How Long Does a Lawn Mower Battery Last? Let’s Find Out!

“How long does a lawn mower battery last?” you may be wondering. The answer is that a lawn mower battery can last up to five years or more if given proper care and maintenance, and it also varies between each brand.

Knowing how long your lawn mower battery lasts, what affects its expected life span, and what you can do to extend it are things you can do as a smart and practical lawn mower owner. The good thing is that we’ve got it covered for you, along with some of the frequently asked questions with regard to lawn mower batteries.

How Long Can Your Lawn Mower Battery Last?

⚡️ Your lawn mower battery can last anything from three to five years if looked after properly, but this depends on many factors. There are certain factors that affect it directly. These include storage, maintenance, and the temperature it is kept at, among other things.

How Long a 12-Volt Lawn Mower Battery Lasts

Your 12-volt lead acid lawn mower battery is expected to last up to about four years with proper care and regular maintenance. In order to achieve that, it is important to charge and store it properly. As with any battery you must also take into account the factors listed previously. 

How Long a 40-Volt Lawn Mower Battery Lasts

A 40-volt lawn mower battery is a lithium-ion battery that commonly lasts up to three to five years.

Each charging time takes about 40 to 60 minutes. It can be recharged about 500 times. Just keep in mind the factors that affect its lifespan to ensure longer battery life.

How Long a Lawn Tractor Battery Lasts

A lawn tractor battery can last up to three to five years. However, it varies depending on how frequently you use it and how you store it.

Make sure to not allow it to be discharged fully, and recharge it every few weeks, especially during the winter.

What Factors Affect How Long a Lawn Mower Battery Lasts?

The factors that affect how long a lawn mower battery lasts are storage and maintenance, temperature, and charging. These are all factors you have to take into account.for you to prevent the common mistakes that most lawn mower owners make and to help your lawn mower battery last longer.

Storage and Maintenance

If you are the kind of lawn mower owner who does not regularly mow, learning how to store a battery the right way should be a requirement for you. Store your battery in a clean and dry place that has the right temperature. Before storing it, make sure you wipe out all the contaminants on it like corrosion and oil. You can also cover its terminals to prevent dirt and dust from accumulating on them.

Temperature

Your battery should not be stored somewhere humid or a spot where it can be affected by any extreme temperatures. It doesn’t prefer hot nor cold temperatures. Extreme cold temperatures like the winter season can freeze and discharge the battery, whereas hot temperatures of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit can evaporate its electrolyte solution and lower its capacity. So, you need to place your lawn mower batteries at a place with moderate temperature to make it last longer.

Charging

Your lawn mower battery needs to be fully charged before storing. It is recommended to do a trickle charge or continuous and slow charging for an electric storage battery to keep it lasting longer. 

Also, because overcharging can be a source of a fire or explosion, keeping an eye on the battery while it is charging can avoid safety-related issues and internal component damage. While overcharging is bad for the battery, so is undercharging. Do not let the battery be undercharged when storing it to avoid creating a negative effect on it.

What Are Types of Battery and How Do They Affect How Long a Lawn Mower Battery Lasts?

There are two main types of battery that most battery-powered lawn mowers rely on: Lead-acid battery and lithium-ion battery. They affect how long a lawn mower battery lasts because the former can last up to three to four years, whereas the latter can last up to five years.

A lead acid lawn mower battery can take up to 12 hours to be fully charged while a lithium-ion lawn mower battery can only take 40 to 60 minutes charging time. To conclude, lead acid batteries and lithium-ion batteries both function well with electric mowers and their prices are definitely worthy of their lifespan.

Every type of lawn mower has a different kind of battery installed to turn over the engine and power its other components. Given that your lawn mower may either have a lead-acid battery or a lithium-ion battery, we will discuss each of them to understand better how long these lawn mower batteries last.

Lead Acid Batteries

Lead acid batteries can last up to one to three years or the equivalent to 200 to 300 charging cycles. The lead acid battery is the earliest invented rechargeable battery. It is also cost-effective and easy to find. This kind of battery is a 12-volt battery commonly used by gas-powered riding lawn mowers to start the engine. 

A lead acid battery is heavier than a lithium-ion battery. It is well-functioning but requires a longer time to recharge at 12 hours, and it also requires recharging after 50 percent to 80 percent of its capacity is used. This is one of its disadvantages, because every complete discharge will lead to a reduction of its capacity.

Lithium-ion Battery

A lithium-ion battery can last up to five years or the equivalent of 500 charging cycles. This type of battery supplies all the power needed by the mower to get all the work done. It is typically used by riding lawn mowers with electric motors or electric lawn mowers and cordless electric push lawn mowers.

