EGO rotary power lawn mowers

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. No one hurt

   Made Jun 18, 2025 · , sent to the company Jun 24, 2025 · , published by CPSC Jul 9, 2025

   The product, in the report: EGO LM2156SP POWER+ Mower 21” Select Cut XP System with Touch Drive Self-Propelled Kit (10.0Ah Battery)

   EGO LM2156SP lawn mower. Recently the rear wheels randomly locked up and I slipped in the grass, my foot almost went under the mower deck. This lawn mower randomly, 1 out of 5 turns, engages the self propelled motor when pivoting at the end of a cut row. When you pivot to cut back in the opposite direction the gears or clutch in the self propel feature will engage the motor, trying to turn it over manually by pushing, making it very hard to push, essentially locking the wheels. This is very dangerous when on a hill or in a tight spot, like along the edge of a pond. You can easily be caught off guard by the random lockup and have a foot go under the mower. This is a very common complaint based on an internet search including the EGO website. It appears EGO was trying to claim that this flaw was a “safety feature” to keep the mower from rolling backwards. If that were true then the “Safety Feature” only works randomly. They have recently changed their story, telling people that they should lift the rear of the mower up and set it back down to unlock the wheels. Lifting the rear of the mower up would expose my feet to the turning blades, a safety hazard in itself. The clutch engagement system on these mowers should be recalled for obvious safety reasons.

   Model

   EGO LM2156SP

   Serial number

   NLM15221401399X

   Bought from

   Lowes

   Bought

   Nov 12, 2023

   Where

   Newburgh, Indiana: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 60, Male

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand EGO, made or sold by Chervon Group NA

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

2. No one hurt

   Made May 27, 2024 · , sent to the company May 30, 2024 · , published by CPSC Jun 13, 2024

   The product, in the report: Ego Push Lawnmower LM2100SP

   I was mowing my lawn with an Ego Lawnmower model LM2100SP and smoke started coming from the motor. Its an electric battery powered mower I purchased in 2018. I removed the battery and it wasnt the battery at all, it was the motor unit.

   Model

   LM2100SP

   Serial number

   NLM04180404247X

   Bought from

   Home Depot, New York

   Bought

   Oct 6, 2018

   Where

   Larchmont, New York: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 47, Male

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand Ego, made or sold by Chervon Group NA

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

3. Hospital admission

   Made Aug 7, 2023 · , sent to the company Aug 9, 2023 · , published by CPSC Aug 23, 2023

   The product, in the report: The product is an electric lawnmower, EGO model number LM2135SP.

   On April 24, 2023, I was mowing my lawn with the EGO electric lawnmower model LM2135SP that I had purchased on April 4. I was mowing across an incline when, while changing directions, the lawnmower caught on grass, causing me to slip. As I did, the lawnmower came up and landed on my foot, severing my big toe and the top half of the adjacent toe.

   When I posted a negative review about the experience online, the company reached out to me, and then told me they’d follow up with me in two to three weeks. They never followed up on their own, even when I tried to make contact with them a month later, and only recently responded when I threatened legal action. They told me that I had ignored a warning label that said not to mow on slopes.

   The manual does not say to avoid mowing slopes, which is why I was confused when the representative claimed it did, and wondered if I’d misremembered the instructions; it says to use extra caution around slopes, and to avoid mowing slopes greater than 15 degrees. In addition, instructions further down, on page 9, mention mowing across (which I was doing) and also mentioned exercising caution while changing directions (which I was trying to do). I understood the instructions to mean that you should not mow while moving more than 15 degrees up or down. I was mowing across - it’s already much more efficient than going up and down on my lawn - and I moved down to change directions and mow the next line. Given that the instructions tell you to exercise extreme caution when changing directions, I assumed this was expected (as you are not told not to change directions at all).

   I am an aircraft mechanic. Following instructions is a part of every job I do. Because of this, I’ve seen a lot of ambiguous instructions with potential interpretations that are useless or counterproductive. When I misinterpret ambiguous instructions, I’m able to explain exactly what about the instructions allows for them to be misinterpreted. In this case, it’s that the instructions “Do not mow slopes greater than 15 degrees” does not specify whether “greater than 15 degrees” applies to the slope or the action of mowing.

   I am also a relatively new homeowner, being the first in my family to own one, and this has been the first time I’ve lived in areas with lawns. I had owned my home for about 6 months when I got my lawnmower. I knew little about mowing lawns besides that a lawnmower was the standard tool. My neighbors had cut grass on their inclines; and borough regulations mandated that my grass was cut. Given that I had never seen anyone use a tool for cutting lawns besides a lawnmower, and that my neighbors have consistently had cut grass on their inclines, there was nothing to make me question my use of the lawnmower for that purpose. That is, all the context I had lef me to interpret the instructions to mean avoiding mowing a slope while moving at a 15-degree angle up or down, as, based on what I saw and knew, simply not mowing my incline at all didn’t seem right when my neighbors had mowed inclines, and the instructions emphasizing caution when changing directions on slopes (as opposed to telling you not to do so) suggested to me that moving to change directions like I did was an expected action.

   The instructions could be written in ways that make them less ambiguous, such as:

   “Do not mow slopes *that are* greater than 15 degrees.” (This specifies that it’s the gradient of the slope itself, and not the action of mowing, that shouldn’t be greater than 15 degrees.) “Do not mow slopes *which have a gradient* greater than 15 degrees.” (This specifies 15 degrees as a property of the slope.)

   Model

   LM2135SP

   Bought from

   Lowe’s

   Bought

   Apr 4, 2023

   Where

   Prospect Park, Pennsylvania: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 28, Male

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand EGO, made or sold by Chervon Group NA

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, Hospital Admission

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources