Dr. Paul Bartley (Auburn University) compares gas and battery landscape equipment in side-by-side field tests — string trimmers, backpack blowers, noise at operator and bystander distance, and autonomous mower efficiency with safety data. Battery blowers measured 60 dBA at 50 feet, four times quieter than gas. A dual-mower strategy (manual + autonomous) boosted efficiency 55% and cut labor costs 40%.
Speaker: Dr. Paul Bartley, Auburn University
Series: GTBOP Green & Commercial | March 12, 2026 | 55:54
CEU Credit: Cat 10 (Private Applicator), Cat 21 (Plant Agriculture), Cat 24 (Ornamental and Turf), Cat 27 (Right-of-Way), Cat 32 (Regulatory Pest Control)
0:00 Introduction — Dr. Shimat Joseph introduces Dr. Paul Bartley
1:18 Bartley begins: sustainability through the LESS framework
2:29 “Do more with LESS” — energy, labor, cost, emissions, noise
3:50 Urbanization and the importance of green spaces
6:07 Green industry economic impact in the Southeast
7:03 COVID-19 and shifting public perception of landscape equipment
9:07 Legislative landscape — California AB 1346, noise-based bans
10:01 Georgia’s preemption bill and HOA-level restrictions
11:00 Equipment transitions as market opportunities
11:25 Auburn Outdoor Power Equipment Consortium (OPEC)
12:45 Industry survey — 200 business owners rate purchasing priorities
14:04 Principal component analysis of purchasing factors
15:16 Company size does not predict equipment concerns
15:47 Battery adopters: noise pollution was the top factor
16:24 Gas users: work capacity is the main barrier to switching
17:25 Would gas users switch if concerns were addressed? (85% yes)
17:47 Runtime vs. work capacity — string trimmer testing
19:02 Field test: chain-link fence trimming distance per charge vs. tank
20:03 String guard removal reduces battery runtime by 30%
21:08 Fuel breakeven analysis — 31 to 385 hours across brands
22:10 Backpack blower testing — runtime and force plate analysis
25:00 Work output comparison: gas (497 tasks) vs. battery (175–300)
26:30 Recharge cycles and battery degradation over time
28:20 Decibel dynamics — noise is not just loudness
29:07 The dBA scale: ambient measurements from home to stadium
31:00 Noise comparison: gas vs. battery blowers at operator and 50 feet
32:20 Mower noise — battery mowers slightly above 85 dBA
32:40 Auburn campus case study — Zone 1 “face of campus”
34:01 Capital cost analysis across three battery performance tiers
35:07 ROI timeline: breakeven at about eight years
36:08 Against bans, for incentives, prefer no legislation
36:54 Autonomous mowers — Greenzie and Doosan Bobcat
38:00 Autonomous mower operation and app-based work planning
39:00 Test protocol: two plot designs, four mower configurations
40:40 Energy consumption: watt-hours vs. milliliters of fuel
41:08 How many batteries do you need? (fuel tracking method)
42:00 Autonomous mowers less efficient: slower turns, more overlap
43:00 Lifetime cost and per-acre ROI for autonomous mowers
44:03 Dual-mower strategy: 55% more efficient, 40% lower labor costs
44:30 Safety testing — obstacle detection with baby mannequins
45:25 Camera-based (93%) vs. radar-based detection rates
46:20 Speed-detection trade-off and low-profile obstacles
47:05 Data to decisions — know your equipment usage
47:36 Capital cost is the most critical factor
47:51 Counterfeit Makita battery fire warning
48:15 Charging infrastructure and battery capacity considerations
49:00 Acknowledgments — OPEC, graduate students, USDA AMS
49:20 Q&A begins — pollinator impact of quiet autonomous mowers
51:45 Q&A — hedge trimmers (“10 out of 10”)
52:40 Q&A — chainsaws, string trimmers, battery blower recommendations
53:45 Q&A — robotic mowers in arboretums and neighborhoods
55:10 Closing remarks and CEU logistics
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Q: How do battery tools compare to gas in actual field work?
A: Gas string trimmers covered 6,000–7,000 feet of chain-link fence per tank; some battery trimmers managed a quarter of that. The most popular gas backpack blower completed about 497 simulated tasks; the best battery blower completed roughly 300, the lowest about 175. Runtime in the lab looks similar — the gap opens under load.
Q: How much quieter are battery blowers?
A: A battery Husqvarna backpack blower measured 82 dBA at the operator and 60 dBA at 50 feet. A gas Echo blower hit 102 dBA at the operator and about 80 dBA at 50 feet. The dBA scale is logarithmic — that 20 dB difference means gas is four times louder at bystander distance.
Q: Which battery tool does Bartley recommend trying first?
A: Hedge trimmers — “a 10 out of 10.” Battery hedge trimmers far exceed their gas equivalents in efficiency, and Bartley has not met a landscaper disappointed after switching.
Q: What should operators watch out for when buying batteries?
A: Counterfeit batteries. A colleague’s Makita batteries — bought from what seemed a reliable source — turned out to be fakes that caught fire. Bartley also flagged charging logistics: one performance tier in the Auburn case study required over 60 batteries for a single campus zone.
Produced for UGA Center for Urban Agriculture / GTBOP Archives
Learn more: https://ugaurbanag.com/gtbop/
Adapted from Stage 2 Archive Package — GTBOP_Archive_Summary_2026-03-12_LandscapeEquipment.md