A riding lawn mower is one of the major investments in your home; therefore, you need to ensure that you make the right choice when buying one. When purchasing rider mowers, the exercise can be difficult as there are several factors you should consider. Riding lawn mowers are made to navigate large lawns and difficult terrains, save time and achieve a perfectly striped lawn.
The following are the factors to consider that make a quality riding lawn mower.
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Zero-turn Design
Lawn mowers with a zero-turn have a tight turning radius. This means that the lawn mower has superb maneuverability, which makes it effortless to get around lawn statues, shrubs, and trees. If you want your lawn to have a perfect finish, with the space being expansive and even, you need to look for a zero-turn lawn mower as it will achieve your preferred finish.
Mower Blades Cutting Width
Your lawn mowers cutting blades can slow down or speed up the mowing process, but can also affect the size of the mower. If your space is expansive, go for a mower with wider blades as it cuts a larger area at one go, which will enable you to finish the job faster. But, the larger the blade width is, the larger the riding lawn mower, meaning that some lawn mowers may be too wide to comfortably maneuver through the property. When going to the lawn mower dealer shop, measure the area to maintain and mow to enable you pick the right mower for your space.
Speed
This is one of the most important features of a quality riding lawn mower, which you have to consider when purchasing one. The speed of the lawn mower impacts the time it will take to finish the job. A professional landscaper or groundskeeper needs a lawn mower with high speed as they have large spaces to mow. The quicker you finish one job, the faster you can move on the next one.
Cruise Control
Some modern riding lawn mowers have built-in cruise control to enable the rider to regulate the lawn mower speed. This is the definitive ease of use function, which lets the user maintain the ideal speed for an even cut. Though the models are a bit expensive, they are the best choice for professionals and mowing large yards.
Mower Engine Placement
The engine placement of the mower determines its power. Models with rear engines are normally smaller, hence have less power, zero-turn mowers usually have rear engines. Tractor models with front engines have more cutting ability as they have more power because of their large engines. Models with rear engines are best suited to mow spaces less than acre in size. This is because they are entry-level mowers that cannot cope with steep inclines and difficult terrains. If your mowing space is smaller, a mower with a front engine will have excess power, which will cost you more than necessary.
Warranty
Since a riding lawn mower is expensive, you have to ensure that its warranty period is reasonable. In case the lawn mower develops problems in its early days, you will save thousands of dollars on replacing the lawn mower or its parts using the warranty. You should know that products with longer warranty periods are of better quality than those with shorter warranty periods. Most manufacturers provide a two-year warranty on riding lawn mowers.
Extra Features
Some of the extra features to look out for are a mulching blade and a bagging mower. The mulching mower puts back finely cut grass to the lawn to act as fertilizer saving you on collecting and disposing clippings.
A bagging mower is attached to the back or to the side of the mower for collecting grass clippings. The ones attached at the back maneuver better around tight spaces, landscaping, and trees.
