It is pleasant to look at a beautiful, well-kept lawn in front of your house, especially the one shown in foreign films. However, the lawn must be maintained either by yourself or by a hired gardener. To do this, in any case, you need special equipment: mechanical, gasoline or electric. In today's HouseChief review, we'll talk about the use of a power lawn mower and why more and more people are choosing it for their garden maintenance.
Read in the article
- 1 Mechanical or motorized lawn mower
- 2 Device
- 3 Advantages and disadvantages of a power lawn mower
- 4 Criterias of choice
- 5 Manufacturers and prices
- 6 A few words in conclusion
Mechanical or motorized lawn mower
When choosing a lawn mower, first of all, it is necessary to take into account the areas on which the unit is supposed to be used. If you intend to cultivate a large area or are going to mow the lawn for profit, then you should choose powerful gasoline or electric models. But for ennobling a small lawn in front of the house or in the country, a manual mechanical mower is suitable.
Device
The heart of any lawn mower is the rotating blade block. In motorized units, it is driven by the engine, and in mechanical devices from the rotation of the wheels. Thanks to the design of the cutting mechanism and the special sharpening of the blades, mowing grass is easy and safe.
The lawn mower blades are made of high carbon steel and protected with an anti-corrosion coating, thanks to which the blades can withstand various influences (dirt, water, impacts on stones, etc.) etc.). Some models are equipped with a grass catcher, which most users consider to be a useless container.
The operation of a power lawn mower is quite simple:
- The operator pushes the cart in front of him.
- The cutter bar starts to rotate thanks to the attachment to the wheel axle.
- The vegetation is grasped with knives and cut off.
- The cut grass is thrown onto the ground or into the container of the grass catcher.
- The mowing cycle is repeated until the desired result is obtained.
Advantages and disadvantages of a power lawn mower
Many people think that if the mower does not have an engine, then it will be ineffective. Yes, only powerful motorized units can cope with thickets of thick and tall grass, but for maintenance behind a small lawn near the house or in the country, the mechanical model is an inexpensive and optimal solution.
Today, manual lawn mowers are almost not in demand, although they have a lot of advantages, namely:
- Low weight and easy handling. Any person, even a child or a pensioner, can operate such a device.
- Lack of noise during operation. Motorized models do not have this advantage.
- Cheapness of operation. By using a power lawn mower, you will forget about buying fuel for it or energy costs. The only expenses are the cost of the device and professional sharpening of knives, although if you have experience, then you can save on this.
- Precision of the grass cut. Thanks to the design of the cutting mechanism, manual lawnmowers cut vegetation better than motorized counterparts.
- Compactness. Mechanical mowers are generally small in size and require less storage space.
- Environmental friendliness. Hand-held power lawn mowers, unlike gasoline powered units, do not pollute the environment.
- Affordable cost. The price of most models of mechanical mowers is several times lower than the cost of gasoline and electric models.
There is only one drawback: not suitable for large areas and mowing tall grass.
Criterias of choice
Although the options for hand-held power lawn mowers are limited, there are a wide variety of models available from garden equipment manufacturers. But when buying a non-motorized device for cutting grass, all attention should be paid to the quality of the blades and the width of the cutting mechanism.
For mowing your front lawn, it is best to choose a lawn mower with a cutting width of 300–400 mm. Models with 30cm drums, besides the low price, will give you more fuss with the grass mowing. They are suitable if you have a narrow small lawn, and for large areas it is worth choosing units with a cutting mechanism 400 mm wide.
When choosing a mechanical mower, pay attention to the cutting height adjustment device. As a rule, it is performed using special fasteners at the place where the knives are installed. In the best models, the cutting height can be adjusted in the range of 12–44 mm. Such a constructive solution allows you to mow the lawn almost perfectly evenly.
If you do not want to constantly sharpen knives, then pay attention to models with self-sharpening blades. Due to the design features of the cutting unit and the material from which the blades are made, sharpening occurs during operation.
There are also models with a grass catcher. The container allows you to collect the cut grass, although it is usually enough to process a strip 15 m long, and part of the vegetation is still scattered to the sides. The optimal collection volume is 25 liters, which is enough for small lawns.
The wheels of a power lawn mower are usually made of durable plastic. Therefore, check them for stiffness and the presence of small protectors. The optimum wheel size is considered to be at least 200 mm in diameter.
Manufacturers and prices
The most inexpensive mechanical lawn mowers are offered today at a price in the range of 2,000-3,000 rubles. You can buy a trimmer for about the same money, but it is worth considering that these are two types of devices that cut the grass in completely different ways. Good functional models of well-known brands cost 5,000-7,000 rubles. Power lawn mowers from renowned garden equipment manufacturers such as Bosch, Fiskars, Husqvarna and Gardena are very popular.
A few words in conclusion
Owners of private households simply need a lawn mower on the farm, and summer residents will also need it. If you need to mow a small lawn, then you can't imagine a manual mechanical mower better. It is inexpensive, autonomous and practically silent, which is important if you do not want to spoil relations with your neighbors by mowing your lawn on Sunday morning.
We hope our article was useful for you and you will share it with your friends.
