5 Reasons to Switch to a Reel Mower Vs. a Gas Mower (or Electric). Push lawn mower gas

The Best Push Mowers To Keep Your Yard In Top Shape

The best push mowers allow you to cruise around your lawn with ease, while creating the perfect cut in the process. If you have a smaller yard, a push mower is often a good investment: These machines allow you to cut your lawn with far less cost and maintenance than riding mowers. Our top pick is the Ryobi Brushless Battery Push Lawn Mower for its lightweight feel, easy operation and ability to mow up to half acre in one charge. However, there are plenty of other great machines that made our list.

Push mowers are budget-friendly options that come in electric, gas and corded models.

You have options when it comes to this type of lawn mower. Push mowers come in electric, gas and corded models to allow you to find the power source that works best for your yard and your budget. When selecting the right push mower for you, it’s also important to consider your yard size, what kind of terrain you’ll be mowing, your physical capabilities and, of course, your budget.

“If you have a small yard, you really can’t go wrong with choosing a push mower,” says Mallory Micetich, home expert at Angi. Barbara Roueche, brand manager at Troy-Bilt, a leading manufacturer of outdoor power and lawn care equipment, calls push mowers “a great option for smaller yards about a half acre or less in size,” adding, “they’re also best for relatively flat lawns.”

These are the best push mower options on the market today. Consider one of these options to help put you on the right path to having a perfectly manicured lawn.

Best Push Mower Overall

Ryobi Brushless Cordless Battery Push Lawn Mower

Power source: Battery | Deck size: 20-inch | Cutting options: Mulching, bagging | Weight: 56 pounds | Ideal yard size: 1/2 acre

Ryobi is widely known for its high-quality electric lawn mowers, and this push mower is a top choice for most homeowners. It’s powered by a 40-volt lithium ion battery that can mow for up to 48 minutes on a single charge—enough to tackle around 1/2-acre of lawn. It’s fairly lightweight as push mowers go, weighing 56 pounds, yet it still delivers enough power to cut through even the thickest grass.

This push mower, which has a 21-inch deck, can be used to mulch or bag grass clippings, and while it’s possible to side discharge clippings with it, the attachment to do so is sold separately. The mower has a seven-position, single-point height adjustment, as well as an on-board battery storage compartment, and its collapsible, telescoping handles make it more compact to store.

Best Gas Push Mower

Troy-Bilt 500e Series Briggs Stratton Engine 2-in-1 Push Lawn Mower

Power source: Gas| Deck size: 21-inch | Cutting options: Side discharge, mulching | Weight: 60 pounds | Ideal yard size: 1/4 acre

Gas push mowers are ideal for powering through thick patches of grass, and this model from Troy-Bilt is equipped with a powerful 140cc Briggs Stratton engine that starts up easily using a traditional pull cord. This mower has a 21-inch deck with the brand’s TriAction cutting system—it uses a rake bumper, specialized blade and symmetrical deck to deliver a more even cut and finely mulched clippings to feed your lawn.

This gas-powered mower has a dual-lever, six-position height adjustment and it includes a side discharge chute, in case you want to handle grass clippings that way. Its 11-inch rear wheels provide improved handling on uneven terrain, and its handle folds down for easy storage.

Best Electric Push Mower

Ego Power Push Cordless Electric Lawn Mower

Power source: Battery | Deck size: 21-inch | Cutting options: Mulching, bagging, side discharge | Weight: 60 pounds | Ideal yard size: 1/4 acre

people are switching to electric lawn mowers thanks to their ease of operation and maintenance, and the Ego Power is one of the best options out there today. This electric mower has a 21-inch deck and is powered by a 56-volt lithium battery, and it can run for up to 45 minutes on a single charge. It starts up easily with the push of a button, and there’s no need for oil changes, spark plug replacement or engine priming.

This push mower offers mulching, bagging and side discharge capabilities, and it has six cutting heights that can be adjusted via a single lever. It comes with a 2-bushel grass collection bag, and it even has LED headlights in case you want to mow at dusk.

Best Self-Propelled Lawn Mower

Craftsman Gas Self-Propelled Lawn Mower

Power source: Gas | Deck size: 21-inch | Cutting options: Side discharge, rear discharge, mulching | Weight: 56 pounds | Ideal yard size: 1/4 acre

This Craftsman mower has a self-propelled design, which means the unit will automatically propel itself forward, making it effortless to push. The gas-powered mower has a 21-inch deck and front-wheel drive, and its 159cc engine is equipped with recoil and auto choke, making it easier to start.

