Lawn mower for rental property?

[Healthie]

Any recommendations on a good, preferably electric, lawn mower? I like gas myself but for a tenant I want them to have something a bit more user-friendly.

[uniwelder]

I've simply bought cheap ($30-60) mowers off Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for my tenants.  I have three rentals that I provide the mower for.  In the fall, I take them back home for a couple of days and change the oil, run them out of gas, and sharpen the blade, then return them.  They are stored in a shed at the rental properties. 

I always hear people say most push mowers are garbage and only built to last a single year, but my boss passed down his cheap mower to me 14 years ago and its still going strong.  I've had to replace a cable and the wheel bushings (upgraded to ball bearings for $15 total) but its otherwise still running great.

Edited to add— If your concern is making lawn care more foolproof for tenants, you might need to screen better. Choose a tenant that has more experience living in a house, rather than apartment. Your desire to coddle them is likely to spill over to other aspects of home maintenance that would normally be a traditional tenant responsibility.

[ChickenStash]

I have a few 40v Greenworks tools including a push mower and it works fine for a quarter-acre lot. Light, quiet, and push-button easy to use. Make sure to keep the blade sharp, though, or the battery life will drop noticeably.

[JLee]

I've simply bought cheap ($30-60) mowers off Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for my tenants.  I have three rentals that I provide the mower for.  In the fall, I take them back home for a couple of days and change the oil, run them out of gas, and sharpen the blade, then return them.  They are stored in a shed at the rental properties. 

I always hear people say most push mowers are garbage and only built to last a single year, but my boss passed down his cheap mower to me 14 years ago and its still going strong.  I've had to replace a cable and the wheel bushings (upgraded to ball bearings for $15 total) but its otherwise still running great.

Edited to add— If your concern is making lawn care more foolproof for tenants, you might need to screen better. Choose a tenant that has more experience living in a house, rather than apartment. Your desire to coddle them is likely to spill over to other aspects of home maintenance that would normally be a traditional tenant responsibility.

...like what?  That's generally the benefit of renting - home maintenance is not your responsibility.

[chemistk]

I'm actually genuinely surprised that you're even providing one. In the house we rented, we were expected to mow the lawn, trim the edges, and weed and maintain the flower beds but were given no tools to do so. In fact, I don't think anyone I know who rents in this area is provided with any lawn & garden equipment. Your choice is either to DIY or have a service do it.

If you're going to ask your tenants to keep up the lawn themselves but you're providing the mower, so why not ask them what kind they'd prefer? Then either grab one off CL/MP or buy a lower-end new one and sell it when that tenant's done with it unless the next one prefers the same kind.

Some people just aren't comfortable using gas lawn equipment and others are wary of electric - better to allow them to choose what they would prefer.

[uniwelder]

... Your desire to coddle them is likely to spill over to other aspects of home maintenance that would normally be a traditional tenant responsibility.

...like what?  That's generally the benefit of renting - home maintenance is not your responsibility.

Basic maintenance is generally a tenant responsibility--- weeding landscaped areas, shoveling/salting sidewalk, unclogging kitchen drain, cleaning gutters, etc.  When a house is rented out, its usually the tenants responsibility to take care of the lawn, including sourcing of the mower, so the fact that OP is even providing a mower should be considered a bonus where I'm from.

[clarkfan1979]

I have 3 rental properties and each rental property has a 40V Ryobi electric lawnmower. I also have a 4th one for my personal residence. They cost $299 each. I typically buy an extra battery from Amazon for $70. Tenants mow the lawn.

[yachi]

We have about 1/5 acre, and I mow it with a plug-in electric.  I decided on that because of the cost (1/3 less!) and the unknown durability of the batteries (how many charges, and how long before a recharge).  Our next door neighbor bought a rechargeable type just this season, and it seems to mow less than 1/4 of the yard before the battery dies.  They've been trying to mow it all week, and it's still not done.  It's their own house, so they made the decision, but there's no way I'd be OK with a landlord providing a lawnmower that couldn't do the entire lawn on one charge.

We were landlords with a single family house for 3 years.  I find it odd to provide the equipment for a task the tenant is required to do.  I put cleaning chemicals, sponges, plungers, brooms, vacuums, rakes, gardening tools, and a lawnmower all in this category, along with most lights.  In some ways I'd be more willing to pay for a lawnmowing service or do it myself than provide a deadly piece of equipment for the tenant to use themselves.

[Villanelle]

I've never lived in a rental (other than in Germany) where the landlord provided lawn care equipment.  So I'd evaluate whether it is necessary or even desirable to do so.  Is someone really going to be more likely to rent your place or pay a higher rent based on the fact that there is a lawnmower.  This part will depend a lot on where your rental is located, but it seems to me like anymore, many or even most people just higher a service to mow, in which case you purchasing it would be a complete waste. 

[uniwelder]

I've never lived in a rental (other than in Germany) where the landlord provided lawn care equipment.  So I'd evaluate whether it is necessary or even desirable to do so.  Is someone really going to be more likely to rent your place or pay a higher rent based on the fact that there is a lawnmower.  This part will depend a lot on where your rental is located, but it seems to me like anymore, many or even most people just higher a service to mow, in which case you purchasing it would be a complete waste.

I provide mowers at my rentals because I'm not confident the grass would get cut frequently otherwise.  Plus its not much effort on my part for the good will gained.  Two of them are small 2 bedroom homes by a university, so the people moving in are usually young couples that only plan to live there a few years before moving on with their lives.  They aren't motivated to buy a mower, so without me providing one, they might just borrow one when it gets ridiculously high.  I'd rather not worry about the place looking messy.

That said, I don't think its necessary for other landlords to provide a mower.  Mine are very cheap, but have been trouble free.  If the tenants want to hire out the task or upgrade to something nicer, they are more than welcome.