Best petrol lawnmowers: How do I choose a petrol lawnmower?

A guide to keeping your lawn neat and tidy.

Best petrol lawnmowers

by Lily Anderson |
Updated on

Get your garden ready for summer thanks to one of the best petrol lawnmowers. Whether you're searching for a lightweight grass cutter that'll effortlessly navigate your lawn, are or on the hunt for a reliable garden power tool that will last, we've found an incredible selection.

Are you a little out of the loop when it comes to lawnmowers? Here's Everything you need to know about the best lawn mowers.

What are petrol lawnmowers?

According to Screwfix, "Petrol lawnmowers are perfect for offering power to tackle larger gardens or for offering a cord-free solution. Petrol mowers also offer more power so are suitable for thick or overgrown grass." We couldn't have said it better ourselves!

Still unsure whether or not this is the right garden tool for you? Keep reading to find out the difference between lawnmowers and how this can benefit your outdoor space.

How do I choose a petrol lawnmower?

In order to choose the right petrol lawnmower for you, you need to understand the different types of lawnmowers and what they do. Here's some key information that you need to know about lawnmower variations:

Rotary lawnmower: If you have a small patch of grass outside the front of your house, a rotary lawn mower will do the trick. This single-blade mower propels like a plane. Top tip: this type of lawnmower tends to require a lot of physical work.

Cylinder lawnmower: Unlike a rotary mower, a cylinder uses two blades in a shearing action to cut grass. You'll find this technology used in self-propelled petrol cylinder mowers, which will provide a lovely clean-cut edge to your lawn.

Hover lawnmower: The benefit of investing in a hover mower over traditional models is that this can move in any direction, which is handy if your lawn is designed with borders and flower beds.

Cordless lawnmower: Finally, we have the cordless lawnmower, which is beneficial for keen gardeners. Not only does it mean you can cover more land, but you don't have to think about extension leads and where to plug it in.

Now that you have all information you need to buy the best petrol lawnmower, here's why this lot made it onto our must-have list:

Best Petrol Lawn Mower For Large Gardens

Specifications:

Dimensions: 149 x 50 x 108 cm
Weight: 25.3 kg
Cutting width: 41 cm
Number of height positions: 6
Guarantee: 2-year limited warranty

Pros / cons:

Pros:

Adjustable handles create additional comfort
Easy to use
Plenty of height adjustment options
Quick-start engine

Cons:
May take a little longer to start in colder weather

Overview:

Murray is a well-known brand amongst gardening enthusiasts, and for good reason. The EQ300 is an absolute breeze to use and is perfect for practically any garden. With six height modes to choose from, you truly have absolute control over how you want your garden to look. There's also a perfectly convenient clipping bag on the rear of the mower, giving you one less job to do!

Customer review: "What an excellent piece of kit for the price. It is adjustable front and back and is really a pleasure to use. The weight is balanced and the grass collection is amazing. A real little star. Practically using it three times a week is just so easy to maintain my two lawns."

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Great value lawnmower

Specifications:

Dimensions: 78.5 x 47 x 106.5 cm
Weight: 21.1 kg
Cutting width: 39 cm
Number of height positions: 5
Guarantee: 3-year limited warranty

Pros / cons:

Pros:
Easy to use
Lightweight
Rust-proof and sturdy
Comfortable

Cons:
Fairly large and cumbersome

Overview:

The perfect companion to your lawn, Mountfield's HP41 petrol lawnmower is a fantastically efficient and accurate solution to your overgrown lawn. It's incredibly easy to start, covers a ton of land, and is fairly lightweight compared to competing lawnmowers without sacrificing build quality - this may be the mower for you.

Customer review: "After filling the fuel tank my mower started first pull! You don't even have to mess about with choke or priming bulbs. Just pull the cord and off she goes. Runs absolutely smoothly with minimum visible emissions. Only did a quick test cut of our small back lawn but it handles easily and seems to give a decent cut."

Best grass coverage

Specifications:

Dimensions: 71 x 53.3 x 41.5 cm
Weight: 21.5 kg
Cutting width: 40 cm
Number of height positions: 7
Guarantee: 2-year warranty

Pros / cons:

Pros:
Designed for very large lawns up to 800m²
Comfortable
Plenty of height options

Cons:
Fairly noisy

Overview:

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Recommended

Specifications:

Dimensions: 71 x 53.3 x 41 cm
Weight: 25 kg
Cutting width: 40.6 cm
Number of height positions: 6
Guarantee: 2-year warranty

Pros / cons:

Pros:
Huge 40L collection bag
Great control
Wide cutting blades
Easy to use

Cons:
Fairly heavy

Overview:

Webb's terrific little lawnmower is no underdog, it's a serious bit of kit that's perfect for any garden - big or small. With over 40 litres of grass collection capacity, excellent high-grip wheels, and a cutting width of 41cm, rest assured it'll make speedy work of any garden - no questions asked.

Customer review: "The lawnmower was easy to assemble, starts first pull every time, cutting distance is great."

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Best quick-start lawnmower

Specifications:

Dimensions: 80 x 51 x 41 cm
Weight: 19.2 kg
Cutting width: 40 cm
Number of height positions: 5
Guarantee: 3-year warranty

Pros / cons:

Pros:
A large grass collection bag
Great cutting width
Easy to manoeuvre

Cons:
The handle is too low for some users

Overview:

Light, easy to use, and easy to store, the Yard Force lawnmower is practically everything you could possibly want out of a mower. Despite being a little pricey, the Yard Force mower's quality is just so obvious that you'll definitely see the value immediately. The cutting width is excellent, making what may seem like a chore an absolute breeze, the collection bag is nice and large enough so you can cover your entire garden without dumping out grass every five minutes, it's perfection in a lawnmower.

Customer review: "It very easy to put together and very simple to operate with just a single fuel primer you push a few times when starting from cold followed by the usual pull cord mechanism. Starts on 2nd pull usually and takes a few seconds to warm up to smooth operation - but there is no manual choke or throttle lever or anything - just start and go."

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Best quality lawnmower

Specifications:

Dimensions: ‎150 x 520 x 110 cm cm
Weight: 34 kg
Cutting width: 46 cm
Number of height positions: 6
Guarantee: 3-year warranty

Pros / cons:

Pros:
Incredibly high quality
Very powerful without consuming too much fuel
Huge grass collector bag

Cons:
Very heavy compared to our other picks
Expensive

Overview:

Hyundai has knocked it out of the park entirely with this absolute monster of a lawnmower, designed to be used over a large plot of land (around 185 m²). It may be a little on the bulkier side, but with that much larger tank, a whopping 70L grass capacity, and a mammoth 46cm cutting width, this is one of the best mowers on the market right now.

Customer review: "This mower was capable of handling grass that had not been cut for three months without difficulty. A second lower cut a few days later was good. The large fuel tank easily cut our rough 1.4 acre lawn. The bag is a good size but the amount of grass being cut made for a lot of emptying; emptying was easy. Assembly was easy and starting without trouble."

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