Our First Mow With EGO

The EGO Power Plus team recently sent me their Power+ 56V Lithium-Ion Cordless Lawn Mower to use and review on my blog, and I just used it for the first mow of the season!

ego power plus cordless lawn mower

This is not my review, just my initial thoughts after using it this past weekend. While I was excited for what was in the box, Avery was more excited about THE box.

DSC_1859

And a mighty cool box at that! Just the quality packaging let you know EGO is a company that puts care into their products and wants them to arrive safely to their destination. Here are the specs as listed on their website:

  • 4.0Ah 56 -Volt Lithium-Ion Battery: Industry’s most powerful battery
  • 30-Minute Charger: Industry’s fastest charger
  • Up To A 45-Minute Cut Time: Battery run time meets or exceeds charge time
  • Fold Flat In Seconds: Convenient storing and cleaning
  • 20” Cut Capacity: Reduces the number of passes required to cut your lawn
  • True 3-In-1 Function: Superior mulching, rear bagging and side discharge performance
  • LED Headlights: Allow for mowing anytime
  • 600W, High-Torque, Magnetic Motor: Designed for high power output at 3300RPM’s
  • Convenient Push-Button Start: No more pull cord, easily starts at the press of a button

Out of the box and ready go in a matter of minutes, their cordless mower is perfect for those too impatient to read through assembly instructions.

DSC_1890

The battery already had a good charge when it arrived, but I’m a charging nazi and feel like everything I own must always be charged or charging. So, I set the ultra-cool, futuristic battery on its charger to make sure I had a full charge before mowing the grass.

ego power plus cordless lawn mower

I was prepared to wait at least 30 minutes for the battery to charge, but it was ready to go in less than 10! I hardly had time to go pee and blow my nose, geez! No, it doesn’t really take me that long, so no wise cracks (not here either) about it. 🙂

It was dark to where I needed headlights, but honestly, why wouldn’t you use headlights on your push mower if you had them? Seriously, how cool is that? I think I’ll mow at night sometime soon just because I can!

DSC_1895

For the first mow of the season, we use a very low setting to scalp the yard in order to foster new growth and bag the dead grass trimmings. The rest of the time we choose to mulch fresh-cut grass when it’s green and thriving as it has a lot to give back to the ground, but the dead stuff sitting around all winter doesn’t have much to offer.

Scalping would put EGO’s claim to have the most powerful rechargeable mower on the market that still delivers the performance of gas. Upon starting the electric beast (no pull string battle!), I set off to cut our grass.

DSC_2330

Compared to gas mowers, the EGO is pretty quiet (thanks for catching my typo, Gary!). Of course, cutting grass will be noisy to some degree since debris and other things being hit by the blades make noise no matter what you have. But this battery-powered machine performed like a champ and it’s 20 inch deck had me finished in no time.

DSC_2329

Or so I thought. Avery pointed out a few spots I missed and demanded that I hold her so she can show me where to go.

DSC_2339

What a great helper, we’d have such a messy lawn without her low level eyes to spot my imperfections! Her not being scared of the mower is a testament to how non-threatening the noise level is, don’t you think? After finishing, I tried sweeping off the mower as it was driving me crazy that it was dirty.

DSC_1912

I know, I know, it’s a freakin’ mower, that’s what it’s for! Go ahead, tell me again, Going Mom already laughed at me anyway.

While mowing, when I went over an area that rose up coming in contact with the blades more than normal, an orange light would flash letting me know of the issue and if it got worse, the mower to auto-shutoff. This was no problem since it easily started right back up, and I had the setting on the lowest level to scalp the yard, so during normal use I don’t expect this to happen.

I’m used to spending close to an hour mowing like I did last season with our reel mower, which I still think is cool for the exercise factor, just not the clean-cut grass part. With the EGO, I’m done in less than 30 minutes and our yard looks great!

Looking forward to using our EGO Power Plus Mower this season, and will post a full review after several sessions, including at least one at night! If anything does go wrong, it’s great to know Avery can help us fix whatever it is. Apparently she’s quite the expert in battery-powered lawn mowers. Or so it would seem….

DSC_2352

Do you have or have you heard of the EGO line of battery powered yard tools?

Are you an electric user or gas junkie when it comes to power tools?

Gas is a big enough of a pain for our cars, so I absolutely love not having to worry about it when it comes to other power equipment. Plus, it’s much cleaner and safer for nosy kids who like to touch everything!

Expo Adventures with Dallas Dads and Britax

Last Saturday, our Dallas Dads Group had the honor of working with Britax to hold a car seat safety workshop at the DFW Family Expo. I’m not sure why, but I enjoy going to expos even though I’m not a big fan of crowds. Even more so when the crowds have crazy kids running all over the place. Oops, that was us!

