NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Fresh from their mower testing field, Consumer Reports testers are ready to share this year’s top performers.
“For years we’ve been seeing the performance of battery mowers improve and this year was no exception but they’re just strong performers they’re also better for the earth and your neighbors will thank you since they tend to be quieter, too,” said Consumer Reports' Paul Hope.
Every winter, Consumer Reports lawn mower testing team heads to Florida where they walk, push, mow, and ride, on acres of grass to get a feel for how well each machine runs, handles, and performs.
Testers check for cutting evenness and mulching and of course battery power.
“You want a battery mower with a run time of at least about thirty minutes because that’s enough to cut a quarter-acre yard on a single charge," Hope said. You can also buy additional tools like a string trimmer, or a hedge trimmer or even a leaf blower from the brand and use the battery interchangeably.”
As performance gets better, prices are more in line with gasoline mowers. This recommended Ryboi offers nearly the same cutting performance as the top-performing gasoline model and actually costs hundreds less!
You can get the most value from your mower if you’re willing to do the pushing. This Skil is a budget-friendly choice and offers excellent mulching, evenness and handling, and very good run time.
If you do have lots of ground to cover, ride-on mowers are ideal.
This recommended Cub Cadet didn’t run as long as the top performers in Consumer Reports' tests, however it offers excellent mulching and very good handling and evenness. And for thousands less, it’s a great value!
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