You can side discharge, rear discharge or mulch grass clippings with this mower, and its variable speed self-propulsion allows you to match its speed to your walking pace. It has a dual-lever cutting height adjustment with six different heights, and its large 11-inch rear wheels provide more traction on uneven terrain.

Best Affordable Push Mower

Sun Joe MJ401C Cordless Push Lawn Mower

Power source: Battery | Deck size: 14-inch | Cutting options: Bagging | Weight: 29 pounds | Ideal yard size: 1/4 acre

You can easily maintain a small yard with this push mower from Sun Joe. The small mower has a 14-inch deck, and it’s powered by a 28-volt lithium-ion battery that delivers roughly 25 minutes of runtime per charge—ideal for ¼-acre or less. It has three cutting heights, and it comes with a 10.6-gallon grass catcher that’s easy to remove and empty. The mower is extremely lightweight at just 29 pounds, making it easier for anyone to manage, and it’s quick and easy to start up.

Best Corded Push Mower

Greenworks 3-in-1Electric Corded Lawn Mower

Power source: Power cord | Deck size: 20-inch | Cutting options: Mulching, bagging, side discharge | Weight: 56 pounds | Ideal yard size: 1/4 acre

If you have a fairly small lawn, you can save money with a corded push mower like this one from Greenworks. During operation, it needs to be plugged into an outlet using an extension cord, which offers unlimited runtime and prevents the power from fading. The mower has a 20-inch deck and a 12-amp motor, and it starts up easily via a push button, letting you get right to mowing.

This corded push mower can mulch, bag or side discharge grass clippings, and it has a single-lever seven-positing height adjustment. A cord retainer prevents the extension cord from accidentally disconnecting while you mow, and the handle folds down for more compact storage.

Best Reel Push Mower

Scotts 5-Blade Push Reel Lawn Mower

Power source: Manual| Deck size: 14-inch | Cutting options: N/A | Weight: 18 pounds | Ideal yard size: 1/4 acre

Reel mowers like this one from Scotts don’t have an engine at all—instead, their blades are turned by the wheels as you push the mower around your yard. As you might have guessed, reel mowers are only good for small areas of lawn, as they lack the power of gas or electric models, but the benefits are that it’s affordable, eco-friendly and extremely lightweight.

Reasons to Switch to a Reel Mower Vs. a Gas Mower (or Electric)

Whether moving into your first house or replacing an older lawn mower, you’ve probably been debating how you’re going to cut your lawn this year. Having used both push reel mowers and gasoline powered mowers, the two offer completely different experiences. In fact, I just switched to a Fiskars push reel mower.

I can tell you, without hesitation, I prefer the push reel mower vs. other alternatives. Here are 5 great benefits that push reel mowers have over gas powered mowers (as well as some caveats to be aware of if you make the switch).

Push Reel Mowers are Cheaper than Gas Powered or Electric

Push reel mowers range in price from 80 to 200. Most are below 125. Gas powered mowers are generally 200 and some of the more advanced push models can be as pricey as 500. Electric range from 300 to 700 for self-propelled versions.

But initial price is not where the costs end. With gasoline, over 4 a gallon, you can expect to pay a significant amount every year for fuel. You will also have to pay for oil to change the oil (and learn how to do that). With electric, you obviously have to pay for electricity and for replacement batteries at some point.

Not only that, but neither gas-powered or electric mowers will last as long as reel mowers. Push reel are cheap due to their simplicity. A lot can go wrong with a gas-powered mower or electric mower – and the motors will eventually die (you will too, but then you won’t need a mower, will you?). The only maintenance cost with a push reel is sharpening it every few years, which you can often times do at home very easily with a 25 kit. There is not much that can go wrong with a reel mower.

Push Reel Mowers are MUCH Environmentally Friendly

Think of the positive environmental impact that would result in everyone driving a bike to and from work vs. driving a Hummer. Everyone switching from a gas-powered mower to a push reel would have no less of an impact.

According to one study, one hour of gas-powered lawn mower use can produce as much pollution as a 300 mile car trip. Have you ever smelled your clothes after a lawn-mowing session? Lawn mowers don’t have the same strict pollution controls in place as automobiles.

