If you have more than a postage stamp yard, a riding mower is a must.  You can either stick with a traditional gasoline powered riding mower, or a new, electric riding lawn mower.  To get the most life out of your mower, you need to select the type of mower that is right for your circumstances and maintain it properly.

Selecting a Riding Mower: Gas or Electric?

Gas powered lawn mowers are much easier to find and less expensive than electric lawn mowers.  There are a few electric riding mowers, in particular the Electric Ox, made in Canada.  Its cost puts it out of reach for most homeowners, though.  The electric riding lawn mowers put out fewer emissions, but at a price of about $10,000 per mower, it would take years to recoup the cost savings in fuel.  Electric riding mowers are much better for the environment in terms of emissions, though the electrical power for the battery has to come from somewhere.  That means that the environmental impacts of an electric riding lawn mower ultimately lie in the power source of the local area where a homeowner resides.

Maintaining the Lawn Mower

Regardless of the type of riding lawn mower you have, in order for it to work well you need to maintain it.  Of utmost importance is keeping the blades sharpened.  Sharp blades provide a clean cut, which helps keep disease from entering the plant.  Additionally, a sharp mower blade produces a nicer looking lawn.  Dull blades will rip the grass blade, making a raggedy edge that will unevenly die at the edges.  If you look across a lawn that has been cut several days prior, and it has a whitish look, it is because the blades were not properly sharpened.

Benefits of Riding Lawn Mowers

It is much quicker to mow with a riding mower than with a push mower—self-propelled or not.  If your health is not the best, a riding mower can allow you to maintain your own yard without needing the care of an outside professional.  Another benefit of riding lawn mowers is that many of them can also work with attachments such as snow plows and small trailers.  They are versatile tools, more than just mowers.  New zero turn mowers allow for even mowing of the yard with less trimming, as well. Always purchase your riding lawn mower from a reputable dealer who can help with service if the need arises, and maintain the mower to factory specifications.