Do you guys remember how HART promised us they’d build a battery platform, not only for our tools, but for the entire home? Well so far they’ve managed to get into tools, automotive, cleaning, and of course, Outdoor Power Equipment. Well last week they invited us to South Carolina, for the launch of their 3rd major push into the backyard, and this time, they brought the big toys. Let’s go.
Yup, that’s a riding lawn mower, and it’s way better than I was expecting, but we’ll get to that in a minute. This event was themed BeFree. Gas Free. Cord free. Struggle Free. All things I’m here for. To deliver on this premise, HART setup demonstrations of their entire line of outdoor power equipment, from Blowers to this huge new auger, and of course there were a bunch of awesome mowers. Everything designed to free you up from the shackles of gas tools, without making any compromises on power or features. Let’s start with their chainsaws. Sarah’s clear favorite.
Their range now includes 2 20V chainsaws, their 12”, and this awesome 8” pruning chainsaw. Sarah and I have been using the 8” version for the last year, and not only is it a handy size, but this is the only chainsaw that we’ve ever used, that doesn’t require ANY bar and chain oil. They told us that by slowing the chain slightly, they were able to keep it from getting too hot, which is what gets these so gummed up. You’d think that would make it cut slower, but if it does I didn’t notice.
But if you have biggert chainsaw jobs, you’ll want to move up to their 40v platform, where you’ll find a 14”, and 16” that we’ve been fans of for a while, but now there’s an all new 10” compact version, with 40V power, but something far more maneuverable. Loved this thing. They also have an 8” pole saw we’ve used on the before on our show.
Sarah of course grabbed the 16” brushless version to make a few cookies. Never seen Sarah happier than when she’s using a chainsaw. Should that worry me?
Anyway, next we moved on to the trimmers. They ‘re adding these all new rotating handle hedge trimmers that, you guessed it, rotate at the handle so you can more easily trim both the tops and sides of your hedges, which is a big deal for me, because our hedges are taller than I am. They have 20V versions in 18” and 22”, and a 40V version in 24”, and that thing was awesome. Super strong 1” cut capacity, 180 degree rotating handle, yes please.
Next we briefly stopped off at the blowers. The only new thing here were some combo kits, but I still had to play with the ridiculous 40V Brushless 650 CFM blower, because it’s awesome.
I completely missed the string trimmer demo, while I was distracted by the auger. But don’t worry, we’ve got their 15” Carbon Fiber String Trimmer for a bit now and you’ll see it here soon.
But that Auger… Oh boy. 40V Brushless 8” Earth Auger. Why is it cool to dig giant holes? We may never know, but it is. 200 RPM, and 54 ft lbs of torque, it’s perfect for setting up 4×4 fence posts, and desk supports. We’ve got plans this summer for a small deck, and some playground equipment that this thing would be perfect for. There was also a 20V 6” auger, somewhere in the 40v shadow but I didn’t get to play with it. Let’s be honest, we’re all going to buy the 40 anyways.
But the biggest draw were the mowers. We had seen the selection of 20v and 40v mowers before, with two exceptions. First, this new, flagship 40V 21” Self Propelled Mower, with a totally new black design, and room for two 6.0 AH 40V batteries. It performed really well, had single point height adjustment, 1 to 4” cutting depth, easy fold, yadda yadda yadda pretty great. But the biggest news was the Made in the USA sticker. I couldn’t film it, but while we were there we got a sneak peek at their new production line, and we got to see these made in person, and it was pretty awesome. SUPER excited about this mower.
But let’s be honest, the real gem of this whole event was this. That’s the all new HART 30” Lithium-Ion Riding Mower, and while they don’t advertise it on the outside, there’s a pair of huge 80V batteries on the inside. When we heard HART would have a riding mower, I was expecting something closer to the early Ryobi riding mowers, with lead acid batteries. But NO, HART is skipping right to the good part, with a proper lithium-ion beast, and it was obvious from our first rides that this thing is going to make a lot of Walmart shoppers very happy.
First off, it just looks good. I’ve been a fan of the black white and blue livery since the beginning, and it just looks great on the ride-on. But it’s the performance that caught us off guard. We were racing it through some very tall grass without skipping a beat. It’s powered by 3 brushless motors, has a single point height adjustment, 30” deck, and it can cover up to an acre on a single charge. And you can totally recharge it in only 2 hours.
Oh at there are two versions of the grass baggers on the back. The one I used had an integrated 700cfm blower on it, to clear out any blockages. Is that a word? Blockages? If it is, that blower can clear’em out. Which by the way, HART, if you could make that blower rotate to the side, it would let me use the mower to blow clippings off my sidewalk and driveway each week, which would be AWESOME.
So the event was great. We’ve used a lot of these HART tools in the past, but when you see them all together, it paints a really significant picture. HART is here. They’ve been in Walmart for over 2 years now, and the line is an obvious success. And the best part is, they didn’t make “Walmart tools”, they made a solid line of affordable, but powerful and dependable home solutions, and they somehow taught walmart shoppers, that it’s worth paying a bit more, for a far superior product. And if you ask their team what’s next for HART? they all get the same look in their eye and say “Just you wait.”
