OT: Lawnmower recommendations?
I recently bought a house with a small (but quite sloped) yard and need to buy a lawnmower. I think a push mower is the obvious choice due to the size of the yard. I've heard some good things about electric (battery, not corded) mowers and wanted to see what the board's thoughts were on that?
Sorry to those of you who will complain about a topic this unrelated to Michigan, but thanks in advance to those of you willing to chime in.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:14 AM ^
Get a zero turn. You'll have your lawn mowed in under two minutes.
August 9th, 2019 at 11:22 AM ^
Not great for slopes.
August 9th, 2019 at 11:26 AM ^
I have a decent slope along my road and the wide wheel base allows me to mow the hill. Also, much now stable than a lawn tractor.
I’ve had 2 lawn mowers in 30 years. Both of them Toro’s. Never didn’t start the first or second try. I bought the second one only because I wanted a new lawn mower. Buy a Toro...
August 9th, 2019 at 10:15 AM ^
When employing the use of a lawnmower, forget being green. Go with the time tested, good, old-fashioned, gasoline powered behemoth. It used to be the Briggs & Stratton was hands down the best, but almost any engine maker will do today. B&S, Tecumseh, Honda, Husqvarna, etc - they're all reliable and will get it done without a lot of maintenance or problems. Probably a self-driving one, so you don't have to push uphill.
Why not battery? Because, at some point in your life, that lawn is going to get too tall for a battery. You'll wish you had the power behind a fossil fueled piston when it happens. And it will happen.
The next thing you'll want is a gas powered trimmer, although you could probably get away with a battery for that. So welcome to the joys of yard work!!
August 9th, 2019 at 11:16 AM ^
1) I find the electric trimmer is fine unless you have a big property, then you might run out of juice.
2) For all of us: you've hit middle age when you find yourself in a discussion of lawn tools (I should know). By the way...ask me about my pole saw.
August 9th, 2019 at 11:33 AM ^
I've seen your pole saw. It's.....huge.
Absolutely for a small property get a rechargeable electric trimmer. Very lightweight and inexpensive. One full charge will last for most of the season, and you don't have to deal with fuel, spark plugs, pull-start, etc.
August 9th, 2019 at 12:31 PM ^
My gas powered Honda mower just died prior to me having to do a lot of travel. By the time I got to the hardware store to buy a new mower, my grass was knee high in the back yard. After doing some research, I went with the EGO battery powered mower. Here is a link to the model I purchased (https://www.homedepot.com/p/EGO-21-in-56-Volt-Lithium-ion-Cordless-Walk-Behind-Self-Propelled-Mower-Kit-7-5-Ah-Battery-Charger-Included-LM2102SP/206515944)
I've been very impressed with the results and highly recommend. I also don't feel as much pressure to find time to mow the yard like I used to. Due to the lower noise level, I can now mow the lawn after work at 8 or 9 pm and not have to worry about waking the neighbors kids up. The mower easily mows the entire yard in one charge (just under half an acre). The mower is also easily collapsible and can be stored vertically, which saves space in the garage.
Just my two cents.
August 9th, 2019 at 12:50 PM ^
Myself and my neighbors often leave for a week or two at a time and the lawn gets tall. We are all very happy with the no maintenance electric lawn mower. I strongly recommend it I have used almost every type of machine for lawn mowing
Especially if it's a small lawn, ignore this guy's advice. We have a little Greenworks 20 inch which has never failed, even when we let the lawn get very high. Not having the miserable loudness or smell, not having to get gas. . . all really nice--never hesitate to go out and mow because it might drive the neighbors bananas. Ours came with two batteries, which does the whole lawn. It's extremely light, which makes it easy up and down our sloping lawn.
Yes, if you are going to let your lawn become a meadow it would not be good.
August 15th, 2019 at 8:34 PM ^
Which guy?
August 9th, 2019 at 10:16 AM ^
Buy a goat?
I don’t have a mower or lawn but my father in law loves his electric - has a large corner lot so fair amount to mow. Can’t recall the brand for sure - Ryobi? Just get a higher voltage one and make your life easier
August 9th, 2019 at 10:17 AM ^
Just bought a Husqvarna YTH24V48 24-HP V-twin Hydrostatic 48-in Riding Lawn Mower. One of the higher rated mowers under $3,000. It retails for around $2,000.
Plenty of power for hills but I mow them .... up on down.. and not on the slant.
Looked at some Zero turn mowers, but felt my lawn wasn't big enough.
Good luck! It's fun to buy "man things"! ....for women as well!
