Buying Your First Lawn Mower? Here Are the Things You Should Watch For

Everyone loves the look of a beautifully mowed lawn. The aesthetic appeal and the overall neatness of a manicured lawn will always enhance a home’s appeal.

The credit for all of this goes to the lawn mower. As overlooked as it may be as perhaps gardening, its importance is not something to be underestimated.

If you are searching for a lawn mower to purchase for the first time, below are five points worth considering:

1. Requirements

One of the very first things to consider are the requirements needed for mowing the lawn. Depending on this criterion alone, you will be halfway there in purchasing the right lawn mower.

To begin with, you will need to look at how you plan on using it. The kind of lawn mower you need for everyday domestic use is completely different from the ones which are used for commercial purposes.

For most domestic applications, it is very likely that you can do with a manual reel mower compared to an automatic one.

This is especially true if you are dealing with small lawns.

In case you happen to be dealing with vast lawns such as those on estates or are planning to use the mowers for commercial lawns, you can go for an automatic one. This should help in saving both effort and time while getting the job done.

2. Fuel Consumption & Efficiency

This isn’t much of a concern if it is a manual lawn mower. As long as you are fueled up for the job, everything will be fine.

But in case you are going for an automatic lawn mower, you will need to pay attention to its fuel economy. In general, lawn mowers can be of two main variants based on the type of energy used; gas and electric.

The first type has been designed to run on gas, more or less similar to an automobile. In fact, many of the internal components in it are based on those that are found in vehicles. And just like in the case of everyday vehicles, there are fuel variants as well with some running on different varieties of fossil fuel like biodiesel, kerosene, or gasoline. These are however rare, largely because diesel is by far the cheapest and the most economical of all fossil fuels.

The second type runs on electricity and has rechargeable batteries which needs to be plugged into an electrical point every once in a while. In addition to this, the batteries will also have to be changed from time to time once they can no longer be recharged.

Regardless of which fuel type you choose, the one thing that must be remembered is the unit cost of the fuel and how much work can be done for every unit of energy. Also called ‘fuel economy’ or ‘fuel efficiency’, this information is easily available at wherever the lawn mower is being sold. In addition to this, the details can also be found on the manufacturer’s website.

3. Ergonomics of Handling

Ergonomics, in simple terms, refers to the ‘ease of handling’. It is the comfort that one gets while operating any item.

Much of this has to do with the human body and its biological structure. There are certain postures which are more comfortable than others when doing any work. Likewise, there are many restrictions that are placed on people due to biological limits of the body such as height, weight, etc.

When it comes to lawn mowers, the first thing that must come in mind with regard to ergonomics is the length of the handle, especially if it’s not the vehicular type. The handle should be long enough to allow for standing like you would usually stand. Any requirement to bend forward to reach the handle should be considered a red flag and a different variant must be selected.

If a riding lawn mower is being selected, the seat and the driver’s cabin being chosen should be as comfortable as it would be in the case of a car or a van. This is something to pay attention to because lawn moving vehicles are sometimes manufactured to be ‘compact’, which can sometimes translate to ‘compromises’ regarding the driver’s cabin.

In addition to this, there are many other concerns as well, like whether an attachment like a leaf vacuum or other additional accessories are needed. The thing to keep in mind is that the lawn mower must be as comfortable to handle regardless of where it is being used.

4. Brand & Make

This is fairly obvious: well-known brands are usually the ones which make the best products on the market. This is usually how they achieved their respective market position in the first place.

At the same time, one must not overlook smaller players since they are more likely than not offer a lot more for less – usually to ‘outcompete’ their rivals.

Also to note here is the ‘make’ or the individual products, which usually have some variations that can make all the difference in the end result.

5. Consumer & Product Reviews

Last but not the least is the consumer and product reviews. There is probably no better way to know about the quality of any product than by the reviews of those who have used it. Doing this is a much safer and surer way of knowing what you are about to buy, rather than simply purchasing it and then regretting the decision.

One must keep in mind however, that there are many companies publishing fake reviews so as to fool consumers into buying substandard products. As long as the review is from a reliable source, you should do fine.

In all, a lawn mower will go a long way in ensuring that you get the job done right, be it for your own home or someone else’s.

As long as you keep these five points in mind, you should do fine when you are out shopping.