How Much Does It Cost To Have A Lawn Mower Service Mold Acre And A Half
The research
- Why you should trust united states
- Who this is for
- How nosotros picked and tested
- All-time overall backyard mower
- Flaws but not dealbreakers
- Runner-up
- Best gas lawn mower
- Best budget lawn mower
- Cordless riding zero turn mowers
- The competition
- Sources
Why you should trust us
Over the past ix mowing seasons, we've spent more 120 hours researching about 250 mowers, interviewing experts, and extensively testing some of our acme picks.
An invaluable source has been Roy Berendsohn, a Popular Mechanics lawn mower guru who has more 20 years of feel testing and writing nigh mowers. If Berendsohn isn't writing virtually mowers, he'due south often being interviewed about them (see here and here).
Personally, I maintain a rural property in New Hampshire that is far too large for a push mower to cover but that does provide aplenty room to test our recommendations. This guide's editor, Harry Sawyers, assists with testing mowers on his LA property and draws from his previous experience as a professional landscaper.
Who this is for
If you want to be able to stand the sight of your yard this summer, you're going to need a lawn mower. Anything larger than a half-acre gets into riding-mower territory, but a self-propelled button mower is perfect for a one-half-acre or less. Going at a pace of about iii mph (roughly average walking speed), information technology volition take about an hour to cut this amount of grass. (If you have a peculiarly small lawn, a reel mower is an option—but information technology's quite hard work.)
If y'all already own a gas mower that's less than a decade sometime, you will probably not discover a tremendous difference by upgrading to a newer gas mower. Upgrading to a cordless model is a more than noticeable modify you could immediately appreciate.
How we picked and tested
Equally a consequence of our years of lawn mower evaluation, we're sure that most people will exist happiest with a self-propelled, electric cordless option. Honestly, it all comes down to convenience. Every single chemical element of a gas mower that is considered a nuisance—from the fiddly start-up to the annual maintenance schedule—is gone. Cordless mowers get-go with the push of a push, are easier to maneuver, and don't need oil changes, gas, spark plugs, or air filters. They're much quieter, they don't olfactory property, they don't produce emissions, and they're easier to store in the off-season. The run time has limitations, and charge times tin be tiresome, but the latest models close the performance gaps between cordless and gas.
All that said, there are many capable—and several splendid—gas mowers bachelor. Whatever blazon of mower you need, hither are the criteria we experience affair nearly in making a selection:
Rear-Cycle Self-propulsion: Self-propelled mowers brand life easier. With the mower moving itself across the lawn, all you accept to do is throttle and steer, rather than forcing the mower'south total weight up every incline and over every bump. Self-propelled cordless mowers are all rear-bicycle bulldoze (RWD), which is preferred over forepart-wheel drive (FWD), because the mower'southward traction improves as the grass bag fills and adds weight over the rear wheels. A cocky-propulsion feature adds to a mower'south price, but it's a feature we feel is well worth it, and this requirement doesn't narrow the field by a whole lot. It does, yet, weed out the most bare-bones machines.
Performance as a mower: We researched which mowers could perform the all-time from a lawn-care perspective—which could make cleaner cuts in grass or promote turf wellness. We've measured this performance firsthand over years of long-term testing and in tests of new contenders against our established recommendations.
User interface and features: In years of tests, we've found virtually midrange mowers perform at a comparable level; almost tin can cut the grass just fine. That led the states to place an emphasis on user interface features—how difficult is information technology to adjust the push button-bar height, or to raise and lower the mowing deck? Can you intuitively control and adjust the self-propulsion? Is the bag a pain to put on and have off? Are there other blueprint details that brand startup smoother, reduce engine maintenance, or make storage easier?
Cost: We looked at toll in terms of long-term value. Gas mowers are cheaper up-front, generally, but they behave long-term costs that cordless mowers avert. Those include supplies (similar gas, oil, stabilizers, air filters, and spark plugs) and the fourth dimension and labor of caring for one: getting gas, changing the oil, and elimination the tank at the end of the season. With cordless mowers, a large percentage of the price tag is the battery. Most companies offer a serial of outdoor tools (foliage blowers, string trimmers, hedge trimmers, etc.), all compatible with the same battery. And they toll less if you buy them without a battery. So for a high cost upward-front, a cordless investment may open the door for an affordable expansion into that manufacturer's other tools.
