Find the best mower for your lawn!
Welcome at Top5LawnMowers.com
Save your time and money!
We’ve tested the best lawn mowers for your yard. Read our test reviews, make your own comparison chart or select a mower from our TOP 5 Pre-selection. Price Comparison included!
In-depth Reviews
Every lawn mower on this website is tested and reviewed by us. Discover all the Ins & Outs of a mower before you buy! Check out our in-depth reviews!
Add to Compare
Like a mower? Click at the "add to compare" button in our Top Review Section and make your own comparison chart. This is the best way to compare different mowers and their features!
Price Comparison
Find the cheapest mowers online and compare prices ! We work in affiliation with Amazon, Ebay, Walmart, Tractor Supply, Acme Tools, etc. to offer you the best prices!
TOP 5 Mowers
Discover the best of the best! To make your buying decision easier, we’ve made special TOP 5 Selections for each category. Make sure to check them out!
A-Z Guide to the Best Lawn Mower Reviews
Welcome at Top5lawnmowers.com, the ultimate website for the best lawn mower reviews. When you decide it is time to purchase a new lawn mower, you obviously want to know what is the best lawn mower for you to buy. Well, to help you in your buying decision, we make detailed reviews and to save you time we show you the best results in a TOP 5.
We love lawn mowers and we love doing research, so we combined both for your benefit. This way you don’t have to spend a lot of time going from one lawn mower review site to another. Why would you? You find the best walk behind lawn mower and top rated riding lawn mowers right here! At the end, time is money, right?
Now we are going to do business. The perfect lawn depends on the right mower. We think you will agree on that one. But, how to determine what lawn mower is the best? We certainly do not want you to pick a machine which isn´t suitable for your lawn, so to help you to decide which type of mower would suite your lawn best, please take a look at the table below at the right.
As you can see below in the green table, the correct type of machine depends heavily on the type of lawn you have. Once you have chosen the type of lawn mower that fits the size of your yard, let us have a closer look at the different lawn mower types and their pros and cons. Last but not least, check out our Buyer´s Guide at the end of the page to make sure you have all the information you need.
What Lawn Mower Suits Your Lawn?
| Up To ¼ Acre | Up To 1/3 Acre | Up To ½ Acre | 1 Acre And Up | Flat Terrain | Uneven terrain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reel Mower | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Electric Mower | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Gas Push Mower | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Gas Push Mower with high rear wheels | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Self Propelled Push Mower | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Walk Behind Commercial Mower | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Lawn Tractor | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Zero Turn Mower | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
What Lawn Mower Do you Need?
Some general tips for knowing what lawn mower you need. Notice we said ‘need’, not want. We all want the biggest, baddest mowing machine we can afford. But a little self control will be a good thing in this case. Especially for your wallet!
If you have a few super steep slopes to mow and your lawn is fairly small, a self propelled push mower or gas powered mower may be best. A riding mower is not very safe on these type slopes and could also damage your turf with sliding tires.
If you have a tiny flat lawn, somewhere in the range of less than 1/4 of an acre, then an electric mower or a reel mower will do the trick. It is a little better for the environment and to be blunt, it sucks to go to the gas pump. There are electric options that have a cord of course, but rechargeable batteries are also available. Don’t let your grass get out of hand though, as you do lose horsepower with this type machine.
If you have a larger property, then a riding mower is more your speed. You do not want to be walking behind a mower for hours each week. If that is a goal for you, then please seek some therapy. Lawn tractors, big walk behind commercial mowers, and zero turn mowers will be a good fit for you on these bigger lawns.
A good mower starts with the right decision,
Happy Mowing!
The Best Lawn Mowers
BUYER´S GUIDE
Self Propulsion
To go with propulsion or push, is actually a simple decision to make. If you don’t want to push a mower around regardless of your lawn size, best to opt for self-propelled mowers. And if you have raised terrain, no-push mowers are your only choice. With flat even terrain, it depends on whether you have a large lawn or not and it’s a yes for the former.
Grass Handling
Reel mowers will struggle with tougher strains of grass and lawns that have grown unmanaged for more than three weeks. Gas and electric mowers with sufficient power will eat through almost any grass type and regardless of the height (unless it’s the Savannah you wish to mow). Quite naturally, it is the power and deck size that together determine the ability of a mower to cut. Greater the torque and larger the blades, better the cut quality.
Deck Size
First of all, the deck size varies depending on the type of mower. Reel mowers usually have decks smaller than 20 inch. Petrol and electric (both push and self-propelled) mowers tend to have around 12 to 23 inch decks. Riding mowers have the largest up to 66 inch! Moreover, choosing the right deck size also depends on how large your lawn actually is.
Reel Mowers are ideal for lawns smaller than 1/4th If you have a large property, keeping a reel mower in your shed helps you micro manage the yard without having to always take out the more powerful and heavy mower.
Petrol and Electric Mowers are suitable for lawn up to half acre. If you have a bumpy lawn or even a gradual inclination, go for self-propelled mowers with larger decks.
Riding mowers such as ZTR and tractor mowers are for properties with wide expansive greens. Naturally, deck size is inconsequential when choosing riding mowers since they all have massive decks.
Maintenance
Gas mowers will need more routine maintenance year round. If it is a pull-start unit, you must ensure it runs regularly. With electric-start mowers, the battery needs to be charged/replaced periodically. You also have to prepare the mower for winters if the temperature reaches zero. This is a delicate task and then nudging it back to life in spring needs refueling, adding oil, greasing the joints and such. Moreover, gas mowers have many more moving components and are naturally more prone to damage.
On the other hand, electric mowers rely on fewer moving components and do not need winterization. Typically the only two assured maintenance necessity with electric mowers is periodic replacement of the batteries and occasional greasing of the joints.
Self-propelled mowers, riding mowers need a bit more maintenance so the cost of running them is higher than the rest. Reel mowers though are the cheapest since you only need to sharpen the blades once in a while. Do remember that all mowers need blade sharpening and an eventual replacement.
Power Source
You have the choice between gas and electric. It’s easy choosing gas since that’s what we all are used to. Thankfully, technology has progressed enough to make electric mowers just as reliable and almost equally powerful as gas mowers. The only question here is whether you want lots of torque and power or you are comfortable having a longer lifespan with balanced performance and zero winterization.
Remember, electric mowers do not have to be prepared for winter, they can be left sitting in the shed for months without dying on you, but need annual battery replacement and the occasional motor component repair. More info on batteries you can read here. Gas mowers on the other hand are immensely powerful but need to be winterized, used regularly and require periodic maintenance.
Pricing
It isn’t just about the cost of purchasing a mower but also the total cost of keeping it in perfect working order. Usually reel mowers are the cheapest followed by gas and electric mowers. Then comes self-propelled mowers and finally riding mowers, which are nearly as costly as full-fledged tractors.
Our advice? Do not entirely base your choice on the price although it is always good to start off with a specific budget in mind. Just be a little flexible with the price when you begin researching so you can look at models and brands that fall just outside your budget. Last, but not least: make sure you read a few lawn mower reviews to know the performance, motor power, cut quality and other mower issues of you new lawn mower before buying!
The best way to know which mower is best for you is to talk to friends and family about their machines. Advice from some older folks is even better as they have likely had several mowers and possibly a few different properties to care for over the years. Find out what has worked for them and which type mower left a bad taste in their mouth.
Another idea is just to stop by some of those landscape companies you pass on your daily commute. These guys know their stuff since they use it on a daily basis. You may not need a monster mower like they may be using, but they can point you in the right direction. You can also read some of my lawn mower reviews on walk behind or riding mowers.
