The Best Electric and Gas Mowers for Any Type of Yard (2024)

The M220 is essentially the self-propelled version of the Craftsman M110 push mower also featured in this article. This mower's front-wheel drive propulsion makes it ideally suited to maneuvering around shrubs and other landscaping. Since this is a front-wheel drive model, it is not ideally suited to work on hills and slopes, but should be fine for fairly level yards.

This mower features a 150-cc Briggs and Stratton gas engine, a more-powerful version of the motor found in the Craftsman push mower. It can bag, mulch, or side discharge, and features a two-point height adjustment—one lever for the front wheels and one for the back.

Key Specs

We like what we see in this relatively low-cost Murray mower powered by a Briggs & Stratton engine. It exhibits good workmanship, with neatly stamped and formed parts. The mower has just two points of deck adjustment, one for the front wheels and one for the rear.

We also like its 11-inch rear wheels, which help it to roll smoothly over bumpy terrain. The mower weighs a relatively light 52 pounds, which is certainly a help, given that it’s not self-propelled.

This is a solid overall mower that is sold in a few variations and under a few different brands depending where you are shopping.

Key Specs

Toro pioneered the wide-cut residential mower, and that experience is evident with the Timemaster. This is a thoroughly engineered and well-behaved mower that’s easy to use, especially for something that weighs as much as this does. The TimeMaster employs Toro’s well-regarded Personal Pace speed control. Push forward on the handle to make the mower go faster.

Other well-designed features: two-lever height control, a forward-fold handle for more compact storage, and a large grass bag. Its speed and ease of use make it well suited to broad suburban lawns, less so for push-pull and pivoting cuts in tight spots. This Toro is a capable and powerful hill climber, we found, but did not do particularly well in sidehill mowing.

Those are small asides, though. This is an outstanding product suited to those with a sizable yard that prefer the experience of a walk-behind mower to that of a riding mower.

Key Specs

This is one of Ryobi’s top-of-the-line mowers, and it’s something we wish we saw more of: U.S.-built tools. The RY401150 delivers a tremendous cut area with its two (6-Ah) batteries, and its X-shaped blade leaves a pristine surface in its wake.

Ryobi estimates this mower should provide 70 minutes of run time. We didn’t time our cut, but it strikes as plausible. Its rear-wheel drive and reasonably aggressive tread pattern provide good hill climbing and sidehill cutting performance. And its bagging on all surfaces (level, sidehill, and uphill) is also commendable.

Its other ease-of-use features include an easily installed or removed bag that mounts and dismounts easily. Adjusting deck height is simple with the single lever. The straight-edge deck is made of polypropylene and will never rust, needing very little care other than basic cleaning.

Key Specs

Toro mowers have received more awards from us than any other brand for two reasons: build and cut quality. And those were amply demonstrated in this test as the Recycler turned in the best ratio of cut area per amp-hour of battery in the self-propelled category, while at the same time not skimping on cut quality, mulch quality, or bagging.

We attribute this outstanding mower performance to three features: First, the air vent at the front of the mower deck optimizes mulching and bagging performance. Toro calls it Vortex technology, a design to increase air flow in the same way as a hood scoop on a car. The company says it helps the grass stand straighter under the mower and the clippings to be suspended longer for more thorough mulching, but it also helps airflow into the bag.

Next, the company’s redesigned “Atomic” blade configuration appears to assist the air flow and clipping movement. Finally, the three-phase, 60-volt motor is exceptionally efficient, resulting in a large cut area for a single battery.

Other great features of this mower are its rear-wheel drive self-propel, solid one-piece metal deck, large 11-inch wheels, and fold-forward handle that lets it stand upright when stowed.

Key Specs

This Craftsman M110 push mower is very similar to the Murray mower listed in this article. They share the same basic deck design (they're both built by MTD), and this one can also bag, mulch, or side discharge.

Part of the reason it costs less is because it lacks the Murray's large-diameter rear wheels, which means it won't roll as smoothly over bumps.

The two are fairly close in price when not on sale, but if you can do without the large rear wheels, this is a solid, quality mower if you're looking to not break the bank.

Key Specs

We found that this mower is nicely designed and equipped with features you hardly see in this class and price of product. You get 10-inch rear tires to help it better roll over washboard surfaces, dual batteries, and three-function capability (mulch, side discharge, and bag).

