The lawn mower is an indispensable helper in any garden. But choosing the right one may not be easy. There are several types of lawn mowers that differ in drive, size and function. We will advise you on how to choose the mower that is ideal for your needs and what to look out for so that mowing is efficient and comfortable at the same time.
Petrol mowers are powerful and can easily mow a large garden with dense vegetation. Thanks to the unlimited movement, they are the best lawn mowers for large gardens. They usually also have a collection bin, so you don't have to empty the load too often. However, they are relatively noisy, heavy and they pollute the surrounding air. The need to refuel can also be considered a disadvantage. It costs a lot of money and you have to drive to the gas station to get it.
Engine performance is an important aspect when choosing a petrol mower. It's range is usually:
The cutting width tells us how wide strip of lawn the mower can cut at once. For petrol mowers, it ranges from 40 to 56 cm .
The more cutting height adjustment options the mower has, the better. It usually ranges from 2 to 7 cm.
The weight and volume of the collection basket will tell you how strenuous the work with the mower will be.
You won't have to empty the load too often, but once it's full, it will be heavy and hard to handle. If you have a large garden and you are physically fit, choose a mower with a larger basket. If you will use the lawn mower for a smaller area or it will be often used by a woman, we recommend a petrol lawn mower with a smaller collection bin.
These tips can make the work easier. They will also help you choose the right lawn mower.
If you are going to use your petrol lawn mower to mow larger grassy areas, then it's definitely worth it. The movement of the mower wheels will make mowing much easier for you and you will not be so tired from the long pushing of a heavy machine. A self-propelled mower also pays off if you mow a flat and regular area with flowerbeds, trees and shrubs. In such gardens, it is hard to move around with a basic push-mower.
Petrol mowers are the best mowers for larger areas. They might be a bit more difficult to handle on smaller areas. In smaller gardens, the lawn mower is also more likely to bother someone with the engine noise and smell. Petrol lawnmowers are therefore most suitable for areas larger than 500 m2.
The advantage of electric mowers is that they are not as noisy compared to petrol mowers. But they are also a little less powerful. They are practically maintenance-free, you don't have to take too much care of them or refuel. However, someone might find the power cable annoying and there is a risk of it being damaged when accidentaly mowing over it.
The higher the input power, the larger area you will be able to mow. A more powerful mower can handle a denser and taller grass.
Although a wider cutting range allows you to mow a wider strip of grass at once (the maximum width of electric mowers is 480 mm ), it can be a problem to mow the lawn in narrow areas, or around flower beds or tree trunks.
The more options for adjusting the cutting height, the better your mower adapts to the terrain and the result you want to achieve. For electric mowers, the cutting height ranges from 2 to 7 cm. You can also set the lowest level if you mow regularly. However, if you mow once every few weeks, we recommend to do the rough cut first and then set the lowest level.
Just like with petrol mowers, the heavier the mower, the more difficult it is to handle. On the other hand, its movement is stable, it copes with unexpected terrain irregularities. The volume of the collection basket also has a significant effect on the weight.
If you're still not sure how to choose the mower, these features could help you make your choice:
Thanks to its more compact dimensions, they are the best lawn mowers for small plots. The best way to use them is in the classic gardens of family houses. Electric mowers are smaller than petrol mowers, which means that they are also much easier to handle. You can easily mow the grass around flower beds or tree trunks.
Electric mowers are usually equipped with only a short power cord. However, you can easily extend the radius by connecting a separately purchased extension cable. This will slightly increase the total amount of money invested in the mower. There are cables on the market in the length of 20 to 50 meters, which is a sufficient length to cover an average garden around a family house.
Cordless mowers are similar to electric mowers. Unlike them, however, they are not powered from the mains, but from the built-in battery. This type of mower must therefore be recharged regularly. Although they provide lower power than electric and petrol, they are quieter and do not need a power cord when mowing. They are suitable for regular mowing and maintenance of smaller gardens. This is due to the fact that the mower's battery life is limited and so is the area that can be cut in one go.
