:: Lawn Mower Selection ::

Mowing the lawn isn't just a chore, it's an American tradition. Make it a more enjoyable tradition (or at least an easier chore) by selecting the right lawn mower. When choosing a lawn mower there are numerous options to look at. Matching your yard size, budget, features and your preference in power should be no problem.

Choosing the right lawn mower can simplify lawn mowing and keep the grass looking healthy.

Steps:
1. Compare weight, power, cost, safety features, ease of starting, handling and maneuverability, and ease of clipping disposal.

2. Select a push reel mower (cuts with a scissorlike action of rotating blades passing over a stationary knife) if you have a small lawn.

3. Choose a gas- or electric-powered rotary mower (cuts with a circular blade that rotates under a protective housing) if you have a large lawn made of grasses such as bluegrass and fescue that don't need to be cut shorter than 2 inches high.

4. Choose a mulching mower if you don't want to deal with clippings. Mulching mowers cut clippings very small so that they disappear into the lawn.

5. Choose a gas-powered reel mower if you have a large lawn made of grasses such as Bermuda or bent grass that need to be cut shorter than 2 inches high.

6. Select a self-propelled mower if you have a hilly yard or a large lawn.

7. Choose a riding lawn mower if you have a really big lawn.

Tips:
Rotary mowers are by far the most popular type of lawn mower. They're lightweight, and you can sharpen the blades yourself. Reel mowers must be taken to a lawn mower shop for sharpening.

Electric mowers are environmentally friendly and increasing in popularity. Rechargeable types eliminate the need for dragging a cord around. (Cordless mowers now have batteries that allow you to mow up to 1/3 acre.) Be ready to mow more often though; these mowers aren't made for deep cutting.

Warnings:
Consider safety features carefully. Many people are injured mowing lawns. Choose a power mower with a blade shut-off switch and a dead-man switch.

Cutting Size

The size of your lawn will determine the cutting width you need in a mower.

• Less than 1/2 acre — If your lawn is in this range, choose a 20"-22" mower.
  
  
• 1/2 to 3/4 acre — For this size range, choose a 21"-22" mower with higher horsepower.
  
  
• More than 3/4 acre — If your lawn falls into this group, consider a lawn or garden tractor. Check out Selecting a Lawn or Garden Tractor .

Type of Terrain

For hills, use a self-propelled lawn mower. For rough terrain, a high wheel mower provides easy maneuverability. For mowing around a lot of obstacles, a rear bagger allows greater maneuverability for faster, easier work.

Push or Self-propelled

Push mowers are a fine choice if you want or need a little exercise while you mow. However, if you have a larger yard (more than 10,000 sq. ft.), rough terrain, health concerns or are worried about being out in the sun too long, you should consider getting a self-propelled lawn mower, which takes a lot of the effort out of mowing.

Mower Terms

Here are some terms you'll find when you start looking at features:

• Mulching — cuts grass clippings into fine pieces that can help fertilize your lawn. No bagging of clippings is required.
  
  
• Rear Bagger — collects clippings for an immaculate lawn. A rear bag is preferable to a side bag for use around fences, trees and other obstacles.
  
  
• Side Discharge — clippings are dispersed back onto the lawn. Use if you have few obstacles to deal with or to cut high grass.
  
  
• Convertible or 3-In-1 — can be converted from side discharge to rear bagger. A 3-in-1 lawn mower is capable of performing mulching, bagging and side discharge functions.
  
  
• Assembled in Carton — just add gasoline, oil and start. (Models with bag and/or high wheels may require minimal assembly.)

Engine Terms

You might notice these engine features:

• Overhead Valve Design — provides a cooler, cleaner, more efficient engine offering longer valve life and improved fuel economy.
  
  
• Dual-Clean™ Air Filter — doubles the protection for extended engine life.
  
  
• Compact V-Twin Design — reduces vibration for smoother, balanced operation.
  
  
• Cast-Iron Cylinder Sleeves — withstand wear and abuse while providing improved oil control.
  
  
• Full Pressure Lube With Spin-On Oil Filter — creates maximal lubrication, increasing engine life.

Industrial/Commercial Engine (I/C)

The Briggs & Stratton I/C engine features the cast iron cylinder sleeve that withstands wear while providing better oil control and extending the life of the engine. The I/C engine also has a dual air cleaner system consisting of an automotive paper cartridge plus a foam pre-cleaner. This combination ensures maximum protection. Finally, the I/C is equipped with special heavy-duty long life valves .

