Green energy is all very well, but if you have a larger garden, and/or find it hard to (remember to) charge up cordless appliances, petrol appliances are the way to go. You get all the maneuverability of cordless but when the fuel runs out you just refill and keep going, instead of having to wait hours for a battery to charge. From an environmental perspective, modern petrol lawn mowers tend to be very fuel-efficient, even frugal, and, of course, you would typically use unleaded petrol.
Petrol mowers do tend to be more expensive than their electric counterparts, but that’s because they’re designed on the assumption that they’re going to get a lot of use, probably in a larger garden, which means they need to have what it takes to stand up to that sort of work. In other words, you pay more up-front but you expect to recoup your money over time.
The robust build-quality does mean that petrol lawnmowers do tend to be a bit heavier than their electric counterparts, although we’ve found a great petrol hover mower, which basically splits the difference. The plus side of this, however, is that they can cope with tougher terrain and bad weather. Basically if you regularly need to mow in the damp, a petrol lawn mower is definitely your safer option.
Petrol Lawn Mower Buying Guide
Here is a quick guide to what you should check before deciding which is the best petrol lawn mower for you.
Starter system
Most petrol lawn mowers still use the old “pull-cord” system to start, which can be cumbersome but is guaranteed to work without any extra steps being needed. Some, however, have key starts, which basically means you turn a key to charge a battery which starts the lawn mower (basically like a car). This can be more convenient in use, but does mean you have to remember to keep the battery charged. It also means you have to remember to take care of the key!
Propulsion system
If you have a smaller garden and/or a lot of muscles and/or are on a tight budget, then you may be just fine with manual-propulsion. If, however, you have a bigger garden, you might want to look at self-propelled petrol lawn mowers, although these are a bit weightier to carry and more expensive.
Cutting width
Wider petrol lawn mowers can cut broad, flat lawns more quickly than narrower ones, but they’re heavier and less maneuverable.
Cutting height
These days, you’ll be hard pushed to find a petrol lawn mower which cuts shorter than 2.8CM due to safety regulations. Some petrol lawn mowers can, however, offer a range of higher cutting heights.
Grass-collection box size
Smaller boxes need to be emptied more frequently but they are lighter and, of course, the reverse is true of heavier boxes.
Petrol Lawn Mower Review
Here is our round up of what we think are the five best petrol lawn mowers on the UK market. We’ve put our selection together based on a combination of performance and price, in other words, value for money and we’ve tried to pick a selection to suit different situations and wallets.
Einhell GC-PM 46 S
- 139 cc four-stroke engine
- Cutting width 46CM
- Nine cutting heights from 3-8 cm
- Cutting speeds up to 2900rpm
- 50L grass-collection box
This petrol lawn mower starts with a cord, but it’s very easy to get it going and as it’s self-propelled, it’s very easy to keep it going. It is a bit heavy to move without the engine (e.g. to carry it from the shed to the lawn) but that’s true of just about all lawn mowers, especially petrol ones.
The handle folds over, which does help with storage and although the grass-collection box is made of some kind of black plastic material, there is an indicator line which makes it fairly easy to see when to empty it. You’ll also feel the balance change slightly, which should be taken as a hint.
Essentially, this petrol lawn mower is probably best kept for medium-sized lawns rather than really large ones, but it will do a great job on them, even if the terrain is bad.
Flymo XL500 Petrol Hover Lawn Mower
- 160cc, 4 stroke engine
- Cutting width: 51 cm
- Cutting height: 1 - 4 cm
- No grass-collection box
Yes, you did read that correctly, this is a petrol hover mower and it’s one of those options which is either exactly what you need or a nightmare to use. We did a whole review article on hover mowers, so if you need to know the differences between a regular mower and a hover mower than we’d suggest you read that. In brief, hover mowers are intended to be extremely maneuverable and as such tend to be the lawn mowers of choice for awkward spaces.
First of all, you will need to know that when this is powered off, it’s a hefty beast of a machine. This means you need to think carefully about how you’re going to get it from wherever you plan to store to wherever you plan to use it. If your idea is just to start it and “hover” it to its destination, then you’ll need to be confident that the ground will be flat and solid (basically don’t hover it over gravel).
