How to Choose a Lawn Mower That's Right For You

For those of you who are in the market for a new lawn mower, make sure you do your research. If you have already been using a lawn mower, then you probably have a good idea of what you like. However, if you are a new homeowner and this is your first experience with grass cutting and lawn mowers, then you really want to get some information before you make a purchase. I made the mistake of rushing into buying one and got stuck with an expensive model that I hated because it wasn't suited for my yard.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. The first step is to figure out your budget. How much money do you have available to purchase a new lawn mower? This can really help to narrow your results.
2. The next important thing to consider is what size lawn mower should you get? What type of yard do you have? Do you have a lot of steep slopes or hills in your yard? If you do then you really need to take this into consideration. If you aren't very strong, then be careful what size lawn mower you purchase because you might really struggle with it when pushing it up hills or out of ditches. This can be really dangerous.
3. Now that you have a price range and size in mind you can start to narrow your search further by selecting different features. Do you want a self-propelled or manual push lawn mower? I vote for self-propelled of course. Why do all of that extra work? Unless you have a small and flat yard, it is worth the extra money for the convenience of this feature. If you decide to take that route, then you might run into the choice of front and rear wheel drive. This is where I made my biggest mistake. The salesperson talked me into front wheel drive and convinced me that it was better. The problem with this is that when you are pushing a lawn mower up a hill, the weight is dispersed to the back. As a result the wheels will sometimes spin and you have to push up on the handle to try to redistribute the weight to the front of the lawn mower. This is especially frustrating when you are going up a hill and you manage to get a wheel stuck in a hole. This is very dangerous because you could easily fall and lose control of the lawn mower.
4. Another feature that I have found to be a lifesaver is the mulching capability. What this means is that the lawn mower chops the grass up into small pieces and disperses it evenly into your yard. This saves you the back-breaking hassle of bagging the grass and then transferring it to garbage bags.
5. Finally, you should decide if you want a regular pull-start or a key-start lawn mower? I personally had great difficulty with my father's old lawn mower and could not get it started on my own. When I bought my own lawn mower, I paid extra for a keystart. I've had it for five years now and have never needed it. A newer lawn mower is easy to start. I'm only 5'6" and 125 pounds so I'm not made of muscle!! You could probably get away with a pull start unless you are shorter than me.
6. Now that you have an idea of what you want, check out different lawn mowers online. With gas prices today I wouldn't recommend going store to store for price comparisions. Three reputable places to try are Home Depot, Lowes, and Sears. Try to narrow it down to two stores and only 2-3 lawn mower models. Go to the stores and get additional feedback from the salerperson about each lawn mower. There may be other features that appeal to you in addition to these.

Tips & Warnings

• Wear gardening or work gloves to keep from getting blisters while using a lawn mower.
• Never lower a lawn mower down a hill with a rope. You could easily lose control of the mower.
• Never mow the grass when it is wet. You could easily slip.
• Always drink water if you are cutting the grass on a hot day. You could faint from heat exhaustion and injure yourself or others.
• Keep children and pets away from the area when the lawn mower is in use.