On top of that, the EPA has estimated that 17 million gallons of fuel are spilled each year while refueling lawn equipment. That’s more than all the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez. Not only does this result in groundwater contamination, but spilled fuel evaporates into the air and volatile organic compounds produce smog-forming ozone when combined with heat and sunlight.

Anyone who has ever used a gas mower knows that you come away from using it smelling like gas fumes for the rest of the day. Those fumes are going right in your lungs.

Reel Mowers Require Less Maintenance than a Gas Mower

I alluded to maintenance with price, but there’s also a time saving component that goes into it. No driving to the gas station and back when you run out of gas. No oil changes, and no spark plug changing. You may have to sharpen the blades every few years with a push reel, but you have to sharpen or change blades on gas mowers as well.

Push reel mowers are simpler and easier to maintain.

They also fit in a garage or shed much more easily than a gas or electric powered mower.

Reel Mowers Offer Peace and Quiet

With a push reel mower you can mow whenever you want without disturbing the neighbors. That includes morning or night when it’s typically cooler and healthier for you and the grass.

You can hear birds singing and neighbors when they walk by to say hi. And you don’t feel like that tingling in your arms like they have just been working a jackhammer.

Using a push reel mower is a pleasant and calming experience. Just what outdoor gardening should be.

The Cool Factor

There is not a neighbor that has walked by my house who uses a gas-powered mower that doesn’t stop to ask me questions with curiosity. First, they notice how well the mower cuts. Then they appreciate how quiet and peaceful the experience looks in comparison to a gas mower experience. Then they realize how much healthier it is for them and their lawn.

Somewhere along the way, Americans were convinced that gas-powered mowers were superior to push reel. Maybe they were at one point. But push reel mowers are a lot more advanced these days. It only takes a few trendsetters in a neighborhood to make the whole neighborhood realize it – cutting down the air, ground, and noise pollution for everyone. Why not be the trendsetter?

Reel Mower Caveats

I’ve painted a pretty rosy picture here, but there are a few things you should be aware of, if you are going to make the move to a push reel mower.

– Find a mower that cuts up to 3 inches or more. I moved from a Brill push reel mower to the new Fiskars reel mower (seen below), which allows you to cut up to 4 inches. The Brill, and many other reel mowers only let you cut up to 2 inches max. I like to grow my grass longer so that I don’t have to water it as much. It’s much healthier for your lawn.

– You can’t let the grass get too long, particularly if yours cuts up to a short max length. Otherwise it becomes difficult to mow. I’ve also heard that some weeds and very hardy grass varieties are very difficult to mow with a push reel. It’s something to be aware of. You may want to test out a neighbors push reel on your grass before buying (if their blades are sharp).

– Read reviews pretty thoroughly. Not all reel mowers are made made the same. Scotts, American, and Fiskars have the best reviews.

– You may have to go over some areas twice. Some people tout this as a big negative with push reels. I don’t think it is at all. We’ve probably all pushed a gas-powered mower at one time or another. It’s a hellish experience. Especially if you have hills. Pushing a 150 lb. beast up a 45 degree incline or even on flat ground is not easy. So from an energy exertion standpoint, you’re probably break even. As long as you keep your blades sharp, that is (very important).

– Not convinced that a push reel mower is right for you? If you’re looking for something lighter or with a little less ongoing maintenance than gas, check out the E-Go cordless electric mower. Not as environmentally friendly, but still a big step up over a filthy, heavy, loud, high-maintenance gas mower.

Commercial Grade Self-Propelled Push Mowers

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There’s no substitute for dependability and durability. That’s why our push mowers are simple to maintain and built to withstand grueling day-in and day-out commercial mowing duties. Self-propelled rear wheel drive, easy to detach rear baggers, heavy-gauge steel decks with reinforced edges, sturdy push bars and solid, dense rubber wheels combine to deliver the strength to stand up to the most demanding commercial use.

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Kawasaki FJ180 179cc

21″ or 25″ Deck

.92

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When Push Comes To Shove, There’s Just no Better Push Mower

The patented, proprietary two-speed, heavy-duty transmission is built tougher with over-sized gears and with needle and ball bearings throughout. The Blade Spindle assembly is built stronger with a forged spindle shaft for optimum strength and a die cast aluminum housing that dissipates heat faster. The powerful professional-class engine starts quickly and is always up to the task of all day mulching and mowing, and at speeds up to 5 mph.

