Guides
Yard tool glossary: what every specification means
Every figure this site does arithmetic with, defined once, with the published example that shows why it matters.
Affiliate disclosure: we earn a commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never changes which product we rank first — here is how we're funded.
We have not tested these units. Every spec on this page comes from the manufacturer's own documentation and is linked to it. Every computed figure is arithmetic you can redo. Prices are checked daily — last verified January 1, 1970. Here is exactly how we pick.
This site computes with about a dozen units, most of them badly explained everywhere else and several of them actively misleading if you take them at face value. Here is every one, defined once, with the published example that makes it concrete.
Energy and batteries
| Term | What it is | Published example |
|---|---|---|
| Volt (V) | Electrical pressure. Sets how hard a tool can pull, not how long for. | 40V, 56V, 60V Max, 80V across our registry |
| Amp-hour (Ah) | Charge capacity. Only comparable between packs at the same voltage. | 2.0Ah to 10.0Ah across our registry |
| Watt-hour (Wh) | Volts x amp-hours. Energy, and the only cross-brand comparison available. | 40V x 6.0Ah = 240Wh; 80V x 2.0Ah = 160Wh |
| Max volts | The fully-charged figure, about 11% above nominal. | Toro publishes 324Wh for a 60V Max 6.0Ah pack; 324/6.0 = 54V nominal |
| Nameplate watt-hours | Our term for V x Ah computed on advertised voltage. About 10% optimistic. | 56V x 7.5Ah = 420Wh on the EGO LM2135SP |
| Watt-hours per minute | Pack watt-hours divided by published runtime. How hungry a tool is. | 4.0 on a 20 in push mower; 18.7 on a blower at turbo |
| Charger rate | Watt-hours divided by published charge minutes. | Greenworks 320Wh in 40 min = 8.0Wh/min; Toro 324Wh in 150 min = 2.2 |
The full treatment is in watt-hours explained.
#ad Check the Toro 60V Max 21" Recycler Self-Propel (21356) price on Amazon — how we're funded.
Blowers
| Term | What it is | Published example |
|---|---|---|
| CFM | Cubic feet per minute. Volume of air. Moves material that is already loose. | 600 to 765 CFM across our registry |
| MPH | Air speed. Dislodges material that is stuck or wedged down. | 145 to 200 MPH across our registry |
| Variable range | The airflow band between the tool's lowest and highest non-turbo settings. | EGO LB6504 publishes 225-470 CFM |
| Turbo | A momentary maximum, not a working mode. | EGO LB7650: 15 published minutes turbo against 150 on low |
| Speed tip | An interchangeable nozzle with its own published air speed. | Ryobi RY404100 publishes 160 / 175 / 190 MPH tips |
| dB | Decibels, logarithmic. A 7 dB drop is roughly a fivefold reduction in intensity. | Ryobi 57 dB; EGO 64 dB |
Peak CFM and peak MPH are generally measured separately and not delivered simultaneously. More in CFM vs MPH.
#ad Check the EGO Power+ 765 CFM Blower LB7650 price on Amazon — how we're funded.
Mowing and lawns
| Term | What it is | Published example or figure |
|---|---|---|
| Deck width | The cutting width of a mower. | 20 in, 21 in, 42 in across our registry |
| Effective swath | Deck width minus overlap. What you actually cover per pass. | 21 in at 10% overlap = 1.575 ft |
| Acre | 43,560 square feet. | 1/3 acre = 14,520 sq ft; 1/2 = 21,780 |
| Acreage rating | Manufacturer's published coverage per charge. | 1/3, 1/2, 1 and 2 acres across our registry |
| Watt-hours per acre | Installed energy divided by rated coverage. | About 640 on walk-behinds; about 1,120 on the EGO Z6 |
| One-third rule | Remove no more than a third of the leaf tissue per cut. | UMN Extension guidance |
| Thatch | Dead material between soil surface and green growth. | A problem above 1/2 inch, per UMN Extension |
| Core aeration | Pulling soil plugs to relieve compaction. | Agri-Fab publishes plugs up to 3 in deep |
| Dethatching / scarifying | Combing out thatch above the soil. | Sun Joe publishes 0 to 0.4 in raking depth |
| N-P-K | Nitrogen, phosphate and potash as percentages by weight. | UMN Extension definition |
Retail listings routinely file dethatchers under "aerator". The published working depth is what separates them — see dethatching vs aerating.
