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What Type of Lawn Mower is Best For Your Yard?

Oct. 11 2021 Buying Guide By Burrows Tractor

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From professional landscaping on massive commercial properties to yard work perfectionists trying to get the perfect trim, lawn mowers are useful tools. Unfortunately, there are so many shapes, sizes, and types of mower that buying one can be overwhelming! We here at Burrows Tractor want to help you get the tools you need, so we’ve put together some tips on buying the right lawn mower for your yard. To learn more, or to see the lawn mowers we have for sale, contact our stores throughout Oregon and Washington, today!

Evaluate Your Yard

First, look at your yard and ask yourself a few questions, like:

  • How big is the yard?
  • How thick is the grass?
  • Will I only mow over grass, or will I be okay with mowing over debris like sticks and leaves?
  • Are there slopes or hills? How steep?
  • Are there obstacles to mow around, like trees or rocks?
  • Where do I want the grass clippings to go?

Small Yards With No Debris or Slopes but Plenty of Obstacles

For yards a quarter of an acre or smaller, all you really need is a push mower. These machines are the most affordable and fuel-efficient kind, relying on you for any movement. They’re also the smallest type of mower, making them perfect for navigating around obstacles. Unfortunately, they aren’t compatible with many attachments.

Medium Yards With Thick Grass and Slight Slopes

Yards between a quarter of an acre and a half acre in area might be better with a self-propelled mower. These are small and maneuverable like push mowers, though they’re slightly larger and more pricey. The big selling point is in the name—they push themselves! This helps a lot with larger private yards and small commercial lawns, and self-propelled models can handle a few more attachments to boot.

Large Yards With Thick Grass and Hills

If your property is a half acre or larger and you have some serious inclines to deal with, you’re going to want a riding mower. These are pretty expensive compared to push mowers, but you sit and steer them rather than pushing and turning them manually. They can hit speeds of up to 10 miles per hour, which is pretty fast for a yard tool, and are compatible with most attachments.

Huge Yards With the Thickest Grass and Plenty of Obstacles

The cream of the crop in the lawn mower world is the zero-turn type. These are perfect for the largest lawns with the most obstacles or odd shapes. With a top speed of 13 miles per hour and, most importantly, the ability to turn on a dime, zero-turn mowers can mow large properties and navigate any shape and obstacle in no time flat. Just be careful with these on hills, since the zero-turn aspect makes them a bit unstable on inclines.

Ready to get started? Contact us at Burrows Tractor for more information, or to see our selection of lawn mowers. We proudly serve Oregon and Washington—let us serve you today!