Echo 58V Lawnmower Review – Kick The Can, Skip The Rope

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echo 58v lawnmower

For years, I’ve used an old Craftsman gas-powered mower. It cut pretty well, since I kept the blade sharp. As the years rolled by, though, it took more and more tugs on the starter rope to coax the beast into life, and its appetite for oil was growing. When the folks from Echo offered us the opportunity to try out the Echo 58V lawnmower, I kicked the old mower to the curb, and posted a “Curb alert” on our local online bulletin board. Sure enough, 15 minutes later it was gone, and I was wondering if I’d been a bit too hasty. Naah.

The Echo 58V lawnmower arrived last fall, after the grass had gone dormant, so I didn’t get a chance to test it out. I did prep it; it was very fast and easy to get it up and running, and I didn’t even have to glance at the instructions. Lift it out of the box, unfold the handle and lock it in place with the knobs, pull back the spring pins at the base of the handle to adjust the height and lock in place. Charge up the battery, and it was good to mow! After assembling it and briefly admiring its orangeness, I folded it up, and it hibernated patiently in the corner of the shed, waiting for the first mowing of 2017.

echo 58v lawnmower
The Echo 58V lawnmower, ready to hibernate for the winter…

Here’s a quick rundown on the mower’s stats, followed by a brief promo video:

• Brushless motor provides superior power, run time, and durability
• Heavy-duty 21 in. composite deck with lifetime guarantee
• On-board dual battery storage for user convenience
• Quick-release handle for compact vertical or horizontal storage
• 3-position handle height adjustment ensures comfortable use
• 4-point, 7-position cutting height adjustment enables versatile cutting

Echo 58V Lawnmower Dimensions

Assembled Depth (in.) 34.875 in
Assembled Height (in.) 20.75 in
Assembled Width (in.) 24.5 in
Blade Length (In.) 21
Mower Deck Width 23.5
Front wheel size (in.) 9
Rear wheel size (in.) 9
Size of Yard 1/2 – 1 Acre

https://youtu.be/0l-zpYPCRA4

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Battery-powered mowers like the Echo 58V lawnmower have a lot of advantages over gas-powered mowers. The first and most obvious – they’re not gas powered. More than once over the years I’ve finally gotten my lazy butt motivated to mow, only to be thwarted by an empty gas can. No gas also means no spilled gas, no stale gas gunking things up, and no priming or flooding the carburetor.

echo 58v lawnmower
No gas, no oil, slide in the battery and go.

Then there’s the other petroleum product: oil. No more topping off the oil filler before each mowing, and cleaning up the excess I invariably spill. And no more clouds of smoke wafting in my face, mingling with the freshly-mowed clouds of pollen…

My favorite advantage by far is the ease of starting the Echo 58V lawnmower. The old Craftsman needed anywhere from three (rarely) to ten or more (frequently) hefty pulls on the starter rope to get the mower fired up. On the Echo, I push a button and pull back on the lever, and the motor roars into life.

echo 58v lawnmower
My kind of starting instructions!
echo 58v lawnmower
Push the button, squeeze the handle, go.

Actually, though, here’s another advantage – it doesn’t actually ROAR; it’s more like a VROOOOM. The Echo 58V lawnmower is a whole lot quieter than any other mower I’ve ever used. This makes it much less likely the neighborhood OPE vigilantes will come calling if I’m mowing early in the morning, or in the twilight of the day.

Other perks? You bet your grass! The deck on the Echo is made of composite material, rather than steel. This makes it much lighter, and you won’t ever have to worry about it rusting. Echo is so confident in the strength and durability of its composite deck that they guarantee it for life.

echo 58v lawnmower
The deck is made of a tough composite material.

The final advantage of the Echo 58V lawnmower over the old gas mower? When the grass has been cut down to size, the Echo makes itself inconspicuous. In about 15 seconds, you can collapse the handle down onto the deck, and then stand the mower upright. Don’t try that with your gas mower. This allows it to occupy a lot less valuable storage space, a real boon to garage-deprived folks like me, who have to make everything fit in the shed.

