The best lawn mowers and tractors cut your lawn well while minimizing the effort. And when you’re ready to shop for a new one, Consumer Reports’ tests reveal good news: Whether you’re seeking a behemoth gas lawn tractor or an easier-on-the-ears battery push mower, you’re likely to find many very capable choices among the 140-plus models in our ratings.
“You’ll get a decent cut from nearly all of our rated lawn mowers and tractors as long as you sharpen the blades every couple of months during mowing season and do other basic maintenance,” says David Trezza, who heads lawn mower testing at Consumer Reports. Where you’ll find differences in our ratings, he adds, is in convenience features that each mower and tractor offer, the level of noise each puts out, and—for electric mowers—the real-world battery run times our engineers measure.
In this article
- Best Battery Walk-Behind Mowers
- Best Gas Walk-Behind Mowers
- Best Gas and Battery Riding Mowers and Tractors
- Why Trust CR's Lawn Mower and Tractor Ratings?
- How to Shop for a Mower or Tractor
“Mowers and tractors also can vary a lot in their reliability,” Trezza says. As Consumer Reports’ exclusive reliability ratings show, some mower brands are more likely than others to keep on cutting, year after year.
More on Mowers
Best and Worst Walk-Behind Mowers
Gas vs. Electric Mower: Which Is Better?
Is a Battery Mower Worth It?
Get Your Lawn Mower Ready for Spring
CR members with digital access can read on for reviews of the nine top mowers in our ratings in three categories: battery walk-behind mowers, gas walk-behind mowers, and battery and gas riding mowers and tractors.
Within those categories, we’ve included the best push and self-propelled walk-behind mowers, zero-turn-radius lawn tractors, and walk-behind and riding battery mowers. These top machines come from a range of brands, including Cub Cadet, Ego, Honda, Greenworks, John Deere, Ryobi, and Toro.
Several models are among the gas- and battery-powered mowers and tractors that have earned CR’s eco-friendly Green Choice designation. That simple green leaf means they’re among the most energy-efficient models in their category, something that’s good for the environment as well as your wallet.
Best Battery Walk-Behind Mowers
See our battery walk-behind mower ratings.
Best Gas Walk-Behind Mowers
See our gas walk-behind mower ratings.
Best Gas and Battery Riding Mowers and Tractors
See our gas and battery riding mower and tractor ratings.
Why Trust CR's Lawn Mower and Tractor Ratings?
Consumer Reports’ ratings combine the results of our unique and comprehensive scientific field tests of dozens of mowers and tractors with predicted reliability ratings derived from our annual member surveys.
To get you ratings and reviews of the latest models by early spring, our testers travel to Florida to conduct tests in late winter at grounds we maintain year-round. We plant 1,800 pounds of grass seed (predominantly annual rye, prized for its dense growth). We cut 500,000 square feet of grass in three modes: mulching, side-discharging, and bagging (collecting 3,000 pounds of clippings in total). We take each mower over level turf, slopes, and ditches to get a feel for how they handle the varied terrain. We also review the convenience features of every model we assess.
The Overall Score for each model in CR’s mower and tractor ratings incorporates all of that performance data, along with predicted reliability and owner satisfaction ratings from our latest member surveys. We collected data on more than 36,500 lawn mowers and tractors that members purchased between 2013 and 2023. That reflects experiences with more than 16,000 gas mowers, more than 10,000 battery mowers, and more than 9,600 riding mowers.
How to Shop for a Mower or Tractor
If you’re in the market for a new mower, the best place to start is Consumer Reports’ lawn mower and tractor buying guide. Then check out our in-depth ratings of dozens of mowers and tractors. Still not sure which kind of lawn mower is right for your yard? Read CR’s advice on how to choose one based on your property’s acreage and topography. Not sure whether an electric mower is for you? Check out our gas vs. electric mower face-off or use our interactive decision tool to see which is the better investment.
For more details on the key factor of reliability, read our reports on the most and least reliable gas riding mower brands and the most and least reliable walk-behind mower brands, which cover both electric mower and gas mower brands.
When you start to shop, keep in mind that some mower brands are sold only at Home Depot or Lowe’s, while others are sold only through independent dealers. And some brands may sell certain models at a big home-improvement chain and others through dealers. If you can’t find a particular model at your favored store or at a price that fits your budget, keep looking. “Shop around, checking a few different stores,” says Courtney Pennicooke, the Consumer Reports product analyst who covers lawn mowers.
@consumerreports You want an even, carpet-like cut from your lawn mower—not clumps of grass. In this video, our tester inspects the clippings and shows the difference between a top cut and one that could be better. See lawn mower ratings and reviews through the link in our bio. #lawntok #lawntiktok #lawnmower
♬ original sound - Consumer Reports
Tobie Stanger
As a senior editor at Consumer Reports for more than 30 years, Tobie Stanger specialized in helping readers shop wisely, save money, and avoid scams. Her home- and shopping-related beats have included appliance and grocery stores, generators, homeowners and flood insurance, humidifiers, lawn mowers, and luggage. She also covered home improvement products, including flooring, roofing, and siding.
