Self-Propelled vs Push Mower: What’s Best For You?

Walk-behind mowers have been every lawn owner’s champion ever since the horrible yard-maintenance penalty, scything, went out of style. The lawn tenders embraced the machines with immense relief and joy– waving goodbye to cutting acres and acres of grass by hand, and saying hello to a much healthier spine. 

Following suit, neat lawns and yards complementing residences have become as typical as birds to trees bringing forth the need to invest in the most effective technique of maintenance for our aesthetically pleasing lawns to thrive– but which is the most effective technique? 

You may have suddenly gotten hit with the necessity to own a mowing machine or upgrade to one with nicer features, and your goal is to make the chore a lot easier or have a much nicer finish to it. Whatever the case may be, this article will help you decide whether the push mower or self-propelled mower can deliver the most desirable yields for you and your lawn, so that you don’t throw your cash on the wrong machine. 

Why Should I Get The Push Mower?

If you put a push mower side by side with much more advanced and hats-off expensive lawnmowers, they’d seem like quite the bummer. However, push mowers – whether Reel, gas-powered, or electric –  have served the majority of people with lawns, and are pretty much the most common. 

Here are 4 good reasons why they might just be the one for you:

• They Are Low-Maintenance Mowing Machines 

Push mowers are the simplest mowing appliances you can find with the reel mowers leading the race. The reel push mowers are completely manually run; they are like a complicated build of helicopter-like blades on wheels with a handlebar to push them around– no need for gas, oil, or all the hocus-pocus. 

The gas and electric push mowers are a little sophisticated in comparison to reel mowers, but they are no way near the neediness that comes with the self-propelled mowers. Most of the servicing you’d need can be done with basic techniques with available and affordable spare parts to save you the fussing about. 

• They Weigh Far Less In Comparison To Self-Propelled Mowers

Push mowers are generally built for flat plains and less menacing grass, and because of that, they do not have the heavyweight build of the self-propelled mower. This is because they lack the heavy, beefy tires supporting the weight of the transmission system, bigger tank, and tougher engine attributed to the self-propelled machines. 

The push mowers are much easier to lift and move around on the lawn making it easier to hoist the drive wheels off the ground for readjustment to a new lane at the end of a stripe. With the reel mowers, you wouldn’t even need that much effort– they are as heavy as a boot!

• Reel Push Mowers Deliver The Cleanest of All Clean Cuts 

There’s no match for a reel push mower’s clean cut. That’s the plain fact. The only way you could match up is by cutting the grass on all fours with a garden hedge. You might be wondering why you have withering patches of grass here and there or brown tips despite the flood of love and care you’ve managed to drown your yard with, but are you aware that shredded and unevenly cut grass is one of the many ways your yard is bound to suffer? 

A great solution to prevent that from happening is to invest in a reel mower that would leave neatly, sharply cut grass to enhance regrowth. If your yard is in dire need of some revamping, the reel mower is your surest bet.

• Push Mowers Offer a Lot For a Little Price 

If you’re looking for the best way to stay on budget, the push mowers are on your side with this aim. They offer almost the same duties as the self-propelled, the only difference is that you replace manual labor with the transmission which is mostly where all the money goes. Since you don’t need a transmission system with push mowers, you’ll find them quite pocket friendly and a lot durable for their price. 

They start at a low price of $100 to $500 and if you go for the electric or reel push mowers, you wouldn’t even need to spend any coin on maintenance. If your yard is small and very even then I would suggest you settle on a push mower rather than a self-propelled one. It would save you a lot, I tell you. 

Why Should I Get a Self-Propelled Mower? 

The thing about lawn mowers is that no matter how perfect the new models or techniques may be, the oldies will remain goodies for some people– but is a self-propelled mower really a progress of the push mower? 

Here are 4 reasons why self-propelled mowers will suit your needs. 

• Self-Propelled Mowers Have No Use For Sufferable Manual Labor

Instead of pushing or dragging the machine over your lawn under the scorching sun, the self-propelled mower with the transmission system will do all the pushing for you, hence where the name comes from. Though they are a lot weightier in comparison to the push mowers and could be a pin in the boot to move around without switching them on, they do make up for this by powering themselves all through. All you have to do is tag along and steer. Unless you decide to mow backward, then you’d have to pull the machine.

 In their defense, they are not built for moving in reverse, and doing so is dangerous anyway. If you’re built on the smaller side or you just rather find mowing a lot easier to do, the self-propelled mowers are for you. 

• Self-Propelled Mowers Are Built With The Strength To Tackle Hills and Bumps

The self-propelled machines are built with beefier tires in comparison to the push mowers to support their increased weight. This is because they are equipped with a transmission system needed to surge them through tough conditions such as climbing a hill whilst mowing or defeating tough lengthy hay grass– the heavier the machine, the tougher the stance. The push mower could mow properly, but they’d be a failed game as soon as you consider your elevated lawn or overgrown backyard. 

There’s absolutely no reason to pick the push mower over the self-propelled if your lawn is heavy-duty. I will suggest you go for the self-propelled to save you the huge ton of unnecessary difficulty.  

• For Medium To Large Yards, Opt For a Self-Propelled Machine For a Speedier Mow

If you are considering your medium-sized or large yard — I mean larger than an acre or an acre and half — then I hope you’re considering the self-propelled mower. There’s every reason you’d rather mow a lot faster to get the job done on time or faster. The self-propelled machines are suitably empowered by powerful engines that would develop enough torque to ace you through the yard speedily. 

• Self-Propelled Mowers Have a Shallow Learning Curve

Ironically, the self-propelled mowers are much easier to master in comparison to the push mowers. The absence of manual labor gives room for getting accustomed to other aspects of the machine. There are a lot of features you could miss when you’re focused on pushing a mower from one stripe to the other, which could be a lot tedious to do. 

Different brands come with different features, most of which are very crucial to understand to enable the safety of the owner and longevity of the mower. When you remove manual labor from the perspective, there’s suddenly enough room to notice many things that otherwise would have been missed. If a shallow learning curve is included in your list of necessities, I strongly recommend the self-propelled mower. 

Are The Push Mowers Any Good? 

Putting your lawn under consideration, the push mowers are compact, simple, easy to use, and maintenance-free– all good qualities if you have a  small yard or lawn. Let’s say, half an acre to one acre. There would be no need for a much-advanced mower, after all, you get to walk around to help keep you fit. So, yes, push mowers are plenty good. 

Are The Self-Propelled Mowers Any Good? 

Self-Propelled mowers talk about bigger duties and tougher terrains in comparison to the push mowers. If you have tried to use a high-end self-propelled mower, you might fall into awe at how ill-fitting it is to a rather small-sized lawn. The self-propelled mowers will serve you much better where hills and stubborn grass dance in the light, to help you get to your desired results much easier. Read “Are Self-Propelled Mowers Worth The Money” to learn more.

Self-Propelled vs Push Mower: The Ultimate Conclusion 

Push mowers and self-propelled mowers are machines for different lawns. So, picking out which would be much more suitable will be solely dependent on your requirements for a heightened and stressless experience; 

if you have a small flat, even terrain with low, tender grass, the push mower is your machine for that. For medium to large-sized lawns with extra tough features like slopes and high grass, then you’d need a self-propelled mower for sure.

They are both built differently and offer the best of both worlds for every kind of mowing situation. It all depends on your preference.