Best Mulching Mower

Mulching Lawn Mower

Do you want a particularly green and strong lawn? The secret behind it is fertilizer.

A particularly effective method of fertilizing your lawn is the mulching mower, which throws the mown grass back onto the lawn as it is cut. The mowed grass acts as a fertilizer, providing your lawn with nutrients. So the mulching mower mows and fertilizes at the same time, saving you not only time but also labor.

Our big mulching mower test should help you find the best mulching mower for you.

This 2-in-1 mower lets you bag it up, or mulch your grass back into the ground, it’s up to you. The on-board battery charge indicator lets you know exactly how much juice you have left before you need to head back to the garage. A single lever lets you set the height you want to cut your lawn, depending on the season or just your preference. Intellicut feature provides torque on demand for tougher conditions.

Best mowers for mulching grass

Mulching Mowers Review

Craftsman 140cc Gas Powered Push 21” 3-in-1 Lawn Mower with Bagger

Engine comes equipped with recoil and auto choke. No more fussing with a primer or choke – just pull to start! The unit has side discharge, rear discharge, and mulching capabilities. Efficient cutting deck helps trim grass in one quick pass for an easier yard job. Choose from 6 different height settings to suit user’s needs.

Sun Joe 17” Mulching Walk-Behind Lawn Mower with Grass Catcher

Perfect for small to medium lawns, the battery-powered mower’s durable steel blade cuts a crisp 14″ wide path with precision in a single pass. Included 2x 4. 0 Ah batteries offer up to 65 minutes of rechargeable runtime. Tailor cutting height with 3-position manual height adjustment. 6-position manual height-adjustment lever: 1-inch to 3-inches. Easy-glide wheels for maximum mobility in the yard and garden.

PowerSmart 20” Gas Powered 3-in-1 Lawn Mower

PowerSmart gas lawn mower contains with powerful 4-stroke, single-cylinder gas engine which provides you powerful backup for clearing the tallest and toughest grass. A forced air-cooling system is equipped and ensures the continuous power of the engine to get your job finished. 20-inch steel mowing deck creates a large cutting area with high durability, which can help you cut bigger jobs easily. Has 8-position height adjustment.

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What is a mulching mower?

A mulching mower works similarly to a lawnmower. However, there is one very important difference: the grass is not collected in a catch container during mowing but is thrown back onto the lawn as shredded clippings.

The idea behind this is that shredded grass is immediately used as fertilizer. The soil receives new nutrients, and a cycle is created.

Similar to leaf vacuums or lawnmowers, mulching mowers are powered in different ways. There are battery, electric, and gasoline mulching mowers. However, that is not all. For some time now, it has also been possible to purchase robotic mowers (automower). These actually work fully automatically – but are also correspondingly expensive.

What does mulching mean?

Mulching” means covering the soil with organic residues to provide the soil with new nutrients. Any organic residual waste can be used for this purpose, provided it has been sufficiently shredded.

Why should I use a mulching mower?

Working with a mulching mower offers a number of advantages. Here we would like to emphasize especially the great time-saving. The device combines two operations: it shreds the grass and fertilizes the soil at the same time. In addition, the shredded green cuttings do not have to be disposed of as a result, of course – another labor-saving feature.

There are also excellent reasons to use a mulching mower from an ecological point of view. The shredded lawn clippings are a very good fertilizer. The nutrients are released gently and evenly to the soil.

So you also save the cost of an expensive fertilizer from the wholesale. If you want a particularly strong and green lawn, then a mulching mower is also the right choice. This is because the natural green cuttings’ fertilizer ensures a high lawn quality.

The natural biotope of your garden will also probably thank you for using a mulching mower. The mulching mower is particularly gentle on the ecological system and the microorganisms in your garden.

Types of mulching mowers

Basically, you can distinguish between three types of mulching mowers:

• Gasoline-powered mulching mower
• Electric mulching mower
• Battery-powered mulching mower

Because of the different applications and your own preference, a particular mulching mower is best suited for you and your garden. Because of this and the fact that not every type of mulching mower is the same, there are different advantages and disadvantages in its use.

Therefore, we would like to introduce you to the different types in the following section and help you figure out which mulching mower is right for you. For this purpose, we will introduce you to the above-mentioned types in more detail and clearly present exactly what their advantages and disadvantages are.

Gasoline mulching mower

The first type of mulching mower that we would like to introduce in this comparison is a mulching mower that uses gasoline as fuel. This so-called gasoline-powered mulching mower is especially suitable for you if you want to mow larger lawns.

As a rule, such mulching mowers are very well-made and also have a very powerful engine. Thus, you will surely be satisfied with the mowing result that the gasoline-powered mulching mower will achieve. The cutting height of this type of mulching mower is also uncomplicated to adjust.

Advantages:

• Very good workmanship
• Powerful engine that achieves a good mowing result
• Easily adjustable cutting height

Disadvantages:

• Loud during work
• Annoying regular maintenance
• More strenuous during continuous use

However, a gasoline-powered mulching mower is very noisy in operation. So if you’re thinking of mowing your lawn on Sundays, it’s better not to use this type of mower. In addition, regular maintenance is required on the device, as you need to check the oil level and change the oil if necessary, clean the spark plugs and drain the gasoline sometimes. This makes the constant use more exhausting.

Electric mulching mower

The second type of mulching mower that we would like to introduce to you in our comparison does not work with fuel, but with energy. The so-called electric mulching mower is very energy efficient, as it does not use fuel. This is very environmentally friendly and also does not smell when used.

