By: Consumer Reports Updated 02 Sea 2022, 17 : 000 pm EST
Buying a new and powerful lawnmower is an investment in the exterior beauty of your property. And whether you’re spending hundreds or thousands of dollars, you want to be sure your slicer will perform well every season.
At Consumer Reports, we combine our exclusive and rigorous testing with the predicted reliability ratings we get from our annual member surveys. Below is a complete list of the best and most reliable lawn mowers on the market. gasoline-powered walk-behind lawnmowers and tractor-type lawnmowers (mostly gas-powered models).
Misha Kollontai, the Consumer Reports test engineer who oversees testing of the lawnmowers, says that the choice of the type of machine should be made taking into account the size of your garden. For example, battery-powered walk-behind mowers are a good choice for lawns that are about a quarter of an acre. “They tend to be more reliable in the long run and require less maintenance,” notes Kollontai. “A new battery mower can usually cut about a quarter of an acre on a single charge, with some cutting up to half an acre.”
If the plot is a quarter and a half acre, a gas-powered walk-behind mower is best, Kollontai explains, unless you’re happy to buy extra batteries or use those from another tool.
For gardens larger than a half acre, look for a ride-on lawnmower or ride-on riding mower. “When you want to mow more than a half-acre of grass, a push mower will be inefficient in terms of time spent,” says Kollontai.
How We Test Lawn Mowers and Tractors at Consumer Reports
To conduct ratings and reviews on the latest models in early spring, our testers travel to the Florida for testing in late winter, on land we maintain year-round. There we planted 1,800 pounds of grass seed (mainly annual rye, prized for its dense growth). We cut 500, square feet of grass in three different ways: mulch (leaving the remains of grass on the ground), lateral discharge and bagging (we put together 3, pounds of grass total). We ran the machines over level grass, slopes, and ditches to get a feel for each and every model. We also review comfort features on every machine we review.
Each model’s Overall Score in Consumer Reports’ lawn mower ratings incorporates all of that performance data along with the predicted reliability and owner satisfaction ratings from our member surveys. For these queries, we take into account data from more than 78,000 lawnmowers and tractors that members purchased between 2010 and 2020.
If you are looking for a new lawn mower, the first step we recommend is to read our Lawn Mowers and Tractors Buying Guide. Check out our detailed ratings for over 120 lawnmowers and tractors.
The Consumer Reports members with digital access can read on for ratings and reviews of the top nine lawnmowers in our pick, including self-propelled walk-behind lawnmowers, zero-turn tractors, and power lawnmowers rear. These selected machines are listed in rank order within each category, and come from different makes, including Cub Cadet, Ego, Honda, Gravely, John Deere, Ryobi, and Troy-Bilt.
We will update this list again when we finish testing the new models in the spring of 2022. For now, here are the best lawn mowers on the market.
The best battery powered lawn mowers
The best gasoline manual lawnmowers
The best lawnmowers with seat and lawn tractors (gasoline and battery)
Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 2022, Consumer Reports, Inc.
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with the advertisers on this site. Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works with consumers to create a fair, safe, and healthy world. CR does not endorse products or services and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 2022, Consumer Reports, Inc.