DeWALT 60V MAX Brushless Self-Propelled Mower review: an efficient, long-lasting cordless mower

It’s that time of year again, when the weather warms up, the days get longer, and regular lawn mowing is in full swing.

There are lots of great options to pick from among the best lawn mowers, but DeWALT has released a new lineup of mowers that that are pretty great as well.

The DeWALT 60V MAX Brushless Self-Propelled Mower offers nearly identical features to the DeWALT 60V MAX Brushless Push Mower that we have also reviewed, with the notable addition of variable RWD speeds to help you cut your grass in less time, with less effort. Let’s find out how it fared in my yard and how it compares to the best cordless lawn mowers around.

Jason Cockerham

Jason has been mowing lawns since he was big enough to push a mower and been playing with tech gadgets for almost as long. He never shies away from a solid day of yard work and loves the relaxing yet productive feeling of a freshly mowed lawn. He has been testing and reviewing products for over ten years and cut his lawn exclusively with the DCMWSP650Y2 for about four weeks.

DeWALT 60V MAX Brushless Self-Propelled Mower: First Impressions

The DeWALT DCMWSP650Y2 mower arrived in a big box and was incredibly easy to set up. There was very little plastic or Styrofoam in the box which was nice to see and the only thing required to get it going is to charge up the batteries. Thankfully, you only need one battery at a time to run it so once the first one is charged, you’re ready to go.

It comes folded in the box and literally all you do to unfold it is press the handle on the middle bar, lift until they click in place, then fully extend the handle bar. Once the battery is charged, insert it into the battery compartment, slide in the black safety key, and that’s it.

The folding design also helps out quite a bit for storing the mower as it can stand up vertically and takes up very little space in a garage or tool shed. DeWalt gives you two 12Ah 60V FLEXIVOLT batteries along with 2 4-amp chargers (not the fast chargers, unfortunately) a bagger, mulch plug, and side discharge chute.

DeWALT 60V MAX Brushless Self-Propelled Mower: Price & availability

The DeWALT DCMWSP650Y2 cost $799 and is available at Acme Tools, Ace Hardware, Tool Nut, and several other local hardware stores. This is definitely a bit more expensive than other comparable mowers so you’ll have to figure out if it’s worth the premium. Hopefully this review will help you decide.

DeWALT 60V MAX Brushless Self-Propelled Mower: Design

The first thing you’ll likely notice about the DeWALT DCMWSP650Y2 is how light and compact it is. The handle comes up to the normal height (it’s not adjustable, sadly), but the 21-inch cutting deck and the motor are surprisingly small. It’s easy enough to maneuver that even my 4-year-old didn’t have any trouble.

On the handle bar you’ve got the LED notification dashboard which shows the current battery level as well as how challenging your cutting conditions are as you mow. There are also two buttons to help reset the blades if you ever replace them yourself and on the right side is the speed adjustment. Just above the dashboard is the power button as well as the bail handle and the self-propel handle.

There are two plastics slots on the back of the cutting deck to help attach the mulch plug and annoyingly they sometimes caught the back when I was trying to insert or remove it. It’s not a dealbreaker by any stretch, more of an annoying design choice. Just inside the right rear wheel is the height adjustment handle which is quite easy to use. Again, my toddler could do it just fine. You have six different height settings between 1.5 and 4 inches.

Score: 5 out of 5

DeWALT 60V MAX Brushless Self-Propelled Mower: Key specifications

DeWALT 60V MAX Brushless Self-Propelled Mower: Performance

The first time I went out with the DeWALT DCMWSP650Y2 I put it through probably the most challenging conditions you could with this type of mower. I was cutting about 2-3 inches off (even higher in some parts), the grass was damp from the morning dew, and I was mulching it.

In those conditions, the mower did not fare too well, which was to be expected. It did a fine job of cutting the grass in most places, but battery drained incredibly fast. There were also a few parts where the grass was just so high that the self-propulsion couldn’t keep up and the mower would just power off. Getting a fresh battery seemed to help, but it still struggled. Since the grass was damp, it would get clogged up in the entrance of the discharge chute which also contributed to the overpowering.

Needless to say, those are absolutely not normal conditions for mowing the yard. Normally, I’m cutting between 0.5 – 1 inches of grass (maybe 1.5 in the highest spots) in dry conditions and in those conditions, the mower did a great job. After that first cut, I’ve been able to do my entire 6,800 square foot yard, front and back, with just one battery almost every time. DeWalt claims up to 75 minutes of runtime with the included 12Ah batteries, and I believe it.