Accuse time and run time: For cordless candidates, we looked at these 2 main factors, which determine whether a battery will be acceptable or frustrating. Considering these 2 elements are so important, nosotros looked merely at mowers that used at least a twoscore-volt bombardment.
Owner reviews and reputation: The best mowers out in that location have proved satisfying for the about number of people for the longest amount of time. That led u.s.a. to closely consider the differences amongst a smaller grouping of about 50 established, well-regarded models from major brands, oft covered by comparable warranties of about three to five years.
Best overall lawn mower
Our choice
For the all-time in convenience, battery run time, cut quality, and value, we recommend the Ego Power+ Select Cut Mower LM2135SP. Compared with a gas mower, it's quieter, doesn't create frazzle, and requires almost no maintenance. Among other cordless models, the Ego LM2135SP has among the longest run time and shortest charge fourth dimension. This Ego has a redesigned command interface that allows you to control the propulsion with either hand. It also cuts with ii blades, making for a finer cut and ameliorate mulching. Rounding out the features are two forward-facing LED lights, an easy-to-employ cutting-height aligning, and a battery port that faces the bombardment judge toward the operator. The battery, which is expert for a solid hour of mowing, is uniform with Ego'due south other backyard tools, such as the company's leafage blower, chainsaw, and string trimmer.
Almost people report getting roughly 60 minutes of run fourth dimension from a full charge of the Ego's 56-volt, 7.5 Ah battery, which is included with the purchase. We confirmed the run-time figures in tests of this pick and our runner-upward in March 2019 and in 2020. In several 60 minutes-long sessions of strenuous cutting on tough grass in Los Angeles, running this mower across hills (some of which were steeper than its recommended 15-degree max), the battery never died before we expected it to. If anything, it exceeded the hour-long window by well-nigh x to 15 minutes. An added bonus: Once the battery was too low to power the mower blades, it still had enough juice to operate the cocky-propulsion part, letting us drive the mower back to the charger. Compared to older Ego batteries, this 1 has a ring of lights that requite you an approximate estimate of the remaining charge (the previous generation communicated with a red light just when the bombardment got critically depression). The battery regularly recharges in hour or less. (Recharge time is some other advantage for Ego, as competitors' charge times range from an hour and a half up to almost five and a half hours.)
In the mowing tests, the ii-bladed Ego showed a superior cut-quality compared with our runner-up, and this is the main reason nosotros'd cull this model over the older version. We've put the mowers on some rough tufts of knotty crabgrass, knee-acme rye grass, and thick imperial stalks of weeds, and although the runner-up never bogged down, the LM2135SP did a better job of lifting overgrown grasses as it cutting, mincing up fine mulch and effectively cutting through alpine growth without pushing the grass flat. This 2d blade elevates the Ego into some territory that was formerly sectional to mowers like the highly regarded Honda HRX series, making the case for cordless that much stronger.
Controlling the Ego is easy and intuitive. As with many mowers, the Ego has a metal bar (chosen a bail) that's held against the handle to actuate the blades. To activate the RWD self-propulsion, you press one of two buttons in the upper corners of the handle, and a cardinal dial controls the mower's speed. A couple of subtle changes set this mower apart from other models: The speed-command system can exist operated with your thumbs on either hand—a more versatile setup than the single, oversize, right-handed trigger on the runner-upward. 2nd, although the mower tin motility at a brisk pace if you want it to, the slowest speed setting bachelor is unusually slow. This is quite handy if you're backing in and out under a tree or in some other tricky area, if you're mowing across a colina and taking care not to let the mower slide or roll away, or if y'all merely need to accept it slow to make sure you're not about to mow over an obstacle.
Random aside: Without the stink of gas engine exhaust in your confront, the odor of mowing the grass while using Ego is entirely different and much more pleasant; unfortunately, the allergens are exactly the aforementioned.
