My wife and I just became owners of a residence with nearly 3/4 acre of mildly sloped grassy hillside in southwestern Iowa. It’s not too steep, but it does get weird in spots and with my luck I figured I’d end up on a YouTube fail montage, upside down or rolling off into a ravine or something if went the riding mower route, so I researched the Mowrator 4wd S1 and took the dive, thinking I’d spend at least that much on a quality riding mower anyway, plus I’d avoid any embarrassing mishaps or injuries as a bonus.

So we’re a couple months in, it’s springtime and the yard is getting very fuzzy very quickly. I’ve mowed several times with the S1 and I have several observations.

First, it’s built like a tank. Super high quality, very heavy and you can tell it’s a legit piece of equipment. The motor is powerful, the battery has lots of ooomph and for the most part, makes easy work of any tall grasses I put it the way, although it has bogged down a couple of times in wet long grass, really not even a minor nuisance.
Also it’s actually fairly intuitive to use the remote control, the range is pretty good and although you have to follow it somewhat to see where the mower is lined up, it’s really a lot of fun and even relaxing to mow now as opposed to wrestling with a push unit.
You can also fiddle with the setting to get it to be a bit more user friendly, as the default sensors mode is pretty safety oriented and will cut the mower power if there’s even the slightest obstacles nearby, probably a good thing if you’ve got kids or small dogs underfoot, etc. Lots of torque, this thing climbs one of the weird spots (probably a 10-15 degree slope) in my yard with ease, without this mower I’d have to resort to use a weed eater for a fairly big patch of awkwardly sloped grass. It does struggle a bit with traction in wet grass on the steeps, but i see they make an optional set of more aggressive wheels which I may or may not try out in the future.
Mulcher and bags both work great, and for the most part I’m very happy with the S1.
There are only really 2 reasons I won’t rate this at 5 stars, if I could I’d give it 4.5…
The first has to do with the 18ah battery life. I think it’s advertised that it can cover up to 1.125 acre on a full charge… while I understand that is rating probably in flat easy ideal conditions, I still feel it’s a wildly optimistic estimate; I get maybe 1.75 hours out of a fully charged battery, and that gets about half of my property done (so let’s say about a third to half an acre at most per charge), and I’m pretty efficient, my lawn is not a jungle and the slopes are very mellow for the most part. All of this to say that I don’t even think that there is anything wrong with the design, it’s just that you really have to realize the battery life really might not meet your expectation if you have anything challenging in terms of slope or a lot of ground to cover.

This all actually relates directly to my second issue, which is really my own fault- the deck is only a standard 21” deck, Mowrator is very transparent about this, but what it means, along with the fact that this is a very slow moving mower, even at the fastest speed setting, is that it takes a really REALLY long time (and at least 2 charge cycles) to cover a big property like mine. I think the fastest I’ve covered my roughly 3/4 acre yard is in about 3.5 hours, split up into two long sessions cuz of charging cycles. (I run the battery down to about 15% before recharging.)

So just be aware of those facts if you have a lot of ground to cover. I wish the deck were a little bit wider and the battery had a skosh more capacity. Otherwise the S1 is super capable and I’m very happy with it. My only concern moving forward will probably be the working lifespan of the battery, i really hope I can get several years out of it at least because they are expensive to replace.
Final verdict - if you have a smaller yard, with difficult to manage slopes, and want to actually enjoy mowing again (and save space in your garage;) buy this beast!! You will be very pleased.

Love this little work horse. Right out of the box it has surpassed my expectations. I have some major sloping hills and it has no problem with them. The battery life also has impressed me. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because I keep getting an error if I turn on the front collision sensor. With thecsensor turned off it worksvfine but it wont allow the use of the cruise control with it turned off. I've tried all I could think of but have had no luck. But the mower is amazing for the job I need it to do.

Reverse is too slow , and turns tear up the grease , are there settings to address this ?

We just purchased a mowrator and can’t believe how it really mows banks with no problem It holds to the hillside unbelievable the best thing we purchased in a long time everything they advertise about this mower is true had to see it to believe it

This machine is a BEAST! It'll run through 16-inch field grass and never break a sweat. Easy to clean. Charges quickly. Easy to use controls. Excellent safety features. 4WD is perfect for my field with a 30-degree slope.

This thing has been super impressive, I've been able to mow every few days without the dreadful thought of being tired or hot. My yard is all hill and it's not a little hill it's steep to the point a riding power would tip and ive flipped a push mower at times. I've met neighbors I've never talked to before in the 6 years of owning my home because they want to know about the mower. Battery is very efficient and having solar was a no brainer to allow for an immediate rto not paying for gas. So far so good and look forward to the trimmer attachment.

I live on two acres with steep inclines and hills in the Georgia foothills. I bought the Mowrater with 4 wheel drive and it leaves a great cut on anything it tackles. When I say the grades are steep I mean you can't walk up some of them. I give the Mowrater a small running start on the steepest banks and it cuts right to the top with no problems. I am a senior with back pain, this is a life saver.

I purchased this since I have a bad back and couldn't use my riding mower anymore and this has allowed me to tack back control of my yard work. I have put it thru its paces and it has performed as advertised. Being a mechanical engineer it's design function is well thought out. Once you get the hang of the controller and how it works you'll have fun.