The lithium-ion battery is efficient, durable, and less expensive. It is lighter than the lead acid battery, fast-charging, and you can charge it for just about 60 minutes, last longer, and can be used to mow larger yards because it can run until it is fully discharged before you need to recharge it. However, lithium-ion batteries tend to be more expensive than lead-acid batteries. It also has a tendency to have a higher energy density or store big amounts of energy than lead acid batteries.

What Are the Signs of a Bad Lawn Mower Battery?

The signs of a bad lawn mower battery include failing to start the engine, improper fluid levels, low voltage reading, excessive corrosion, bulging and damage, and lastly, cannot fully charge. Once you notice any of these symptoms, take the necessary actions.

Know more about these symptoms as we discuss them one by one.

Failing To Start the Engine

You might have a bad lawn mower battery if you notice that it cannot crank the engine. This means that your battery is dead, and it cannot provide enough power to turn over the engine through the spark plug.

You will notice that your engine is cranking slowly or not at all. Before you conclude, however, examine first and look for the other possible reasons like problems with the spark plug, starter, or alternator.

Improper Fluid Levels

The battery won’t work well if the cells in the battery do not have enough fluid. So, check the fluid levels in each of the cells of your battery as the water level in the mixture lowers over time.

Low Voltage Reading

Another thing to examine to know if you have a bad lawn mower battery is to do a voltage test. If you have a 12-volt battery, then it should read between 12.6 and 12.8 volts if fully charged, whereas it will be over 6 volts if you own a 6-volt battery.

A lower reading than the size of the volt means you have a dead battery. In this case, you can recharge your battery using the correct charger while keeping an eye on it.

Having Excessive Corrosion, Damage, and Bulging

If you notice excessive corrosion, bulging, and damage like cracked components, then you obviously have a bad battery that could not end up giving you major problems if you continue to use it. It is better if you replace it with a new one immediately.

Can’t Stay Charged or Can’t Charge Fully 

A battery that releases charge even when not in use or does not charge completely definitely means you have a bad battery. Be aware of your battery’s charging habits.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Do Lawn Mower Batteries Cost?

How much a lawn mower battery costs varies typically range between as little as $30 to as much as $200! As you can see, it varies widely and depends firstly on the type and also the brand and the model of machine. 

How Do You Restore a Lawn Mower Battery?

To restore a lawn mower battery, recharge it using a battery charger that matches the chemistry and voltage of your battery. Having a dead lawn mower battery is a common problem, especially if it is stored and is left idle throughout the winter. 

If it doesn’t work, you can try to jump-start your riding mower using a car battery. Keep in mind that you can only do this with a 12-volt battery and not to a 6-volt battery, and keep the car turned off all the time.

Another way to let your lawn mower battery work again is to use a portable jump pack. To do this, you need to wear safety goggles and protective glasses first. Set your jump pack to the voltage setting of your lawn mower battery, and be sure that it is turned off before connecting it. 

Next, attach the red or positive clip to the positive terminal and the black or negative clip to the negative terminal. Turn the jump pack on, and set the mower; it should start, but if it won’t, try again after a few minutes. Once it starts, disconnect the negative clip first, then the positive one. Test run your lawn mower for about 20 minutes to give time for the alternator to let the battery charge up.

– How to Check Your Battery is 12-Volt to Know How Long it Should Last?

To check whether your batteries 12-volt in order to know how long it should last, you can inspect the top part of your battery case and look for rows of plastic caps that you can unscrew to see the cells inside the battery.  

Each battery has sizes that were measured in volts and amps, choosing the correct battery unit to replace your bad battery, you will need to count these values. To know the battery voltage, count how many plastic caps are there and multiply it by two.

For example, you counted six plastic caps. You multiply it by two, so the answer would be 12. Then your battery is a 12-volt battery. Another way is to examine the battery case and look for stamped voltage and amps on it. If you see a numerical value that ends with “V”, then that is the voltage, and those that end with “A” is the amperage or current of your lawn mower battery.

Conclusion

Knowing how long your lawn mower battery can last and other things regarding it is an important matter. This means that you are a smart and responsible owner. Let’s see some of the key points about our topic so you can easily recall them.

• Lead acid batteries can last up to one to three years.
• The lithium-ion battery can last up to five years.
• The factors that can affect the lifespan of your lawn mower are storage and maintenance, charging, and temperature.
• Your lawn mower battery can extend its life span by giving enough care and maintenance.

Upon reading this article, we hope you’ve got all the answers to every question bothering you about your lawn mower battery, especially how long it can last.