The Best Walk Behind Mowers

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If you are tired of pushing your lawn mower back and forth across a mid- or large-sized lawn, a walk-behind mower may be a worthwhile investment. Unlike a standard lawn mower, which uses its engine to power only its blades, a walk-behind or self-propelled mower uses its engine to power both its blades and a set of wheels. This means you can simply walk behind and guide the lawn mower as it propels itself across your lawn.

Honda HRX2172VKA

According to the technology resource and consumer guide website Popular Mechanics, the Honda HRX2172VKA is the "luxury car" of walk-behind mowers. The rear-wheel-drive mower comes with a four-stroke, 190-cc engine, which is cable of generating 8.3 foot-pounds of torque. Other features of the HRX2172VKA include dual cutting blades, an adjustable cutting height and a 21-inch cutting width. You control the mower using two thumb levers on its handle and the mower's hydrostatic transmission allows you to operate on cruise control. The HRX2172VKA comes standard with bagging, mulching and side-discharging capabilities.

The Toro 20330T Recycler is a rear-wheel-drive mower that has a 190-cc, four-cycle engine at its core. This engine is able to generate 6.5 foot-pounds of torque and can propel the mower to a top speed of 4.8 miles-per-hour. As the technology and consumer resource website Galt Tech notes, the 20330T features an electric key-start ignition, which means no pulling on rip-cord to get it started. The mower also includes an adjustable cutting height with seven different height settings, and is able to bag, mulch and side-discharge.

In addition to the 20330T, Toro produces another one of the best walk-behind mowers: the 20332 Recycler. This mower has all of the positive features of the previous model while offering a bit more power. As Popular Mechanics notes, the 20332's engine is capable of 6.75 foot-pounds of torque. Another notable difference is the 20332's hose attachment, which allows you to conveniently clean the mower's underside.

According to the lawn resource website Lawn Care, the Lawn Boy 10795 is a walk-behind mower with top-of-the-line mulching capabilities. In addition, the mower is able to perform bagging and side-discharging. At the core of the 10795 is a 160-cc Honda GCV engine, which is able to propel the mower up to a top speed of five miles-per-hour. Other features of the mower include an adjustable cutting height, a 21-inch cutting width and cruise control. The 10795 also has a collapsible handle for easy storage.