OT: Lawnmower recommendations?

Bought a Honda 5 years ago. Starts 1st time every time. Runs great. I wouldn't buy anything else.

They have roomba style mowers now. Just set it loose and let it do its thing. 

My lawnmower starts every year, year after year but everything else I buy goes to crap really fast... Weed wacker, leaf blower... just aggravating so I went battery with everything except the lawn mower. Very happy. Any lawn mower you buy works well for a long time. 

Goats. They'll mow your lawn and provide milk/cheese. 

Seriously, though, I can't really comment on recent models. I have a 10 year old Craftsman riding mower with B&S engine and 48" deck. Not zero turn, but does the job. I also use an even older Craftsman non-powered push mower for the runoff ditch by the street and a gas-powered trimmer. 

If it's in any way significantly sloped, you definitely want a powered push mower. It was so helpful when I was in high school since our house was on a fairly steep hill. I'd turn off power assist sometimes as training for cross country/track. To be young again. 

If I had a really small yard, I'd totally consider a reel mower. 

If you're dealing with a sloped/uneven yard, you'll want a mower with bigger rear wheels for stability.  I can't emphasize that enough.  My back yard doesn't have a single level plane anywhere and I used my dad's old push mower until it died; replaced it with a Murray with the bigger wheels from Walmart with a Briggs engine, and it's a totally different ballgame now.  I've had the mower for 6 years and the only thing I've put into other than gas is a new blade last year and changed the oil.  Will the deck likely rot out in another few years, probably, but I paid $150 for it, so I think a new mower every 8ish years at that price point is more than fair.

Greenworks 20" 40 volt twin battery. It's light, quiet, will mow through grass up to 4" (so far) and automatically switches from the first to second battery, if needed. Obviously it's not as powerfull as a gas powered unit, but it works quite well and I've never had to use the charge on both batteries to mow my double lot. It also mulches or bags depending onyour preference.

For hills, you really can't go wrong with a self-propel model mower.  Get a gas one with a Honda engine.  Starts first time every time.

For anything with a small engine, like a weed eater, get a 4-stroke model.  One less gas can since you don't have to mix oil/gas.  I have a Ryobi one that I've had about 4 years with no issues as long as I store it horizontal (stored vertically it likes to lock up and be a real bear to start).

Ryobi 40v is awesome, light and maneuverable, cuts very well. Make virtually no noise. Will never buy gas again, get the trimmer also, runs on same battery pack.

I too have a small lawn, only about 1,000 SF.  I highly recommend an electric.  I have a 40 volt model; I think the brand is Green Works.  I also have a leaf blower that uses the same battery and charger, which I bought partly because my original mower battery was no longer chargeable after 5 years of use.

if my lawn is really long, I just set the mower up to the highest cut and make a second pass at the lower cut. 

Depends on a lot of things here. If your yard is small enough to push mow, I wouldn’t get a zero turn. It’ll just take up valuable space and cost more to maintain than a push mower. Also, how steep is the slope?  Zero turns tend to have a harder time turning around on sloped lawns. 

The slope will also determine whether you may need a two stroke vs. 4-stroke lawnmower. Either will probably work, but oil pick-up can be affected on 4-stokes if they are constantly run on an angle. 

Sounds like a nice self propelled 4 stroke is probably what you need. I’d skip the battery powered one unless your yard is really small. The technology is getting better but I’m note sure how long it’ll last or what it’ll coat to buy a new battery or parts if it breaks. 

Good luck!

I have the Ryobi 40v 20” mower and it is AWESOME. It definitely has enough power—it will increase speed when you have taller, thicker stuff. Mine has never ‘stalled out’ on me. Starts every time, it’s lightweight, and quiet. Don’t have to winterize. I also switched to the Ryobi edger, weed whipper, and blower. Best thing I ever did yard work-wise. I don’t know the square footage of my yard off the top of my awesome head, but it takes me about 30 minutes to mow. 

You need the John Deere 1600 58 hp Diesel Turbo 128" Cut Rotary Mower 3 Decks 4x4.

And it only costs around $35k new.

Hire a gardener.

