Lawn mowers, no matter what the details are, essentially come in one of two forms: riding or walk behind. The kind you choose has a lot to do with personal preference, but the factor of necessity comes into play, too. Should you really buy a riding mower if your lawn is smaller than a postage stamp? Conversely, how effective will a walk behind mower be if your yard is almost as big as a baseball field? In this article, we take a look at the pros and cons of getting a walk behind mower so you can see if it’s the right one for you.

Exercise

There’s no comparison at all when it comes to riding lawn mowers and walk behind lawn mowers. None at all. With a riding lawn mower, the most exercise you’ll get is turning the wheel or hopping on and off. But with a walk behind mower, you’re giving your body one heck of a good workout.

It takes serious strength and endurance to operate a walk behind mower efficiently and cleanly, and it’s one of the easiest ways to get in shape during the warmer months. Plus, you’re using major muscle groups in your body: your legs, to walk with the mower; your arms, to push it; and your core; to keep a perfect balance between you and the machine.

Con

It’s fun to get a workout with a walk behind mower…until the mercury hits the triple digits. Then, it seems like you’re mowing every blade of grass on this planet with no end in sight. And for people with heart or lung problems, it can be a deadly exercise. If you’re going to use mowing the lawn as a way to get in shape, start slow and talk to your doctor first.

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Efficiency

Walk behind mowers lag behind their riding cousins, but it’s hardly fair to compare the engines. The former has about as much pep as your dishwasher, while the latter are almost motor vehicles. But instead of comparing the two in terms of pound-for-pound power, let’s look at what each is able to do in terms of what it’s got.

In this case, the walk behind mower wins — again. It’s got a relatively tiny engine that needs hardly any maintenance, comes in gas or electric forms (can the riding mower boast of that?), and performs with the heart of a lion. The riding mower, on the other hand, requires a lot more maintenance because of its bigger size, and can’t be plugged in.

Con

The smaller engine does mean more work for you, so when comparing engine size and the time it takes to get the job done, the walk behind mower falls back a bit. This isn’t so noticeable when you’ve just got a decent-sized lawn but move up in property size, and you’ll really notice the difference.

Cost

You can buy walk behind mowers for a couple hundred dollars and start using them right away. With riding mowers, though, you’re looking to spend a lot more, plus learning how to use the controls while mowing the lawn neatly. There’s just about no learning curve on a walk behind mower, making that and their cheap cost what the Apple products of the world should be.

Con

Cheap doesn’t always equal good, and you’ll have to do your homework before you invest in a walk behind mower. You don’t have to read pages and pages of material on lawn mowers, just keep checking back with our blog to get all the best tips and pointers.

If you’re in the market for a walk behind mower, we’re more than happy to supply you. All of our mowers are of the best quality and come with free shipping to the lower 48 states.

Zero-turn lawn mowers are the type of invention that may have taken a little while to get here but once they did in the early ’60s, made you shake your head and wonder what took it so long to arrive. The have great manoeuvrability, can cover a really big space, are fun to ride, and fairly simple to maintain. They’re called “zero turn” because these lawn mowers are able to contour corners so closely, there’s hardly any grass left to trim after. It saves a huge amount of time and work, for if you only need one piece of equipment to do the job instead of two, you’re twice as far ahead. Before you go shopping for a zero-turn lawn mower, though, take a second to read this guide so you know exactly what to look for.

1. What Deck Size Do You Need?

Deck size refers to how wide your zero-turn lawn mower will be, with a general rule of thumb being the bigger the yard, the wider the deck. This is so your mower can efficiently clear your lawn without you having to spend hours and hours at it, with the equivalent being something like using nail clippers to cut an average-sized front year.

But hold on a sec: having a wide deck size doesn’t automatically mean that you should go with the biggest number to get the job done the fastest. You have to keep proportion, balance and curvature in mind. A wider deck size will allow you to cut more in one go, yes, but you won’t be able to corner quite as tightly. But by picking out a smaller deck size, you trade off a bit of stability, which is necessary if your yard is sloped.

