Most Reliable Walk-Behind Lawn Mower Brands

Consumer Reports’ exclusive survey-based reliability ratings show that several walk-behind lawn mower brands are trustworthy. But a few, like that canine output, kinda stink.

To help consumers avoid the clunkers, Consumer Reports’ experts surveyed tens of thousands of CR members to find out which mower brands had the most problems, and what those problems were. 

“Data from our member surveys provides an important complement to the data from our lab tests by giving us the real-world experiences that CR’s members have with their lawn mowers over several years of use,” says Martin Lachter, the research program leader who manages mower surveys.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of the winners and losers. For our reliability results on riding mowers, check out our guide to the most and least reliable gas riding mower brands.