Advice on Choosing the Right Lawnmower For You
May 18 '01
The Bottom Line A little research will help you to select the best lawnmower for your needs.
Review of How to Choose A Lawnmower (May 18, 2001)
This is my 100th Epinions review, so I figured I would write an advice review on a topic from Home and Garden, since that is where I am currently an advisor.
A good friend of mine called me the other day to inform me his lawnmower broke down and he needed to buy a new one. His question to me was "What lawnmower should I buy?" I know my friend pretty well, and I know about his lawn, his abilities to make repairs (none), and his budget (cheap as can be), so advising him was pretty easy. However, just like one particular pair of pants is not going to be right for everyone, neither will a particular lawnmower be suitable for everyone. Things to consider include your budget, reputation of company making the lawnmower, the size of your lawn, your ability to make repairs. Based on these points, I would suggest the following:
Budget - Let's face it. Everyone wants to get the best product for the lowest price. How much money you have to spend on a lawnmower can be a significant factor in making your decision on which lawnmower to buy? Keep in mind however, that the price tag on the lawnmower is not necessarily an indicator of the lawnmower's value. There are a lot of expensively priced lawnmowers for sale that are junk. Conversely, there are some lower priced lawnmowers for sale that are actually quite good performers, and are built to last. I would suggest shopping around at various garden stores, home decorating companies, and even most bigger department stores carrying lawnmowers. Get an idea for the features offered on the lawnmowers, and how the features effect the price. In general, a good quality lawnmower at a higher price may be less costly over time than a cheaply made lawnmower that might require a lot of repairs over time.
Reputation of the Manufacturer - There are several brands of lawnmowers out there. All of them will do a good job cutting the lawn when you first take it home. But, how it performs after using it 25 times is really what you should be thinking about. The most important feature of the lawnmower is the engine. Once again, there are several manufacturers that make lawnmower engines: Briggs and Stratton, Honda, and Toro are just a few. I've had long, argumentative discussions with landscapers and motor heads about which is best - I believe, as do most others in the know, that Honda makes the best small engines. However, all of my current lawnmowers have Briggs and Stratton engines on them, and they are quite good. Most lawnmower manufacturers will use one of these three brands of engines on their lawnmowers. The rest of the bells and whistles on the lawnmower are all secondary to the engine. From my experience, Sears' lawnmowers require the most repairs. I've had four of them (all with B&S engines) and they are built flimsy, and they always experience a multitude of problems. However, others I know also have Sears' lawnmowers that they have been using since the 1970's. I currently use a Scotts' commercial lawn mower that I have had for about three years now. It has a B&S engine on it, and has required repairs over the years, but it has been holding up well. John Deer lawnmowers (B&S engine) are like the Cadillac of lawnmowers, and generally hold up very well. Likewise, the Toro lawnmowers seem to be unstoppable. My parents had one for years and they basically ran it into the ground. Despite bad oil leaks, broken plastic parts, rusty parts and controls, the Toro started up every time!
Size of Your Lawn - This should play a significant part of making your decision on purchasing a lawnmower. If you only have a small patch of grass to mow, you might not need a top quality lawnmower. You might want to opt for an electric powered lawnmower, or even a manually powered lawnmower. These are generally much less expensive and they will last a long time if used properly. They would not be appropriate for a large lawn, merely because you would need a long electrical cord that would get in the way, or you would need to eat a lot of Wheaties to get your strength up to use a manual lawnmower. A smaller bagger-free gas powered engine lawnmower might be a good alternative to a mid-sized to small lawn. For a larger lawn, a heavy-duty gas powered lawnmower is the way to go! Even better would be a ride-on lawnmower.
Your Ability to Make Repairs - Not everyone is handy at making repairs. However, if you own a gas-powered lawnmower, you will most certainly require repairs. There are a lot of high-maintenance repairs required on a routine basis. Most repairs are quite easy to perform, but you may get your hands dirty. I could never see my wife performing these repairs, and there are several other people I know that have never touched a screwdriver. If you are like this, you might want to consider getting what I call a "disposable lawnmower". These are the cheapest gas-powered lawnmowers you can get your hands on that will do the job. You buy it for around a $100, and when a problem occurs that is beyond your desire to repair, you simply replace it with a new one. It might sound wasteful, but think of it this way: Having a lawnmower professionally tuned up will generally cost you about $60 + parts each time you bring it to the repair shop. If you have to bring it in only two times in a season, you paid more than what you would have paid for a shiny new cheapy lawnmower!
A few other things to keep in mind when purchasing a lawnmower are the extra accessories you will need. For instance, a bagger to catch the grass clippings, a mulcher attachment to cut up leaves into small pieces, an automatic transmission to reduce fatigue in pushing the lawnmower, an electronic ignition that eliminates the need to pull a cord to start up the engine (this may be an after-market part you can purchase to add onto your lawnmower). All of the lawnmowers I ever purchased came with a bagger. However, I learned that grass clippings hold a good source of nutrients for your lawn, when you mow your lawn regularly.
Other things to keep in mind are do you want clippings to come out of the rear or from the side when you cut the lawn? There are advantage and disadvantages to both types. If they come out of the rear, and you are not using a bagger, the dust and clippings may spit out at you when you mow the lawn, whereas if you have a side exit, the clippings spit out of the side. However, if you use a bagger, the side mount might get in the way of obstacles on your lawn, such as trees, fences, posts, etc. With a rear bagger, the bagger stays behind the lawnmower and it does not get in the way.
One final thing to consider is the weight of the lawnmower. A heavier lawnmower will generally hug the lawn better, and it will not bounce up if you hit a rock, nor will it turn over as easily. However, it can be a chore to push around in the hot sun, if you do not have an automatic transmission pushing it along. A lighter weight lawnmower is easier to push around, and does not really require an automatic transmission.
This should give you a good idea of some points to consider when selecting a new lawnmower. Like I mentioned earlier, shop around and look at the different features and ask a lot of questions from people who sell the lawnmowers. Often salesmen have a biased opinion of which lawnmowers are better, and you should expect them to honor the lawnmowers they sell, but they should be able to specifically tell you why one lawnmower is better than another. It will be your job to weigh the benefits they mention against other lawnmowers on the market. Good luck and thanks for reading my review! Have a nice summer!
Mike
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shoehorny
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Everything is green and submarine...
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