Deck Construction

Along with size, you’ll want to check out the guts of the deck. They’re assembled in one of two ways, stamped or welded. Commercial grade mowers have the steel layers of the deck welded together for added toughness, while residential mowers tend to have lighter gauge steel, and stamped together instead of welded. The difference is mainly for the type of terrain you have, as welded can handle roughness a lot more easily than stamped decks.

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2. Get the Right Engine Size for What You Need

Just like deck size, engine size matters only as much as the specs of your lawn. If you’ve got an even, smooth lawn, you’re not going to need something that can blast its way through granite. Conversely, if you’ve got rough, hilly terrain on your property, you’re going to need something with a little more oomph to it.

There are two basic engines you can get with a zero-turn lawn mower, and each is equipped to do a specific job:

3. Finish it Off with Tires and Cutting Height

Until someone invents a lawn mower that can do its job by floating in the air, lawn mowers will have tires. And the tires you pick are going to be holding up the whole weight of the mower, so check out four-ply-rated tires for the best job. And if you can get them, wide tires will help distribute the weight of the mower more evenly, which is always a good idea.

Lastly, cutting height is a feature that you’ll almost always be using. You can adjust the height of the blades either manual — which eats away at productivity and efficiency — or foot assist or hand lever to raise and lower the blades on the go.

As much as a zero-turn lawn mower is something you use for big lawns to make the job easier, they’re also just plain fun to use. But instead of going for the most fun-looking zero-turn lawn mower, get one that’s perfect for your yard for the best job possible. Take a look at our selection to see which would be the best fit for you, and enjoy both free shipping and free rush order processing.

Watering your lawn and mowing it are just two of the steps you need in order to make sure it’s green and healthy. But like the hair on the top of your head, there’s more involved than just shampooing and trimming it. You need to devote a bit of time into bringing your lawn to its full potential, and if you take the steps now, it’ll be a lot easier than later in the season.

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Benefits of Mulching Your Lawn

Think of how you go about your day: you don’t just wake up, go to work, and then fall asleep again at the end of it, do you? Probably not. Instead, you take a shower so you feel good and smell clean, and eat a few meals so your body has enough energy to keep on ticking.

Your lawn is the same way in that it needs maintenance and nutrition. Mulching helps put back into the earth what others may consider lawn waste, and can save up to 25% of your fertilizing costs. Still not convinced? Mulching, when done properly, can help cut down on the weeds in your lawn because it cuts off one of most valuable resources they need: sunlight. A good layer of mulch keeps weeds shaded, preventing them from being able to suck the nutrients out of your lawn.

Mulching also acts as an air-conditioning blanket for your lawn by keeping the soil cool and shaded. You don’t need to be a scientist to know that the more sun exposed soil has, the more it can dry out. And the more it dries out, the less moisture there is for your grass to grow strong and healthy. By creating this barrier with mulch, you don’t have to worry about your lawn getting dried out or going out there constantly to water the grass.

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How to Mulch Effectively

This isn’t a hard or complicated process at all, and just involves the following steps:

While it’s best to mulch your lawn in the fall, it never hurts to do it any time of year that you mow your lawn. Maintenance isn’t something you can do in one day, but rather have to work at it a little bit so your lawn is always lush, green and healthy.

You’ve read up on awesome mulching techniques, so now it’s time to make sure you’ve got one of our awesome lawn mowers to do the job. You can take a look at our selection here to find the one that’s best for you, and enjoy two great benefits: no tax on anything (except in Minnesota), and free shipping to the lower 48 states.

You’ve no doubt already gone out and mowed the lawn at least once this season, if not a few times. After such a long and brutal winter, the temptation to go out there and start sprucing up your lawn is too great to resist, but nor should you. Being outside and tending to your lawn is awesome on so many levels: the fresh air is invigorating, it’s a nice change from channel surfing, and you get to have a hands-on role in boosting your home’s curb appeal. But in your rush to start up the lawn mower, it’s important to remember these safety tips from Mower Source so you don’t end up a statistic.