Icing on the cake includes its steel deck with seven positions from 1- 1⁄8 to 3 inches, all controlled by a single spring-loaded lift mechanism. The deck is continuous from the rear wheels to the front, and a hatch at the back provides access to the bag.

It's worth noting that it's cutting width, at just 19-inches, is among the smallest you'll find on the market, so this mower truly is best suited for small yards or as a trimming mower.

Key Specs

The Ego LM2150SP is designed to work with Ego's multi-blade cutting system. In addition to a mulching blade, the mower comes with a high-lift bagging blade and another that helps extend run time by reducing drag through the air and the grass. This mower, when equipped with the extended-run blade, is designed to go for 75 minutes on one charge of its 10-Ah battery.

In other respects, Ego went all-out to equip this mower: variable-speed rear-wheel drive, bright LED lighting, a front handle and fold-forward rear handle, and three-mode capability (bag, mulch, side discharge).

On that last point, the mower is not really side discharge in that the chute doesn’t mount on the side of the deck and discharge to the side. Rather, it mounts on the rear and discharges to the side. We did notice considerable clumping in this mode; it’s not the mower’s strong suit. But it still bags well, even with the mulching blade. Rounding out its features are its easily-adjusted single-lever control of deck height.

Key Specs

We were pleasantly surprised by this mower’s cut area and overall performance. The cut quality and mulching are quite good for an inexpensive machine, and its bagging ability is what we describe as middle of the road—better than some, but not the best you'll find.

While the lack of self-propel make this unit less ideal for some users, the benefit is that none of the battery charge is being used on the drive system. This gives the mower a decent battery life in terms of the square footage it can cut per charge.

You can check out the self-propelled version of this mower here, which is otherwise largely the same.

This mower comes with one 5-Ah battery, but its battery compartment has two bays; install a second one to double the run time. For your money, you also get the convenience of single-lever deck adjustment with a conveniently located cutting height scale next to it for adjustment from 1.5 to 4 inches.

Key Specs

PM: Are battery or gas-powered mowers better?

RB: It depends on your needs. If you have a fairly small yard or even a larger (up to half an acre) yard that’s relatively flat, either should be fine. Battery mowers lose ground to their gas counterparts mostly in terms of actions that cause excess draw on the battery, such as mowing through heavy, thick grass, or when self-propelling up steep inclines.

Even then, the biggest issue most users will run into is that the battery runs down faster. If you have an extra battery on hand or don’t mind waiting while your one battery recharges, you should be OK. Battery mowers also tend to be quieter in operation and easier to maintain. With gas mowers, you have to make sure to perform easy, seasonal maintenance to keep their engines in top condition.

Batteries for electric mowers can be expensive, however. Whether you want to buy an extra just to have on hand or you need to replace the one that came with your machine, you may want to figure that cost into your long-term budgeting for the mower. How much gasoline can you buy for a gas mower before you’d spend as much on the cost of a replacement battery? In all likelihood, probably multiple years-worth.

PM: What do I need to do to keep my mower running well?

RB: More maintenance is required of gas-powered mowers than battery ones, but none of it is particularly expensive or labor-intensive. Making sure to change the oil at least once per season is one of the best things you can do to keep the engine running strong. Another is replacing the air filter each season.

Finally, avoid letting untreated fuel sit in the mower for long periods of time, such as storage over the winter months. It’s a good idea to add fuel stabilizer to the gas that you put in your mower, as most gas contains ethanol, an alcohol additive that breaks down over time and can clog the carburetor, which will cause the engine to run poorly.

For either gas or battery-powered mowers, it’s important to keep the underside of the deck clean. Grass can build up in the crevices under the deck, which can ultimately make the mower less effective at cutting and put extra strain on the motor. It’s easy to keep clean—just flip the mower on its side (for gas mowers, always tip the mower carburetor/air filter-side up, oil-spout-side down) and scrape the deck with a small putty knife to get rid of any large clumps.

The other thing you should do to optimize mower performance is keep the blade sharp. This is something you can do yourself with a file or angle grinder, or you can take your blade to a hardware store where they may be able to do this for you for a nominal cost. If your blade becomes severely pitted, damaged, or bent, we recommend replacing it. A dull or damaged blade will lead to damaged and diseased grass.

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