We Showcase The Best Petrol Lawn Mowers For Efficient Mowing

Petrol Lawn Mowers: How Much Power Is Good?

Rotary mowers should produce between 4bhp to 5.5bhp to be effective.

This output depends on the width of the mower as wider mowers do more work, therefore they require more power.

Cylinder mowers can start from 3bhp as they do not require as much power outage as they are smaller mowers.

Needless to say, if your grass expanse is vast, the best value petrol lawn mowers for large gardens are the sit on lawn mower.

How to Cut Overgrown Grass: The Best Solution is a Petrol Lawn Mower

Petrol lawn mowers are the best option when having to deal with thick unkempt grass or heavier lawn types. 

The torque of the mower influences the quality of the cut, the more you have, the easier the most daunting task is.

A low powered, lightweight petrol lawn mower may struggle in long or damp grass. This extra resistance causes the blade to rotate more slowly creating a scenario where the grass is not cut cleanly and looks ‘chewed’.

The grass can also develop a ribbed effect, a silvery look or you will have brown blades of grass showing where it has not been cut cleanly.

Another benefit of the petrol power is providing good pulling power where mowing may be difficult due to slopes and gradients or uneven surfaces.

If the mower has driven wheels to save you pushing effort, then even more power is required.

The Benefits of a Wide Cutting Width Offered by Petrol Mowers

A wide cutting diameter means less mowing time as you cut more each run up and down the lawn. This gives you more time to enjoy your hard work with a well-earned drink sooner.

Petrol lawn mowers commonly have a wide cutting diameter of 45-50cm as opposed to the 20-30cm of an electric mower.

A difference of 10 or 20cm may not seem important if you own a smallish patch of green, but large lawn-owners will definitely notice the dozen extra runs made each mowing session.

How to Start a Lawn Mower With a Pull Cord

Petrol mowers are a little more difficult to start with the pull cord system, need refuelling and can be a little more expensive to run and maintain than electric mowers.

Here a few things to run through if you are having issues getting your petrol mower started.

• If the starter won’t turn when you pull the cord – disengage the lawnmower’s flywheel brake on the handle
• Check the throttle. The lever may be in the “on” position, or the throttle may be stuck. This can cause carburettor flooding when pulling the cord.
• Check the choke is in the correct position.
• Empty the mower’s gas tank. Petrol mixes with moisture in the air and, when sitting, it goes bad.
• Remove the air filter, clean it and put it back in the mower.
• Check your spark plugs.

Petrol models should remain at the top of your list for large lawn expanses and for overall good results.

How to Stripe Your Lawn

The benefit of those immaculate stripes on your lawn is worth an hour or so of mowing once a week.

Adding a stripe to your green patch is quite simple actually.

Want to know?

Here’s how.

A Lawn Mower with Rear Roller

The best petrol mower for this job comes with a rear roller.

The width of the roller will ultimately be the width of your stripes.

If your mower doesn’t have a built-in roller, you can buy a lawn striping kit to assist you.

Your mower must also have a grass box on it to collect the cut grass clippings.

Stripes are added to the lawn by flattening and bending the grass as you cut it. The colour effect is created as light reflects off the blades of grass as differing angles, giving the illusion that the grass is a different colour.

The colour that the stripe appears depends on how far down you bend the blades of grass. The more the grass is bent and flattened, the darker the stripe will appear. 

The colour of the stripes may look different depending on where you are standing in the garden as the light is reflecting differently at that position.

How To Stripe Cut Your Lawn

• Get out your petrol lawn mower with a roller.
• Set the height of the blades so that you’re cutting off 1/3 of the leaf blade and no more.
• Start by mowing around the edge of the grass for two or three rounds. This will give you space to turn at each end of the lawn.
• When adding new stripes, try and overlap the previous stripe slightly. This will ensure that you do not miss any patches of grass that may spoil the stripe effect. Try to make sure your stripes are equal in width.
• To make a wider stripe simply go down the stripe again in the same direction.
• If cutting and striping the grass regularly, ensure you alternate the mowing direction every couple of weeks. If not, you may experience uneven growth which may affect the look and quality of your lawn.