Standard Features

  • Patented, Proprietary Two-Speed Heavy-Duty Transmission features Oversized Gears with Needle and Ball Bearings Throughout
  • Blade Spindle with Forged Spindle Shaft and Die-Cast Aluminum Housing for Dissipating Heat Faster
  • Professional-Class Engine for All-Day Mowing and Mulching
  • Dense Rubber Wheels
  • Heavy-Duty, All-Steel 14-Gauge Deck with Reinforced Edges
  • Quick-Release Rear Baggers
  • Self-Propelled Drive Systems with High and Low Gear
  • Adjustable Handles for Any Operator
  • Lifting Bars
  • Quick Start Operation
  • Option to Bag or Mulch

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Made To Be Pushed

Heavy-duty, all-steel 14-gauge deck with reinforced edges for longer lasting performance. Our push bars are sturdy and solid and the dense rubber wheels are built for the long haul. The deck slopes upward into the discharge, creating more lift and allowing for a cleaner, sharper cut as clippings are forced into the bagging system. Lifting bars are built-in for easy lifting and transporting, or cleaning the underside of deck. Both models feature large, quick-release rear baggers that simply lift and release for quicker cleanups of clippings.

Without Pushing You

The self-propelled drive system, with its High-Low gear and rear wheel engage, pulls it’s weight around effortlessly. Our handles are adjustable for any size operator and the self-propel engage bar is ergonomically positioned for easy operation. It’s the Bad Boy of push mowers and the choice of lawn professionals.

Push lawn mower gas

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Push Mowers

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Snapper Electric Lawn Mowers

Mow effortlessly with our cordless electric lawn mowers that bring you the power you need and quiet operation to easily accomplish your job.

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Remington 21″ 140cc Gas Push Lawn Mower. 11A-B2SD883

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Troy-Bilt 21″ 163cc Gas Self-Propelled Lawn Mower

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Troy-Bilt TB30B 30 Inch Compact Riding Lawn Mower

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The research

Over the past nine mowing seasons, we’ve spent more than 120 hours researching nearly 250 mowers, interviewing experts, and extensively testing some of our top picks.

An invaluable source has been Roy Berendsohn, a Popular Mechanics lawn mower guru who has more than 20 years of experience testing and writing about mowers. If Berendsohn isn’t writing about mowers, he’s often being interviewed about them (see here and here).

We’ve interviewed landscapers, including Chad Crosby of West Michigan Lawn Services and Paul Koehler of Koehler Landscape Construction Services. We’ve called people at lawn mower retail/service outlets, like Nick Ortiz at Kellam Lawn Mower in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, and Boston Lawnmower Company’s David (who asked that his last name be withheld). We’ve talked to product managers at Honda, Toro, Troy-Bilt, Ego, Cub Cadet, and other manufacturers.

Personally, I maintain a rural property in New Hampshire that is far too large for a push mower to cover but that does provide ample room to test our recommendations. This guide’s editor, Harry Sawyers, assists with testing mowers on his LA property and draws from his previous experience as a professional landscaper.

Who this is for

If you want to be able to stand the sight of your yard this summer, you’re going to need a lawn mower. Anything larger than a half-acre gets into riding-mower territory, but a self-propelled push mower is perfect for a half-acre or less. Going at a pace of about 3 mph (roughly average walking speed), it will take about an hour to cut this amount of grass. (If you have a particularly small lawn, a reel mower is an option—but it’s quite hard work.)

If you already own a gas mower that’s less than a decade old, you will probably not notice a tremendous difference by upgrading to a newer gas mower. Upgrading to a cordless model is a more noticeable change you could immediately appreciate.

The Best Reel Mower for Your (Small) Lawn

After 30 hours researching and testing reel mowers, we think the Scotts 2000-20 20-Inch Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower is the best pick for manual lawncare.

How we picked and tested

As a result of our years of lawn mower evaluation, we’re sure that most people will be happiest with a self-propelled, electric cordless option. Honestly, it all comes down to convenience. Every single element of a gas mower that is considered a nuisance—from the fiddly start-up to the annual maintenance schedule—is gone. Cordless mowers start with the push of a button, are easier to maneuver, and don’t need oil changes, gas, spark plugs, or air filters. They’re much quieter, they don’t smell, they don’t produce emissions, and they’re easier to store in the off-season. The run time has limitations, and charge times can be slow, but the latest models close the performance gaps between cordless and gas.

