Understanding the Variations in Lawn Mower Prices

If you own or rent a single family home, you understand the importance of owning a reliable lawn mower, but lawn mower prices can be confusing. It is important to understand what features affect the price of a lawn mower and with that, exactly what features you need and want.

Gas vs. Electric vs. Rotary
Of course the least expensive mower on the market is a rotary mower. This is a machine that is powered by you. When you push this mower, the blades turn and cut the grass. It is economical to purchase, environmentally friendly, and will give you a good workout when you use it.

Gas powered mowers are the most common, and are relatively inexpensive, depending on what features you desire. Lawn mower prices for gas powered machines can range from $100 to $500 for a push mower powered by gas. Features that will affect the price include self propulsion, electric start, and adjustable wheel bases.

A self propelled mower will take a great deal of effort off of the user and require much less power from the person pushing. Another feature that reduces the level of effort required from the user is the electric start feature. This will add cost to your purchase price, but gives you the piece of mind of a mower that starts easily without the repeated pulls on the rip cord. The adjustable wheel base is most important for those who have sloping or hilly lawns, which require the mower to gain a little more traction and allow for varying levels of grass and soil.

Electric powered lawn mowers are the most costly of the three options. While the price range is similar to that of the gas mower, you will usually end up spending more for the same features with an electric mower. While lawn mower prices are higher for this option, you will save money over time because you will not have to buy gasoline for your mower. There are two options in electric mowers: chargeable and corded. Chargeable mowers give you the option of mowing your lawn without dealing with a power cord; you have more freedom of movement and are not limited in distance from a power source. However, it is not as powerful as the corded version and must be recharged after a certain amount of time, which can sometimes limit how much work you can get done at once.

The other advantage to the electric powered mower is that is environmentally friendly. It gives off no exhaust or fluorocarbons into the atmosphere. This is a nice compromise between the convenience of the gas mower and the green nature of the rotary version. It also removes the necessity of keeping gasoline on hand, which makes many parents of young children feel more at ease and makes the higher lawn mower prices worth it overall.