Which Lawn Mower Style Is Best for You
What Are the Different Types of Lawn Mowers—and Which Is Best for Me?
You may be surprised by how many different types of lawn mowers there are to choose from—enough in fact, to make your head spin. You’ve got your push mower, push mower with bagger, push reel mower, rotary lawn mower, riding mower, lawn tractor, riding mower with bagger, electric riding lawn mower, electric lawn mower with cord, cordless lawn mower, self-propelled lawn mower, zero turn lawn mower, electric zero turn mower, mulching mower, side discharge lawn mower, robotic lawn mowers—STOP! Anyway, you get the idea. Some are traditional, and some you may not be as familiar with, so to acquaint you with the different options to help you can make your best decision on a new lawn mower for your yard, the tire experts at Treadworld have put together a brief examination of types of mowers.
Manual Push Mowers
Depending on how old you are, you may or may not be familiar with a push lawn mower—one without gas, without electricity, without battery—a manual mower. It doesn’t produce emissions, it’s relatively quiet and you don’t need to provide routine maintenance such as changing the spark plugs or filling it with gas. You can get a reel lawn mower or a rotary lawn mower—the main difference is the cutting design. Reel mower blades spin with a horizontal shaft and create an updraft encouraging grass to stand up where it can get cut. Rotary mowers cut by high speed impact that’s not unlike how a machete cuts weed. This style of manual mower provides a less precise cut than a reel mower, but on average yards marked by slopes and bumps the difference will be virtually unnoticeable. These mowers are lightweight, fun and easy to use, but they’re not practical if you have a larger lawn, and they may also require you to mow more frequently since they’re not effective with longer grass.
Manual Gas-Powered Mowers
Gas-powered mowers offer more powerful engines for cutting thicker grass over more difficult terrains and on steeper hills, without cords or batteries, but they’re noisier, and they’re heavier and so more difficult to push—which could be a good thing if you look at mowing the lawn as an opportunity to get a workout. And of course, gas mowers require routine maintenance, and you’ll have to refill the gas tank—and also store the extra gas until next time—which for some could be construed as negatives.
Electric Walk-Behind Mowers
An electric mower is a great choice for smaller lawns, when light weight, less noise and no emissions is preferred. They come in corded or cordless (battery-powered) varieties. You don’t have to worry about a dead battery or recharging with a corded model, but with a battery-powered mower, you don’t need to concern yourself with the location of outdoor electrical outlets, and you don’t have to worry about running over the cord. Or reaching the end of the cord. Charging times vary according to battery and charger, ranging from 30 minutes for quick-charge batteries to several hours. Since they don’t make any noise, these mowers allow you to get started mowing your yard at the crack of dawn without bothering your neighbors. While early models of electric mowers were much less powerful than gas-powered mowers, technology advances have recently closed the gap.
Self-Propelled Mowers
With the best self-propelled lawn mower designs, your role in the lawn-mowing chore goes from providing the power to just being a guide. Generally simple to operate, these mowers make mowing your lawn quicker and easier, plus they typically run at a more consistent speed, and provide more consistent results than push lawn mowers which often undergo lots of stops and starts. They’re especially helpful with larger yards, and yards riddled with obstacles and unforgiving terrain. Both electric and gas-powered mowers can have a self-propelled design. On the flip side of the coin, a self-propelled lawn mower often requires more maintenance, and is more expensive.
Riding Lawn Mowers
You might want to treat yourself to a riding mower if you have an especially large lawn, basically anything over one-half acre. They are more efficient and can provide a more enjoyable mowing experience. Though there are electric riding mowers, most riders are gas-powered. The best riding lawn mower for you is one of three types: lawn mower tractors, with a front mounted engine, rear engine lawn mowers, and zero-turn lawn mowers. Rear engine lawn mowers typically offer less power and a smaller cutting path than front-engine lawn tractors, but they’re more maneuverable for following the contours of your yard and avoiding obstacles, making them best-suited for yards of one acre or less. Lawn tractors offer a larger cutting path and so are better suited for larger areas spanning an acre or more. They also require a wider turning radius, and typically carry a higher price tag.
Mulching Mowers
When you talk to lawn care experts, you’ll find many proponents of leaving grass cuttings in place rather than picking them up, to serve as organic fertilizer, to help your lawn retain moisture and to serve as a natural weed killer by providing a natural barrier. And to save space in the landfill. One way to do that is to buy a lawn mower with mulching blades that turn your cut grass into finely shredded grass clippings. Another way to accomplish essentially the same result is to use a side discharge mower and plan your lawn mowing pattern so that you’re going over the area where the grass clippings land, cutting them into smaller pieces.
Robot Mowers
These battery-powered mowers mow your lawn automatically, functioning in much the same way robot vacuum cleaners keep carpets clean. They are wonderful for the ideal situation, like a large lawn that is primarily flat, but they don’t necessarily offer the versatility to be efficient when used on other than fairly flat areas, and they aren’t good for yards with steep slopes. They mow in random patterns, so they don’t do stripes. You don’t need a battery because they return to the charging station as needed. They tend to get stuck in holes or on obstacles. But, on the plus side, they’re designed to trim the blades of grass in your lawn a little each time, which leads to better growth, and they’re quieter than gas-powered mowers, and typically take up less storage space than a standard mower.
Whichever Lawn Mower Style You Choose, We’ve Got the Replacement Lawn Mower Tires You Need!
You can count on us here at Treadworld to provide you with the dependable, high performance RubberMaster Lawn Care Tires you want. Mower tires, lawn tractor tires, riding mower tires, lawn and garden tires—you’ll find them all right here. We also provide many other lawn care tire styles to fit your needs, including lug tires, turf tires, smooth tires and rib tires. All of our tires offer the finest in top quality, long-lasting, never-let-you-down reliability, manufactured with strict tolerances from top rubber compounds, triple-tested for quality before being X-rayed to be sure they’re perfect, then covered by our Ultimate Advantage Lifetime Warranty. Don’t hesitate to contact our tire experts via live chat or email with any questions or for help finding the perfect lawn and garden tires—or the perfect ATV tires, UTV tires, trailer tires, and many others—from our large selection.
