Worth it to upgrade lawn mower from 21" to 30"?

[soupcxan]

I don't have a huge lot, only 10k sq ft, but still takes longer than I'd like to cut the grass. Is it worth it to upgrade from my 21" mower to a 30"? Seems like it should cut time roughly in half, right?

 

[H2ODude]

I shudder at the thought of cutting grass in Houston! It's a tradeoff, but as long at they're both self propelled it's just a matter of how long you care to be out there. Still cutting mine, and not quite as large as yours, but 21 is just fine. Bear in mind that even self propelled, the larger will take more effort to turn as you go back and forth.

 

[W2R]

I don't know. I quit cutting my grass at age 57 and hired a lawn guy, because I was working all week and cutting grass all weekend. By that age I could only cut the back on Saturdays (and then spend the rest of the day recovering from being so overheated), and cut the front on Sundays (ditto for recovering). And that was with a lot half the size of yours. I also joined a gym when I quit mowing so it had no effect on the amount of exercise I was getting - - it just affected how safe that exercise was for me, IMO.

Just something to consider! I'm all for LBYM, but personally I'd rather cut back in other types of spending if necessary, in order to afford a lawn guy. YMMV. I sold my mower to my lawn guy for 3 free mows.

 

[euro]

I don't have a huge lot, only 10k sq ft, but still takes longer than I'd like to cut the grass. Is it worth it to upgrade from my 21" mower to a 30"? Seems like it should cut time roughly in half, right?

Can you move to a riding mower? Seems like a big enough lot to justify unless its tricky terrain.

 

[RE2Boys]

Depends on what you feel your time is worth and what physical shape your in and wish to maintain.

I have a 13K sq ft flat lot
Use a 21" push mower (not old enough to need a self-propelled, the lot is flat)
If I take no breaks, takes under 2 hours to mow.
I'm 67.

But in Houston, it'd take 4 hours as I'd do the front, hour break, do the side, hour break, finish the back. A good sweaty exercise day! May break it into two days. so three hours total.

 

[soupcxan]

I'd rather not go all the way to a riding mower, don't have a good place to store it and there's a gate I'd have to navigate between the front and back yards.

I can get a lawn service but that's ~$2k/year, if I buy a large mower for $1k it pays for itself in 6 months.

But yeah the summer months in Houston are awful.

 

[ocean view]

Could you hire a lawn service for just the months when weather makes the chore more difficult? Or hire a neighbor kid (or someone from your church/community organization) for less than a service? Although, both of these suggestions result in on-going expenses, rather than the fixed cost of a new mower.

 

[Fedup]

I don't see why not. Spend your money is my motto.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I have a whopping 857 sq ft of lawn. I know this from the monthly bill I get from Tru Green lawn service. This was a subtle hint to hire someone. And of course as usual I have a story. A wonderful guy I used to work with dropped dead while shoveling the snow he was about 47. I think pushing a mower in Texas during the summer over a 10 Thousand sq foot lot is not on my to do list.

 

[Walt34]

I don't have a huge lot, only 10k sq ft, but still takes longer than I'd like to cut the grass. Is it worth it to upgrade from my 21" mower to a 30"? Seems like it should cut time roughly in half, right?

Actually, no. I used to mow (hire out now because of health issues) and initially used a 21" mower to mow about 1/2 acre or 20k square feet minus the footprint of the house. It took about an hour. Wanting to cut the time a bit I bought a walk-behind 33" mower.

It made all of about 10 minutes difference. Not worth it to me.

I recently gave both mowers to DW's nephew, who with his wife just moved into a new-to-them single family house with a large yard.

 

[W2R]

I can get a lawn service but that's ~$2k/year, if I buy a large mower for $1k it pays for itself in 6 months.

