Impressed by both the original EGO 56V cordless lawn mower and the new EGO Peak Power lawn mower, news of a third-generation mower quickly caught our attention. When we found ourselves able to test it on a nearby sod farm, we jumped at the chance. The EGO Select Cut lawn mower features an improved 1000W brushless motor and all-new blade design. EGO pulled out all the stops on this mower, designing it to cut powerfully, bag efficiently, and mulch effectively. After testing it over two days on literally acres of pristine (and tall!) Floratam grass, this mower seems to be the new top performer.
Pros
- Twin cutting blades increase mulching and bagging performance
- Powerful brushless motor cuts through St Augustine
- Improved self-propel mechanism and speed control
- Cuts up to 3/4 acre on a single 56V 7.5Ah battery (light load)
Cons
- Optional mulching blade reduces run-time
- A premium mower comes with a premium price
EGO Select Cut Lawn Mower Features
The easiest way to convey the new features of the EGO Select Cut lawn mower comes by way of comparison to the previous model. One of the most visible changes includes a new raked back battery insertion angle that lets you see the 6-segment charge indicators on newer EGO 56V batteries.
Like the model it replaces, the EGO Gen 3 lawnmower kit includes a 56V 7.5 Ah battery pack and 60-minute rapid charger. You also get a new dual-blade design for superior mulching and bagging out of the gate. Not to be confused with a side-by-side cutting system, this blade design looks like a narrow “X”. The two blades work together to lift and cut grass into very fine pieces.
How fine? It exhibited no clumping underneath the deck and did a great job bagging. Aside from the Ryobi (which practically vacuumed up the grass) and a $1,200 commercial mower, it captured more St. Augustine grass than other mowers we tested on the farm.
EGO Tri-Cut Blade Included
Not content to stop there, the 3rd generation EGO Select Cut lawn mower also includes an additional Tri-Cut blade that you can swap out to deliver even better mulching. This “gator-style” blade has a higher lift and teeth that shred grass even more completely when using the mulching plug. It captured a similar amount of bagged grass as the standard blade, but with finer pieces.
The only downside comes at the expense of some run-time. In our testing, the mower lost around 12-15% overall. For those interested in better mulching, this trade-off could be well worth the benefits.
The new third-generation EGO Select Cut mower has the same 21″ cutting deck as the prior model (using a 20.25″ blade). They just seem to do more with it.
Sod Farm Run-time Testing
Testing the EGO Select Cut lawn mower occurred at Gulf Kist Sod in Vero Beach, Florida. We couldn’t think of a better way to test the new Gen 3 mower than by running it on acres and acres of pristine Floratam (a St. Augustine variety).
Start Your Engines
EGO made starting the mower even easier than before (if that’s possible). Instead of completely recessing the power-up button on the handle, you can now access it more naturally with your thumb before pulling back the bail bar. The front LED lights are activated from the handle as well—no more leaning down to turn them on.
Updated Self-Propelled Mechanism
The updated self-propelled drive mechanism on this mower also works really well. Instead of a lever, EGO now features a center-mounted speed dial. It sits smack-dab in the middle of the handle and sets the desired pace. It’s much more visible, easier to adjust, and has a more tactile feel when you’re using it.
To actually engage self-propelled mode, however, you simply grab the handles as you naturally would. A top grip or side grip works equally well. Twin buttons on each side of the handle naturally push in when you grasp the handle. Either or both buttons will engage the self-propel system.
Reviewer’s Note: Using this new mechanism for the first time seemed a tad uncomfortable. I felt I had to apply constant pressure to the buttons vs the former drive bar. I then realized I had the handle set too high for my height. Once I lowered the handle, my arms formed a more ergonomic 90-degree angle. At that point, the buttons for the self-propelled system engaged very naturally. If you feel you have to expend any energy keeping the drive buttons engaged—check to see if you might have a similar issue.
I rarely used the maximum drive speed except when putting away the mower. It’s quick—EGO rates it around 3.1 MPH. The minimum speed sits around 1.1 MPH. We often find that the grass height and variety also play a determining role in optimal speed selection. Similar to the previous mowers and the Peak Power model, a rear-mounted brushless motor gear-drives the left rear wheel.