Other Options

Alternatives to gasoline-powered engines are available. Electrically-powered mowers have improved greatly over the years. Corded and cordless models offer a choice for the consumer.

Corded models work well in smaller-sized areas, where handling a cord is not a concern (an outdoor outlet helps). The plus is that the power supply is constant. They're lightweight, quiet and practically maintenance-free.

Battery operated cordless mowers are powered by rechargeable batteries. Measure your lawn's square footage before you go shopping. Yards larger than 10,000 sq. ft. may need a gas-powered mower. The battery run time is important when buying a battery operated mower. Run time depends on terrain and the type of grass in the lawn. Estimate a 36-volt mower to run up to 90 minutes with a full charge on a flat yard. Remember that higher voltage mowers have more batteries, adding to overall weight.

The manually operated reel mower is also an alternative. They work on most type grasses, provided the grass doesn't get too tall. Most units have five blades and adjustable heights. The cutting action is similar to scissors. You may have to mow a little more often to maintain a close cut, but when kept lubricated and sharp, the reel mower is a quiet, lightweight and efficient tool.

Kinds Of Lawn Mowers

Lawn Mowers

Whether you are looking for that perfect Wimbledon finish or just a clean and tidy area of lawn for the children to play on choosing the right lawn mower is critical to making this happen with the minimum of effort. Your first major decision should be whether to opt for a petrol or electric mower as this will largely govern what range you have before you. That said there is a third alternative in the form of a battery powered mower. It is just that in their current stage of evolution they can not match the performance of their powered, electrical or petrol, cousins. The one exception is perhaps the robot mower but more of this later.

Electric Lawnmowers or Petrol lawnmowers

Electric lawnmowers available in a wide range of guises and are typically cheaper quieter and easier to lift around and store than petrol powered lawn mowers. The chief downside is the cable or flex attached to them. Length of flex varies from 10 to 15 metres typically, this of course this can always be boosted by an extension cable. It is the operation that you need to have a hard look at your gardening style and layout of garden. If your garden is huge, 130 square metres plus, or remote from any power outlet then look to petrol. Likewise if it has a very complex design with multiple pots, trees, ornaments and such then you may be wise to thing again about electric before you destroy the whole lot in a bout of knitting. If however you have a smaller simpler garden then an electric mower may be advised if the thought of maintenance leaves you cold. Are you likely to run over your own flex in a moment of absent mindedness. This can be dangerous so answer truthfully.

With a view to making this decision have a look at the below table which shows your lawnmower type options for both

Cylinder Mowers

These represent the crème de la crème of mowers but as such are not really suitable for anything except perfect lawns that are going to have a good deal of attention paid to them. Cylinder mowers is in reference to their cutting action. A rotating cylinder of blades skim a central long cutting blade giving providing an action that is more akin to a pair of scissors. This ensures that each blade of grass is cut to the same length

In operation the cylinder mower will be easy and smooth but a central feature of these mowers is the integral roller. This makes it heavy so if your storage place requires lifting it up a flight of steps then think again. The roller however is one of the key elements of this lawnmower. It carefully aligns each freshly cut blade of grass in the same direction. When this is couple to a mowing action where you walk backwards and forwards across your lawn you will achieve the famous striped pattern that adorns the finest lawns and sports pitches. It is worth noting thought that the purchase of a cylinder mower will not on it's own provide you with said bowling green finish. Such immaculate lawn surfaces are the result of painstaking ongoing treatment that involves flattening, feeding, levelling and the like.

Ride on Mowers

Obviously the first choice of any toy obsessed bloke in fact any bloke full stop and they really are that fun. Ride on mowers start to make sense if your lawn exceeds to more than 1300 square meters. Before taking the not so inconsiderable plunge some other factors need to be examined.

Security is a major factor for these items as they often go into four figure prices and have a ready re sale market. And we all thought secure off street parking was the preserve of cars

Secondly is the layout of the garden. Ride on mowers are at their best when cutting long strips from a fairly uniform lawn. Even thought the current models available today have amazingly small turning circles for their size they will not be suited to an intricate or complex and planting ridden lawn. That said uniform flower boarders that would seem to present a ‘tightrope' like riding challenge are easily dispatched with an off set cutting platform. This is where the cutting area below the tractor is offset and extends out beyond the wheels to one side. You can cut boarders without going to close. Also worth noting is the camber or gradient that each machine is safe working on if you are a hill dweller.