Saws and cutting tools
| Term | What it is | Published example |
|---|---|---|
| Pitch | Link spacing along a chain. Must match the drive sprocket and bar nose. | 3/8 in on both EGO saws |
| Gauge | Drive-link thickness. Must match the bar groove. | 0.050 in on the CS1804; 0.043 in on the PSA1000 |
| Drive links | The count that sets chain length for a given bar. | 62 on the EGO CS1804 |
| Kerf | The width of the slot the chain cuts. Narrow kerf removes less material. | The 0.043 in gauge is described as narrow kerf |
| Cuts per charge | Work done rather than time elapsed. The most useful saw spec there is. | Up to 300 cuts on a 4x4 from a 280Wh pack |
| Energy per cut | Pack watt-hours divided by published cuts. | About 0.93Wh on the CS1804; about 2.0Wh on the PSA1000 |
| Cut capacity | Maximum branch diameter a hedge trimmer's tooth gap can shear. | 1 in published on the EGO HT2410 |
| Line gauge | String trimmer line thickness. Heavier line breaks less in weeds. | 0.080 in and 0.095 in across our registry |
| Swath | A trimmer's cutting circle diameter. | 15 in, 16 in and adjustable 15-17 in |
Chain fitment detail is in the chainsaw chain guide.
#ad Check the EGO Power+ 18" Chain Saw CS1804 price on Amazon — how we're funded.
Pressure washers
| Term | What it is | Published example |
|---|---|---|
| PSI | Pounds per square inch. Pressure, which lifts dirt off a surface. | 2030 PSI corded; up to 3000 PSI cordless |
| GPM | Gallons per minute. Flow, which carries lifted dirt away. | 1.2 GPM corded; 2.0 GPM cordless |
| Cleaning units | PSI x GPM. The honest single figure for comparison. | 2,436 corded; 6,000 cordless; about 250 for a garden hose |
| Eco mode | A published reduced-output setting on a cordless machine. | Greenworks publishes 2200 PSI / 1.0 GPM |
| Nozzle angle | Spray angle in degrees. Wider spreads force, narrower concentrates it. | 0, 15, 25, 40 and soap on the Sun Joe SPX3000 |
| Total Stop System | A trigger that shuts the pump off between pulls. | Published on the Sun Joe SPX3000 |
The output side is covered in the PSI and GPM guide and the tip side in the nozzle guide.
#ad Check the Greenworks 60V 3000 PSI Cordless Pressure Washer price on Amazon — how we're funded.
General terms
- Duty cycle. Run time divided by run time plus charge time. The Navimow i105N publishes 60 minutes run and 90 minutes charge, which is 40%.
- Bare tool. Sold without battery or charger. Works the moment you fit a pack you already own.
- Attachment. No motor and no battery mount. Needs a power head, and does nothing without one.
- Power head. The motor, battery mount and shaft that attachments fit onto.
- Brushless. A motor design without brushes to wear. Published across most of our registry and rarely quantified by anyone.
- IPX4. An ingress rating for protection against splashing water from any direction. Published on the EGO LB6504 and EA0800 and on nothing else we hold.
- Not published. Our term for a figure absent from the manufacturer page we cite. It is information, not an oversight on our part.
What we cannot tell you
Several terms in this category have no standard behind them at all. Gas-equivalent horsepower is a marketing comparison rather than a measurement. Peak CFM and peak MPH are each measured to the manufacturer's own method. Decibel figures are not lab-comparable between brands. We flag those wherever they appear rather than treating them as data.
Everything else here is a real unit with real arithmetic behind it, and the reason we keep showing the working is so you can check it. How to read a whole spec sheet, including its silences, is in how to read a spec sheet.
The products discussed
Specs are the manufacturer's own and linked to the page they came from. Prices come from a live daily check; where we have no verified price we say so rather than print a stale one.