I don't want to offend, but honestly you might want to look around. New Orleans is not that far from Houston, I have the most expensive lawn guy I ever heard of, he mows year around, and gosh, I don't pay anywhere near that stratospheric amount per year. Even if you add in my annual gym fees (to the most expensive gym around), it doesn't come to that much.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I've owned a Troy-Bilt wide-cut (33 inch) walk-behind mower for more than 20 years. It will indeed reduce your mowing time significantly. With swivel wheels up front it is surprisingly maneuverable but it's still much, much heavier than a 21-incher. You will get an upper-body workout tooling a mower like this one around your yard.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

PA with a 22k sqft lot that is mostly grass and has 300 ft sidewalk and another 200 ft of fence/patio to be edged. Many years ago DW dropped the hammer and outsourced it over my objections.

$35/wk for about 5 months each year.

I've never looked back. Best decision she ever made -- certainly far better than marrying me!

 

[Aerides]

If it were just mowing, I'd be looking at the low-end riders. But it's not. It's edging/trimming, weed-whacking etc. And then getting the gas and the motor oil, and the upkeep, and the smell in my garage.... and the space I don't have in there...

I write a $90 check to my lawn guy every month and it is the best money I spend. I'm in S.Fla, that gets me a much needed weekly cut from May to Nov, and every-two-weeks the rest of the year. His crew is done in 20 mins. I would take me 2 hours. If I want to take a two week trip in the middle of the summer I don't have to worry about coming home to a jungle. I have someone on point if I need a hedge trim or anything extra taken care of.

And it's a local business that I like to support.

 

[Dawg52]

I actually went small. Bought a 16" battery powered electric mower to cut my 1800 sq ft lawn. I can knock it out in 20 minutes. Bought a reel mower last year and it works well, but summer time heat was just too much for me using it. I feel more like a wuss everyday. Getting old is hell.

 

[hesperus]

I was walking into town yesterday and passed by a guy mowing his lawn with a super quiet electric mower - We could barely hear the thing. How nice.
If I still cut my own lawn I'd get one of those.

 

[Ronstar]

If the 21" takes too long in your mind - then yes get the 30". You'll get done sooner, but I don't think that you would be done in half the time.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I was walking into town yesterday and passed by a guy mowing his lawn with a super quiet electric mower - We could barely hear the thing. How nice.
If I still cut my own lawn I'd get one of those.

I have an electric . I thought I would be courteous to my neighbors. Turns out they have the loudest gas , smoke throwing stinky mowers you can find. And they all mow on different days. At least when it snows around here everyone is at it at the same time.

 

[FUEGO]

Math question: assuming cut rate is directly proportional to deck width, the 30" would cut at a 42% faster rate meaning you could finish the yard in 30% less time, right? Not half the time?

And I think the assumption of direct proportionality is off because it'll take you longer to navigate and you'll end up with some narrow strips much less than 21" where the extra deck width won't matter (assuming your yard is like mine and you have lots of edges with sidewalks, mailbox, planter areas, trees, driveway, patio, etc). So I could see the time savings being less than 30%, possibly only 15%. Unless it was self propelled and motor-assist turning, where it would actually speed you up overall (and cut 42% more on each pass).

I don't have any useful advice, but I'm currently paying $20 every 2 weeks to a teenager to mow my 1/3 acre yard. We're gone for 9 weeks and no way it would be pretty when we got back otherwise

 

[Walt34]

I guess part of it too is the layout of the yard and what obstacles are there. For me the larger mower didn't make much difference because when I'd done what I could with that I still had to use the 21" mower for another 10-15 minutes to get to areas the larger one couldn't get to. Plus there is time spent shutting down one and starting up the other. So the total time spent mowing didn't change as much as I thought it would.

DW is impressed with the speed of the mower that the guy I hired gets the yard done. But the mower he uses costs about $4k+.

 

[jjquantz]

I have an electric . I thought I would be courteous to my neighbors. Turns out they have the loudest gas , smoke throwing stinky mowers you can find. And they all mow on different days. At least when it snows around here everyone is at it at the same time.

