers at the front and it collapses into a smaller size, ready for storage: you can hang it via its eyelet on a wall or just place the grass bin on top. It’s a shame that the lawn mower can’t be hung up or stood vertically, as with the Husqvarna Aspire LC34-P4A.

Using the mower is easy. There’s a button on the side, and then the trigger can be gripped to start the blade spinning.

The LawnMaster 48V 41cm starts in Auto mode, where it will adjust its power automatically, but there are three other modes to choose from, for dealing with everything from a light mow to a thicker cut.

Neatly, there’s a power meter on the side, so you can see how much power is remaining in the batteries.

For grass clippings, I could either discharge into the large bin or use the mulching plug. This model doesn’t have a side discharge option. There is also a grass roller, so you can mow stripes if that’s your kind of thing.

Underneath is a large steel blade, which cuts at either end. Its 41cm cutting width is a good size, helping make it quick to mow a large area.

Cutting heights are adjustable via the large, easily moved, joystick on the front of the unit, which has the adjustments marked in mm on the side: 22mm, 32mm, 42mm, 52mm, 62mm and 72mm. That’s enough variation for most lawns, unless you want longer grass.

Mowing is generally easy. Although large, the LawnMaster 48V 41cm’s low weight and large wheels make it quite easy to push, even over uneven ground or on a slope, as my long front garden is.

However, for larger areas, a self-propelled lawn mower, such as the Stihl RMA 448 TC could make life easier.

I did find that the handles were a little less secure than on a more premium lawn mower, and the long length of the LawnMaster 48V 41cm meant I needed a bit of room to turn it around.

I like the indicator on the grass box that shows when it’s full: flapping open, means air’s passing through, so you can keep going; once the flap shuts, it’s time to remove the box and empty it. Pleasingly, this indicator actually works.

Performance

• Makes short work of tough cuts
• Grass box gets packed

With the power on offer, I tested the LawnMaster 48V 41cm with a long lawn that hadn’t been cut since the start of the year, and that also had thick growth and even blackberry vines intruding onto it.

With this kind of lawn, the Auto mode was all that I needed. I started on a higher cut of 62mm, so that I didn’t remove too much of the long blades of grass, and started to mow. I found that this lawn mower could cut at the same speed that I could walk at, quickly making its way through the long grass.

For this first cut, it didn’t take too long for the grass box to fill, with the indicator flap shutting down. Pulling the box out, I found that the grass cuttings were compacted in, filling the box from front to back. That’s good see, although this large box is quite heavy when full: just about at the limit of what’s comfortable to deal with.

For a tougher job, the bottom of the garden was intertwined with blackberry vines and very long grass. On Auto, the mower jammed at first; on power level three, it chopped the mess easily.

Battery life is up to 25 minutes from a set of batteries. My lawn is around 80m², and a single charge was enough to get through this, with just one light indicator going out. Overall, this lawn mower should be good for areas up to 450m², which is about two tennis courts worth; depending on the power level used and the thickness of the grass, this kind of area may need a battery charge in the middle.

I measured the LawnMaster 48V 41cm at a reasonable 82.3dB, which is quiet enough that I didn’t need ear defenders, and the sound’s not particularly annoying.

Should you buy it?

FAQs