Is your lawn the laughingstock of your neighborhood? Before you throw in the towel — or lay down the Astroturf — read on. We scouted out this season’s hottest mowers, blowers, and trimmers. What we found will surprise you: Today’s power lawn tools are designed to make creating the perfect lawn, well, fun.
“The right outdoor power equipment makes the job easier,” agrees Jeanine Huebner, a global product merchant for Home Depot.
For example, John Deere’s L100 Lawn Tractor features a five-speed, gear-drive transmission; an 18-inch turning radius; and the EDGE Cutting System, which features a 42-inch mower deck that converts from mulching to bagging to side discharge. Listed at $1,499, this one’s a winner. Murray’s 46-inch-wide body, five-speed garden tractor is another good bet. Retailing at $1,898, it comes equipped with a 20-horsepower twin cylinder engine and is a whiz at chopping dense growth.
Or try Honda’s new HRX Versamow 4-in-1 mowers, which allow you to mulch, bag, shred, and discharge clippings. They range in price from $639 to $759.
Forget that unwieldy weed wacker of yesteryear. Attachments convert your grass trimmer into a blower, edger, tiller, or pruner. Ryobi’s RGBV3100 two-cycle gasoline powered blower/vacuum features a low-tone muffler and converts from a blower to a vacuum with the flip of a switch. Weighing 12 pounds, and featuring a shoulder strap, it retails at $119. Homelite’s 25 cc VacAttack Gas Blower/vacuum/mulcher, priced at $109, is another winner. This lightweight, vibration-absorbing tool reduces 12 bags of leaves to one bag of mulch.
Derek Drew, CEO and editor-in-chief of ConsumerSearch.com, suggests that consumers log on to Websites such as bizrate.com, shopping.com, and froogle.com, which allow you to look up prices by model number and find comparable products at lower prices.
So, now that you know what you need to create the lawn of your dreams, it’s time to brave the hot sun and get mowing.