Battery capacity determines how long you can mow in one go. Manufacturers often state the capacity of the battery in manuals and promotional materials, together with information how large area can be mown on a single charge. However, this information can be misleading, as the size of the mown area is also affected by the density of the lawn and the difficulty of the terrain. Charging speed is also important, usually ranging from one to three hours.
The cutting width of cordless mowers ranges from 32 to 43 centimeters, so it is slightly smaller than the range of electric and petrol lawn mowers.
When it comes to adjusting the cutting height, look for a machine that will have as many adjustment options and levels as possible. You will definitely appreciate it because it makes the mower adapt to your land better. Usually the range is from 2 to 8 centimeters .
The capacity of the collection basket of cordless mowers starts at 30 and ends at 65 liters. Larger baskets are suitable for physically fit individuals and larger lawns.
It is advisable to look for a mower which contains a pair of batteries in the package. You can use one while the other one is charging. Also consider purchasing a quick charger, which can reduce the charging time to as short as half an hour.
Cordless mowers are suitable for maintenance of smaller lawns up to 500 m2. After all, their performance is not so great. Their big advantage is their dimensions, which predetermine them for precise trimming of the grass around tree trunks, flower beds and garden decorations.
In this case, it very much depends on how often and what kind of grass you mow. If you do lawn maintenance regularly and the grass is not too tall, you can easily mow a square kilometer in one go. The higher the grass, the more energy the mower consumes and the battery discharges faster.
There is also a big difference in battery life whether you mow dry or wet grass. Wet grass is heavier and more difficult for the mower to mow, so the battery discharges faster when mowing after the rain.
Riding mowers make mowing grass so much easier. Just pull the handle and the mower starts moving. Then all you have to do is control the direction. Mowing the grass is thus much easier and less physically demanding. Boring activity suddenly becomes fun, for example if you play music at the same time. Another advantage of ride-on mowers is that they can deal with slightly uneven terrain.
Some ride-on mowers have an adjustable speed. If the speed can be changed, you can use different settings for different terrain and grass height. If the grass is taller, the mower may need more time to cut the grass. In that case, you would choose a lower speed. If the mower doesn't have an adjustable speed, the travel speed is usually set within a comfortable range.
The cutting width of the ride-on mowers ranges from 40 to 56 centimeters. They are often petrol mowers, so their characteristics are very similar.
We have already talked about the cutting height a bit. If you don't know which lawn mower to choose, try to find one that has the widest possible range. In the case of ride-on mowers, the height can be adjusted approximately from 20 to 75 millimeters.
The basket volume of ride-on mowers ranges from 40 to 70 liters. The size of the basket depends mainly on the size of the garden. However, you have to take into account that the larger the basket your mower has, the harder it will be to handle.
The advantage is clear, mowing with a ride-on mower is noticeably less physically demanding than with basic mower. Furthermore, riding the mower can make the work a little more enjoyable. You and probably even your teens will have one less thing to worry about. And when you are less worried, there is much more space for fun, relaxation or just time to think.
This question depends mainly on two facts. First, the size and the terrain of your garden. If the garden is small, mostly flat and maintained, speed control is not necessary. For uneven terrain, however, we highly recommend to get a mower with speed adjustment.
The second thing is your comfort. It may not be comfortable to drive tens of meters in a straight line at the same slow speed, when you know the mower would be able to do it much faster with no problems. Then, it's up to you which ride-on mower you'll choose.
Cylinder mowers are mostly manufactured as manual mowers. With manual mower you can achieve a beautiful English lawn or grass surface similar to green on golf courses. Cylinder mowers are gentle on the grass, as they don't mow it, they cut it. The grass doesn't fray at its edges and it doesn't tend to turn yellow. The blades of the mower won't rotate until you start moving the mower. Besides mowers with manual drive, there are also petrol, electric and cordless cylinder mowers. A huge advantage of these mowers is that they ensure very precise mowing.
Depending on the cutting width (for larger cylinder mowers, it can be up to 50 cm), you can precisely mow around each flower bed and tree and mowing in narrow spaces will also be easy.
