Want to make your lawn look great without spending a lot of money? Consumer Reports’ experts cut 500,000 square feet of grass to find the best mowers.
All that cutting means they have a lot of lawn care tips that will save you money, no matter how you cut it.
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Every winter, Consumer Reports sets up shop in Florida: testing dozens of mowers and tractors before the spring mowing season officially begins.
“We go down to Florida in January and February so we can test the mowers ahead of time before the mowing season starts,” Consumer Reports test engineer Dave Treza.
The testing site covers more than 5 acres of grassy land with obstacles such as hills and trees, and provides enough space for CR’s mower testing team to assess how evenly each mower cuts, how it handles, and its mulching and bagging performance.
The biggest takeaway from the test field: maintaining your mower saves you money.
“Most mowers will give you a decent cut, but of course you have to remember to sharpen the blade in the spring, keep your deck clean,” said Trezza.
How you mow can also help you save: mulching your grass instead of bagging it supplies the lawn with extra nutrients, which means less money on fertilizer.
“When you’re mulching with your lawnmower, you want one that obviously doesn’t leave any clumps behind, cuts evenly,” said Trezza. “This is a really good example right here. You can see it’s nice and even and there’s no clumping left behind.”
If you’re shopping for a new mower, a self-propelled mower is helpful if you have a sloped or larger lawn. You can keep costs down by choosing a gasoline-powered model like this Yardmax. It cuts and mulches as well as mowers that cost hundreds more in CR’s tests.
You can save even more if you do the pushing. This battery-powered push mower from Ryobi delivers an even cut and is an excellent choice for mulching.
Compared to gasoline mowers, battery mowers require little to no maintenance and offer a quieter mowing experience.