To make your lawn mowing job easier, you’ll first need to make sure you’ve got the best lawnmower that will fit your needs. Consider the size of your property, the type of terrain, and set a budget that you feel comfortable with. Having additional options can be nice, but will drive up the cost of your mower.

Step 1 In Choosing Your New Lawn Mower – Ride or Walk?

The first thing you need to consider is whether to ride or to walk?

The rule of thumb is that if your lawn is greater than a half-acre Consumer Reports recommends a riding mower. A half acre lawn can be visualized as approximately 100 feet by 220 feet. So if you don’t know your exact size this should give you an idea on how large it is.

However, even with smaller sized lawns, you may still prefer the ease of use riding mowers. They are more expensive, but if cost is not a concern or riding is just your preference, there are many different brands and options that can meet your needs and budget.

As far as terrain, a 15-degree slope is roughly the maximum angle you can cut safely. But remember, if your lawn does have a lot of slopes you might not want to be lugging a behemoth mower up and down it and may have to consider either self propelled or a riding type mower.

Note that walking mowers, properly equipped with right options, can also provide the ease of use of the riding mower.

Step 2 Lawn Mower Options

Before you even consider a specific brand or model, you’ll want to narrow down how you plan to use your mower.

Walking mowers can have a dizzying number of options and combinations. You can go with the old fashioned man-powered push lawn mower.

They can be a motor-powered such as gas or electric powered and even there you can have corded or battery powered. Other options that can make your mowing job easier include self-propelled, mulching, bagging, or discharging.

Some of the things to consider are:

Do you need a bag that collects your clippings?

Do you want the mower to chop the cut blades of grass into tiny bits to become mulch and nourish the lawn?

Do you want the clippings just blown out of the side of the mower and let them remain where they fall?

Step 3 Research the Lawnmower Brands

Go and do research on the perfect brand with the options you want at the best price possible. Good luck with your search. Some of the more popular brands include: