5 Lawn Mower Brands You Should Avoid (And The Ones Professionals Turn To The Most)

Unless you're specifically looking for a cheap lawn mower that still works great, getting a machine that makes taking care of your lawn a breeze is going to be expensive. It may not be as costly as a lawn mowing service, especially if you have a large lawn, but it will definitely take a few months or even years to recoup the cost.

Considering how expensive a new mower can be, you really want to avoid a brand that's known for making machines with a low lifespan and poor performance. To cut down on costs, you may want to go with a used mower or a refurbished model from a few years ago, which makes it even more important to avoid brands that are hard to repair and don't sell replacement parts for long. Having said that, do not confuse our opinion of these brands in general with the quality of individual mower models. Even an untrustworthy brand can make a good mower, especially when it comes to premium models. Apart from the brand, you should also know the lawn mower models you should absolutely avoid.

Once you know which brands you're best steering clear of, which ones should you try? You could look at trusted makers of consumer-grade mowers, like Honda and Ego, which make great push and self-propelled mowers. Models like the Ego Power+ 1000 are very popular and can handle small to large lawns very well. If you have a large lawn and you'd like to go with something more premium, you'll find some excellent pro-grade brands highlighted later in the article.

When we say you should avoid Cub Cadet mowers, we're talking specifically about the affordable models sold at big-box stores. This is not unique to this brand: Any sufficiently cheap mower, including many that cost $2,000 or more, must have some corners cut somewhere. What makes Cub Cadet a little different from other brands is that many know it primarily for its affordable but lower-quality lawn mowers sold at hardware stores.

Cub Cadet became an MTD brand in 1981, and the company was later acquired by Stanley Black & Decker. As one of the largest mower brands from one of the largest tool companies, Cub Cadet makes dozens of mower models, including the relatively unpopular SC500Z. This self-propelled mower, priced at around $500, received some professional coverage that wasn't outright negative, but left users and reviewers unsatisfied. Consumer Reports, for one, was distinctly unimpressed, citing insufficient reliability, a high noise level, and poor bagging performance as major issues.

Generally speaking, the Cub Cadet models you really want to avoid are the ones powered by a Kohler Courage engine. According to many users, older versions of these engines were prone to valve issues, required frequent oil and filter changes, and were generally quite difficult to maintain. About 10,000 Kohler Courage units, including many in Cub Cadet mowers, were recalled for safety reasons in 2011. These issues may be less common with newer models, and modern Cub Cadet mowers tend to use Kohler 7000 engines anyway, but if you can't verify what engine is mounted on a Cub Cadet, you should avoid it.

If there is one brand of mowers that is positively hated by online users, it's MTD. Old MTDs are distrusted, and new customers report plenty of problems with refunds and customer service. The only MTD mower reviewed by Consumer Reports, the MTD Yard Machines 11A-02BT729, received a mediocre overall score, with only the handling getting some praise. That model is no longer sold, but it looks a lot like the MTD Smart 51 BC, with right-side discharge and a very similar shape and color.

MTD makes many other mowers, but most fall into just two series: the Smart SP and the Optima lines. It's possible that most online reviews and user opinions refer to older generations of MTD, and there are no professional reviews indicating that the Smart and Optima lines are a bad investment, but going with an MTD mower still means taking a chance on an unproven model. For that reason, we suggest you avoid this brand's newer models as well.

In addition to selling its own mowers, MTD also owns many mower brands. It's important to distinguish between MTD mowers and the models made by MTD-owned brands, since the latter may be absolutely fine. Some are certainly not — in 2022, thousands of Craftsman and Troy-Bilt riding mowers made by MTD were recalled for safety reasons — but that's not enough to suggest you avoid every brand under the MTD label.

While Exmark is aimed squarely at professionals, its prices aren't completely out of line with high-end personal-use mowers from other brands. You probably won't find any Exmark products at your local big-box store, which may make it more complicated for some buyers to get one, but the brand's official website acts as a store. It has full mowers of any kind and parts for sale, as well as some financing options.

Currently, Exmark products include the Quest, Radius, and Lazer Z zero-turn riding mowers, as well as the Commercial and Turf Tracer (surprisingly, the Commercial is the cheaper line). There are also stand-on mowers in the Vertex series and one autonomous mower, the Turf Tracer with XIQ. Prices vary widely, but the cheapest machines and some mid-budget models are absolutely comparable to those of the most popular homeowner lawn mower brands.

The brand's lineup is divided into series, the most common being the affordable E-series, the mid-tier S-series, and the most expensive and highest performing X-series. Sometimes, the difference between these products is negligible (only some $200, in the case of the Radius), but it can reach thousands of dollars for the most expensive models. The biggest difference is found among the Vertex models, where the cheapest X-series costs about $5,000 more than the cheapest E-series. The brand also sells some electric mowers, which together make the V-series. While they seem comparable in specs to the E-series mowers, the battery-powered counterpart is much more expensive.

Like other makers of lawn mowers aimed at professionals, Ferris is primarily available through a large network of authorized dealers. Most seem to be located in the eastern half of the U.S., and a quick visit to the company's Dealer Locator will confirm if there are any near you. If there is a dealership near you that gives you access to some perks, that may be the push you need to pick this brand. Ferris runs demos for potential customers (though these are probably aimed at businesses) and offers a generous warranty for most of its products. Having a dealership nearby is sure to come in handy if you ever need to use that warranty.

Ferris sells walk-behind, stand-on, and riding mowers, all available in various configurations and price ranges. None are exactly cheap or even affordable, with the cheapest walk-behind model, the FW15, coming in at $4,300 MSRP (though it can be found for a little less online). Even the F60 Zero Turn Mower, which the company calls "an affordable zero turn with compact power," comes in at $8,200. A cheaper, slightly larger unit, the 300R Zero Turn Mower, is priced at about $5,000.

That's quite a lot to ask for, especially when a suspiciously similar Stihl zero-turn mower, the RZ 142, is $1,000 cheaper. To be clear, it's entirely possible these two products are completely different, even if they look alike and offer similar performance. Still, Ferris products come with a great warranty, a network of authorized dealerships, and probably better suspensions — or rather, they have suspensions, which many mowers skip.

Some John Deere mowers, the cheapest models, are sold at hardware stores like Home Depot, while others are available only from John Deere dealerships. According to many users, the big-box store models (which are predominantly 100-series and Z-series riding mowers) are not really comparable to the more expensive mowers available in John Deere dealerships. There are four John Deere riding mowers available on Home Depot, all gas-powered, ranging between $2,500 and $3,400. All have good user reviews, with an average between 4.1 and 4.5 stars, and two proudly display the Consumer Reports Recommended badge. John Deere is also named one of the most reliable gas-powered riding mower brands according to CR.

Lowe's carries a few more zero-turn models than Home Depot, but that's still nothing compared to what's available from a dealership. John Deere dealership seems to have the exclusive on 200, X300, X500, and X700 series lawn tractors, many Z300, Z500, and Z700 zero-turn mowers, and all kinds of dedicated commercial lawn mowers. These include zero-turn, stand-on, and walk-behind mowers, plus the 1500 Series of wide area mowers.

If you're a homeowner, you're probably best sticking with lawn tractors and zero-turn models, as even the cheapest walk-behind commercial mower runs around $6,500. That's $500 more than the X380 lawn tractor, one of the most expensive X300-series mowers and one of John Deere's mid-range lawn tractor models. The X380 comes with a four-year or 300-hour "bumper to bumper" warranty, a Kawasaki FR691V engine, and plenty of good user experience — not that this is rare for mid-range John Deere mowers.