August 9th, 2019 at 10:18 AM ^
GreenWorks Battery operated ...... I bought one a month or two ago to replace a corded electric B&D mower that only lasted about 2 years. Cuts great, not a bad job mulching leaves and will run for over 40 minutes to cut my small-medium size yard with plenty of charge left. Save a trip to the store and all the confusing models EXCEPT the one you want and get it delivered (free with Prime) by Amazon. I did a ton of research before I bought this one:
I have the version that comes with 2 batteries and I added a third this year. The batteries don't last long when the lawn is wet or really long, but it's worth it to not have to deal with oil/gas/starting the thing. If you can mow your lawn in under 30 minutes I don't see any reason not to go with this kind.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:21 AM ^
If you've got a slope and are wanting a push mower look at the AWD Husqvarna. I have a Honda and it cuts/mows like a champ and would recommend. But in doing research before buying it I noticed the AWD was best for sloped yards. Mine is flat so didn't need that.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^
Have you considered a Devin Bush? I call it the "Devin Bush-wacker" 
August 9th, 2019 at 11:34 AM ^
Not at 100 pts yet but this is a +1 in my book!
August 9th, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^
Scott's 20" . .....it's a classic!
IB"twss"
August 9th, 2019 at 10:25 AM ^
Anything with a Honda motor. Unless u want to buy a new mower every 5 years. And a echo weed eater. Never understand why anyone would buy any other weed eater
August 9th, 2019 at 10:30 AM ^
it's kinda silly but I wanted to buy an american mower, so I went with the Toro. I also made sure to get the one with the Honda engine, and I'm 99% certain only the riding mowers are made in the states so it's dubious to call it an american product.
Regardless I went with Toro push mower, honda engine, aluminum deck, rear wheel drive & personal pace speed control (which is awesome). I've never had to pull the starter more than twice to get it going and it's built quite solidly.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:37 AM ^
I also have a Toro push mower I use for the finer stuff I can't get to with my rider. I fully endorse Toro, nary a bit of trouble with it.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:53 AM ^
agreed on Toro push mowers, had mine for 5 years, as long as you take care, it will last and perform.
August 9th, 2019 at 11:49 AM ^
Agree with this for my push mower. I honestly had to look at it to see that it's actually a troy bilt, but all I cared about was the Honda engine.
Sadly, my push mower is really just a trimmer for me to hit the spots my zero turn won't fit because I have 2 effing acres to mow and not enough time in the summer for 20sq ft.
As for actual string trimmers, I'll take my Husqvarna over an Echo, thank you
August 11th, 2019 at 12:12 PM ^
I have a John Deere push mower that I inherited from my dad. It has a Briggs and Stratton motor. The motor starts with one or two pulls and runs flawlessly as it has from the time my dad bought it 25 years ago.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:26 AM ^
so much help - get a push mower, gas. they work.
or go big....
August 9th, 2019 at 11:21 AM ^
Is this your Kubota XM? Nice ride and lawn!
August 9th, 2019 at 12:19 PM ^
a smidge smaller than mine, and missing a front end loader, but not too far off in the big scheme of things.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:27 AM ^
Exactly how big is the yard? I bought an entirely manual push mower for mine because my back yard really is tiny. The downside is that it is a headache if I let the grass get too long; at the same time it hardly takes any time to go over it again.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:27 AM ^
We have a Ryobi battery-powered mower for a similar-sounding yard (not large, but a pretty significant hill). We love it. It's much lighter than a gas-powered mower, it's extremely quiet so I don't feel bad about mowing the lawn after my neighbors have put their kids to bed, and I never have to worry about filling it up.
August 9th, 2019 at 11:07 AM ^
I have this same mower. So far so good - only one season in though. One other nice thing about Ryobi stuff in general (it's a bargain Home Depot brand) is you can start to get other products and they use the same battery (weed-wacker, leaf-blower, etc.). If you don't like Home Depot I suppose that could be a negative.
August 9th, 2019 at 11:18 AM ^
Agreed. I've had it for two years and it works great. I love this mower. Battery is still going strong.
August 9th, 2019 at 11:43 AM ^
Should have read all the replies before my response. Cosigned on this. Have the same one and love it. I actually look forward to using it.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:28 AM ^
I had to replace my push mower recently. I only use the push mower to edge the lawn and use my riding mower for everything else.
Originally looked at battery mowers but decided against. Economically it made no sense for my use case. The battery goes out after a few years and would cost around $100 to replace. No way I would use $100 worth of gas in even five years with a push mower. So I went with corded electric. It is good enough for all I have to do.