All that said, there are many capable—and several excellent—gas mowers available. Whatever type of mower you need, here are the criteria we feel matter most in making a selection:

Rear-Wheel Self-propulsion: Self-propelled mowers make life easier. With the mower moving itself across the lawn, all you have to do is throttle and steer, rather than forcing the mower’s full weight up every incline and over every bump. Self-propelled cordless mowers are all rear-wheel drive (RWD), which is preferred over front-wheel drive (FWD), because the mower’s traction improves as the grass bag fills and adds weight over the rear wheels. A self-propulsion feature adds to a mower’s price, but it’s a feature we feel is well worth it, and this requirement doesn’t narrow the field by a whole lot. It does, however, weed out the most bare-bones machines.

Performance as a mower: We researched which mowers could perform the best from a lawn-care perspective—which could make cleaner cuts in grass or promote turf health. We’ve measured this performance firsthand over years of long-term testing and in tests of new contenders against our established recommendations.

User interface and features: In years of tests, we’ve found most midrange mowers perform at a comparable level; most can cut the grass just fine. That led us to place an emphasis on user interface features—how difficult is it to adjust the push-bar height, or to raise and lower the mowing deck? Can you intuitively control and adjust the self-propulsion? Is the bag a pain to put on and take off? Are there other design details that make startup smoother, reduce engine maintenance, or make storage easier?

Cost: We looked at cost in terms of long-term value. Gas mowers are cheaper up-front, generally, but they carry long-term costs that cordless mowers avoid. Those include supplies (like gas, oil, stabilizers, air filters, and spark plugs) and the time and labor of caring for one: getting gas, changing the oil, and emptying the tank at the end of the season. With cordless mowers, a large percentage of the price tag is the battery. Most companies offer a series of outdoor tools (leaf blowers, string trimmers, hedge trimmers, etc.), all compatible with the same battery. And they cost less if you buy them without a battery. So for a high cost up-front, a cordless investment may open the door for an affordable expansion into that manufacturer’s other tools.

Charge time and run time: For cordless candidates, we looked at these two primary factors, which determine whether a battery will be adequate or frustrating. Because these two elements are so important, we looked only at mowers that used at least a 40-volt battery.

and reputation: The best mowers out there have proved satisfying for the most number of people for the longest amount of time. That led us to closely consider the differences among a smaller group of about 50 established, well-regarded models from major brands, often covered by comparable warranties of about three to five years.

Best overall lawn mower

The best lawn mower

The self-propelled Ego LM2135SP’s battery runs for an hour and easily mows down overgrown grass—and it spares you the noise, emissions, and maintenance of a typical gas mower.

Buying Options

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For the best in convenience, battery run time, cut quality, and value, we recommend the Ego Power Select Cut Mower LM2135SP. Compared with a gas mower, it’s quieter, doesn’t create exhaust, and requires almost no maintenance. Among other cordless models, the Ego LM2135SP has among the longest run time and shortest charge time. This Ego has a redesigned control interface that allows you to control the propulsion with either hand. It also cuts with two blades, making for a finer cut and better mulching. Rounding out the features are two forward-facing LED lights, an easy-to-use cutting-height adjustment, and a battery port that faces the battery gauge toward the operator. The battery, which is good for a solid hour of mowing, is compatible with Ego’s other lawn tools, such as the company’s leaf blower, chainsaw, and string trimmer.

Most people report getting roughly 60 minutes of run time from a full charge of the Ego’s 56-volt, 7.5 Ah battery, which is included with the purchase. We confirmed the run-time figures in tests of this pick and our runner-up in March 2019 and in 2020. In several hour-long sessions of strenuous cutting on tough grass in Los Angeles, running this mower across hills (some of which were steeper than its recommended 15-degree max), the battery never died before we expected it to. If anything, it exceeded the hour-long window by about 10 to 15 minutes. An added bonus: Once the battery was too low to power the mower blades, it still had enough juice to operate the self-propulsion function, letting us drive the mower back to the charger. Compared to older Ego batteries, this one has a ring of lights that give you an approximate gauge of the remaining charge (the previous generation communicated with a red light only when the battery got critically low). The battery regularly recharges in 60 minutes or less. (Recharge time is another advantage for Ego, as competitors’ charge times range from an hour and a half up to almost five and a half hours.)

