When It May Be Time to Upgrade to a Heavy-Duty Mower for Your Property

Cutting the grass may not be anyone's idea of fun, but it can be even more tedious if you're using an undersized or underpowered mower for the job. If you have a small lot in the city, then you can probably use a basic electric mower, but for larger lots and those with more than just soft grass, you'll need something more heavy-duty. Note a few options for upgrading your mower and when doing so might be necessary for your lawn.

Zero-turn mowers

A zero-turn mower is one that rotates along the cab or seating area; the wheels turn around completely rather than just moving back and forth. These are good for areas where you need to squeeze into tight corners or cannot work around landscaping features without having to consistently back up and turn a mower. This is not only difficult, but it can be dangerous to always be dragging a mower behind you when you can't turn it, and this can put added wear and tear on the blades. Zero-turn mowers are often used by commercial landscaping companies and are good for larger properties with lots of obstacles.

Tractor mowers

A tractor mower will have heavy-duty blades between the front and back wheels, and, like a standard tractor, these are more rugged and are needed when cutting rough sod, weeds, and the like. A tractor mower can also allow you to pull a trailer behind you so you can spread seed or a weed killer or whatever else as you cut the grass. A trailer might also drop bales of hay as you cut, if you have livestock that need feeding in the outer areas of your property. This keeps you from having to cut the grass and then go back over the property with another vehicle to drop the hay.

Flail mowers

Flail mowers are meant specifically for cutting thick and dense brush. They typically have two or three sets of blades, and these blades rotate against each other rather than spinning in the same direction. This means several blades are cutting the dense brush and from two different directions. A flail mower may be its own unit or it may be an attachment to be towed by a tractor. If you're finding that your standard mower is bogged down or that it constantly smokes or stalls when you cut your lawn, even if the thick grass or brush you're cutting isn't very high, you might upgrade to a flail mower instead.

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