Snapper 82V Battery Mower Review

Snapper 82V Battery Mower Shows Why It’s One of the Top Choices

Many of us have been familiar with the Snapper name for years, and a good percentage have first-hand stories of using their lawn care equipment.  But what the brand has been up to in the world of battery power isn’t as widespread. Maybe it should be. We’ve been excited to see how their 82V line stacks up against some of the best cordless OPE tools in the biz right now. So when they sent us their Snapper 82V battery mower for our comparison review, we got to work straight away with our testing.

Pros

• Solid cutting power
• Exceptionally quiet at 78 dB(A)
• StepSense Drive works well and feels smooth
• Well-built and designed lawn mower

Cons

• Premium pricing is an obstacle for budget shoppers

Performance

With these standalone articles, we try to spare you the details of how we collected our data. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, check out our cordless mower shootout!

Cutting Speed

The first thing we tested was how fast each of our mowers moved under no load. It allowed us to get a good baseline reading for when we tested them under heavier loads later.

The Snapper 82V battery mower registered a no-load blade RPM of 2776. With its 20″ blade, it moves the tips at 165.1 MPH. That’s in the bottom third of the table, but again, this is just a baseline. Generally, a cordless lawn mower’s brushless motor ramps up power as it encounters resistance.

So, we simulated a regular weekly cut and measured again. This time, the Snapper managed, well, pretty much the exact same performance. Again, it finished 8th for this portion of our testing.

Finally, we tested the mowers under a heavier load designed to simulate overgrown and heavy-duty conditions. This time, the Snapper 82V mower came mower alive. When the going got tougher, it ramped up the power by 23.6 MPH to 188.5 MPH at its blade tips (3170 RPM). In the self-propelled class, it’s a big move up to 4th place.

We like to see blade tip speeds in the 160 – 190 MPH range and Snapper is there across its entire cutting range, getting faster as the cut gets tougher. That’s exactly the kind of performance we like to see. From a power standpoint, this is 82V mower is a good fit for normal weekly cutting through another week’s worth of neglect.

Torture Test

With its impressive heavy load performance, we wanted to see how it handled real-world heavy overgrowth. So, we chucked it into our torture test where we walked it through 5 weeks of growth at a constant 2.5 MPH, at a cut height of 2.5″, and mowed in a straight line until it bogged down and quit.

The Snapper 82V battery mower made it a somewhat underwhelming 18′ (which was still 5′ farther than the Snapper gas model). Other than that, every other mower fared better in these conditions.

It is important to note that we didn’t consider these results in our scoring. With grass being as inconsistent, and the test itself not being particularly repeatable, we ran this test primarily to satisfy our own curiosity.

Cutting Area

A cordless mower’s runtime can be just as important as the power it produces, so we measured each one under maintenance cut conditions.

The Snapper 82V mower ran for 27 minutes before depleting the battery. With a 20″ cut swath (while the deck is 21″, the blade for this mower is only 20″), this amounts to around 9,900 square feet worth of mowing on one battery. That’s just shy of a 1/4 acre. Thankfully, the Snapper can house a second battery onboard and comes with two, giving you enough juice in the kit to cover a little less than 20,000 square feet.

27 minutes isn’t the best runtime for a battery mower. However, the pair of 2.0Ah batteries run for 54 minutes and that’s solid runtime from the kit package. If you’re looking for more runtime, Snapper offers 4.0Ah and 5.0Ah Briggs & Stratton batteries as well. Out of the box, we recommend this mower for lots up to 1/2 an acre.

Noise Level

Snapper did something really right in the noise department. We measured it, running under no load, at just 78 dB(A). Only Worx’s push mower registered lower at 74 dB(A), and that mower was in a different division altogether. Ultimately, this mower shared a 1st place finish with the Greenworks Commercial mower in our noise level testing.

Feature Set

StepSense Self-Propel Drive

One of the key highlights of this mower comes by way of its StepSense drive. As you walk forward, the handle pushes in and automatically adjusts the drive speed. When you push harder, it goes faster, and vice-versa.

Ryobi has a similar design, but Snapper’s has a better execution. Snapper’s electronics respond immediately to pressure, creating a smooth experience. Ryobi’s had a little lag to it that created a more jumpy drive system.

Steel Deck

Battery-powered mowers bounce between plastic/poly and steel decks and Snapper goes with steel. Poly might keep the weight and cost down, but we really like the durability of steel. Weight isn’t really as big of a deal when you have an effective drive system doing the heavy lifting.

Height Adjustment and Range

Snapper includes a single-point height adjustment on the 82V mower. Though this design can introduce some flex and flimsiness to the wheels bases of the mower, we like the convenience of only having to adjust one setting to get our cut height where we want it. And since Snapper has a steel deck, the frame stays agreeably rigid.

Speaking of cut heights, you can set the Snapper 82V battery mower in any of seven positions ranging from 1.125″ to 4.125″. That range ought to be more than enough to tackle any grass types you’re likely to encounter.

Handle Positions

The Snapper 82V mower allows you to reposition the handle in any one of three places. Short, tall, or in the middle, there should be a handle position that works for you.

Discharge Options

You also have some options when it comes to how you want to handle clippings. You can mulch, side-discharge, or send them to the 1.7-bushel bag.

Additional Features

• Additional battery storage bay
• Compatible with Briggs & Stratton batteries

Value

The Snapper 82V battery mower, kitted with two 2.0Ah batteries and fast charger, runs around $620. It comes with a 5-year warranty. That’s on the upper end of the battery-powered price scale, but the performance and build seem to justify it.

For those of you looking for a battery platform to get into for your lawn care equipment, the Snapper 82V lineup has a pretty solid product range.

• String trimmer
• Hedge trimmer
• Blower
• Chainsaw
• Self-propelled utility cart
• Pole Saw
• Cultivator
• Snow shovel
• Brush cutter

 

The Bottom Line

Snapper didn’t challenge the top of the leaderboard in our shootout, but this mower is pretty solid across the board. It has plenty of power and the amount of area you can cut with the included batteries is very good. Plus, it has the lowest noise level we tested in the self-propelled class and has a wide range of additional tools you can add. The only downside is that it prices some shoppers out, even though the value for what you get is good.

We like this as an option for homeowners with up to 1/2 an acre to care for that cut every 1 to 2 weeks during the cutting season.

Snapper 82V Lawn Mower Specs

• Model Number: 1687982
• Max Voltage: 82V, 72V nominal
• Motor: Brushless, 1500-watts
• Cut Width: 21″
• Drive System: StepSense Automatic Drive System
• Deck Style: Steel deck with 3-in-1 mulch/bag/side-discharge functions
• Start Type: Push button starting
• Storage Options: Vertical storage capacity
• Height Adjustments: Single-point, 7 settings
• Bag Type: 1.7-bushel bagger
• Warranty: 5-year limited consumer
• Price: $620

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For more information on the Snapper 82V lineup, click here.