I don't know how small "small" is but if it's comparable to my lot and your hips still work, shucks, get a scythe.

I have a Ryobi 20-inch 40-volt push lawn mower and absolutely love it. Bought it earlier this year and have had no issues with it. I have a decent-sized neighborhood lawn -- not huge but good enough...maybe 3/4 acre -- and only once or twice did I have to change the battery to finish up. The mower senses when you need more power and gives you more, so if you're mowing a tall lawn it will eat more battery. I did buy a second battery (actually just bought the weed trimmer so I got another tool and battery together) to be on the safe side.

I love mine. It's quiet, it stores in a compact manner, and it does the job well. I opted for the push mower without the self-propelled feature because it's so light anyway it's not worth giving up the battery power. YMMV.

If you check Home Depot's website, there are 6,542 reviews at well over 4.5 stars.

I have preference toward my oldest son.

Pay someone to mow it for you.

hire somebody 

PBR.

I see others have already chimed in on hiring somebody.  I pay a guy $25 and he mows and trims once every 2 weeks during the summer.  It's well worth it to me.

Small yard?  Just pick up a decent used one on Craig's or FB Marketplace for dirt cheap and think of it as disposable. 

After a season of mowing you can decide what you like or don't like about that mower, or decide you'd rather pay a budding neighborhood youth entrepreneur. 

I bought a cheap Troy-Bilt gas engine push mower at Home Depot a few years ago. I hate self-propelled mowers so I really do have to push this one.

I do two yards: my own corner lot, and a neighbor's. Both have portions with substantial slopes, so pushing it uphill is a great workout over the ~60 minutes it takes me to do both lawns.

However, whenever this one dies, I'm getting a battery-powered model.

I bought a Kobalt 80v model 2 summers ago. Not cheap, but I have been really impressed so far.  Really easy to use, obvious great engineering, and not ugly (can't go wrong with blue).  It shares the batteries with a leaf blower and weed-whacker, and have had no problems after 2 summers of heavy use. 

Sloped? .....spat your cleats

Ryobi electric self-propelled. I have the non-propelled version and it works great with a slightly sloped yard. Bought the weed whip and both came with a batter, albeit the one with the weed whip has less amp hours. At about .25 acres I can mow the whole yard on a single charge with both. Might be different with the self-propelled since that will eat up more juice.

This spring I sold my Craftsman push mower and bought the Ryobi 40v battery powered push mower with the grass bag. Hands down one of the best purchases I've ever made. My entire lot, house and all is only 1/4 of an acre and the single battery is good enough to do the whole lawn unless

1. I let the grass grow way too long or
2. It's spring and all the rain causes the grass to grow like crazy.

Ultimately (probably next spring) I plan on buying a second 40v battery and then I'll have more than enough juice to mow in one pass, regardless of how tall the grass is.

It's super quiet, easy to push, super easy to raise and lower the cutting height, the grass bag works very well, and there's virtually no maintenance. You pop in the battery and push the button...that's it. Very convenient for smaller sized lawns.

I would also highly recommend the Ryobi 18v weed whacker. Two years ago I gave up fighting with my gas powered weed whacker and I've never looked back since. No more pulling till my arm fell off trying to get the dang thing to start. No more mixing gas and oil. No more running up to the gas station when I ran out of gas. It simply just works.

So far I haven't had any problems with any of my Ryobi lawn tools and I would highly recommend them.

If you want the the nice lines you have to go with a zero turn. You cannot get as nice of lines with a lawn tractor I don’t care who tells me otherwise. I have a 42” walk behind toro with a 14 horse Koehler engine. It’s a 90’s model that picked up for $300 from a lawn service. I had a serious hill at my last home and it worked great and looked better than any lawn in my neighborhood that used a tractor. 

I have a Honda.  It's fantastic and makes the grass look like velvet when it's cut.  Love it.

I’m in healthcare so I have crazy hours.  The last thing I want to do is cut the yard.  Look into the Husqavarna Automower. It’s a robot. I have  had it 3 years.  Set it at the beginning of the summer and you are good.

Gosh, just get a frickin gas powered Toro self propelled and call it good.