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2016 Spring Home Improvement
LINCON DAILY
NEWS.comMay 2, 2016 Page 15
Sizing up the right mower for your yard
CONTIUNED ►
Choosing a new lawn mower can be tricky, but it
can be boiled down to a certain set of criteria.
You may already have a preference for which
type of mower to buy - rider, power or push, but
there are budgetary concerns as well.
However, before taking those things into
account, there are three attributes of a given lawn
to consider - size, terrain level, and obstacles.
For a smaller lawn with softer grass, or one
with relatively flat terrain, consider a reel (push)
mower. There’s no engine, so maintenance
is simpler and there’s less of an effect on the
environment. Push mowers require much more
physical effort to effectively cut the grass, so it
can make for good exercise.
Reel mowers typically cover an area of fourteen
to twenty inches. However, if your yard has a
lot of trees and other things to cut around, a reel
mower may not be the best idea, as the ability to
maneuver can be difficult.
Reel mowers are typically priced somewhere
between $70 and $100 dollars.
The typical walk-behind (power) mower remains
the best choice for most in-town lawns. With
proper maintenance, they can last for years.
With improved technology has come more
electric mowers, and options for self-propelling
models. Walk-behind mowers cover cutting
radius of twenty to twenty-two inches on
average.
Many mowers of this type come with
attachments, such as mulch bags for collecting
trimmings.
The downside is that lawns with a high slope
will be a problem, and may require a separate
trimmer for those areas.
These mowers offer the widest price range,
usually between $150 to upwards of $500 or
more, depending on whether or not it is gas or
electric, or comes with accessories.