Cylinder mowers offer certainly the most precise adjustment of the cutting height of all mower types. It starts at 6 mm. This precision is necessary because cylinder mowers are used to trim English lawns and golf course surfaces. And that is where every millimeter makes a difference.
We definitely recommend to look for the cylinder mower with a collection basket. However, it doesn't always come with the machine, it often has to be purchased separately. If the cylinder mower doesn't have a collection basket, the cut grass will fall down on the ground, so you will need to collect it manually afterwards. And if you mow often and thus cutting just very small pieces of grass, it won't be easy to collect them manually.
Especially for those who want to have a perfect lawn, such as English lawns or greens on golf courses. They are ideal for precise trimming of grass areas near a family house, around flower beds or trees.
Due to the fact that cylinder mowers are usually driven only by the power of the person using it, they are not suitable for large lawns. It very depends on your physical condition, but using a cylinder mower on a grass area larger than 150 m2 is not really comfortable anymore. It is the type of mower perfect for mini-gardens maintenance and a stylish arrangement of small areas.
You can only achieve the perfect English lawn with a cylinder mower. But this is only the first step. The English lawn requires constant care, and this involves frequent mowing. If you don't want to have a higher lawn than six millimeters, you will have to mow it daily. If a height of one centimeter is ok for you, mow it every other day. In addition to mowing, you must also aerate the lawn (remove the old, dry grass), irrigate thoroughly - ideally 25 to 40 liters of water per square meter per week - and sow regularly. This is the only way to achieve the perfect green carpet.
Rotary mowers are a happy medium among all mowers. They are offered in all petrol, battery and electric variants and can be used for almost any grass area. Probably anyone who is looking for a lawn mower for a good price will choose from this category. But even those who want something extra will find their perfect machine here. Rotary mowers work on the principle of rotary cutter blades. The blades rotate and either collect the grass in a basket or throw it on the ground.
The cutting width is as diverse as the range of rotary mowers. It starts around 30 cm, but among more expensive models you can find mowers with 50cm or even more. It is mainly your own preferences and size of the garden that decide.
The cutting height of rotary mowers is set for medium-sized grass. The range is often from 25 to 75 mm. However, there are exceptions that exceed this range by five to ten millimeters. Rotary mowers once again prove their versatility, but if you want to achieve an English lawn, look for a different mower.
Rotary mowers are universal. If you have a small garden and you are not very demanding of its maintanance, you can choose a small, electric mower. Petrol lawn mowers are suitable for family houses at a favorable price, and even the more demanding customers can choose their mower in the higher price range.
Especially with cheaper or older mowers, it can sometimes happen that the blades get clogged and get stuck. You can prevent this partially by using the ideal travel speed or by not walking too fast with the mower. It is also important to set the ideal height.
However, the blades can clog even if you do everything correctly. In this case, tilt the mower slightly to the side, never upside down ! When you do, you should see the blade itself. Then simply use a tool or your hands to carefully remove the excess grass and you can continue mowing without any problems.
Robotic lawnmowers work on a similar principle as cordless lawnmowers, so they need to be recharged regularly. It is suitable for the maintenance of regular lawn with no significant obstacles such as trees or elements of garden architecture. It can handle even wet lawns up to a height of about ten centimeters without any problems. Their operation is completely automatic, they even come to the charging station on their own. You can be sure that your lawn will always be maintained with no need to devote your precious time to it. It is more suitable for regular and long-term maintenance, rather than one-time lawn mowing.
Take notice of how long the mower lasts and how much time it spends charging. The values declared by the manufacturer range from 45 to 250 minutes of mowing, and the machine spends one to three hours recharging itself. Fortunately, the mower will know when it needs recharging, so you don't have to worry about that. It simply drives to the docking station, where it recharges, and then returns to work.
The cutting width starts at 17 centimeters. Such machines are very agile, but it takes them much longer to mow the whole garden. If your garden area is large, look for a mower with a cutting width of about 50 cm.
