Know What You Need Before Choosing A Lawn Mower

So your old lawn mower just doesn’t cut it anymore (pun intended) and you’ve decided it’s time for a new one. But how do you go about choosing a lawn mower? Start by knowing exactly what you need.

While there are many factors involved in the decision, start by looking at the big three. Look at the size of your yard, what features you want or need, and the quality of engine you require.

Do you need a riding lawn mower, or is a walk behind mower good enough. Use this rule as a starting point. If your yard is over three-quarters of an acre, then look at riding mowers. If not, a walk behind mower is likely all you need. The walk behind mower is by far the most popular. And if your yard is small, smooth, and doesn’t have a lot of hills, there’s no need to spend extra money on a lot of fancy features. However is your yard is over 1/2 an acre, then one thing you should definitely look at is a self propelled model. These mowers will move forward without any help from you. All you need to do is guide it in the right direction. This make mowing the yard a breeze.

Next you should consider the size of the mower deck and the power of the engine. A wide mower deck means you’ll cut more grass with every pass, and that means fewer trips across and back. If you add on an engine with a little extra torque, then the job is fast and simple. Here’s the key. Match the mower with the yard. If you don’t need a wider deck and more power, don’t pay for it. It would simply be wasting money.

You also need to look at the size of the rear wheels. In most cases, standard wheels are fine. But if you have a rough yard with lots of hills, large rear wheels will make the job easier.

Now if your yard is over 0.75 acres, then a riding mower might be a better choice for you. Again, use the same rules to determine what size deck and how powerful an engine you need. If you’re mowing several acres, get a larger engine and a wider deck. But again, don’t waste your cash by over doing it.

One of the more popular features on riding lawn mowers is the zero turn radius. If your yard has lots of landscape features like trees and bushes, then this is a great option to have. Essentially these mowers let you cut in a complete tight circle, without leaving any uncut space in the middle. You can see how this would make going around trees much easier. But if you don’t have a lot of landscaping in your yard, then this feature becomes unnecessary. Save your money.

The last big decision to make is if you want a mulching lawn mower. These mowers will use specially designed blades to continually chop up the grass into very small fragments. These are returned to the soil where they will provide a natural fertilizer when they decompose. If you don’t want to mulch, you’ll need to bag the grass. This means catching the clippings and throwing them out.

Those are the basics. Other options include both corded and uncorded electric mowers, solar mowers, and even robotic mowers. But if you answer the basic questions first, then choosing a lawn mower will become much easier when you visit the dealer or look online.

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