If you have already started to research lawn mowers and looked into buying one for yourself, or especially if you own one already, you already know that a lawn mower is an investment. This is even more so if you are going to get a more expensive lawn mower.
You know that once you buy your lawn mower, you are going to be stuck with it unless you want to go through the effort of selling it.
This means that if you end up buying a lawn mower which has issues or significant problems, then this is something you are going to be struggling with for a while, especially if you feel bad giving faulty equipment to someone you know.
And unfortunately, not all lawn mowers are made equal, and some are simply better than others. Because of this, it is important to know which lawn mowers are going to get you the best results, and which are going to be a waste of your time.
Also, the best lawn mower is not always equivalent to its price, you could easily end up being overcharged for a lawn mower which is not that good, or get a bargain for one which is working above its grade.
We have noticed when it comes to lawn mowers that there are certain brands which will produce less or more trustworthy lawn mowers, and because of this we want to share the information to ensure that you do not end up with a lawn mower which is just a waste of time and money.
There are plenty of issues which you could have with your lawn mower, some of the most common being that they have a poor performance, and low power output, they are not very durable, they are far too expensive for what you are getting, and a litany of more specific issues.
So, because of all the pitfalls mowers can run into, we have narrowed down which brands we think are the ones you should avoid, as well as highlighting the specific models which you should definitely not buy.
We are also going to mention some brands which are the opposite and we think produce some great mowers, and even suggest a few of our favorites.
So, if you are planning to buy a mower anytime soon, and you want to ensure that you get the best value for your money and get a mower worth the investment, keep reading!
Worst Lawn Mower Brands
It is worth noting that the manufacturers that we are highlighting may not always be bad manufacturers, however, at the time of writing, these are brands which we generally would recommend avoiding.
Of course some brands can occasionally turn their reputation around, and they might even make a rare high quality offering, but if you just want some advice on brands which are better to avoid if they maintain their current quality, then here are the ones we recommend avoiding!
Some of the lawn mower brands we recommend avoiding include; Earthwise, Troy Bilt, Stihl, Craftsman, and Cub Cadet for their walk behind mowers.
All of these brands have produced a few mowers which have garnered them a negative reputation, and because of this, we would recommend avoiding them.
Worst Lawn Mowers
Now, while it is easy to say which brands are generally worth avoiding, we also want to highlight the specific mowers which have earned them the negative reputation.
While brands can recover their image after producing better and better mowers over time, these are the models of mowers which have earned them their reputation, and we think you should avoid them if possible.
Troy-Bilt TB100
One of the main issues this mower from Troy Bilt keeps running into is with bagging. This is generally a bad choice for bagging your clippings, and this is something you will generally want your mower to be able to do.
If you end up with a mower like this which is unable to effectively bag your clippings then you can end up with more of a mess than you started with. We love being able to pull the mulch leaves and the grass clippings up from the ground and into the bag.
This is one of the most important features most walk behind mowers have. This is something which is generally standard, so the fact that this is not something this mower is capable of is disappointing to say the least.
There are some recognizable positives this mower does have, however, they are not worth dealing with for the lack of bagging ability. Something you might notice if you are shopping for Troy Bilt mowers is that these are only really sold in box stores.
This brand has been known to be a major player in the industry, but since they produce mowers like this one, and have been known to produce some other less than satisfactory offerings, you can see why we would generally recommend avoiding them if you have the choice.
Earthwise 60220
Now, if you are looking for an electric push mower, this is something which is now more available and accessible, however, if this is the one you are looking to get, then we recommend looking elsewhere.
This mower still is at the more expensive price point of an electric mower which will already dissuade people from wanting to use it.
The reason why the price is so disappointing is because this mower relies on a lead acid battery instead of a more modern lithium battery which would be more effective.
This means that the battery this mower is working with lacks the power it needs to work effectively and this means the longer you are using the mower, the less effective it will be at cutting your grass.
And if your mower is not cutting your grass effectively, then what is it doing successfully?
Because of this we recommend that you avoid getting this mower which is working with inferior technology, and instead you should go for an electric mower which is able to work at the standard a gas powered mower does, and that is not what this one is doing.
If you end up investing in this model then you will find that it will need replacing a lot quicker than you would hope. Because of this, if you plan to use an electric mower, make sure to check the battery first!
Stihl RMA 370
While Stihl has been known to make some better mowers in the past, this is definitely not one of them and one we strongly recommend avoiding.
This is another electric push mower, and another low quality one as well.
It at least uses a lithium ion battery unlike the aforementioned Earthwise, however, the mowing deck it is working with is only about 15 inches big, and the design of the mower is just pretty unattractive.
If you think that the appearance will not be an issue, remember that because this mower has such a small mowing deck, you will have to be using it for way longer than a standard lawn mower because of how small the mowing deck is.
This means you are stuck using an ugly mower for longer because of how inefficient it is.
And it can not even be saved by being good value since we also think this offering is way too expensive for how low quality it is.
If you want your mowing to take all day, and have a thing for ugly mowers, then this is a great choice for you, but if this specific taste is not one you share, then we recommend avoiding this.
Cub Cadet SC500Z
You can actually find some pretty good mowers being offered by Cub Cadet, however, when it comes to the ones we would recommend, we would say that you should stick with the ride on options they have.