Finally view these machines as small tractors and makes it clearer the sort of maintenance schedule that you will be looking at. If this will really spoil your enjoyment of a ride on mower or you simply wont do it then better look elsewhere.

If however you are competitive by nature then stuff the lawn and race the lawnmower http://www.floridalawnracing.com/

Rotary Mower

Usually the choice of the gardener who occasionally has to cope with sections of overgrown lawn as these mowers take long and rough grass in their stride. The finish is not on a par with cylinder mowers but with the addition of a rear roller can achieve the desirable striped effect.

The cutting action of rotary mowers comes courtesy of s spinning blade. The larger petrol mowers normally employ metal blades with some of the smaller electric rotary mowers using plastic blades or lengths of nylon line. Plastic cutting edges have the advantage of not being as damaging should you accidentally mow something you shouldn't, a power cable perhaps, but do break annoyingly frequently if you should come into contact with stones or twigs. Have a look at the general makeup of your lawn and if it has the likely hood of providing ‘foreign object damage' then opt for the more substantial metal blade

The key issue regarding rotary mowers is that the gardener provides all the the drive so you have to push the thing round. No hover mower like cushioned ride to help you out. If you opt for a petrol and metal blade combination the rotary mover can become quite a weighty item.

Steering the rotary mower has become easier of late with either the front two wheels or in some cases all for wheels swivelling to provide greater manoeuvrability. This is a great advantage if you are faced with a complex lawn layout with multiple boarders to negotiate.

Hover Mowers

Similar in nature to a rotary mower the hover mower has the addition of a powerful fan mounted above the spinning blade. This in addition to the cowling cover for the blade produced a cushion of air that the entire mower floats on. Such floating properties negate the need for wheels. That said some now come with wheels at the front to aid moving the mower around when not in use. Hovering a set amount of distance from the ground is good for tackling undulations in a lawn where other mowers may chop into the earth. It is worth noting though that hover mowers do not like short harsh bumps as they tend to break the air cushion leaving you to drag the mower over them something that reminds you of the lack of wheels

The blade arrangement is similar again to rotary mowers in that the choice extends from metal through detachable plastic to Nylon cord. The same guidelines apply

A recent development to hover mowers is a grass collecting box that features on some models. This reduces rather than negates the need to rake up the grass cuttings as they do miss bits as they are flung out of the back. Much more convenient but in a strange way less satisfying as you no longer see those even lines of fresh cut grass trailing in your wake.

Robot mower

Finally an alternative to pushing the mower around has arrived. Imagine the sense of well-being as this lawnmower trundles past on it's automatic way so quiet it barely sends a vibration through the cold beer that sits besides you. It is programmable too so it can run happily while you are out for the day or even at night.

So what is the concept? Basically it is a rotary mower in operation but powered by two onboard battery packs. These are good to keep the mower going while it cuts lawns up to 1500 m2 (16,000 ft2) Well the biggest one in the range does. An onboard processor drives the robot lawnmower and it cuts in a complex triangular pattern to achieve and even finish.

What about the obvious drawbacks that one imagines such as the machine running amok over your herbatious borders and children's paddling pool before badly wounding your sleeping dog and making off down the street. Well this all seems to have been taken care of thanks to a combination of ultra sensitive bumper sensors and a perimeter wire. The former surround the mover and cause it to do an about turn should it come into contact with a discarded something or newly positioned pot. The perimeter wire is laid down around the lawn area and pinned down to be over time hidden. A small electrical current is passed along it that sets the mowers its hunting ground. Fantastic as it makes it virtually impossible for your neighbour to borrow it

Good for all lawns? Well the robot mower will not tackle the really tough long grass or steep inclines and it does take longer to achieve a lawn cut than a traditional mower. It also takes 8hrs to recharge should you have forgotten to prepare it.

A couple of useful extra features that the robot mower has is a programmable setting so that it can mow at a certain time each week. One of the models even has a docking station so the recharge is automatic. Secondly is a feature that mulches the cut grass and scatters it on the lawn to decompose. This is doubly useful as it preserves certain key nutrients and also dispenses with the need to empty grass cuttings.