The Echo 58V Lawnmower (Finally) Goes To Work

To give the Echo a worthwhile workout, I waited until the grass was a bit overgrown. It had nothing to do with the fact that lawn mowing is not in my top ten list of awesome ways to spend the day. Or the fact that my Superhero name is The Procrastinator. Fair warning: Our lawn is not a contender for Better Homes & Gardens Lush Lawn of the Year. This is due to a combination of no green thumbs (or any other digits), and many years of large dogs working their large dog magic. If anyone is aware of a “Pimp My Yard” or “Extreme Lawn Makeover” program, please pass along the contact info…

echo 58v lawnmower
A tad overgrown, ready for the season’s first mowing…

Our lot is roughly 80’ x 280’. We have a very small front and side yard, both of which are level, and a moderately sloping yard in the back. Aside from the footprint of the house, we have some small garden areas, a shed, and an area at the bottom of the yard where the primary greenery is weeds, because it’s so heavily shaded.

The mower we received for review was model CLM-58V4AH, which comes with a 4.0 Ah Lithium-Ion battery. I topped up the charge on the battery before starting. Despite the fact that it hadn’t been charged in almost six months, the battery still had most of its charge. I dragged the Echo 58V lawnmower out of its corner in the shed, and unfolded the handle. The handle has three stops for height adjustment. Being tallish, I set it at the highest point, and it was very comfortable.

echo 58v lawnmower
The handle on the Echo 58V lawnmower has three height settings

I attached the bag, which simply drops into position, and slid the battery into place. The mower also comes with a mulching insert, which is easy to install and remove. That’s what I would normally use, but since the grass was so thick, I wanted to bag the first cutting.

echo 58v lawnmower
An easy mulching insert is included.

The Echo 58V lawnmower comes with a key, which serves two functions. The first is safety-related: if the key is removed, your six-year-old won’t be able to fire it up, even with the battery in place. The second is as a selector: The mower has two battery ports, and the key gets aimed at whichever battery you want to draw power from. It’s quick and easy to use.

echo 58v lawnmower
A plug-in key selects the battery, and disables starting.
echo 58v lawnmower
Battery inserted, key in…Hey, ho, let’s mow!

As I mentioned, by the time I got around to this first mowing of the season, the grass was fairly thick and tall in much of the yard. I was a little concerned that the battery-powered mower might not have the “oomph” needed to power through the jungle. Once again I hoped I hadn’t been too hasty in disposing of the gas mower…

I brought the mower to an area where the grass was slightly shorter, pushed the button, and pulled back the handle. Two seconds later, the motor was vrooming away, making a LOT less noise than our old gas-fired beast. I started pushing the mower through the grass, and it had no trouble at all with the grass in that area, which was about 4-5” tall.

echo 58v lawnmower
The Echo was undeterred by the slightly overgrown turf…

Then it was on to the big time. As the mower hit the taller, thicker part of the yard, the motor slowed slightly, for a second or so, then ratcheted up the power and forged on. After just a few passes across the yard, the bag was full. I emptied it, and got back to work.

echo 58v lawnmower
The lightweight Echo was easy to maneuver around the occasional obstacle.

This is another area where the Echo 58V lawnmower shines over the old gas mower: Every time I needed to empty the bag on the old mower, it had to be shut down. Then I had to cross my fingers and hope it would re-start before my heart failed. With the Echo, the mower shut down instantly when the handle was released, and started instantly when the bag was empty and I was ready to resume.

Despite the large proportion of overgrown grass, the Echo 58V lawnmower got it all cut, on a single charge, and the lawn came out looking good. As good as it ever looks, anyway. The blade cut evenly, and the lightweight mower was easy to use, even on our hill, despite the fact that the mower is not self-propelled. When I was finished, the mower reclaimed its little patch of real estate in the shed.

echo 58v lawnmower
Job done – ready for the Lawn-Of-The-Year competition!
echo 58v lawnmower
Easy to stow when there’s no more to mow…

Step On The Gas

Cordless mowers have improved a lot over the past few years. More powerful Lithium-Ion batteries have combined with brushless motors to produce cordless mowers that can hang with their gas-drinking brethren. The average homeowner would likely be very happy with the performance of the Echo 58V lawnmower; I sure am.

