When Is It Safe for Your Child to Mow the Lawn?

Our testers and engineers at Consumer Reports regularly evaluate lawn mowers and tractors, and you can check out our ratings and Buying Guide for info on the best mower for your situation. But Dave Trezza, who oversees lawn mower testing, also offers some specfic guidance with young people in mind.

There are safety features that are standard on all walk-behind mowers now, says Trezza, who, for the record, started cutting the grass on his family farm by the time he was 12. 

“The safety features were not in the mowers that I was using when I was a kid, that’s for sure,” he says. “You started the mower and the blade kept running no matter what. Now, you let go of the handle, the lawn mower stops, the lawn mower shuts off.”

Most of the walk-behind mowers that Consumer Reports tests are self-propelled mowers, which Trezza says definitely make mowing easier. 

There are also excellent battery-powered options when it comes to walk-behind mowers, which may help simplify the job for a child or teen. For one, you don’t have to put gas in a battery mower. Starting the mower is simple, with the push of a button. You also don’t have to worry about changing the oil. 

“The battery technology now is so good on a walk-behind mower,” Trezza says, “that you can easily get a mower that’s going to run for an hour—whether it’s one giant battery, two small batteries, or whatever you have. They have really good run times now. And you can mow a lot.” 

Plus, battery-operated mowers tend to be quieter. 

“The noise is a big concern with gas mowers,” Trezza says. “They require you to wear hearing protection, which I have a feeling a lot of people do not do, but they should.”

A battery-operated mower may also be more lightweight, he says, which may be something to consider for a young person just starting out. 

“A lot of these battery-powered mowers will have plastic decks instead of steel, so they’ll be considerably lighter,” Trezza says. “Not such a big concern if it’s self-propelled, but it’s just something to think about.”