EGO Select Cut Lawnmower Power and Traction
Regarding the wheels—EGO keeps the same great treads. We’ve found them to give lots of traction when dealing with inclines, wet grass, etc. That matters more than you may think—particularly when you cut higher grass or go for a more aggressive cut. Several other mowers spun their wheels during our heavy-load testing.
In that power testing, we found we could drop the mower deck down to 2.125-inches when mowing Floratam. That’s really short and represents a very difficult, if not impossible, cut for many self-propelled lawnmowers.
More of the Features You Know
Many features present on existing EGO mowers also exist on the EGO 3rd generation mower as well. The EGO Select Cut is IPX4-rated to handle water from any direction. Also, check out the evolution of EGO’s twin dual-LED headlights across their mowers:
The new system uses two angled sets of 3-LED lights. These LEDs cover a nice area in front of the mower, making it easy to mow in the early morning or late into the evening. And, of course, you now activate them from the driving position. Also, with the low noise output, you never have to worry about waking the neighbors.
Field-Testing the EGO 56V Select Cut Lawn Mower
The EGO Select Cut self-propelled lawn mower kit comes with a 7.5 Ah 56V lithium-ion battery. We got just shy of an hour of run-time mowing and mulching thick and dense Floratam sod under a medium load. To put that into perspective, this mower will cut nearly a half-acre on a single charge.
Use it more regularly for light load trimming and you should expect closer to a 3/4-acre mowing area before having to swap batteries. Even under what we considered a heavy load, the EGO Select Cut pulled off over a quarter acre and 39 minutes of run-time.
As mentioned earlier, the Tri-Cut blade will drop some mowing time in exchange for better mulching. Under a medium load, you’ll see 45 minutes of run-time or 0.35 acres of cutting. With a heavy load, you can expect 29 minutes and 0.20 acres.
1000W Brushless Motor Powertrain
Some of this power (EGO claims up to 7 ft-lbs of torque) and run-time comes thanks to the new 1000W brushless motor. The previous second-generation EGO self-propelled mower had a 1000W motor but in a brushed configuration. You simply get better efficiency and runtime from the new model—particularly when you factor in the new blade style.
Bagging & Cut Quality
We did most of our sod field mowing with the mulch plug installed, however, we also tested bagging. The new EGO Gen 3 lawn mower bags really well. It captured 3.34 pounds of grass at a standard baseline distance in our test. We also saw no trailing as we mowed, indicating the mower collects a large majority of the grass it cuts.
Cut quality was fantastic and this lawnmower had some of the shortest pieces of grass when using the Tri-Cut blade. With the standard blade, the cut looked very even in our scoring. You only saw a few outliers at the very edges of the cut.
EGO Gen 3 Lawn Mower Conclusion
The EGO Select Cut mower takes all the success of the second-generation model and raises several performance specs. By keeping the LM2135SP kit price at $649, EGO also stays in a very competitive—though premium—space. If you already have batteries, the bare EGO Gen 3 lawn mower should price out around $499.
The new EGO Select Cut self-propelled lawnmower delivers plenty of power and run-time while really ramping up its mulching and bagging skills. We also found it easy to operate—even more so than any of the models which precede it.
While we did a lot of testing on Floratam, that grass seems very location-limited to Florida and some parts of Texas. The increased bagging and mulching capabilities should be even more evident on less woody and root-based grass species.
You spend a lot of time mowing your lawn—you might as well enjoy it! Get more information from the EGO Power+ website.
EGO LM3130SP Select Cut Lawnmower Specs
- Model (bare/kit): LM3130SP/LM2135SP
- Push-button start
- Function: bagging, mulching, side-discharge
- Self-propelled: Variable speed (1.1 MPH to 3.1 MPH)
- Cutting height: 1-1/4-in. (min) to 4-in. (max) with 7 steps
- Run-time: 60 minutes w/56V 7.5 Ah ARC lithium battery
- 1000W brushless motor
- LED headlights
- Deck: Composite 21-in.
- Handle: 3-position height adjustment
- Grass bagging capacity: 2-bushels
- Warranty: 5-year (tool) and 3-year (battery)
- Price: $499 (LM3130SP bare mower); $649 (LM2135SP kit w/7.5Ah battery and rapid charger