The drawbacks? Some complain they’re not as powerful as gas-powered mowers, and can’t handle a large overgrown lot. Guess what – neither could my old gas-powered mower. For a large, overgrown lot, you need a much beefier machine. The Echo did fine going through a fair-sized expanse of moderately overgrown grass in our yard.

echo 58v lawnmower
The Echo was easy to use, even on our hilly-ish yard.

The only other downside is that if you have a large yard, one battery may not get you through it. If that’s the case, you can either take a 45-minute break while the battery recharges, or buy another 4.0 Ah battery. At the current suggested retail price of around $169, they’re not cheap, but they’re guaranteed for five years. If it lasts only as long as the warranty, that works out to about $34 a year to power the beast. Weigh that against how much you’d spend on gas and oil to mow your big lot, and factor in the elimination of the hassles involved, and suddenly it sounds pretty reasonable.

The manufacturer backs the Echo 58V lawnmower with a very robust guarantee. The mower, battery, and charger are all backed by a 90-day money-back guarantee, and a five-year consumer warranty (two year commercial). If you’re ready to give up the gas, oil and starter-rope workout regimen, kick YOUR gas mower to the curb (or give it away on Craigslist), mosey over to the Home Depot, and plunk down some green to get something orange. The Echo 58V Lawnmower retails at the very affordable price point of around $399:

Buy Now - via Home Depot

echo 58v lawnmower

Photo of author

About Phil

Phil’s path to the pinnacle of success as HomeFixated’s Senior Writer was long and twisted. At various stages of his life, he worked as a framing carpenter, attended motorcycle mechanics school, served as an Army MP, did a hot and itchy stint installing insulation in Phoenix, owned and operated a small contracting firm doing residential renovations, and worked as an employee of a major airline (Motto: We’re not happy ‘til YOU’RE not happy). He is currently semi-retired, but continues to take on little projects, such as the total renovation of an old farmhouse. Yes, he is a slow learner. Future projects include a teardown restoration of his 1965 BMW motorcycle, and designing and building a kick-ass playhouse for his grandsons. Phil loves spending time outdoors, hanging out with family and friends, cool tools, and a cold IPA when beer o'clock rolls around.

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5 thoughts on “Echo 58V Lawnmower Review – Kick The Can, Skip The Rope”

  1. I have now been thru several rounds of mowing and charging. My only issues seem to be with the charger. When the battery has charged for an hour, the charger fan turns off, but the charger leds continue to blink green. I have to remove and reinsert the battery for the charger to show the battery is fully charged. The battery seems to have arrived partially charged, as the manual says, and does not require 24 hours of charging as the Echo customer service tech insisted.
    Thanks for the excellent review. I do like the mower.

    Reply
  2. Have a question – Just picked up an Echo mower. Put the battery in the charger. At first the red leds on the battery showed 3 solid and the fourth blinking, with one green led blinking on the charger. After two hours, the battery showed 4 solid red leds, and the led on the charger was solid red. When I called Echo service, I was told that a new battery had to be charged for 24 hours the very first time. I was told to put the battery back into the charger, and after 24 hours, the led on the charger would turn from red to green. Does this sound right?

    Reply
    • Hmmmm…it’s been a year since I posted this, but I don’t remember having to charge the battery for 24 hours. Did you try it, and did that do the trick? It’s unusual, but possible that the initial charge would take that long; you’d hope that the Echo customer support peeps would know what they were talking about. I’ve been very happy with the one we got; Let us know if your’e up and running, and how you like it.

      Reply
  3. True, Heather, especially older mowers that might not get the cleaning and attention they need…ahem. And with advances in battery and brushless motor technology, mowers are available that can easily handle the average yard. Add in the ease of storage and ability to do away with the gas and oil hassles, and it’s easy to see why so many people are ditching gas mowers.

    Reply
  4. Nice and compact! Electric mowers really are the way to go – Many folks don’t realize the impact gas mowers have ..

    Reply

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