Toro 60V Max 21" Recycler Self-Propel (21356)
Toro · Toro 60V Max Flex-Force · Our score 8.3/10
#ad No verified live price right now, so we show none rather than a stale one. How we're funded.
The only manufacturer here that publishes the actual watt-hour figure for its pack -- and the number tells you something the others hide.
Published specs
| Model | 21356 |
|---|---|
| Deck | 21 in, 14-gauge steel |
| Battery | 60V Max L324, 6.0Ah, 324Wh |
| Charge time | 150 min |
| Runtime claim | Up to 45 min on the 6.0Ah |
| Drive | Personal Pace variable-speed RWD |
| Weight | 66 lb |
| Storage | SmartStow vertical |
Source: 60V Max 21 in. Recycler Self-Propel Lawn Mower (21356T), toro.com
Toro labels the pack 60V Max 6.0Ah and publishes 324Wh. 324 / 6.0 = 54V -- the nominal voltage, not the 60V max-charge figure on the sticker. Every brand's 'max volts' is roughly 11% above nominal, so a nameplate watt-hour number is always about 11% optimistic. This is the single most useful spec on this page.
What the numbers favor
- Publishes a real watt-hour figure (324Wh) instead of leaving you to multiply the marketing voltage
- 45 minutes from 324Wh, against Greenworks' 33 minutes from a nameplate 320Wh
- 14-gauge steel deck, the only steel deck spec published on this page
- SmartStow vertical storage -- a genuine constraint solver in a one-car garage
What they don't
- 150-minute recharge is the slowest here by a wide margin
- Toro's 60V line is narrower than EGO's or Ryobi's, so the platform grows less far
you are buying into a platform rather than a mower. Toro builds excellent mowers; the 60V Flex-Force tool range is not the one to bet a decade of yard tools on.
How it scores
Scores are our editorial weighting of the published specs above, not a test result. They are deliberately kept out of this page's structured data.
EGO Power+ 765 CFM Blower LB7650
EGO · EGO 56V ARC Lithium · Our score 8.9/10
#ad No verified live price right now, so we show none rather than a stale one. How we're funded.
765 CFM and 200 MPH, with the turbo/low split published honestly: 15 minutes flat out, 150 minutes on low.
Published specs
| Max air volume | 765 CFM |
|---|---|
| Variable range | 260-580 CFM |
| Max air speed | Up to 200 MPH |
| Runtime (turbo) | 15 min on 5.0Ah |
| Runtime (low) | 150 min on 5.0Ah |
| Weight | 4.6 lb without battery |
| Noise | 64 dB |
Source: POWER+ 765 CFM Blower (LB7650), egopowerplus.com
280Wh (56V x 5.0Ah) over the published 15-minute turbo runtime = about 18.7Wh per minute. On low, 280Wh over 150 minutes is about 1.9Wh/min -- turbo costs roughly 10x the energy per minute.
What the numbers favor
- Highest published CFM and MPH of any handheld here
- Publishes BOTH turbo and low runtimes, so the trade-off is visible instead of averaged away
- 4.6 lb bare -- the lightest published weight of the handhelds on this page
What they don't
- 15 minutes of turbo on a 5.0Ah pack is the real constraint, whatever the 90-minute average says
- Sold bare in most configurations; budget for a battery and charger
you are clearing a small lawn. You will run it at 260 CFM forever and never touch what you paid for.
How it scores
Scores are our editorial weighting of the published specs above, not a test result. They are deliberately kept out of this page's structured data.
EGO Power+ 18" Chain Saw CS1804
EGO · EGO 56V ARC Lithium · Our score 8.8/10
#ad No verified live price right now, so we show none rather than a stale one. How we're funded.
300 published cuts through a 4x4 on one 280Wh pack, on an 18 in bar -- a work figure rather than a runtime figure.