The Ego has a number of other convenience features. The headlight, something not found on gas mowers, gives some illumination as the day starts to end. The unmarried-adjust height command, a rarity on gas mowers, allows y'all to set the cutting peak with a single lever. On most gas mowers, cutting elevation has to be adjusted at each private cycle. The Ego has seven cut heights, between one½ to 4 inches—a wider range than on most cordless mowers, which top out at around 3½ to iii¾ inches.
The Ego outshines nearly gas mowers on storage, since it tin can be folded up and propped upwards on an stop and rolled like a dolly. Once folded up, the whole matter is the size of a large suitcase, with multiple rails to grab. Although information technology's a lilliputian over 50 pounds, it'due south quite a chip lighter than, say, the Honda (at 89 pounds). We had no problem lifting information technology over big thresholds, hauling it upwards a couple of garage steps, or plumbing fixtures information technology through a door. It feels lite and piece of cake to maneuver, especially for anyone accustomed to a gas mower's bulk.
Typically costing about $700, the Ego is expensive upwards-front, but information technology really includes many features that come as premium options on gas mowers—electrical start, the ability to cease the blades but non the engine, and self-propulsion—which can normally add on $100 apiece. Those features are all baked into the DNA of a cordless mower, which starts and stops with the push of a button. Add in all the avoided long-term costs of gas and maintenance and the Ego'southward two-blade system, and the value suggestion starts to look a lot more than even.
A concluding benefit of the Ego is that once the mower and battery are purchased, y'all can buy other tools in the company's 56-volt lineup at a reduced price every bit bare tools, pregnant they're sold without the battery or charger. Ego's blower, chainsaw and string trimmer take all been first-class performers in our testing. The tools have a express v-year warranty; the batteries have a separate, shorter warranty.
Flaws just non dealbreakers
Although the two-handed cocky-propulsion control is a more than convenient setup than the one-handed paddle design seen on competitors, it does make accidentally engaging the self-propulsion a fiddling too like shooting fish in a barrel. Usually this isn't an effect, merely often the moments when you're grasping to become a better grip on the handle are the times you least want to engage the cocky-propulsion. For case, if you are mowing across a hill, there's a brief moment during a turnaround when the mower is pointing upwardly or downward the loma. When adjusting your grip to make those turns, you may inadvertently tap the throttle, destabilizing your stance or your grip on the mower. If anyone from Ego'southward reading this, they'll probably say we're mowing on too steep a loma, but hey, sometimes life throws a steep hill at you.
We call back that the hr or so of run time is going to be enough for anyone keeping to about a half-acre, just if that's non enough, additional batteries are available to extend run time infinitely. Just batteries are plush. Depending on the Ah, they currently range in price from about $140 (2.5 Ah) to about $250 (5.0 Ah), and up to about $450 for a 7.5 Ah battery. They all fit, and with a second one on the charger while one is on the mower, you lot tin can really minimize or eliminate downtime.
Because the Ego is cordless and loaded with electrical components, the visitor does not recommend using a hose to wash out the underside of the mowing dome. Instead, the mower needs to be put on its side and the dome wiped off or scraped clean, using a plastic scraper. Considering there is no gas or oil to leak out, this process is much easier than with a gas mower.
Finally, Wirecutter writer Kit Dillon, who loves his Ego mower, uncovered an event with an older version of our option, where the wires for the self-propulsion role run upwardly the handle to the operating switch. "The wiring is super thin and where the arm bends over itself over time this wire breaks," he explained. "The annoying thing is the wire is and then thin information technology will sometimes break inside the sheath, which makes it difficult to diagnose or fifty-fifty observe what section to repair." Because of the large number of youtube videos devoted to the problem, it's clear that this isn't an isolated incident. We're non certain if this problem happens with this current version of the mower, merely looking through the customer feedback at Lowe's, we found a number of people proverb that their mower won't start, which makes united states recollect the issue persists in newer models.
Runner-up
Runner-upwardly
If the Ego LM2135SP is not bachelor, we also like the Ego Power+ Cocky-Propelled Mower LM2102SP. Our previous selection, this model shares many of the characteristics of the LM2135SP, such as the long run time, brusque accuse fourth dimension, and overall convenience. The LM2102SP has only a single blade, so the cutting quality and mulching ability aren't every bit good (only they're still pretty nice). The command system isn't every bit fine-tuned as on the LM2135SP, either. But aside from our electric current selection, the LM2102SP is still better than any other cordless mower.
