Our lawns always look better after a trim, running the lawn mower over it first thing on a Saturday morning just tidies everything up and gets our gardens looking just right for a weekend of relaxing.
We don’t want to be stressed or dreading the mowing as it should be an enjoyable job with instant gratification.
If you are in the market for a new lawn mower, you want to make sure that you are getting right mower for the job.
It can be really easy to fall into common traps and spend money where it isn’t required or under spend and buy a mower that isn’t fit for your situation.
Here we help you ask the right questions to help you buy a mower that’s worth the money.
Choosing The Right Power
It is widely accepted that there are three types of lawn mower on the market:
- Petrol
- Corded
- Cordless (battery powered)
Corded and cordless mowers come under the electrical mowers bracket and both do fantastic jobs, but if you want something with more power, then you would look for a petrol mower.
Petrol mowers tend to have more grunt and power than its electrical brothers and sisters, but this also comes with the downside of needing a bit more TLC through the winter periods, as your mower won’t be used so it must be serviced to keep it lasting year after year.
Choosing the correct powered mower for you and your garden is one of the first things you should consider, and it entirely depends on your circumstances.
All of the models have their low end and high-end products but in reality, there is very little difference between the two levels.
The main thing to assess to make sure you are getting value for money is the power output; there is no point in spending top dollar if the power output is lower than the base model. I also found the Tools Diary website the other day when doing some research, and that had a good selection of options to choose mowers.
Garden Size and Terrain Considerations
Your mower must be the right mower for you and also be the correct mower for your garden size.
Having a push mower to get up and close to boarders and lawn edges is great but if you have a large garden or paddock it’s going to take a long time to push the mower over such a large area.
If you consider yourself to have a large garden or paddock with difficult terrain, then you will want to look at a ride on lawn mower.
These are often the higher end of the budget, but they can restrict how much mowing you can do as they are harder to manoeuvre. Make sure you look to purchase one that has a small turning circle.
If you have a small garden, then a battery powered or corded lawn mower maybe perfect for you. Obviously, battery powered mowers aren’t as powerful as its corded partners but they are more manoeuvrable and you don’t need to worry about running over the electric cable with the mower.
However, batteries can be expensive to replace, so you want to make sure the mower comes with the latest battery technology.
A small to medium sized garden with rough terrain you would probably look for a petrol push mower but look for one with large wheels and adjustable blade height so it can be pushed over lumps and bumps without cutting chunks out of your precious lawn.
You will also want to make sure that it has a reasonable sized cutting deck, otherwise you will be walking your mower up and down so frequently you’ll get sick of mowing.
Features
Mowing lawns is a very basic gardening chore, so it is easy to get bogged down in additional features that they tell you will make your life easier.
More often than not this isn’t the case and makes mowing more difficult. To get the best out of your mower and to get true value for money you want to make sure that it is really good at what it does and that’s mow.
Any more features than that, you may find that it doesn’t work very well or could be costly to repair.
Final Thoughts
Purchasing a lawn mower can be a big investment and it can be hard trying to work out which one will give you the most value for your money.
You want to make sure that your mower will perform in your garden, you don’t want to buy something that is either too big or too small otherwise you’ll stop mowing it all together through frustration.
A mower should be good at being a mower, don’t focus too much on additional features as this will detract on its cutting capability.
Always consider what type of land you have, if you have a large garden, a corded mower may not be for you, but if you have a small garden this option may well be ideal.
Buying a mower that is worth the money may seem like a difficult task, but as along as you understand the needs of your lawn, you will end up with a good product.