Published specs
| Bar length | 18 in |
|---|---|
| Chain | 3/8 in pitch, 0.050 in gauge, 62 drive links |
| Motor speed | 11,000 RPM |
| Cuts per charge | Up to 300 cuts on a 4x4 (5.0Ah) |
| Battery (kit) | 56V 5.0Ah |
| Weight | 14.5 lb with battery |
Source: 18" Cordless Chain Saw (CS1804), egopowerplus.com
280Wh (56V x 5.0Ah) over 300 published cuts = about 0.93Wh per cut. A useful way to size a pack: 100 cuts of firewood needs roughly 93Wh, so a 2.5Ah pack covers it with margin.
What the numbers favor
- Publishes work done (300 cuts on a stated material) rather than a vague runtime
- Standard 3/8 in pitch, 0.050 in gauge chain -- replacements are commodity items
- 18 in bar on a consumer cordless saw
- Runs on the same 56V packs as the mower, blower and trimmer
What they don't
- 14.5 lb with the battery fitted is heavy for extended overhead work
- The 300-cut figure is on a 4x4; hardwood rounds will be a fraction of it
your cutting is limbs under 6 in. An 18 in bar is more saw than that needs, and a 10 in pole saw keeps you off the ladder.
How it scores
Scores are our editorial weighting of the published specs above, not a test result. They are deliberately kept out of this page's structured data.
Greenworks 60V 3000 PSI Cordless Pressure Washer
Greenworks · Greenworks 60V · Our score 8.2/10
#ad No verified live price right now, so we show none rather than a stale one. How we're funded.
3000 PSI and 2.0 GPM with no cord, and a published Eco mode that trades pressure for the runtime you actually need.
Published specs
| Max pressure | Up to 3000 PSI |
|---|---|
| Max flow | 2.0 GPM |
| Eco mode | 2200 PSI / 1.0 GPM |
| Runtime | Up to 30 min |
| Power | 60V battery (dual-battery kits available) |
Source: 60V 3000-PSI 2.0 GPM Electric Pressure Washer, greenworkstools.com
What the numbers favor
- Highest published pressure of the two washers here, by nearly 1000 PSI
- No cord -- works anywhere on the property
- Eco mode is published with real numbers (2200 PSI / 1.0 GPM), not just a label
- Shares the Greenworks 60V pack with the rest of that platform
What they don't
- 30 minutes of published runtime against a corded washer's unlimited
- Greenworks publishes several 60V washers at different pressures; check the SKU matches the PSI you are paying for
you wash a driveway twice a year within reach of an outlet. You would be buying 60V packs to solve a problem an extension cord already solves.
How it scores
Scores are our editorial weighting of the published specs above, not a test result. They are deliberately kept out of this page's structured data.
Where to buy the tools on this page
Every link below is an Amazon affiliate link. We show no price we have not verified today, so where there is no live figure the link says "check price" and takes you to the listing to read it there.
Best published watt-hour honesty
Toro 60V Max 21" Recycler Self-Propel (21356)
Toro · Toro 60V Max Flex-Force
Best for large yards
EGO Power+ 765 CFM Blower LB7650
EGO · EGO 56V ARC Lithium
Best overall
EGO Power+ 18" Chain Saw CS1804
EGO · EGO 56V ARC Lithium
Best cordless
Greenworks 60V 3000 PSI Cordless Pressure Washer
Greenworks · Greenworks 60V
#ad As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. How we're funded.
Common questions
What is a watt-hour?
What is the difference between CFM and MPH on a blower?
What are cleaning units?
What is chainsaw chain pitch and gauge?
What is duty cycle?
What does 'max volts' mean?
Sources
Read next
- Guides
The questions that come before the shopping. Answered in the first paragraph, then explained.
- Watt-hours explained: the one number that compares any two battery tools
Volts x amp-hours = watt-hours. Every pack in the registry converted, and why max volts overstates it.
- How to read a yard tool spec sheet (and what its silences mean)
Which figures are comparable, which are marketing, and what a missing spec tells you.
- Leaf blower CFM vs MPH: which is better?
CFM moves volume, MPH dislodges. Which spec predicts clearing power for which job.
- PSI, GPM and cleaning units: how to choose a pressure washer
Cleaning units computed for every washer here, plus gallons per charge on the cordless one.
- Chainsaw chain explained: pitch, gauge and drive links
Pitch, gauge and drive link count -- the three numbers that decide what fits your saw.