Classic lawn mowers are powered in two different ways: corded as an electric mower or gasoline-powered with an internal combustion engine. Both models have their respective advantages and disadvantages. Read this guide to find out which mower best suits your personal requirements or the lawn area to be mowed.
While a gasoline mower is more suitable for garden owners who want to be independent when mowing and for whom environmental friendliness is not the highest priority, the cable of an electric lawn mower severely restricts movement, but is very environmentally friendly.
Freedom
Not everyone owns only a small front yard or has an outlet at hand every 10 meters. Then you need a lawn mower that offers the greatest freedom, so that it can do its mowing job even in the farthest corner. This is especially true for large or awkwardly shaped lawns or gardens with many trees and bushes. With a corded electric mower, you quickly reach its limits here and mowing becomes a frustration. This is where the gasoline lawn mower can show its full potential.
Environmental friendliness
Everyone is probably aware that machines that produce smelly exhaust fumes are not exactly good for the air we breathe. And although gasoline lawn mowers are much smaller than gas-guzzling cars, they still have much higher carbon dioxide emissions than their corded and electric motor counterparts. Even though gasoline engines can’t be avoided here and there, they’re not necessarily required for lawn mowing.
Power and endurance
The debate between gasoline and electric drive in terms of power is also nothing new. Even a comparison between mopeds and e-bikes or normal cars and electric ones, such as a Tesla, makes the difference in power and endurance clear. Even though electric mowers are continuously supplied with electricity, they are also inferior to gasoline-powered models in a direct comparison, especially in high and wet grass.
Operating costs
In the area of operating costs, there is only one point to consider: the size of your garden. For lawns up to 300 m², a gasoline mower is the cheaper choice; over 300 m², you’ll usually get away with a better price with an electric mower.
Volume
Lawn mowing isn’t necessarily one of the quietest gardening tasks, but there are some ways to reduce the noise. Most of us don’t usually need an oversized mower with a big engine, with the exception of riding mowers, though we won’t consider those in this guide. Basically, you should purchase a mower according to your lawn area, so that, for example, for small green areas already a quiet electric mower is sufficient. In direct comparison, gasoline mowers are generally considerably louder than lawn mowers with electric motors. Regardless of which mower you ultimately choose, you should always pay attention to the appropriate time and day of the week when mowing, so that your fellow citizens are disturbed as little as possible.
Maintenance
A lawn mower, like all machines, consists of a great many parts – and these want to be checked, maintained and, if necessary, replaced from time to time. The amount of maintenance required here depends on the type of lawn mower chosen. Electric lawn mowers are simpler in design and therefore correspondingly easier to maintain yourself. Gasoline mowers, on the other hand, have a number of potentially maintenance-prone parts, including the oil filter, fuel line and spark plug, which can only be replaced by a specialist if necessary.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the choice of the right lawn mower is primarily determined by the lawn area to be mowed and one’s own taste. From a neutral point of view, however, electric mowers are the better choice overall, especially since the now established cordless mowers outrank gasoline mowers in terms of “freedom”. Still can’t decide? Then read our lawn mower reviews here.
