Lawnmowers are one of the most crucial elements when taking care of your lawn. But working with it, it takes a lot of effort and energy. Due to the weight of the lawn mower, gardeners frequently find it tough and tedious to mow their lawns. When buying a lawn mower, most people consider horsepower, cutting capabilities, and turning radius. But less concern goes into the mass of the lawn mower, though it plays the most important role.
Therefore, before investing your money in lawnmowers, you should have the right knowledge about their weight.
On average, riding lawnmowers weigh 500 pounds. Your riding lawn mower gains weight from the fuel, which adds 6.3 pounds per gallon. Large-area, commercial riding lawnmowers can weigh up to 2,000 pounds. On the other hand, zero-turn machines are often heavier and can weigh up to 1,000 pounds.
Though knowing the exact weight of your lawn mower is important, we are here to give you some more. In this article, we will talk about the factors that make lawnmowers heavy. You need to know this to adjust it whenever needed easily. Let’s get into it.
Average Weights for Riding Lawnmowers
There is a range of lawnmowers from different brands that weigh differently are there in the market. To know in what category your lawn falls, you need to look at the table below.
| Craftsman ProSeries | Deck Width: 42 inches | Weight: 580 lbs |
| John Deere X300 | Deck Width: 42 inches | Weight: 542 lbs |
| Craftsman 27343 | Deck Width: 46 inches | Weight: 525 lbs |
| Yard Machines S029 | Deck Width: 42 inches | Weight: 520 lbs |
| John Deere E150 | Deck Width: 48 inches | Weight: 483 lbs |
| Husqvarna YTH1942 | Deck Width: 42 inches | Weight: 479 lbs |
| Cub Cadet XT2SLX | Deck Width: 52 inches | Weight: 470 lbs |
| John Deere S240 | Deck Width: 48 inches | Weight: 458 lbs |
| Poulan Pro 077 | Deck Width: 42 inches | Weight: 437 lbs |
| Poulan Pro 204 | Deck Width: 46 inches | Weight: 428 lbs |
Why Does the Lawn Mower’s Weight Matter?
Initially, you might wonder why knowing the lawn mower’s weight matters. You must be thinking, how does the weight even matters if we have to only drive it around the lawn?
Following are a few situations where you have to deal with the heavy weight of the lawn mower.
1. Transportation
Whenever there is a major engine defect or any malfunction in the machine, you need to make it operated by an expert mechanic. For that, you will need to carry the mower to the shop. It would help if you used a flatbed truck or tow it in the trailer to get it there. In either scenario, moving a heavier lawnmower will be more difficult.
2. Towing Capacity
Multitasking is one of the best features of the lawn mower. It does a lot more than just cutting and chopping the grass. You can also tow things like a leaf blower, tree trunk, etc. But to measure how much weight your lawn mower can carry, you need to know its weight and capacity. It is believed that the heavier the mower, the heavier it can lift. Nonetheless, it truly depends on the equipment you have and the torque it has. Zero-turn lawnmowers, for instance, are not recommended for towing due to their maneuverability.
3. Fuel Consumption
Many factors come into play in why your lawn mower consumes the amount of fuel it consumes. Though the weight of the lawn mower is one of them. It is evident anyway that heavy vehicles consume more fuel. Same way, if the weight of your lawn mower is more, it will consume more fuel. Even if your machine design is electric, you will still need more powerful batteries. The power consumption also depends upon the weight of the mower.
4. Lifting
It is helpful to work with the lawn mower if you can lift it. Most of the time, hydraulic junk helps. But you must also use a jungle jack to get two wheels up in the air. If you know how much your lawn mower weighs, you will not overload the divide and damage it.
Now that you have learned about a few situations where knowing the weight of your lawn mower is crucial, you must be wondering why? Why is the weight of the lawn mower like this? What are the factors that influence the weight of the lawn mower? We are going to see it next.
Factors That Influence the Weight of the Lawn Mower
There are several factors that influence the weight of the lawn mower which are as follows:-
1. The Type
The type of lawn mower you are riding plays a huge role in deciding its weight. When choosing a riding lawnmower, you typically have three options: gas-powered, electric, and zero-turn. Zero-turn lawnmowers are typically heavier even though gas and electric models are nearly the same size and weight. The engine’s complexity is the cause of the increased weight.
For smooth, even chopping off the grass, more particularly, for giving shape to the lawn, zero turn lawn mower is used. And therefore, it demands a high amount of Power to ensure the uniformity of the grass blades. Moreover, to assist the zero turning, the mower requires pneumatic controls, adding to the mower’s weight.