All-time gas lawn mower
Also great
If you strongly feel that gas is the style to go, we recommend the Honda HRX217VKA Lawn Mower. The Honda's roughly $700 price tag puts information technology clearly in the upper echelon of gas mowers, but all indications evidence that it is worth the cost, both in operation and long-term durability. This mower stands apart for its superior cut quality, its unique ability to remainder the ratio of mulched and bagged grass, the fashion it can shred leaves enough to supercede raking entirely, and its almost indestructible (and fully warrantied) composite mowing dome.
Most mowers have a single blade, but the Honda, like our Ego pick, has ii. This doubles the corporeality of cutting edges and results in a lawn that, equally Berendsohn puts it, has a "velvet finish." With its two blades, the Honda cuts grass into smaller pieces than other mowers we tested did; this leads to better mulching (since smaller pieces decompose more speedily) and more than efficient bagging (yous can fit more than grass per bag).
What really launches the Honda into new territory is a unique organisation that allows y'all to control the size of the opening betwixt the mowing dome and the bag, and this dictates how much grass goes in the pocketbook and how much gets mulched. Honda calls this the Versamow System, and it works via a ten-position toggle that adjusts the opening between the mowing dome and the bag opening. On other mulching mowers, the dome is either completely open or completely closed off, then 100 pct of the grass gets bagged or mulched. Simply with the Honda, y'all can do things like set one-third of grass to be bagged and two-thirds to exist mulched. This feature actually helps you reply to your yard's conditions and makes mowing easier.
In the fall, the Honda is able to shred leaves, thanks to its Versamow System. This leafage-shredding feature may sound like a minor thing, but information technology's really effective enough that, in some cases, it'south able to supervene upon a leafage blower, which can cost hundreds of dollars. According to Honda (and this is something nosotros confirmed in our tests), if you set the mower at a certain level between bag and full-mulch, it forces the leaves to stay longer in the mowing dome, which completely shreds them and sends them back onto the lawn or disposes of them in the purse.
Honda's self-propulsion control, Select Drive, allows yous to set a speed that matches your stride and then use an adjustable handle to irksome the mower when needed, similar when yous're budgeted a tree. Honda's system is proprietary, but other mowers have similar speed-adjustment functions.
The composite deck is a nice detail that helps ensure a long-lasting mower. Nearly gas mowers accept steel or aluminum decks that dent on impact, but in the same situation, the Honda will only flex. The deck also has a lifetime warranty, and if you're not convinced that information technology'south a durable particular, Honda has a video of it being run over by a car.
Hondas have a reputation for longevity, but if there are whatsoever issues, the company offers a five-year warranty (PDF) for this mower (and the others in this model's family unit, the HRX line).
At both Lowe'south and MowersDirect, the Honda HRX line, specifically the HRX217VKA, has received excellent feedback. Virtually comments praise the tool for its reliable start (normally on the kickoff pull). Others express that such a great motorcar is worth the cost.
We think the Honda HRX217VKA gives y'all the all-time features Honda has to offer, but at this level you exercise not get a blade end system (which stops the blade without stopping the engine), an electric offset, or a washout port to attach a hose directly to the mowing dome for a cleaning. These are squeamish features only not essential ones. If you desire them, Honda offers the HRX217VYA with a blade end and the HRX217VLA with an electric starting time. The HRX217HZA has both features, but a dissimilar drive control system. There are no Honda mowers with a washout port, so you'll have to tip it back and hose it off (shut the engine off offset, please). To Honda's credit, the composite deck resists grass clumping (and won't rust).
Another downside is that to suit the Honda's cut height, you demand to accommodate each wheel individually. This is typical in gas mowers, but it's not an issue on the Ego. And, like whatsoever gas mower, the Honda produces noise and emissions, and information technology lacks the Ego's relatively piece of cake maintenance.