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1. Keep Your Lawn Mower in Good Shape

when you get in your car, you want to make sure there are no gaping holes in the flooboard, brakes that are as soft as pudding, or a steering wheel that locks. It’s unsafe, and can cause catastrophic damage. But because your lawn mower is much smaller, it tends to get ignored for basic maintenance.

This is especially true for riding lawn mowers, because the last thing you want to deal with is a machine with hot oil and many moving parts going rogue on you. You don’t have to necessarily perform a full mechanical inspection every time you use it, but make it a point to eyeball the mower for physical damage and really listen to it when it’s turned on.

2. Clear the Lawn Before You Begin

One of the main characters in the movie Crazy in Alabama, Peejoe, gets hit in the eye with a golf ball that the lawn mower spit up (it’s the sixth paragraph in this link). Unfortunately, this type of thing isn’t an isolated incident and people get hit with spit-up objects from their lawn mowers all the time.

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While a lawn mower’s sharp blades can cut through things, they can also act as a surface upon which objects can bounce off. And if one of those objects is a stone or something else that’s not easily cut, that can shoot right back at you and put you in the hospital. Are potentially thousands of dollars of medical bills worth saving a few minutes to not check the lawn?

3. Watch the Kids

While you be on top of lawn mower safety, your kids still have to experience the learning curve for themselves, which doesn’t have to be dangerous. Take time to talk to them about the potential dangers of a lawn mower, how they can treat it with respect, and to what degree they can be involved in mowing.

Kids are curious creatures and learn about their world by touch, so encourage that in a safe way. Let them be around the lawn mower when you are and don’t turn it on unless they’re a safe distance away. The great thing about children is they’re like little sponges: they’ll soak up everything you tell them, so make sure it’s good and safe information.

4. Don’t Drink and Mow

You may be thinking what a couple of cold ones has to do with mowing the lawn, but it’s just a better idea to avoid it. Your reflexes slow down, you’re more liable to take chances you wouldn’t when sober, and alcohol has a tendency to make its imbibers feel invincible.

Just about 99.9% of people reading this will never think anything can happen to them, that they’ve lawn mowed enough times to be able to do it in their sleep. But it’s precisely that complacency that can cause injuries, as accidents rarely just “happen”. Accidents — true accidents — are things that happen completely out of control, like a boulder dropping on your windshield when you’re on the freeway. What others think of accidents are lapses in focus, concentration and judgement, and drinking before mowing is one of the quickest routes there.

And besides, doesn’t an ice-cold beer taste much better after the physical part of mowing is over?

Whether you pull or push (safer) your lawn mower, have one that goes in both directions, or switched to electric to be eco-friendly, there are four basic safety tips you should always be practicing. Just because a lawn mower is small doesn’t mean it can do big-time damage, and it’s so easy to prevent it, too. Keep Mower Source’s handy guide close to you if you ever need a quick refresher, and our website even closer. We’ve got an amazing line of lawn mowers for every type of yard, and there’s free shipping to the lower 48 states on all of them.

Your lawn is the pride and joy of your yard, the very thing that gives rise to the saying “the grass is greener on the other side”. However, for that to be true, you have to actually pick out what kind of grass will grow green, lush and healthy because not all grass is created equal. Grasses need specific climates in which to thrive, so we’ll be taking a look at which grass you should be growing.

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Cool Season Grass

These grasses enjoy their peak growing in cooler weather, when you’ll see them grow the most. However, one thing to keep in mind is the difference between cool and cold: cool season grasses do best in temperatures between 65 to 80F, and cold is, well, colder than that.

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Warm Season Grass

Opposite to cool season grass, this family does best when the mercury reads 75 to 90F. Not much of the United States consistently gets these kinds of temperatures, but the southern portion does.

