Best Self-Propelled Mowers Reviewed & Rated for Quality

Gas or Electric

This is perhaps one of the most important factors to consider when looking for the next mower for your lawn or garden. These are the factors that drive or propel the mower forward and allow you to cut down the tall grass and bag items in your garden. Gas-powered mowers have longer runtime than corded or battery-powered mowers. In addition, they are generally more powerful than electric mowers. If you are looking for powerful mowers with better drive and performance, you are better off working with a gas mower. This unit will continue working for hours without you having to worry about battery runtime. All you have to do is have enough gas in the tank and you are ready to mow all day long or until you are done.

On the downside, gas mowers can be a little bit messy. To begin with, they generally require more maintenance to help them continue performing more effectively. Gas powered mower kits can also be noisy, perhaps because of the need to burn down more gas to power the propeller and cut grass evenly and more effectively. If you are going to invest in a gas mower, be ready for some noise as you work on trimming the grass in your garden. Gas-powered mowers also require yearly maintenance, including changing the oil and cleaning or replacing the air filter. Hearing protection should always be worn when operating a gasoline powered mower.

Weight and Maintenance

Electric mowers are also easier to clean than their gas-powered counterparts. You may find some with an included hose attachment to help you wash and clean underneath the mower. Gas-powered mowers can be heavy to use and may not be suitable for small-bodied individuals, as their hands will get tired fast and the mowing experience may be unpleasant. Having sore hands is not new to gas mower users. Gas mowers can also prove difficult to maneuver. You will have to regularly service your mower kit if you want to keep it operating smoothly.

Corded or Cordless

Electric mowers can either be corded or cordless. If you are operating a corded model, your movement is likely to be limited by how long that cord is. If you want to have unlimited movement and mow even some of the hard to reach areas and hidden places, maybe you should consider investing in a cordless mower. However, you have to remember that cordless mowers run on battery and your lawn time is largely dependent on the efficiency of the batteries. Fortunately, cordless mowers often come with two batteries to be used interchangeably. That means you can charge one while using the other. Moreover, these batteries often take about 30 minutes to charge and can last an hour during use.

In contrast, while corded mowers tend to limit your movement in the garden, they do not run out of power. They will continue running until you have completed cutting down the grass in your yard. While you will never stop because you have run out of gas, corded mowers can somewhat be a nuisance to use when mowing.

If you are on a budget, there are numerous corded electric mowers you can find on the market and are effective and easy to use. They can easily tackle long, damp grass without any problems. Corded mowers are a popular choice among homeowners because of the fact that they are highly affordable and can be acquired for a few hundred dollars. Those with lawn combs as well as insert front wheels are capable of mowing up to your lawn edge. On the other hand, cordless mowers are a bit more expensive than their corded counterparts perhaps because of their ease of use and the great convenience they offer. If you are considering a cordless mower just make sure that you go for one with enough battery life so that you will not be inconvenienced by dead batteries before you finish mowing your medium-sized lawn.

By comparison, corded electric mowers are the most affordable while cordless battery-powered mowers are currently the most costly. Both are great for any family lawn because of their ability to tackle patches of overgrown grass. In addition, both work to collect the most grass clippings from the ground so you do not have to constantly worry about mowing too frequently. Regardless, not many people can afford cordless electric mowers despite the challenges they face while handling corded mowers, which get tangled up from time to time and may require an extension cable to extend its reach.

Choosing Most Important Features

Indeed, lawn mowers come in various shapes and sizes. They have various features and capabilities. It is crucial that you understand each feature as well as how it will add value to your mower and enhance your mowing experience. Whatever you choose, just make sure that the metal blades are capable of cutting grass cleanly and evenly. If you are looking for a grass collector then you should check out a mower with bagging capabilities because not all of them can cut and collect grass at the same time.

Similarly, a big bag reduces the number of trips you have to make to the compost pit to empty the bag and return to mowing. Moreover, most of the mowers with bagging capabilities have included an indicator to show you when the bag is full or needs emptying. However, note that not all of these indicators will work correctly and you have to rely on your own judgment or intuition to know when to empty the bag or grass collector.

ush or Self-Propelled

Another important aspect of a lawn mower is whether it is pushed or self-propelled. Self-propelled mowers are further sub-divided into two categories: two-wheel and all-wheel drive. A two-wheel drive could mean that only the rear wheels power the mower and enable it to move across the garden. On the other hand, all-wheel drive means all of the mower’s wheels are powered to enable movement. Just as with motor vehicles, 4×4 drive mowers are generally more powerful in movement and can help to go up quickly and mow inclined ground more easily. The downside is that these mower kits are generally heavier than push lawn mowers. In addition, they can be very difficult to maneuver. Push mowers are ideal for flat surfaces or grounds because pushing them uphill may not be an easy task. Regardless, self-propelled mowers tend to get tasks accomplished faster and with minimum effort. For that reason, they tend to cost more than push mowers.

Cut Type

When shopping for a lawn mower, it is very important to understand how they work. Different mowers have different features and capabilities to enable them to accomplish the task they were designed to do. However, the general function of a lawnmower is to cut grass and make the lawn look for habitable. Walk-behind mowers also work to accomplish this task. However, they have different ways of dealing with grass clippings once they are cut. One way of dealing with cut grass is by side discharge, which ideally involves distributing the cut grass back onto your trimmed lawn. The other way involves cutting the grass clippings into smaller or finer pieces before distributing them onto the yard to break down further and release important nutrients into the soil – a process referred to as mulching. The last way involves bagging, which, as the name suggests, involves collecting the grass clippings lying on the ground into a bag attached to the mower for later disposal with yard waste.

Once you understand the cut type of a mower, it becomes relatively easier to make buy decisions depending on your lawn care needs and budget. If you want to cut and clean up at the same time, you can find a mower with 3-in-1 capabilities to enable you to perform all the three tasks. Such a mower will provide you with options regarding what to do with the clippings you obtain from your mowing session.

Lastly, some people consider mower cutting height as well when looking to buy their next mower kit. Cutting height simply refers to the distance from the ground that the kit will be able to cut the grass. In this regard, a mower with a wide but adjustable cutting range is particularly important where you have different lawns of different grass qualities and would like to cut the grass at different heights depending on the time of year or any other factor. Choose one depending on your cutting needs, but a mower with a height adjuster is a great asset because you can easily change the effective cutting height to match your mowing needs.