The similar weight of the electric and gas-powered lawnmowers is because of their identical weight. The heavy batteries used in the lawn mower are almost the same weight as the gas tank. Though being very similar, one thing makes the electric lawnmower more efficient than the other two. It contains a removable battery that you can easily take off whenever needed to carry the lawnmower from place to place. It will decrease weight and make it efficient to carry.
2. The Size and Horsepower of the Engine
Another factor influencing the weight of the lawn mower is its horsepower. The maximum horsepower of the lawn mower can be up to 24 horses starting from a few. The 24-horsepower is used when you do any heavy commercial cutting. As horsepower increases, a lawnmower’s engine becomes more complicated (and heavier). Simply, if you have a 24-horsepower motor, it will weigh around 550 pounds which would be almost half of the total weight of your lawn mower.
Nevertheless, even though the mower is heavier, by increasing horsepower, it can go more quickly and consistently. You needn’t worry about using too much gas because greater HP motors can utilize gasoline more effectively.
3. Cutting Deck
The deck size is not entirely responsible for the weight of the lawn mower. For many of the lawnmowers we have mentioned in this article, despite having a bigger deck, its weight is light. Though inside the deck are many components that affect the weight of the lawn mower. Those components are:
- Outer cell
- Mowing blade
- Spindle
Many prefer the small and light-decker lawnmower. It might look efficient and easy to use, but more is needed to guarantee good functioning. It is because the size of the duck matters while cutting the lawn. The deck should be able to hold the obstacles and the debris of the lawn. However, the stronger will be the deck, the stronger material would have been used to craft it, which also adds to the weight of the lawn mower.
4. Wheels of the Lawn Mower
The wheels are an essential part of the lawn mower. The stronger the wheels are, the more efficient the lawn mower will be. On a normal basis, the front wheels of the mower are small compared to the back ones. However, it should sometimes be different. You can alter it according to your needs and situation. Many lawnmowers come with tubeless tires. Though the lawn mower tires do not impact the weight a lot, many are when you might need to overweight the tires. For example, if you are climbing a hilly topography, you might need to add more wheels to your machine to support it. A heavier tire will make it simpler to extricate your mower if you become bogged in the mud.
Various Ways to Alter the Weight of the Lawn Mower
True that the lawn mower has various components that make it heavier. A few components must be attached to the mower for it to work. Many mower components can be subtracted or altered according to the need. Therefore, if you are thinking of changing the weight of the lawn mower, you can change it in the following ways.
By Changing the Tiers
The overall weight will be minimally altered by changing the tiers. However, you can create your own wheel weights out of concrete or purchase some that weigh up to 70 pounds each wheel.
By Changing the Cutting Deck
Do it only if you have a valid reason. Additionally, make sure the new deck will fit on your rig.
Recommendations
Buying a lawn mower is nothing less than investing. You want to be sure that the machine you are spending your money on is worth buying and will serve your notes. Here are a few recommendations on how you should choose your lawn mower.
Considering a bigger field of about 3+ acres, consider buying a heavier-duty zero-turn mower model because this mower is created especially to deal with long grasses and tough terrains.
For smaller yards, a standard small mower will do perfectly for you. However, they will be less expensive than their heavy-duty riding mower counterparts.
A push mower should work fine if you have a small yard (0.5 acres or less).
Be sure to read online reviews to learn how each mower stacks up in terms of cutting quality, sturdiness, and ease of use.
And lastly, keep in mind the cost that will go into the upkeep of the machine. It is to spend a large amount if there are lower long-term costs.
FAQ’s
A pulling lawn mower has a towing capacity of 2000 pounds.
The Husqvarna lawn mower weighs approx 445 pounds.
On average, a lawn mower consumes 1 to 3 gallons of gas.
EGO Power Plus is considered the heaviest of all lawnmowers available.
Yes, you sure can transport the lawn mower whenever needed. Though it is difficult, you always take a trailer’s help.
Conclusion
Maintaining and caring for the lawn is nothing to be taken lightly. It demands all the right effort and also the right knowledge. Though it is a tough job to do, many tools give a helping hand in this project. A lawn mower is one such crucial tool.
Cutting and leveling the lawn, even with the lawn mower, is laborious. As you need to move the mower through the lawn, the weight of the mower makes an impact. The heavier the lawn mower, the more tedious you will feel. Therefore, knowing the right weight of your lawn required to serve your purpose is important.