The significant differences between a string trimmer and a lawn mower lie in how they operate and their reach. While the lawn mower cuts most of the grass on the entire lawn, the string trimmer is used to trim grass or work on what is left from the lawn mower. The lawn mower and string trimmer are both proper DIY garden equipment and complement each other to maintain a perfectly flat lawn.
Let’s compare the mower and trimmer in detail.
Lawn Mowers
There are two types of lawn mowers; the riding mower and the push mower. Both the push mower and the riding mower are available as a manual lawn mower, electric-powered, and gas-powered models.
The lawn mower you consider depends on your preferences, whether you prefer to trim manually or do the heavy lifting with little manual effort. Generally, lawn mowers are designed with blades beneath their bulk, which positions them closest to the surface of your lawn. While you’re pushing or driving the mower, these blades move in circular motions at a very high speed to cut the grass.
If your home has a small lawn, this means less yard work. We recommend the push mower for homes with small lawns because it saves you bucks in energy bills and gas expenses. It also spares the environment more gas fumes, plus a manual mower is better suited to cut the grass on a small lawn.
Homeowners with large lawns can opt for riding mowers because they require less effort, making them more convenient to use than push mowers. Convenience is the very reason you may also see small homeowners going for riding mowers.
A lawn mower is essential to keeping the grass at just the right height; it can be slightly heavy, so you need to grip it well to chop or neatly cut grass. The lawn mower was also designed to align the equipment wheels with its cutting blades. This means that as the machine moves forward, the blades move forward as well and vice versa.
The wheels are also designed to make this machine easily movable along the length and breadth of your lawn. The machine’s blades are also housed in a mower deck to prevent it from hitting objects such as stone and potentially damaging the blades.
String Trimmer Mower
The string trimmer can also be called a lawn trimmer. Trimmers are ideal for tricky areas and adding finishing touches to produce a well-manicured lawn. They can easily reach areas that may prove difficult for the lawn mower. The trimmer is ideal for trimming grass in tricky stretches, areas close to a tree, or at the side of the lawn.
A trimmer is designed with a string that circulates at an incredibly high speed when set in motion. This enables it to cut neatly and leave you with an attractive-looking and lush lawn. Trimmers also share a similarity with lawnmowers; they come in varieties that appeal to the different preferences of users.
Trimmers are available in both electric models and gasoline-fueled models. Between both models, users prefer the gas model because the absence of electric cords makes it more convenient to move around on your lawn.
The absence of these cords makes mobility easier because electric cords may get in your way and probably trip you up. You can opt for an electric trimmer if you want to spare the environment the fumes that come with gasoline consumption.
It is not easy to choose the right string trimmer for your lawn. Trimmers are of various sizes and weights. So we recommend going for size or weight that you can easily move around while gardening. There are also hedge trimmers that you can use to trim the hedges around your garden.
String Trimmer or Lawn Mower – Which One Should I Consider?
It depends on what you want to do in your garden or lawn. However, you should know that while you may not necessarily need to have a trimmer, you’ll definitely need a lawn mower. In summary, a mower is for everyone, but not everyone needs a trimmer.
Yes, they both perform gardening chores and complement each other to give your garden the semblance of professional lawn care.
Despite their obvious complementary functions, they operate quite differently from each other. Certain factors will help you decide on the tussle of mower vs. trimmer.
Basic Functions
Firstly, their functions are related to each other; they both keep your lawn clean and ensure your grass is at the proper height and help you get rid of weeds. They also aerate turf, making your lawn uninhabitable for various pests and insects. In this aspect, they are very similar.
Power and Efficiency
A lawn mower is more efficient and powerful than a trimmer. For instance, a trimmer cannot cut large grassy areas as effectively and efficiently as a mower.
A lawn mower is also faster in mowing and moving grass and costs less than a trimmer. Furthermore, mowers are equipped with a feature that enables height adjustment. This feature helps users to attain the perfect look with their lawn.
Grass Collection
This is another area where the mower gains the upper hand in the mower vs. the trimmer. Trimmers weren’t designed to have containers for collecting and storing grass.
So if you’re using a trimmer, you’ll also need a rake to collect the grass spread across the lawn. Raking is necessary because leaving the grass to decompose on the lawn can affect new grass growth. Also, your lawn will look unkempt if the grasses are not cleared.
On the other hand, if you use a mower, raking the grass isn’t an option. That’s because the mowers are designed with a container for collecting grass.
Expected Outcome
Before you buy a mower or trimmer, think about the outcome you expect from your lawn care. An excellent way to know the desired outcome is by reading verified reviews of users of these powerful machines. This will give you helpful insights on whether to go for a mower, a trimmer, or even both.
Regardless of the trimmer model (gas-powered or electric), you’ll still need to operate the trimmer manually. So using a trimmer not designed for heavy lifting or grass collection will make gardening more stressful for you.
On the other hand, going for a mower designed to easily do a large part of the gardening chore is a wiser choice. However, it doesn’t hurt to go for both (if you can afford it).
To Sum Up
The debate between string trimmer vs lawn mower points out certain differences and similarities. Whether you need both machines to maintain your lawn depends on many different factors. Start with one, see how you go, and if you need the other machine to complement your lawn mowing, go ahead and try both.
