If it’s been years since you purchased your last lawn mower, you might be surprised by the variety of mowers you can get and the features they now come with.
Selecting a lawn mower comes down to several factors, including how much lawn you have, the roughness of your terrain and how much work you want the mower to do.
Push and self-propel
Lawn mowers come in two basic styles: ones that you push and ones that are self-propelled. “Self-propelled, for the extra money, it’s so much easier,” says Bob Mackey, a buyer for Sears Holding Corp. “You also can control the speed of the walk. What we’re trying to do is make life easier for the customer.” Self-propelled mowers can be front- or rear-wheel drive.
Front-wheel drives are suitable if you don’t want to use a bag to collect cut grass and you have a fairly flat yard, says Rob Little, marketing manager for Toro Walk Power Mowers in Bloomington, Minn.
“Rear-wheel-drive mowers have better traction for hilly yards and better bagging” qualities, he says.
Push mowers can start in the $150 range, while self-propelled models can start at $200, according to Consumer Reports.
Gas vs. electric
If you have a small, flat yard, you might consider a corded or cordless electric lawn mower. “The cord is going to limit the amount of space you’re going to use it on,” Sawchuk says.
As for cordless ones, “The battery is roughly 40 to 45 minutes of cutting time,” he says. Just be aware that recharge times can vary between eight and 24 hours.
“You’re looking at overnight” charging, he says.
Electric mowers also tend to be less expensive, Little says.
But if you let your grass go … you don’t get quite the power to cut the grass.” Hence, many people turn to gas mowers. “Most lawn mowers are gas,” Little says.
“It’s the most common and versatile,” explains Lou Manfredini, Ace Hardware’s “Helpful Hardware Man.” “You can do a large yard. It doesn’t hold a ton of fuel, and it can at least go for over an hour.” Push gas mowers start at $219.99 online at Sears. Black & Decker’s electric mower costs $159.99 online at Ace Hardware.
While most lawn mowers are gas or electric, there are some that aren’t.
Reel-type mowers, which you may remember your grandparents using, have four or five blades that turn like a rolling pin over grass while you push it.
Although some do come with gas-powered engines, many rely on you and your back to do the pushing.
Tractors
When should you start eyeing tractors that you can ride on? When “you have a bigger yard, can’t walk behind a mower or don’t have as much time,” Manfredini says. Oh, also when you have extra cash, because they can get expensive.
A tractor “is a whole different ball game,” he says.
Lawn tractors can have rear-wheel drive with the rider sitting on top of the cutting deck, or rear-engine tractors, where “the rear wheels provide the power and the steering. It allows you to do more of the trimming and going around trees,” Little says.
Another option is zero-turn-radius mowers, “where the deck is in front of the mower, the rider is riding above but behind the cutting deck,” he says.
“Regular ones go about 5 mph. The most common cutting speeds are 3 to 4 mph.” Despite the steep price of these zero-turn-radius mowers, which start at $3,000, some homeowners are drawn to them, Sawchuk says. It’s the “fun factor.”
It’s like a sports car. It’s been around for about 20 years (on the commercial end), but in the last five years, the consumer end has increased.” Lawn tractors range between $1,000 and $3,500, he says.