Of course, your mileage may vary, and when I had missed a mow day or if I was bagging the clippings, I would need to swap in the other battery, but I never completely ran through both batteries before finishing the lawn. The single battery design of the 60V mowers is a game changer compared to the dual-battery design of the 20V mowers in my opinion.

DeWalt says the batteries take 45 minutes to charge, but that’s most likely when using their fast charger that is not included. Typically, it would take about two to two-and-a-half hours for them to fully charge from zero with the included chargers.

Aside from how lightweight and easy to use this mower is, it’s also amazingly quiet. Interestingly, it’s a bit louder than the push mower, even without the self-propelled motor running, but it’s still very quiet. With my earbuds in, I could just barely hear the mower as I was mowing. Turning on the self-drive adds a bit more noise but it’s still much quieter than any gas mower. My decibel meter clocked in at about 75 db without the self-drive engaged and about 78 with it so not much difference. That’s a tad bit louder than the push mower which clocked in at 70 db but that’s still very quiet.

As great as the DeWALT DCMWSP650Y2 is, it’s not perfect. Firstly, the self-driving system offers you six speeds, but I couldn’t tell much of a difference beyond the third setting. That third setting is quite fast, however, especially if you have short legs like me so running with the mower has become my new form of exercise. There’s also about a one-to-two second delay before the motor stops after you release the self-driving handle which can make turning and reversing a bit annoying until you get used to it.

I quickly became a fan of the side discharge chute. I haven’t had one with any of my other mowers, and it’s pretty useful. Yes, as a lefty, it does mean I have to mow my yard in the wrong direction (see our DeWALT push mower review), but I much prefer it to mulching now.

When bagging, I was able to fill the bag almost entirely to the top before having to empty it, which matches DeWALT’s claim that it can fill up to 95% before needing to be emptied. I’ve never used a mower that could hold that much capacity in the bag without any issues so I was impressed.

Also, since it’s rear wheel drive, when you push down to lift the front wheels when making a turn, the mower will keep going and can pull you off balance if you’re not ready for it. Essentially, there’s just a bit of a learning curve but once you get the hang of it, it works great.

I also noticed that it seems to miss a few more spots of grass when cutting than my push mower. When I walked the lawn after mowing, I noticed a few more single blades of grass in the yard than I did when using my push mower. Not enough to be a deal breaker, but I still noticed them.

Care and maintenance are blissfully easy. After a few mows, use some compressed air to clean off any clippings or dirt and check the blades before every season to see if they need sharpening. If you need replacement blades, you can pick them up from Acme Tools.

Score: 4.5 out of 5

DeWALT 60V MAX Brushless Self-Propelled Mower: User Reviews

At the time of publishing, the DeWALT DCMWSP650Y2 was still pretty new so there have not been too many reviews. However, I was able to find some on DeWalt’s website as well as Acme Tools and Ace Hardware.

Overall, most of the reviews I found praised the lightweight design and quiet volume. Users were impressed with the battery life and cutting efficiency with one customer proclaiming on Acme Tools: “This mower makes me want to cut my lawn instead of dreading it.”

Most of the negatives I found were about the battery life, but one of those reviewers had a larger lawn (~9,700 square feet) and he was able to complete the lawn in one sitting by just rotating the batteries as he was mowing.

There was one reviewer who was concerned that the blades continued to spin for a few seconds after releasing the handle, but I wouldn’t be too concerned about that. Just don’t go reaching under the deck immediately after releasing the handle.

Should you buy the DeWALT 60V MAX Brushless Self-Propelled Mower?

Buy it if...

Don’t buy it if…

How does the DeWALT 60V MAX Brushless Self-Propelled Mower compare?

And if you don’t necessarily have to have a self-propelled mower, we were very impressed the DeWALT DCMWP600X2 push mower.

If you want to stick with a self-propelled option, the Toro 60V Max 22in Recycler Lawn Mower has a larger cutting deck than the DCMWSP650Y2 and our tester was impressed with its performance. It takes a while to charge, however, and our tester was a bit worried about the mower not having quite enough suction to keep the clippings off the lawn when the bag is full. It also only comes with one battery buy at $499, however, those shortcomings might be worth it.

If you want even more value, the Ryobi 40V Brushless Smart Trek mower is the absolute best bang for your buck if you’re looking for a good cordless mower that’s not as pricey as the rest. It’s also self-propelled and is backed by a five-year warranty and includes two 6 Ah batteries for $499.

How I tested the DeWALT 60V MAX Brushless Self-Propelled Mower

I used the DeWALT DCMWSP650Y2 to cut my grass for about four weeks while summer was in full swing. Typically I would mow twice a week during that time and rotated between mulching, the side discharge chute, and bagging.

Learn more about how we test.

• First reviewed: July 2024