Why would you want a hand-pushed mower in the 21st century? We have plenty of alternative power sources, from mains electricity to rechargeable batteries to old-fashioned petrol, so why labour around your lawn every weekend?
The answer is twofold: simplicity and cost. The best hand-push mowers are quiet in use, require little to no maintenance, are an environmentally friendly option, and can be significantly cheaper than their powered peers. There’s another benefit too, in the exercise you’ll get from providing pedestrian power - though they may be better suited to smaller, flatter lawns.
And while hand-push lawnmowers may be based on technology from the 1830s, in other ways they’re more up to date, with blades made from modern materials, and grass collectors that attach to the back. They all work in the time-honoured way; the power you provide by walking forward spins a cylinder of blades that press the grass against a second blade, built into the underside of the mower. This can give a cleaner cut than a powered mower with a spinning blade, especially if the grass is slightly wet.
So if you fancy getting a bit more of a workout while manicuring your lawn, these are some of the best manual mowers you can get.
Best manual push lawn mowers at a glance:
- Best for striping your lawn: Bosch AHM 38 G - £74.99, Amazon
- Best for grass cutting on a budget: Garden Gear Manual Lawnmower - £59.99, Amazon
- Best for easy mowing: Gardena Comfort 400C - £149.99, Amazon
- Best for short cuts: Webb WEH30 - £89, Amazon
- Best for simple storage: Einhell HM 400 - 111.53, Amazon
- Best for larger lawns: Webb WEH18 - £149.95, Amazon
- Best for good value: Cobra HM381 - £62.99, Amazon
- Best for a luxury option: Fiskars StaySharp Plus Reel Mower - £251.95, Amazon
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Bosch AHM 38 G
Best for: striping your lawn
A lightweight hand mower (just barely 7kg) with steel blades, this is a manoeuvrable machine that corners well and cuts cleanly. It offers cutting heights of between 12 and 40mm, perfect for a quick trim to take the tips off or for attacking longer growth. With a cutting width of 38cm, which is wider than some electrically powered mowers, small lawns will be well within the Bosch’s capability.
There’s an optional 25L grass collector that fits on the back of the mower - nice to have, but smaller than those on even the lightest electric models - and a rear roller for adding a striped effect to your grass.
Buy now £74.99, Amazon
Garden Gear Manual Lawnmower
Best for: grass cutting on a budget
Weighing just 6.4kg and the cheapest mower on this list, the Garden Gear Manual Lawnmower only has a 30cm cutting width, and is an extremely compact model that won’t take up much room if garden storage space is at a premium, and can easily be transported between sites.
Inside, there’s a four-blade cylinder, while a 17L collector fits on the back. The cutting height is adjustable between 12 and 45mm, and a larger version, with a 40cm cutting width and a 30L bag, is also available, but is more expensive as well as weighs more.
Buy now £59.99, Amazon
Gardena Comfort 400C
Best for: easy mowing
Gardena’s ‘Comfort’ mowers are ergonomically designed on the outside, and have a clever low-resistance blade configuration on the inside, to make them easier to push. While at 9.4kg, the 400C isn’t the lightest mower here, it’s still less than many electrical models, and the rounded grip at the top of the handle makes it more comfortable to push.
The cutting width is 40cm, one of the widest in this list, and you can adjust the cutting height between 12 and 42mm, meaning longer grass can be tackled in stages. A collection bag is available separately, but not included with the mower itself.
Buy now £149.99, Amazon
Webb WEH30
Best for: short cuts
A slightly different configuration, with the grass collector on the front, means the Webb WEH30 stands out in our collection of push mowers. It’s a solid black plastic collector that makes the mower look not unlike a piece of earth-moving equipment, but its 17L capacity means all you’ll be moving are grass clippings to the compost heap.
The mower weighs 9.1kg and has a six-bladed cylinder with hardened steel cutting edges, and the cutting height can be adjusted from 40mm down to a very short 10mm. Its cutting width of 30cm is about average, but should make short work of smaller lawns.
Buy now £89.00, Amazon
Einhell HM 400
Best for: simple storage
Wide, at 40cm, and reasonably light at 7.5kg, the Einhell mower’s five cutting blades rotate in a contactless configuration around a ball-bearing assisted spindle that reduces friction and allows the mower to be pushed along more easily.
Cutting height is adjustable from 13 to 37mm, and the cutting width is a reasonably wide 38cm. There’s even a cutting bag, with a capacity of 27L, and the handles attach to the mower body without screws, meaning it’s easy to take apart and reassemble.
Buy now £111.53, Amazon
Webb WEH18
Best for: larger lawns
The WEH18 is the larger sibling of the WEH30 above, with an extra-wide cutting width of 46cm that means it can tackle more lawn in a single pass, so you don’t have to walk up and down so often.
There’s a roller on the back for making stripes, pushed down by its 21kg weight, and a choice of nine cutting heights between 25 and 76mm. The blades are contactless, making for easier pushing, and there’s a 21L grass collector that fits on the front.
Buy now £149.95, Amazon
Cobra HM381
Best for: good value
Push mowers are simple mowers, and the Cobra HM381 is easy to put together and use. It’s fairly light at 8.5kg, and with a 38cm cutting width can cut a decent amount of grass with a single pass. Cutting height is adjustable between 13 and 38mm, and the 26L grass collection bag means you won’t be making as many trips to empty it as with smaller models.
The handle, which is padded at the top, folds in half for storage, while there’s a rear roller for stripes. While not the cheapest push mower on our list, its low price is part of the attraction here, and you get a good mower for the money.
Buy now £62.99, Amazon
Fiskars StaySharp Plus Reel Mower
Best for: a luxury option
One of the more expensive hand-push mowers out there, Fiskars’ cylinder mower is made from alloy steel and features an extra-wide cutting width of 43cm. An unusual feature is a movable guard that can eject the grass clippings at the front or rear of the mower, but there’s no bag or box to collect it up.
At 18.6kg it’s the heaviest mower on our list, probably down to the steel frame, but with four wheels and a height-adjustable, rubber-coated handle, it’s stable and easy to use.
Buy now £251.95, Amazon
Verdict
Straightforward, easy to use lawnmowers like these definitely still have a place in the modern gardener’s inventory. They’re much less likely to break or run out of fuel than a petrol, rechargeable or mains electric mower, though they may tire you out, and the fact they’re quiet and environmentally friendly may endear them to some - they last for years too.
The top mowers on our list embody the best features of a hand-push mower. They’re reasonably priced, light, easy to store, and cut the grass cleanly, as if you were using a huge pair of scissors on every blade. Sometimes ideas from the past turn out to be just as effective in the 21st century, and this is one of those times.
