One Important Number To Look For When Shopping For A New Lawn Mower

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Proper mowing can control weeds and ensure you have a healthy, lush lawn. However, in order to maintain your lawn correctly, you need a good functioning lawn mower. While regularly performing maintenance tasks such as cleaning your lawn mower's air filter can extend the life of the machine, eventually you will need a new one. When it is time to buy a new mower, there is one important number to look for when shopping. No, it's not the price — although that is important. Rather, it is a three-digit number followed by the letters cc.

Those two little letters have a big meaning. They represent the size of the engine's cylinders in cubic centimeters. This is known as the engine's displacement. The larger the displacement, the more of the combustible mix of air and fuel can be processed by the cylinder in a single stroke. In simple terms, this directly relates to the power of the engine. The greater the cc capacity, the more powerful the engine. 

Buying a mower with insufficient power is a common mistake when shopping for lawn mowers. While smaller engines typically have a cheaper sticker price, they may end up costing you more over the life of the mower. This is because smaller engines have to work harder to cut the same yard, meaning they will use more fuel and emit more exhaust. Additionally, all that strain adds up and takes time off the life of the mower, so you'll likely be having to replace a small engine mower sooner.

While you certainly don't want to purchase a new mower that is underpowered and ill-equipped for your needs, you also don't want to just rush out and buy the most powerful machine on the market. The majority of push mowers, which are the smallest and most basic type of gas engine-powered lawn mowers, may have an engine capacity of only 125cc. However, for both push and self-propelled walk-behind mowers, the suggested range for best performance is between 140 and 190cc, although some, such as the Yard Max 22-inch Select PACE 6 Self-Propelled Mower, feature engines over 200cc.

Riding mowers tend to have larger engines. The smallest will typically be found on rear-engine riding models, some of which are fitted with engines of as little as 344cc. Zero-turn and front-engine riding models tend to utilize engines with larger displacements. The floor for the majority of these types of mowers are engines of 452cc. The engine size can go up quite dramatically from there. 

Within the range of engine sizes for each mower type, there are other considerations to help you make the right choice. Yard size is a big one — the larger the yard, the more cc your engine should have. Additionally, consider the type of grass and terrain. Thick, dense lawns and hilly or rough terrain all require more power. Finally, you should also think about the deck size. The greater the cutting width, the more power will be necessary to adequately turn the blade.