In the mowing tests, the two-bladed Ego showed a superior cut-quality compared with our runner-up, and this is the primary reason we’d choose this model over the older version. We’ve put the mowers on some rough tufts of knotty crabgrass, knee-height rye grass, and thick purple stalks of weeds, and although the runner-up never bogged down, the LM2135SP did a better job of lifting overgrown grasses as it cut, mincing up fine mulch and effectively cutting through tall growth without pushing the grass flat. This second blade elevates the Ego into some territory that was formerly exclusive to mowers like the highly regarded Honda HRX series, making the case for cordless that much stronger.

A new-for-2020 speed-control system can be operated with your thumbs on either hand—a more versatile setup than the single, oversize, right-handed trigger on the 2019 version. Photo: Rozette Rago

With its onboard indicators displaying battery life and other troubleshooting diagnostics, the Ego is quite intuitive for anyone new to cordless mowers. Photo: Rozette Rago

A new-for-2020 speed-control system can be operated with your thumbs on either hand—a more versatile setup than the single, oversize, right-handed trigger on the 2019 version. Photo: Rozette Rago

Controlling the Ego is easy and intuitive. As with many mowers, the Ego has a metal bar (called a bail) that’s held against the handle to activate the blades. To activate the RWD self-propulsion, you press one of two buttons in the upper corners of the handle, and a central dial controls the mower’s speed. A couple of subtle changes set this mower apart from other models: The speed-control system can be operated with your thumbs on either hand—a more versatile setup than the single, oversize, right-handed trigger on the runner-up. Second, although the mower can move at a brisk pace if you want it to, the slowest speed setting available is unusually slow. This is quite handy if you’re backing in and out under a tree or in another tricky area, if you’re mowing across a hill and taking care not to let the mower slide or roll away, or if you just need to take it slow to make sure you’re not about to mow over an obstruction.

Random aside: Without the stink of gas engine exhaust in your face, the smell of mowing the grass while using Ego is entirely different and much more pleasant; unfortunately, the allergens are exactly the same.

The Ego has a number of other convenience features. The headlight, something not found on gas mowers, gives some illumination as the day starts to end. The single-adjust height control, a rarity on gas mowers, allows you to set the cutting height with a single lever. On most gas mowers, cutting height has to be adjusted at each individual wheel. The Ego has seven cutting heights, between 1½ to 4 inches—a wider range than on most cordless mowers, which top out at around 3½ to 3¾ inches.

reasons, switch, reel, mower, electric

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Although the two-handed self-propulsion control is a more convenient setup than the one-handed paddle design seen on competitors, it does make accidentally engaging the self-propulsion a little too easy. Usually this isn’t an issue, but often the moments when you’re grasping to get a better grip on the handle are the times you least want to engage the self-propulsion. For example, if you are mowing across a hill, there’s a brief moment during a turnaround when the mower is pointing up or down the hill. When adjusting your grip to make those turns, you may inadvertently tap the throttle, destabilizing your stance or your grip on the mower. If anyone from Ego’s reading this, they’ll probably say we’re mowing on too steep a hill, but hey, sometimes life throws a steep hill at you.

We think that the hour or so of run time is going to be enough for anyone keeping to about a half-acre, but if that’s not enough, additional batteries are available to extend run time infinitely. But batteries are costly. Depending on the Ah, they currently range in price from about 140 (2.5 Ah) to about 250 (5.0 Ah), and up to about 450 for a 7.5 Ah battery. They all fit, and with a second one on the charger while one is on the mower, you can really minimize or eliminate downtime.

Because the Ego is cordless and loaded with electrical components, the company does not recommend using a hose to wash out the underside of the mowing dome. Instead, the mower needs to be put on its side and the dome wiped off or scraped clean, using a plastic scraper. Because there is no gas or oil to leak out, this process is much easier than with a gas mower.

Finally, Wirecutter writer Kit Dillon, who loves his Ego mower, uncovered an issue with an older version of our pick, where the wires for the self-propulsion function run up the handle to the operating switch. “The wiring is super thin and where the arm bends over itself over time this wire breaks,” he explained. “The annoying thing is the wire is so thin it will sometimes break inside the sheath, which makes it difficult to diagnose or even find what section to repair.” Because of the large number of YouTube videos devoted to the problem, it’s clear that this isn’t an isolated incident. We’re not sure if this problem happens with this current version of the mower, but looking through the customer feedback at Lowe’s, we found a number of people saying that their mower won’t start, which makes us think the issue persists in newer models.