You can adjust the cutting height of robotic lawnmowers either stepwise or continuously. The second option is naturally more convenient and more accurate, but in the end it always depends on the lawn you mow. The height ranges from 1.5 to 10 cm.
Due to the fact that the robotic lawnmower mows the grass almost constantly, its noise also plays a role. There are very quiet models available on the market that you will hardly hear, but there are machines that will disturb you and your neighbors.
Robotic lawnmowers tend to be relatively heavy, ranging from approximately 7 kg for smaller models to 12 kilograms for larger models. This ensures greater stability and the mower does not overturn.
Useful little things
Robotic lawnmowers can have some useful little features that make your work easier.
Do you always admire the perfect green lawns but at the same time you realize that there is a lot of time behind it, which you simply don't have? If your answer is yes, then the robotic lawnmower is perfect for you. It will do all the mowing while you are at work.
It is important to know that not every garden is suitable for robotic lawnmowers. It does the best job on flat, not much sloping terrain, which is not too structured. Meaning that there are not many trees, flower beds, rock gardens and other obstacles that would prevent the robotic lawnmower from moving around.
Another factor is the shape of the lawn, which should be ideally regular. If you want to cut tall grass around trees or mow on steeper slopes, it is good to consider buying a string mower.
String mowers (also called trimmers) work, as the name suggests, with a string that spins at high speed at cuts the grass around it. It is not suitable for larger areas because it leaves the ends of the grass frayed, causing it to turn yellow faster - which doesn't look good on a flat lawn. Some string mowers don't have a collection basket, which means you have to come back to collect the cut grass manually. But if you don't know which mower to choose in hard-to-reach areas, you've found what you were looking for. Then you would use the string trimmer mainly for finishing.
On the market we can find string mowers with all types of drive - petrol, electric and those with a battery. Power consumption usually ranges from 250 to 1,000 W.
There are two types of string mowers that differ in how the string is unwound from the spool:
Since these are machines designed more for finishing the cut, do not expect them to have a wide range of the cut. For string mowers with lower power, expect a width of around 25 centimeters, the more powerful ones can handle up to 35 cm.
You have a choice of two cutting systems, automatic and semi-automatic - which means that the string unwinds once you give it a signal, by tapping the bottom of the trimmer to the ground.
Even with string mowers, it is worth looking for accessories that can make your work easier.
Unfortunately yes. Due to the use of string mowers in narrow places, where you cannot get with a conventional mower, you have to consider it will wear out faster. In these places, the string of the mower hits walls and stones, it gradually frays, breaks, and thus reduces the efficiency of mowing. Occasional replacement depending on the condition of the string is therefore necessary. However, it is quite a simple thing that anyone can do.
You will appreciate the string trimmer the most during finishing works. You can easily fit into narrower spaces with it or cut the grass at the edges of the sidewalks. On the other hand, you will not use the string mower too much when mowing larger open lawns. Electric or petrol mowers, with much larger cutting range are more suitable for this.
In the case of a really large area of lawn that you want to mow regularly, we recommend classic petrol mowers. They can easily mow areas larger than 1,000 m². In small gardens in quiet areas, you will certainly appreciate cordless mowers, which have a lower power but they are quiet and they don't need a power cable.
If you have a garden with various flower beds with garden paths around them, string trimmers will be suitable for the maintenance of these places. They can get even to very narrow places and mow the lawn almost anywhere. In the case of sloping terrain, an electric mower will come in handy, which (unlike petrol) does not have a problem with elevation or mowing in a slope.
Manual cylinder mowers are perfect for English-style lawns. Thanks to the fact that they do not mow the grass, but only cut it, you will achieve much better results in the appearance of the lawn. After such pruning, the grass doesn't fray or turn yellow.
In the case of dense lawns, we recommend conventional petrol mowers. Despite their noise, they provide maximum engine power, so they can handle basically any lawn.
The mowers need regular maintenance. In addition to common things, such as changing the fuel (for petrol mowers) or oil, there may be other situations that a skilled handyman should be able to handle without any problems. We have prepared a brief guide for you on how to deal with some situations that may arise. In case of more serious troubles, you should call a professional service, non-professional intervention could cause more harm than good.