I feel your pain BCG. I have an electric and cut my 6000 sq ft or so in about 45-50 minutes. Neighbor across the street has a noisy riding mower and takes about 2 hours to do the same size lawn. (Not kidding! One day we started within minutes of each other, about 3:00 PM. I was finished before 4 and he was still going at it when DW got off the bus at 6:10. I'm not sure what the hell he was doing, but the mower was running the whole time.) He then follows up with his loud gas edger and finishes with his gas leaf blower. I think he goes to the store and says, "What's the loudest device you've got?" He's retired, but he usually chooses to do his lawn work on Saturday evening about dinner time so, I guess, he can disturb all the neighbors who are out on their patios trying to grill.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I feel your pain BCG. I have an electric and cut my 6000 sq ft or so in about 45-50 minutes. Neighbor across the street has a noisy riding mower and takes about 2 hours to do the same size lawn. (Not kidding! One day we started within minutes of each other, about 3:00 PM. I was finished before 4 and he was still going at it when DW got off the bus at 6:10. I'm not sure what the hell he was doing, but the mower was running the whole time.) He then follows up with his loud gas edger and finishes with his gas leaf blower. I think he goes to the store and says, "What's the loudest device you've got?" He's retired, but he usually chooses to do his lawn work on Saturday evening about dinner time so, I guess, he can disturb all the neighbors who are out on their patios trying to grill.

He must be related to my neighbors. Thanks for the laugh too

 

[Bamaman]

Depends on what you feel your time is worth and what physical shape your in and wish to maintain.

I have a 13K sq ft flat lot
Use a 21" push mower (not old enough to need a self-propelled, the lot is flat)
If I take no breaks, takes under 2 hours to mow.
I'm 67.

But in Houston, it'd take 4 hours as I'd do the front, hour break, do the side, hour break, finish the back. A good sweaty exercise day! May break it into two days. so three hours total.

We very seldom see any professional grass cutters using those very heavy 30" self prepared lawn mowers. They've gone to 100% zero turn mowers.

My lot is 150' x 220', and it's pretty much wide open bermudagrass--except where the house and driveway is. My zero turn mower cuts the grass in less than 1/2 hour. Because bermudagrass grows so fast, I'm cutting it 2x per week. The nicest thing is I never get off the zero turn for anything because it's so maneuverable. And it's a blast to drive.

My next door neighbor has a Deere lawn tractor. He cuts the same size yard taking well over an hour. Zero turns are just the real deal.

 

[Rustic23]

I got a lawn service this year! BEST THING I'VE DONE IN A LONG TIME! Our lot is 1.08 acres. With a 3,000 sqft home add in garage and driveway, it took me 2 hr 45 min to finish the yard with a 42 inch riding mower. Moved up to a 52 inch, and cut about 45 min off the time. Still I ended up doing the front one day and the back the next.

Our lawn service does the yard in about one hour! They charge us $55 per mow. They mow, edge around beds, house, and cement areas. The blow off the cement areas and the back deck. From about April to June they mowed every two weeks. Jul through Sep. every week. I figure about 25 times a year, so less than $1,500 a year to stay out of the Texas heat!

Yea I know it's not LBYMs but I figure I will live longer, and my kids will get a little less.

 

[samclem]

I've owned a Troy-Bilt wide-cut (33 inch) walk-behind mower for more than 20 years. It will indeed reduce your mowing time significantly. With swivel wheels up front it is surprisingly maneuverable but it's still much, much heavier than a 21-incher. You will get an upper-body workout tooling a mower like this one around your yard.

Once you get above the standard 21" mowers, they get really heavy. The 33" Troy Built (and Cub? Craftsman?) are beasts, but they move along. The problem is if you have spots that require pushing and pulling, weight is weight. I've heard that using the swivel-wheel mowers to mow across a hill is also a workout.

Toro makes a 30" twin blade self-propelled mower. It's the same format as a regular 21" mower, just a wider deck, more weight, and a bigger price (about $950).

Just on the wide open spaces, if we assume you, on average, have 2" of overlap on the "already mowed" side of each swath to assure you really cut all the grass, then a 21" mower really cuts 19". A 33" mower really cuts 31", so you should get finished 38% faster if you walk at the same pace.

I have too many nooks and crannies in my yard to use a rider or ZTR mower, so haven't considered those. I'm still pushing my 21" mower, but front an back yard takes me almost 2 hours, so I frequently consider getting something to speed things up. I should just go directly over the D**n flowerbeds and plantings DW has put in our yard and it would be a piece of cake.