We went into the event with our crazy animal toddler safely contained in her Boba Baby Carrier nice a snug with Going Mom. Britax was setup in a prime location at the entrance for all to see and had their car seat safety workshop sign displayed for all to see. Britax is a major supporter of our nationwide City Dads Group, and it was exciting to be part of their event! DSC_2209 First, we rendezvoused with all of the dads and the Britax team who graciously provided lunch for our group, it was time to explore. DSC_2194 But, I think it was right after the picture with the abominable snow-dog that Avery could no longer be confined to staring up at and pushing Mommy’s chin. DSC_2188 With that, Kelley set Avery free into the wild, errr….expo. Avery wasted no time! DSC_2210 Even with the two of us, Kelley and I could hardly keep track of our little girl. How do those little legs get so far so fast?! Not that I ever want anything to do with Nesquick or the like, but we were thankful for their booth having these large dice. DSC_2229 Until, that is, she tried to run away with them. We took the dice away and returned them which obviously meant toddler meltdown. Using our brains, we tossed Avery in a nearby bounce house in hopes of cheering her up DSC_2267 Phew, I think it worked! DSC_2217 Silly kid had a ball dancing, clapping and even playing with other kids. Or getting pushed down by them, but she had fun and that’s what matters most! DSC_2270 The hard part was getting her back out, and then figuring out how to calm her down again. Thankfully, the force was with us when something strange caught her attention. DSC_2234 Storm Troops and Darth Vader?! Score! Obviously, we had to pose with the Dark Side, and Darth Vader was there too. 😉 DSC_2236

I wasn’t there, but some of the dads and their kids gathered for a (friendly?) group photo.

Dads with Dark Side
Pretty cool stuff, huh? Avery was getting very obnoxious and hungry, but she wasn’t nursing with Going Mom very well because so much was going on. I gave her some organic applesauce in a squeeze pouch, yes, like I once said I’d never do, which only helped for maybe 3.23 minutes.
DSC_2259
Then it was off on another rampant tour of the expo grounds.
DSC_2262
No fear, this child, no fear. It was almost time for the main event, Britax’s Car Seat Safety Workshop, so we made our way back to the front to join the rest of the crowd eager to learn about #BritaxSafety. The beautiful and kind Britax ladies, Kate and Sarah, put on an excellent workshop jam-packed with useful information.
DSC_2289
Did you know heavy jackets and other winter clothing should be removed before putting your kid in their car seat and that the chest clip on car seats should be at armpit level? Or that you should keep your child rear facing at least to 2 years old and longer if the weight limit of your car seat allows? Also, it’s better to tighten the straps until you think it’s good enough, and then pull some more since 60% of the harnesses are not tight enough.
When it comes to our kids and safety, Britax has us covered. We have their Boulevard ClickTight Car Seat, and Avery loves it. Not to mention we love all of it’s safety features and easy installation.
Britax, car seat, safety
Happy in her Britax Car Seat!
Unfortunately, Avery kept on getting more and more irritable, and Kelley had to put her back in the Boba and try her best to keep her calm.
DSC_2283
But it wasn’t long until all was lost and Going Mom gave “the look” letting me know we were already pushing our luck.
DSC_2199
She frantically went to the car in hopes that Avery would nurse better there, and I stayed until the workshop was over. Right after it ended, I had to bail. I know we were already pushing our luck, but I wish we could’ve stayed just a little longer since we missed out on the great group photo taken just minutes after we left.
Dads at DFW Fam Expo
Great group of dads and their families right there! Sorry we missed it, but at least we were able to get our photo with Kate from Britax. Thank you, Kate, for taking time to pose with us!

All in all, it was a wonderful experience, and despite Avery’s craziness, I’m glad she got to experience something new. Plus, she slept very good that night!

Are you part of any parenting groups?

Do you still have a kid in car seats? Do they still sit rear-facing?

Babywearing at the Expo: #MySundayPhoto – 03.22.15

We went to the DFW Family Expo on Saturday to join our Dallas Dads Group and Britax for a great time. Kelley put her Boba Babywearing skills to the test while there, but it wasn’t long until Avery was out and running around everywhere!

boba, babywearing, family

Britax put on a very detailed and informative workshop on car seat safety and we all walked away with vital information on how to keep our kids safe in the car. Avery hasn’t been around large crowds before, so she was basically crazy the entire time.

Despite the craziness, I always enjoy hanging with our Dallas Dads Group, and when Going Mom and Avery can join, all the better! I’ll give the full story on our adventure soon.

Do you enjoy going to expos?

If so, what kind and do you bring the kids?


OneDad3Girls