Usually, such mowers are very user-friendly and easy to operate. You don’t have to be a gardener to use it to mow your lawn. There is also no need for special maintenance, as with the gasoline-powered mulching mower, since these fuels are not used and therefore do not need to be changed or checked.

Advantages:

• User-friendly and easy to operate
• No special maintenance required
• Quieter in use

Disadvantages:

• Power source permanently necessary
• Only intended for smaller areas
• The disturbing cable that must not be run over

In addition, the electric mulcher is much more powerful than its fuel-powered competitor. However, it requires a permanent power source to function and is intended more for small areas, as the cable range limits the area of use. In addition, you must be careful not to drive over the cable with the mower, otherwise, the work will be over sooner than desired.

Cordless mulching mower

The third type of mulching mower that we would like to introduce to you in our comparison is the so-called battery mulching mower. Here, neither a power source nor fuel is necessary, as it is powered by a rechargeable battery. Thus, there are also no annoying cables to pay attention to.

Such a mower is usually small and maneuverable and is therefore also relatively quiet in operation. Also, if you do not want to use your device times, for example, when you have finished work, you can store it very space-saving and it is not somewhere annoying in the way around.

Advantages:

• Neither power source nor fuel required
• No disturbing cable
• Small, maneuverable, and quiet in use
• Can be stowed away to save space

Disadvantages:

• Only suitable for small areas
• Smaller cutting width – mowing takes longer
• The battery needs to be recharged regularly

However, even such a mower is actually only suitable for small areas and also has a smaller cutting width, as the device itself is smaller. Thus, mowing your lawn with a cordless mulching mower takes longer than with the competition. Moreover, it needs to be charged regularly. If you forget, you won’t be able to mow when you have time.

Buying criteria of a mulching mower

In the following, we would like to show you which factors you can use to compare and evaluate mulching mowers. This will make it easier for you to decide whether a particular product is suitable for you or not.

In summary, these are:

• Power supply
• Power
• Recommended area
• Volume
• Cutting width
• Cutting height
• Side discharge or rear discharge
• Programmability (for robotic mowers)

In the following paragraphs, you can read about the individual purchase criteria and how you can classify them.

Power supply

Mulch mowers are powered in different ways, similar to lawnmowers or leaf vacuums. There are battery, electric, or gasoline mulching mowers. Depending on which type of drive your device has, you have to pay attention to different things.

With gasoline mulch mowers, you have to pay attention to which gasoline mixture or oil mixture you are allowed to use. Of course, this also results in additional costs. On the other hand, the performance of gasoline-powered mulch mowers is often very high.

Electrically powered mulching mowers require a permanent connection to a power outlet. The cables supplied by the manufacturers are often long enough, but they can also become a nasty trip hazard.

Mulch mowers with rechargeable batteries are currently rather rare on the market, as the performance is significantly lower than with a machine with a gasoline engine. Nevertheless, it may be worth your while to buy one if you want to avoid both a noisy gasoline engine and the cable problem.
A special exception is robotic mowers (automower). They are almost fully automatic and run on battery power.

Power

The power is specified in watts for gasoline engines and in volts for electric and battery-powered devices. This value is quite interesting in comparison. However, you should not pay too much attention to it.

Normally, the power of a good product is high enough to meet the desired and specified requirements.

Recommended surface

Manufacturers often specify a surface area in their product descriptions that they believe their device is best suited for. However, it should be noted here that this is a thoroughly subjective value. The recommended area should rather be seen as a guideline. It is based on the cutting width of the machine but can vary individually depending on power and endurance.

Volume

Mulching mowers are very loud since they are usually also lawnmowers. 90-110 dB noise pollution is not uncommon here. The situation is different with robotic mowers: These are designed to work particularly quietly and are therefore significantly below the noise level of a mulching mower. The noise level of a device should be of particular interest to you. Due to the high noise pollution, there are clear rules from the legislator. Basically, you may use devices that exceed the limit of 90 Db only on working days.

Cutting width

The cutting width is also called the working width. Both terms refer to the same issue: it is how large the area is that can be worked by the mulching mower at the same time. A larger cutting width, therefore, covers a larger area in a shorter time.

Cutting height

With the cutting height, manufacturers specify the size to which the grass can be cut down. The minimum and maximum values are often specified here because the cutting height can be adjusted on a mulching mower. You can use this information to find out exactly how much the cut of your lawn can be individualized.

Side discharge or rear discharge

Mulching mowers eject the green clippings that are to cover the ground either sideways or at the rear. Some machines can switch between both functions, while others have only one option. In addition, machines with rear discharge can also have a catch bag installed to collect the green clippings instead of spreading them out. This is often the case with a combination lawn mower and mulching mower devices, in case mulching is not always desired.

Programmability (for robotic mowers)

A great advantage of robotic mowers is the ability to program them the desired working hours. The robot then independently performs its work at the times you want. Some robotic mowers even independently search for their charging station.

Mulching Mowers Price:

Mulching Mower Under $300

• WORX Power Share 14″ Lawn Mower Mulching & Intellicut

Mulching Mowers Under $400

• Craftsman 140cc Gas Powered Push 21” 3-in-1 Lawn Mower with Bagger
• Sun Joe 17” Mulching Walk-Behind Lawn Mower with Grass Catcher

Mulching Mowers Under $500

• PowerSmart 20” Gas Powered 3-in-1 Lawn Mower