Now that you know exactly what kind of grass you’re going to get, the next step is maintaining it so it always looks good. Mower Source can help, with our line of top-quality mowers. But don’t just take our word for it, check out our lawn mowers and enjoy two awesome bonuses: free shipping to the lower 48 states, and a free blade with any Toro Super Recycler Lawn Mower.

Lawns are essentially plants, which means they need regular maintenance to look their best. An ignored lawn may be okay, but it’s highly unlikely. Instead, focusing on it — and focusing on it the right way — means you’re lawn can be happy, healthy and pretty. In this article, Mower Source takes a look at different ways of mowing your lawn to achieve a variety of looks.

The Wrigley Field Cut

What lawn is nicer to look at than a baseball field, and especially the one at Wrigley Field? While the overall ballpark has a lot of positive aesthetics going for it, its lawn is one of the biggest components. It’s comprised of mainly alternating stripes, but there’s also a faint cross hatch pattern on it, too.

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How to get the look: Straight lines are a must (alternate the direction on each stripe), but to get the striped look, you have to bend the grass blades in different directions. To do that, leave your grass on the long-ish side and weigh your lawn mower down with duct-taped barbells (to adequately bend the grass). The only tricky bit is maximizing on how much sun can reflect off the grass blades: the direction that gets the most sun on your lawn should be parallel to the sun. For example, if your lawn gets the west sun, mow stripes in east and west lines.

Spiral

Want to make your lawn look like a small crop circle? It’s a lot easier than you think. You do have to make a concerted effort to focus on straight lines (making them curved is a lot harder), but using landmarks in your yard helps a great deal. Tip: use a weed whacker on the outer edges before you begin, so that way you can get cleaner lines.

How to get the look: Start in the middle of your lawn and move in outward concentric lines. Or, in less fancier terms, mow up one lawn mower width, turn, and repeat until you’ve done the whole lawn. Only turn in one direction.

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Quadruple Spiral

If you’re looking for a big challenge but something that’ll make your lawn look really cool, give four spirals a go. It can get a bit tricky keeping track of all the turns (62) and straight lines, but outlining it faintly in chalk first can cut out a lot of that.

How to get the look: Start on one edge and go from the middle spot. From there, you’ll be cutting into the first center of one spiral, mowing your way out of it and into the center of another spiral, and so on until you’ve done all four.

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Zig Zag Spiral

This is an identical pattern to the Spiral, except there are zig zags mown into every line. The result — if done correctly — is a lawn that looks like a completed jigsaw puzzle, with each puzzle piece the same shape and size.

How to get this look: Start in a corner (as opposed to the exact center as with the normal spiral), and turn your lawn mower 90 degrees every lawn mower width. Go from corner to corner in reverse concentric lines until you’ve reached the center.

Labyrinth

This looks like a tricky pattern to achieve, but that’s more illusion than actuality. If you don’t have a good eye for going at it with your lawn mower, outline the pattern first with chalk and then follow the lines.

How to get the look: You’ll want to start in one corner, mow down the edge, stop halfway and then begin the labyrinth. It can be a little dizzying to complete, but the finished look is so worth it.

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You’re set with a number of different patterns you can mow your lawn with, so the only thing left is making sure you’ve got the right lawn mower. Check out Mower Source’s selection of lawn mowers to settle on the one that’s right for you, and enjoy free shipping to the lower 48 states.

Now that we can finally say goodbye to winter and usher in more pleasant weather, the question of what kind of lawn mower to get inevitably pops up. No two lawn mowers are alike, but nor should be. Each one performs differently according to what’s asked of it, and come in three basic forms: walk behind mowers, zero turn mowers, and riding mowers. In this article, Mower Source will take a look at each one so you can get an idea of which one is best for you.

Walk Behind Mowers

By far the most common kind of lawn mowers used by homeowners, walk behind mowers only require you to start it up and get going. They’re best for small- or medium-sized lawns, as their limited performance can’t handle really big jobs. They also come in three different varieties, with the pros and cons listed beside each:

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Riding Mowers

If you’ve got oodles and oodles of lawn (more than 3/4 of an acre) and really don’t relish the thought of pushing a lawn mower around for a few hours, a riding mower gets the job done more efficiently, and in less time. You can get them in one of three forms—rear engine, zero turn (more to come on this one), or tractor—with each one varying depending on what you need to do with it.

