Wild Badger 40V 18-inch Electric Lawn Mower Review

About the Wild Badger 40V 18-inch Cordless Electric Mower

• Weight: 37.5 pounds
• Cutting width: 18 inches
• Number of cutting heights: 5 positions
• Battery: 40V 5.0aH battery (1 included, with charger)
• Charge time: 60 minutes
• Cutting time: 30 minutes (approximately)
• Dimensions: 55.4 inches x 40.7 inches x 19.3 inches (D x W x H)

The Wild Badger 40V 18-inch mower is one of four current models in the company’s cordless electric mower lineup. These models start at the absolute smallest, 14-inch-wide variant and progress to 16-, 18-, and 21-inch variants. The main difference between them is the cutting area and the type of batteries used. The 18-inch model utilizes a single 40V battery, whereas the 16- and 21-inch variants employ dual 20V batteries that must be charged separately.

How we tested

We tested the 18-inch Wild Badger 40V Mower by assembling it and then putting it through its paces on a standard quarter-acre lawn, cutting grass while also mulching leaves, acorns, small sticks, and going around obstacles and up and down fairly steep hills and flat terrain. The battery was fully charged for the test and ran until it stopped before being recharged.

We test both gas and electric (battery-powered) mowers, so we are experts with both styles. By comparison, we’d say this Wild Badger lawn mower is similar to the Litheli Easysurge we tested earlier this year.

What we like

The mower is lightweight and easy to move around

Unlike traditional gas mowers, electric mowers do not have a small engine that you need to lug around. They’re lighter and much easier to move, meaning you don’t need as many features like self-propelled wheels. The Wild Badger is light, even by these standards, and weighs in at less than 40 pounds.

It gets the job done with small lawns and light debris

A lawn mower doesn’t need to be complicated—and this one certainly is not. It gets the basics right. The blade had no trouble at all mulching up leaves, small sticks, and anything else I ran it over, and it made short work of my grass.

It’s a simple machine with a straightforward task, and it performs it well. The bag fills up quickly when cutting anything, from grass to fallen autumn leaves, but that’s typical with any mower.

You can use the optional “mulching attachment,” which is essentially a plug that blocks the bag from receiving debris, and leave your clippings and mulched leaves right on the ground.

The battery charged quickly and was just big enough

While a 30-minute battery life would normally be a major concern, this lawn mower is designed for smaller lawns. For my small-ish lawn (I live on a quarter acre and my house and garden take up half that), 30 minutes is just a tad short of what I need, but it’s simple enough to get the lawn mostly done, recharge, and wrap it up at the end of the day.

The nice thing is that you can always have a spare battery and charger, swapping in a new one to finish the job in the moment before topping off both batteries for next time. In my experience, the battery charged very quickly, taking about an hour while I did some other lawn work.

What we don’t like

Its construction is nearly all plastic, which can be tough on soft ground

Like most electric mowers, this one uses plastic in its design. The outer shell, wheels, handles, and boxes containing components, such as the safety switch, are all made of plastic. This saves on weight, but it also means the mower doesn’t feel very substantial.

In my view, the main drawback to this approach is the wheels. While plastic wheels are very durable—there are kids' toys in my shed with plastic wheels that are 60 years old—they struggle digging into soft ground. I have one area of my lawn with soft soil and grass that grows thick, and every mower struggles here. This was no different; I had to raise the cutting height just to get through it.

The starter can be a bit finicky

To start the mower, press the safety button in, compress the handle, and then the button is supposed to pop out, locking it into the starting position. I had issues with this button getting stuck, and the mower would shut off after about 10 seconds. This eventually resolved itself and appears to have been a one-off issue (I couldn’t find anyone else online with the same problem), but it’s worth noting that you may encounter some minor issues.

Warranty

The Wild Badger 18-inch 40V Electric Mower comes with a 3-year warranty that covers defects and workmanship. That’s a solid length of time, and it explicitly covers commercial use.

While I wouldn’t start a lawn care business with this lightweight of a product, the fact that it won’t exclude you if you use it to care for your business’s small patch of grass is a good thing.

Should you buy the Wild Badger 40V 18-inch Cordless Brushless Electric Lawn Mower?

Yes, but only if you have a small lawn and can get a spare battery

Electric lawn mowers are odd products, all doing similar-quality work with little difference between brands. The Wild Badger mower (available at Lowe's for $279.99) doesn’t have any unique qualities that make it stand out from the crowd, but it’s lightweight, cuts well, is easy to maneuver, and isn’t too expensive out of the gate.

The main drawback is the short cutting time, which is right around 30 minutes. That’s going to get shorter as the battery degrades, so ideally, you’ll get a spare battery with this to extend that and not constantly drain your battery to nothing. The spare batteries are not outrageous, but I would recommend trying to find a bundle or a deal on them—or consider pairing this with one of Wild Badger’s other 40V tools so you can use the batteries across multiple products. Just make sure you buy tools that use the same single 40V battery, not Wild Badger’s line of 40V tools that use dual 20V batteries.

Otherwise, the 18-inch is a good compromise between the tiny 14-inch model and the much more capable—but more expensive—21-inch model. If you’re considering jumping to that range, other mowers (especially those with 80V maximums) become much more competitive and can handle a lot more with longer charge times and bigger batteries. However, for individuals with limited needs who seek a compact, simple, and effective mower, this is a suitable choice.