Only annoyance is even at max deck height it is a lower cut than I like to do.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:28 AM ^
I have the EGO battery operated and absolutely love it. Thing cuts like a champ, their trimmer and blowers use the same battery and are pretty good too. My yard is quite flat so I didn't not get the power assist version, but kind of wish I did because why not? Anyway, heartily recommend the EGOs.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:53 AM ^
I also have an EGO, and it's great. Well, built. I expect it to last a while. I have never had it run out of power while mowing (takes about 45 minutes to mow my lawn), but it will shut itself down if the battery becomes too hot...which will happen if you can't mow your backyard for a month because it's turned into a swamp, like for most of this spring. No fumes or gas you have to deal with, both of which you'll appreciate. It only mulches OK.
I previously had a corded Black & Decker. They're actually very powerful, light and cuts very well, but the cord is a giant pain in the ass. The build quality was also not as good as the EGO. Absolutely avoid corded, unless you have no trees or other obstacles.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:57 AM ^
I've had my eye on these but I'm kind of waiting for them to come down in price. I only want one to better get the edges and places the rider has trouble fitting, so it's more of a nice to have than a necessity. Still they have great reviews and I find going to the gas station for a lawnmower to be infinitely more annoying that going for my car.
August 9th, 2019 at 11:25 AM ^
I just got the EGO electric mower too and love it. The thing is a beast and it’s so quiet.
August 9th, 2019 at 11:34 AM ^
Have the EGO Mower and weedwhacker/edger attachments. Can use the same battery to operate all three, and they do a great job, especially for my relatively small yard, which sounds like my be similar to what the OP is dealing with.
August 9th, 2019 at 11:39 AM ^
Ego trimmer, blower, and chainsaw user here. Nothing but good things to say. I have two batteries that enable me to do yard work without any battery anxiety worries.
My yard is slightly too big for the Ego mower, although some strategic landscaping will eliminate enough grass to warrant the Ego mower very soon.
August 9th, 2019 at 12:10 PM ^
Yep, EGo mower and trimmer here too. Great product.
August 9th, 2019 at 12:34 PM ^
I also have the EGO 56V mower and love it. Yes, it's expensive but mowing is now a semi-pleasant exercise, I can listed to music, the mower performs well and never any problems starting or running out of juice. Had it for over a year and I would not go back unless my law required more.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:34 AM ^
Depending on your level of lawn fetish, I would recommend a small Deere ride-on. That way you can attach things to it, as well as reduce time required for lawn-ish tasks. The little mini-trailer I pull behind my mower is indispensable for sticks/logs, clippings, leaves, hauling the wife's landscaping/planting stuff, etc. I am going to purchase a pull-behind lawn sweeper (for both clippings and leaves) next week. One additional thought . . . get a mower one size larger than you actually need . . . less stress will make it last a very long time.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:37 AM ^
F*&K all these new mowers got to Facebook and join a Vintage Lawn-Boy group, you'll be able find your self an old two stroke Lawn-Boy with the staggered wheels. Preferably with an F-Series engine.
They're easy to work on and as long as you use the correct oil gas mix (32:1) you'll never need another machine as long as you live if you keep it properly maintained. They're the ones that patented the rear drive self propelled system.
Here's a Pic of a commercial model that's for sale in PA for $220. This machine is from the early '80's and still runs like new according to the owner.
These machines handle cutting duties probably in the greatest variety, they can Side Discharge, Side Bag, be set-up for Rear Bagging, or mulching. The best part of mowing with a vintage Lawn-Boy is the way the offset wheels stripe your lawn no one else in your neighborhood will have a lawn as nice looking as yours.
Trust me If you take care of one of these fine machines you'll be able to pass it down to your Grandson.
August 9th, 2019 at 11:06 AM ^
Those things are ugly as all get-out... but the sound of those two-stroke engines is like honey butter for the ears.
August 9th, 2019 at 11:24 AM ^
If you think that sounds good...You should buy an 800cc 2 stroke snowmobile my friend. Puts a smile on my face every time I fire it up!!
August 9th, 2019 at 10:40 AM ^
Get a G.O.A.T.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:40 AM ^
Don’t get a battery mower. Maybe for a trailer sized yard, but nothing bigger. They don’t have the power.
August 9th, 2019 at 10:41 AM ^
Hire the youngest kid from the neighborhood whose parents feel like it's not dangerous to them, and that they'll do a good job. Always have lemonade and a cookie. Tip. Get to know the parents well. Have them over for a cookout. When the kid doesn't enjoy coming over for it anymore, find the next prospect and start again. Having great relationships with neighbors, encouraging enterprise and hard work, and giving a kid a reason to use a device without a screen are all way underrated. Make neighborhoods great again!