Rear engine riding mowers are great to navigate large and narrow spaces, tackle small hills with a low center of gravity, and keep you comfortable. They don’t have a super powerful engine, so if you’re planning on really pushing it to the limits, you might find yourself a little out of luck.

For bigger jobs, tractors are the ones for you. They’re a little slow, but it’s steady that wins the race, not speed. Tractor riding mowers are a little like tugboats: they’re kind of small, but have a lot of heart that lets them haul really heavy stuff behind them.

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Zero Turn Mowers

These monsters are big, powerful, fast, and have great maneuverability. If you need to cover a lot of ground with thick grass and tight turns, zero turn riding mowers are the perfect ones for the job. They can be rather pricey, but the adage of “you get what you pay for” is particularly true here. Their two-handle steering mechanism has a bit of a learning curve, but it’s not steep and you’ll be able to go spinning in just about no time.

Get an early start on spring and mowing your lawn with Mower Source’s selection of top name lawn mowers. We’ve got mowers for all different lawns and requirements, and each one comes with no shipping charges to the lower 48 states. Take a look now, and get your lawn looking great in no time.

Winter is finally over, an event that many of us thought would never come. The constant wallopings of snow, ice, and generally bleak weather not only set multiple records, but made winter feel like a weekend guest that had long overstayed its welcome. But every season must come to an end and winter finally seems like its packed up its bags, which means spring is here and it’s time to get your lawn mower ready for the warm and sunny weather.

1. Do a General Walkaround First

Your lawn mower has been sitting in the garage or shed for months, and it’s highly unlikely you looked at it a couple times a week to keep tabs on it. As much as we’d like to say it’d never happen, mice, squirrels, raccoons, and other unwelcome critters do find lawn mowers an excellent place to hole up during winter.

Set your lawn mower out on your driveway and take a look at it. Are there remnants of animals’ homes, and have they left permanent evidence in the way of chewing, biting or urination? Is there rust on the body? Are any parts in need of repair or replacement? Now’s the perfect time to put an order in because in a few weeks, everybody will be calling in and the time it takes to receive a part will be greatly lengthened.

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2. Give it a Little Maintenance

You don’t have to perform any great mechanical acts in the second step, only a few top ups. Start by changing the oil, as it’s been sitting in there for months without use. You can do this at home (just remember to recycle the oil), or you can take it in and have a professional whip it up in two seconds.

Next up comes replacing the fuel. It’s tempting to leave a full tank in so you’re good to go, but after about 30 days, fuel starts to become unusable. Moisture has a tendency of creeping in, and the fuel and ethanol starts to separate. It’s just easier and safer—and cheap—to just start fresh.

After that, take a look at the three filters (that probably need to be replaced):

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3. Get a Little Edward Scissorhands on Your Lawn Mower

It’s basic science: the sharper something is, the better it can cut something. If you’ve got dull lawn mower blades, you’ll veer more towards compressing the grass down instead of actually chopping off their little heads. Now, it is entirely possible to sharpen the blades at home, but it’s a pretty technical process and probably better left to someone who’s done it thousands of times and has the—pun intended—hands for it.

4. Lubricate the Moving Parts

Finally, the last step involves knowing that all moving parts will move as they’re supposed to, and not chafe dryly against each other. Some of the parts you’ll want to use a light-duty lubricant on include: wheel bearings, height adjusters, cables, and anything else the owner’s manual advises.

Never lubricate anything that’ll touch the drive belt once you’ve got the lawn mower going.

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Now that the trees are growing back and grass is just as green on this side as it is on the other, it’s time to make sure you’re taking care of your lawn with one of Mower Source‘s top of the line lawn mowers. If you don’t have one, take a look at Mower Source’s selection now, and enjoy free shipping to the lower 48 states.