Best budget lawn mower
Budget pick
If you simply desire a solid gas mower at a groovy price, we recommend the Toro SmartStow Recycler 20340. This is a pop, reliable model with bang-up feedback, and it stands out from similarly qualified machines considering it tin be folded up and stored in an upright position. Co-ordinate to Toro, this reduces the 20340's storage footprint by upward to 70 percent over that of a traditional mower. And though that'southward not a completely unique feature, it is rare plenty for united states of america to single out the 20340—even if it lacks the convenience of the Egos or the finesse and mulching ability of the Honda.
The Toro 20340's storage feature is chosen the SmartStow arrangement, which is made possible by the Briggs & Stratton engine's unique design. It'south a uncomplicated procedure: You fold the handle over the torso of the mower and lock information technology in place. Then (with the purse removed), yous prepare the mower upright or wheel information technology around like a piece of luggage, much like y'all would a cordless model. It makes storage easy, not to mention cleaning the underside of the mowing deck or inspecting the blade.
As a mower, the Toro performs like many other practiced gas engine machines: It cuts the grass capably; switches between bagging or mulching its clippings; has its problems with maintenance, noise, and emissions; and otherwise meets the expectations that whatever experienced self-propelled-mower user would have for information technology. The 20340 is primarily distinguished past SmartStow; take that abroad and it's only your standard, decent-quality self-propelled mower.
The 20340 comes with Toro's unique command arrangement, Personal Pace. In a nutshell, the variable-speed mower adjusts to how fast yous're walking based on the pressure applied to the control bar (up to 4.8 mph). If yous're walking fast, you press information technology forwards; if you deadening down, the mower does too. The same system works well on the Toro SnowMaster (our current snow blower pick).
The washout port is another of Toro'due south stand up-out features. This allows y'all to connect a garden hose to the mower that sprays h2o on the underside of the mowing dome. Information technology makes cleanup much easier, and you can avoid having to tip the mower dorsum to hose off the bract area.
The Toro comes with a ii-year warranty that fully covers everything "nether normal use and maintenance." Closely follow the service instructions in the manual to ensure this isn't voided. The mower also has a three-twelvemonth "guarantee to get-go" that states "if information technology doesn't starting time in two pulls, nosotros'll set up information technology for free."
The 20340 does not have a bract brake clutch, which allows you lot to end the blade but non the engine; that's a minor flaw.
Cordless riding zero turn mowers
Recently both Ryobi and Ego have released cordless zero turn mowers. These are large ride-on mowers that accept the capability of cutting 2 or more acres. Ryobi has a number of models available and Ego has one, but looking at the largest and most capable, they come with a cost tag between $4000 and $7000.
The Ego ZT4204L 42-inch Z6 Zero Turn Riding Mower uses the aforementioned style of battery that is in all of their lawn equipment. The mower comes with four 10.0 Ah batteries, but the machine has ports for half dozen, then there is some scalability, especially if you have additional Ego batteries from other tools. The mower also acts as a charger and, co-ordinate to Ego, one time plugged in, can make full all of the batteries in only two hours. Just using the four included batteries, the Ego can cut about two acres.
The Ryobi RY48140 Nothing Plow Electric Riding Mower has a unmarried internal battery, which can power the mower to cut up to 3½-acres. Like the larger Ego, it has a 54-inch cutting and amenities like the USB port and cup holders. The downside of this model is that charging is an overnight process, so you would want to make sure it could handle your lawn in a single mow. They have two 42-inch models every bit well.
This is a new category of mower and we're watching to see how it progresses. Let us know if it's something you're interested in us testing and investigating farther.
The contest
Through our extensive enquiry of available cordless mowers, we accept still to find whatsoever models that friction match or exceed the unique prepare of attributes that define the Ego: long run time, brusque charge time, two blades, and an excellent interface. Many mowers have one or two of those features, just none take all of them. The almost prominent competitors are Ryobi and Greenworks and we take dug into their product lines in search of a better mower and have come up with nothing.
The closest Ryobi gets are the RY401150 and the RY401140 which have nigh the same set of features every bit our top pick Ego and the runner upwards, respectively.
But the downside of these models is that they require two twoscore-volt batteries to get the full run time. The mower is powered by one battery at a time, and once information technology is depleted, the mower needs to be manually switched to the second battery. The downside is that the mowers only come with a single port charger, so charging the batteries requires swapping them out after the first ane is filled. This is an added step and ane that we call up is easily forgotten. We much adopt the simplicity of the Ego's unmarried battery. That said, these do wait similar very dainty mowers and if you are already invested in the Ryobi 40-volt system, they would likely be a nice addition.