Features of A Gas- Or Electric-Powered Lawn Mower

Take a stroll through any home center or equipment dealer and you'll see lots of lawn mowers that look almost exactly alike. Sure, they might be different colors and have some cool decals on them, but they'll all be powered by identical engines and offer similar features.

Let's take a look at some of these lawn mower features and determine why they might be important to you:

• Mulch capability - Most lawn mowers can mulch, but the more expensive mowers can recycle the clippings back into the turf more efficiently and leave less evidence, such as clumps of grass or an uneven cut. Look for lawn mowers that come with advanced cutting decks with special blades and mulch fans.
  
• Self-propelled - You probably don't want to have to push a lawn mower around if you don't have to. Self-propelled mowers come in two varieties: front and rear drive.
  
  Front-drive is easy to maneuver. Simply lift the front end of the mower slightly and turn. Rear-drive is useful if you use a rear-bagger and want to ensure good traction on hills. Rear-drive is also less likely to damage your lawn. Whether front or rear drive, choose a mower that will allow you to set your own comfortable walking pace.
  
• Rear bagging - Rear bags come in handy in the spring and fall when you need to collect leaves, twigs, and yard debris. Rear bags are much easier to attach and remove than side mounted bags, and they usually hold a lot more.
  
• Easily adjustable cutting height - Many people fail to vary their mower's cutting height according to the season. For most parts of the US, it's best to begin low in the spring and then gradually raise the height of the lawn mower as the weather warms up.
  
  The easier it is to adjust the cutting height, the more likely you will be to do it. Choose a mower with clearly marked settings so you won't have to guess what cutting height you're using.

Most quality lawn mowers come with these features.

These excellent lawn mowers have a unique trim edge and wheel design that allows closer access to landscaping obstacles, such as trees and fences. The advantage is that you'll get neat trimming and precise edging without ever having to use your string trimmer.

What really makes a lawn mower a cut is its commercial grade, 6.5 horsepower two-cycle engine. Two-cycle engines are unique because they use a mixture of oil and gas and have fewer moving parts than a standard four-cycle engine.

And two-cycle engines are constantly being lubricated by a steady stream of fresh oil, which makes it more powerful and durable than a comparable four-cycle engine.

Most four-cycle engines need regular oil changes and tune-ups, and will end up on the scrap heap without regular maintenance.

How to Buy a Lawn Mower?

Weekly chore or blissful escape? Maybe it depends on what's going on in your house while you mow the lawn. Which mower you choose depends on lawn size and type, budget and the features you need.

Steps:
1. Choose between two basic mower types: rotary and reel. Reel mowers cut with spinning blades passing over a fixed blade. Rotary mowers cut with a circulating blade underneath a sturdy housing of metal, plastic or fiberglass. Both types are available in gasoline or electric models.

2. Consider a manual reel mower for a lawn that is 1,000 square feet (100 square m) or less and is a soft-bladed type (not Bermuda or Saint Augustine)--or because you enjoy the exercise.

3. If you want a power mower, decide if you want a reel or rotary type. Reel mowers can cut the grass shorter (down to putting green height) and give a nice clean look. Rotary types are generally less expensive, easy to operate and to sharpen.

4. Choose between gas and electric. Gas mowers pollute and are noisy. With quieter, electric mowers, find out if the cord length, typically 100 feet (30 m), is long enough for your lawn. For cordless models, check to see how long the battery is good for-- you'll want it to last through one mowing at least.

5. Choose between push or self-propelled (motor turns wheels, good for slopes) mowers. Front-propelled types are easy to operate. For a very large lawn, hop on board a riding mower that cuts a wider swath, or a lawn tractor.

6. Select a mulching mower and you won't be left with bags of clippings. It cuts the grass into small pieces, then blows them back down into the lawn, where they turn into fertile compost.

7. Keep these considerations in mind: Is the mower too heavy for you? Is it maneuverable enough, especially if you mow around trees? How easy is it to raise or lower the cutting height? How easy to start the motor? Is there a blade shut-off switch? Where do you put your iced-tea?


Overall Tips:
Collect grass clippings, discharge them to the side, or leave them on the lawn-- these are the options different mowers offer.

Check with your city for rebates on electric mowers that may be available with gas-mower trade-ins.

With manual reel mowers, remember to keep blades sharp, which is best done professionally.


What to look for:
Reel or rotary mower
Hand or power operated
Cutting swath