When you are ready to hover, you absolutely must lift this petrol lawn mower the right way, i.e. the way the label clearly states, otherwise petrol will flood the air filter. This one is entirely on users, basically check the label before you lift.
The last potential issue with this petrol lawn mower is that there is no grass-collection box. On the one hand, this is par for the course with most hover mowers. On the other hand, it does seem a bit odd given that this particular hover mower was obviously intended for heavy-duty use. We suspect it was because it would have made this machine ridiculously heavy to use.
In short, this petrol hover mower is designed for people who have large lawns with slopes (up to 45 degrees), obstacles (such as trees, flower beds and garden ornaments) and/or asymmetric edges. If this is you, you’ll probably love this option. If it’s not, you probably want to move swiftly on.
Hyundai HYM510SPE
- 173 cc four-stroke engine
- Cutting width 51cm
- Six cutting heights 2.5cm to 7.5cm
- 4 cutting speeds
- 70L grass-collection box
To avoid confusion, this is a petrol lawn mower, however it has a push-button start (and you can remove the button to stop accidental starting). The starter system needs to be charged very occasionally. Most people appear to do this by plugging it into the mains although in principle, you could use a power bank. The key point to note, however, is that it’s the starter system which needs charging, the lawn mower itself uses petrol.
This petrol lawn mower is self-propelled, so a fit adult will be fine with it. It’s definitely not ideal for children/older people, but then we’ve yet to see a petrol lawn mower which is. Basically, this petrol lawn mower was designed for use on large lawns with minimal obstacles, although it’s fine with slopes.
Mountfield 297411048/M17 / HP41
- 100 cc four-stroke engine
- Cutting width 39cm
- Five cutting heights from 2.5cm to 7cm
- 40L grass-collection box
The best way we can describe this petrol mower, is that it’s old-school technology and styling done very well and at a budget price. Yes, it’s pull-cord start and yes it’s manually-propelled rather than self-propelled, but it’s light enough to feel easier to handle than some of the self-propelled petrol lawn mowers out there.
Basically, if your lawn is medium-sized (up to about 20m x 20m) and fairly flat and you just want something to do a decent job at a decent price and save you from having to faff around with cables and/or charging batteries, then this is probably the best petrol lawn mower for you.
Murray EQ300
- 139 cc four-stroke engine
- Cutting width 41cm
- Six cutting heights from 2.8cm to 9.2cm
- 60L grass-collection box
In many ways, this petrol lawn mower is a bit of a step up from the Mountfield. That includes a step up in price but it may be worth it. In addition to your extra cutting width and height and a bigger grass-collection box, you get an electric start and self-propulsion. As with the Hyundai (and all other electric-start petrol lawn mowers), you will need to charge the starter occasionally.
Essentially if the Mountfield isn’t quite up to the job you have, but you still want a budget-friendly option, then the Murray could be the best petrol lawn mower for you.
Petrol Lawnmower Review - Conclusions
Here are our final thoughts on the best petrol lawn mowers available on the UK market.
Best Petrol Lawn Mower for Large Gardens
The Hyundai or the Flymo (depending on taste), both are fairly hefty machines, but then they need to be to deal with hefty workloads. The Hyundai has the edge on power and the Flymo has the edge on maneuverability.
Best Petrol Lawn Mower for Small Gardens
The Mountfield or the Murray, these were both designed with smaller gardens in mind. They don’t have the sheer power of the other options, but they don’t have the weight or price either.
Best Lightweight Petrol Lawn Mower
The Mountfield followed by the Murray, these petrol lawn mowers were designed for (relatively) light use and as such are (relatively) light weight.
Best Budget Petrol Lawn Mower
The Mountfield or the Murray, for the same reasons as before. These petrol lawn mowers focus on the essentials and are priced to reflect this.
If you want a job doing, Jeff’s your man. Our all-around resident man on the tools, Jeff’s shirt is always covered in paint and his coffee is never without wood chippings. Always on the go and a fully qualified joiner, Jeff is a professional reviewer and has great knowledge about tools, design, installation and is a force to be reckoned with
