Best Lawn Mowers and Tractors of 2023
CR's experts cut 500,000 square feet of grass to compile our list of the best mowers you can buy right now
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The best lawn mowers and tractors cut your lawn well while minimizing your effort. And when you’re ready to shop for a new machine, Consumer Reports’ tests reveal good news: Whether you’re seeking a behemoth gas lawn tractor or a near-silent battery push mower, you’re likely to find many very capable choices among the 100-plus models in our ratings.
"For all intents and purposes, nearly all the lawn mowers and tractors in our ratings can effectively cut your lawn if you do basic maintenance," says Misha Kollontai, the CR test engineer who oversees lawn mower testing. Where you’ll find differences in our ratings, he adds, is in convenience features that each mower and tractor offers, the level of noise each puts out, and—for electric mowers—the real-world battery run times our engineers measure.
"You’ll also see a significant variation in reliability," Kollontai says. As Consumer Reports’ exclusive reliability ratings show, some mower brands are more likely than others to keep on cutting, year after year.
Below, you’ll find the cream of the crop, the best lawn mowers and tractors on the market. They top the dozens of models in CR’s ratings that we recommend based on performance and reliability.
Why Trust CR's Lawn Mower and Tractor Tests?
Consumer Reports’ ratings combine the results of our unique and comprehensive scientific field tests of dozens of mowers and tractors with predicted reliability ratings derived from our annual member surveys.
How to Shop for a Mower or Tractor Now
If you’re in the market for a new mower, the best place to start is Consumer Reports’ lawn mower and tractor buying guide. Then check out our in-depth ratings of dozen of mowers and tractors. Still not sure which kind of lawn mower is right for your yard? Read CR’s advice on how to choose based on your property’s acreage and topography. Not sure whether an electric mower is a better investment than a gas mower? Try our user-friendly interactive decision tool.
And for more details on the key factor of reliability, read our reports on the most and least reliable gas riding mower brands and the most and least reliable walk-behind lawn mower brands, which covers electric mower and gas mower brands.
When you start to shop, keep in mind that some mower brands are associated only with Home Depot or Lowe’s, while others are sold only through independent dealers. And some brands may sell certain models at a big home-improvement chain and others through dealers. If you can’t find a particular model at your favored store, or at a price that fits your budget, keep looking. “Shop around, checking a few different stores,” says Courtney Pennicooke, the Consumer Reports product analyst who covers lawn mowers.
And if you need a mower right now, prepare to be flexible with your choices. CR’s lawn mower and tractor shopper reports high demand and potential backlogs for certain brands or models.
CR members with digital access can read on for ratings and reviews of the nine top mowers in our ratings, including push and self-propelled walk-behind mowers, zero-turn-radius lawn tractors, and both walk-behind and riding battery mowers. These top picks are listed in rank order within each category and come from a range of brands, including Cub Cadet, Ego, Honda, Gravely, Greenworks, John Deere, Ryobi, and Toro.
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