But if you want to get a push mower from Cub Cadet, we would recommend other brands and definitely recommend avoiding this specific offering.
This is a lawn mower which uses gas and is self propelled. Like some of our earlier options, it also has difficulties when it comes to bagging, which is again, not something you want your mower to be struggling with.
It can make a mowing a lot more messy and a lot more time consuming, and if your mower has these issues, then you are just going to struggle.
On top of this, this mower is not that cheap, so you will also be paying a premium for a mower which is not that good at what it should be doing. You want a mower that can pull hard from the lawn and then bag efficiently, but if it can not, then look elsewhere!
Earthwise 60318
This is yet another mower from Earthwise which we would strongly recommend you avoid investing in. This is another electric self propelled offering, and it again just lacks in quality.
It has a pretty disappointing overall performance. This can be seen in how it is unable to bag clippings effectively.
Also, similarly to the other Earthwise mower, this mower is also stuck with an outdated lead acid battery instead of the much more preferable lithium ion battery. This means that your battery will simply not last as well as you want it to.
We have seen repeatedly with the Earthwise brand that a lot of the tools they are selling have cut corners when it comes to their manufacturing.
You can see this in the battery choice which means that these mowers are cheaper for them to make, but unfortunately, we are not seeing a higher quality product, or a lower price.
So, if you are choosing to go with an electric mower, then we strongly recommend looking at the offerings you can get from other brands!
The Craftsman 37420
The Craftsman was well known for the partnership they had with Bob Vila, but now that partnership is over as of 2006, we can see that products like this might have been the problem.
To be fair, this is an alright option is you want to use this mower as a mulching mower, however, if you want to be using the mower to bag up your leaves or clippings, or even use it as a side discharge mower, then there are simply better options to go with and this will just end up disappointing you.
This mower at least has a pretty reasonable price, and if you only want it for mulching, then this could actually work quite well.
But for most mowers you want them to have a good bagging capability, and this is not what you are going to get from this mower.
It is also worth noting that this mower does not have a great lifespan, so if durability is a big factor for your consideration, then this is another choice we would recommend avoiding.
As we mentioned in the introduction, a mower is an investment, and if you are getting a mower which is simply not performing to the standard you want it to, then this is going to be an issue and a waste of money.
Troy-Bilt TB240
For the final specific model which we recommend against investing in we have another offering from Troy Bilt.
This is a self propelled mower which uses gas and it is another lower quality mower which is simply unable to compete when compared to mowers you get from other similar brands.
At least this mower is pretty affordable, but you can still get better mowers at this price point, and these will not have the same issues with bagging clippings as this mower has.
As we have mentioned, some people only use their mowers for mulching, but you also want your mower to have versatility in case you want to pick up the leaves and clippings, and this is not something this mower is capable of doing.
It is worth noting that this is a self propelled mower, but the performance you get from this is more close to a push mower meaning you will be putting in a lot more effort than you should.
The power from this model is lacking, and you simply want more from a mower like this. If your property is very small, then this might work, but even then, there are better options.
Preferable Lawn Mowers
Now we have gotten the negative out of the way, we can talk about some of the brands which we think are much easier to trust.
Similarly to the previous untrustworthy brands, reputations can change, and maybe these brands will stop being as good as they are now. But at the time of writing, these are brands which we can happily recommend.
The brands which we recommend for when you are looking to get a mower include; Honda, Toro, Ego, Snapper, and Greenworks.
Now we have covered a few of the brands which we think are worth investing in, let’s look at just a few of the mowers which we like from a couple of these brands.
Ego Power + Select Cut Mower LM2135SP
This is a battery powered self propelled mower, and one of the things that we love most about this mower is how much you get from just one battery charge.
Something you might notice with the mowers we recommended against buying is that a battery charge might not even be enough to mow your whole lawn, but with this mower you can get about an hour from a full charge.
This mower is also cordless, and the time it takes to charge is not even that long, and this also means that maintaining the mower is even easier than it is for a gas powered mower.
This mower also has plenty of features like other Ego mowers like simple speed control and two separate blades.
It is also not even that loud, so if you hate the noise that can come from mowing, this is a great option. These mowers come at a higher price point, but we think this is worth it.
Honda HRX217VKA
This is another self propelled mower and it is a great option if this is what you are looking for. We love the high cut quality you get from this mower, and if you are looking to maintain the quality of your lawn as best you can, then this is the option you want to go with.
This mower is similar to other offerings from Honda in how it uses a 2 blade cutting system which is great for either mulching or bagging, and the clippings are sucked into the bag with great quality.
The mower uses a pretty large 200cc engine and it also has a rear wheel drive as well. This makes it so pushing the mower up hills is not that hard and it is also an effective choice for tall grass as well!
Summary
Hopefully this guide has given you the insight you need on which brands of lawn mowers you should avoid.
As we have mentioned a couple of times, a lot of the brands we have mentioned could turn their reputation around, and also, some of the brands we have recommended, could end up making some mowers which could stain their reputation.
Because of this we recommend that you keep researching specific models produced by each brand which could break their reputation.
This guide is here to help give you some shorthand recommendations on what to avoid and what not to, but ensure that you do not buy a new mower on brand name alone!