Lawn Mower Buying Guide
Thinking of buying a new lawn mower ? Here are a few top tips that customers should consider when they are trying to narrow down their choices.
The choice of lawn mowers is vast, push, self propelled, cut & collect, mulch, side discharge, rear roller, 4 wheels etc. What we do here is stock machines that we would buy ourselves. It's a bit like the method the retailer John Lewis adopt when they are deciding which products to stock. They perform a series of tests etc. on the products and only those that pass and meet their criteria make the shop floor. We adopt the same strategy here - only the machines we recommend are stocked.
What you should consider :-
- How big an area have you got to cut. It's sometimes difficult for people estimate the size of their gardens in terms of m² or acres etc. What we suggest is that you compare it to a size of a tennis court. This makes it a little easier to visualise / estimate. Once we have established this we can advise on the best size of lawn mower.
- Electric corded & Lithium-ion battery machines range from 12" to 18". Petrol machines range from 16" to 21".
- Push or self-propelled. Is the area to cut sloped - then self propelled is beneficial. Large areas will also benefit from the machine being self propelled. Ordinarily the cost difference between push & self propelled within the same model range is around £100.00.
- Do you want to cut & collect, mulch, cut & drop ? You can get machines that are designated to the variuos forms of cutting or for more flexibility there are models that are called 4:1 machines. These do as the name suggests, they cut & collect, mulch, cut & side discharge or cut & rear discharge. By far and away the most popular form of cutting is to simply cut & collect. Cutting & discharging either side or rear sometimes leaves the garden looking a little messy and the grass tends to get dragged through the house etc. And mulching well.....
- To mulch or not to mulch - that is the question. There is no doubt that when done properly mulching is a very good way to both cut & feed nutriants to the grass. So how is it done properly. Unlike conventional mowers which collect grass clippings, mulching lawnmowers operate a system which recycles the clippings as you mow. Mulching lawnmowers chop the grass clippings into fine particles then push the particles right down into the turf out of sight. There are no grass bags or collectors to empty - no trips to the compost heap or tip. The result is a perfect lawn finish that’s 30% quicker. When grass clippings decompose, they return valuable nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil. Lawn mulching improves the texture and content of the soil, thus reducing diseases and thatch, resulting in a fuller, healthier looking lawn. Ideally you need to cut twice a week & the grass must be short & dry. People often think they are mulching when they are purely cutting and dropping the grass to lay on the surface.
- 4 wheeled or rear roller. We have all seen photos of perfectly manicured, striped football pithces. This is achieved by a rear roller. The rear roller pushes the grass sward in the direction travel - therefore cutting in opposite directions creates the perfect striped effect -it really is that easy. If you don't want stripes then it's a 4 wheeled machine for you.
- Price - well where do you want to be. Small electric machines start at around £80 through to the premium Honda HRH coming in at £1,679. But you don't have to spend massive money to get a good quality machine.
- Quick-fire top picks ! Electric - Viking ME235 or Mountfield Princess 38. Lithium-ion - Mountfield Princess 38LI or EGO LM2001E. 16" Petrol - Cobra M40B/SPB or Honda Izy HRG416 PK/SK. 18" Petrol - Viking MB248/248T or Honda Izy HRG466 PK/SK. 21" Petrol - Mountfield SP555 or Honda Izy HRG536 VK. Petrol Rear roller - 18" Mountfield SP465R or 19" Honda HRX476QXE.
- Quick fire Premium Machines. 4 wheeled Honda HRX426SXE, HRX476/537 HYE or HRH536HX. Rear roller - Honda HRX426/476 QXE, HRD536QX or HRH536QX.
Of course there is no substitute for seeing these machines in the flesh. You can then compare & contrast them against each other. So why not call into the showroom and see for your self. We see it all too often, customers have bought off the internet blind and the machine that turns up is not what they expected and does not do the job that they wanted. Avoid wasting time and money, just give us a call or pop in and see us.
Don't forget - There is no substitute for expert, professional, impartial advice. And at Celtic Mowers it's completely free ! 