Greenworks is in a similar gunkhole. Many of their mowers boast long run times and curt charge times, but none of them take the two blades. Information technology is also difficult to effigy out exactly what models Greenworks is selling. Their models tin be found at Habitation Depot and Amazon, just those models are often nowhere to be seen at the Greenworks site where they also sell direct. Simply similar the Ryobi, if yous've already bought into the Greenworks system and have other tools and batteries, and so they're a solid selection.
Ego also offers the LM2133, which is the aforementioned equally our choice, simply without the self-propelled feature. The LM2133 typically costs about $50 less, but in the long term, we don't think it'south plenty to justify losing the convenience of having a self-propelled mower. Merely if yous have a very flat lawn and don't mind a little more than of a workout, this mower provides all of the other upsides of our pick.
Ego's other self-propelled model, the LM2142SP, has a longer run time than our pick (on a low-cal load, the two-battery LM2142SP can run for up to 80 minutes). But information technology costs more than than our option, which is already on the expensive side.
Ryobi has a number of other cordless models, including the RY401110-Y, and the RY401120-Y, simply they all have less than 50 minutes of run time and are hindered by an excessive charge time, upwardly to four hours with some models (compared with the Ego'south threescore minutes of run fourth dimension and only 1 hr of charge fourth dimension). Ryobi'south mowers are priced a little lower than comparable Ego models, simply the price difference is not enough to get-go the negatives.
Toro's 20366 60-Volt Recycler has the visitor's innovative and successful Personal Pace drive organization, but it also has a long, three-hour charge fourth dimension and a fifty-minute run time, neither of which matches the operation of the Ego mowers.
Like things can be said about models from Worx, Kobalt. None of them offer the same combination of the Ego'southward high run time, low charge time, and convenience features, like the headlight.
Other gas mowers in the Honda HRX line, similar the HRX217VYA and the HRX217VLA, have pricey features such as electric start and the bract brake clutch, which are nice just non essential. Honda also has the new HRN line (which replaces its HRR line). These don't have the Versamow System or a composite deck like other Honda models. Likewise, the warranty is simply 3 years long, not five. HRNs likewise have a less powerful engine (167 cc). The HRN mower about comparable to our pick is the HRN216VKA, which costs around $150 less than the Ego LM2135SP. This is a sizable deviation in price, just we retrieve the combined benefits of the HRX features warrant the upgrade, especially considering that a mower should last a decade or more.
Toro also has the 20355, which is nearly identical to the 20340 except that it has a feature called PoweReverse. This means that the Personal Pace drive system works for backing the mower upward every bit well as for moving information technology forward. The feature adds roughly $50 to the overall toll. Nosotros believe for nearly people the regular version of the mower is just fine. But if you practice a lot of dorsum-and-along maneuvering, the 20355 is something to consider.
None of the other gas mowers we considered take the stellar reputation and features of the Honda, Toro, or Ego. Models by Husqvarna, Ariens, Lawn-Boy, Cub Cadet, and Troy-Bilt were among the fifty we considered (and mostly dismissed) in our almost contempo research.
Corded electric mowers have so many limitations that virtually people would find them frustrating. Mowing around copse, hedges, or any other obstruction is an practice in extension-cord direction. Anyone looking to avoid a gas engine would be much happier with the Ego.
Sources
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Roy Berendsohn, lawnmower guru at Pop Mechanics, interview
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Chad Crosby, W Michigan Lawn Services, interview
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Paul Koehler, Koehler Landscape Construction Services, Inc., interview
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Nick Ortiz, Kellam Backyard Mower, interview
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David [last proper name withheld], Boston Lawnmower Company, interview
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John Neff, former editor-in-chief of Autoblog, interview
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Roy Berendsohn, Best Lawnmowers of the Twelvemonth: Comparison Test, Popular Mechanics
How Much Does It Cost To Have A Lawn Mower Service Mold Acre And A Half,
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-lawnmower/
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