A carburetor is a device that is used to prepare a mixture for internal combustion engines. Therefore, it is also in petrol mowers. The most common problem with a carburetor is that it gets clogged from time to time. Cleaning it is a relatively simple activity. You shouldn't neglect the adjustment of the carburetor either, but that work should be done by a professional service. As for the above cleaning, with our instructions you can do it easily by yourself:
There can be several reasons why the mower does not start. Therefore, follow the instructions below :
A bent crankshaft is always caused by its incorrect use. It is identified by a bigger noise and increased vibrations during mowing. Eventually, the engine may seize up. It most often occurs if we encounter a solid object (usually a stone or curb) while mowing. So the only advice here is to avoid hitting obstacles. If the shaft is already distorted, it must be professionally serviced. In this case, being a skilled handyman is not enough.
The starting mechanism works the same for mowers, brush cutters and chainsaws - by pulling the starter cord. It pulls the pulley that spins the flywheel and starts the machine. What can happen is that the cord breaks due to careless handling, or that the whole mechanism gets stuck. What to do in that situation?
Replacing the string on the mower is not difficult, but certain rules must be followed. First of all, always use the string recommended by the manufacturer. Stronger ones could cause unwinding problems, while thinner ones could wear out quickly. Also observe the winding direction, it is usually marked with arrows. The winding should be as careful as possible, the individual threads should not go over each other, the string must unwind freely. When it comes to securing the string, follow how the previous one was wound.
If the mower travels poorly uphill and you feel that it wouldn't carry a full basket of grass, the gear belt may be worn. It should also be well adjusted, but this is something that requires precision and care, which are difficult to provide at home. We therefore recommend having the mower wheel drive adjusted by a specialist.
The foundation of a beautiful green carpet is well-prepared soil. And that's nothing you can do overnight. If you are going to sow the lawn, thoroughly clean the land from rubble, stones, large pieces of wood and debris after construction. Then level the surface as much as possible and make good topsoil. Align it again.
At this point, you need to wait a few weeks. The soil settles, the moisture stabilizes, but the seeds of unwanted weeds also germinate. Dispose of it continuously with herbicides.
There is a large number of different grass-seed mixtures on the market. Before you choose one, consider several factors, especially the climatic conditions of the place where you live (altitude, humidity, total precipitation, wind intensity), the type and quality of the soil and especially the purpose of the lawn. Some mixtures are only decorative, others serve better as a rug for children and for playing with pets. Pay attention to the product labels and check the shelf life of individual grass mixtures. Those that have been on the shelves for more than two years are practically unusable because they lose their germination capacity.
The grass mixture is sown in spring or autumn, the exact time is influenced by climatic conditions. But always sow when there is no wind. The ideal amount is approximately 20 to 30 g of seed per square meter. Definitely don't overdo it, it wouldn't do any good to the quality of the lawn. After sowing the seeds, slightly cover them with soil using rakes. Finally, roll the whole area.
The lawn needs to be supplied with sufficient nutrients. These are mainly minerals such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium. Regular irrigation is also necessary, in this case automatic irrigators are a great help, which supply the lawn with the ideal amount of water at precise time intervals. Mowing with one of the above types of mowers is also important. It is also good to think of aeration and scarification (pruning), which helps to remove dead parts of the plant, especially during its growing season.
Tip : Want to know more about how to take care of your lawn? Take a look at the article Lawn and garden care (TIPS AND TRICKS) .
With conventional mowers, the cutting blade does not reach the full edge of the mower chassis. A ten-inch strip of uncut grass may remain between the edge of the mower and the place where the knife can actually reach. Edge cutting mowers minimize this strip and actually mow across the entire width of the mower. It is therefore suitable for mowing grass along walls or curbs.
Self-propelled wheel drive. It is not necessary to push the mower in front of you, because it travels by itself. Some models offer speed adjustment.
A mower with its own control system, which is able to automatically mow the grass and move in defined areas.
Glossary