The purpose is the same, but they work differently. With a garden trimmer (motor scythe) you can carefully mow plantings of flowers, bushes and berries. True, you have to sweat. Carrying 2-4 kg in front of you is like a load of nonsense, but after half an hour of work you can feel it. In addition, there will be no perfectly mowed lawn: the grass is sometimes higher, sometimes lower, sometimes it breaks out with roots.

The lawn mower cuts exactly at the set height. It performs well in the area without plantings. It will not pass close to a curb, a fence or near a tree — it will leave grass islands. But it does not scatter the mowing on the ground, like a trimmer, but collects it in a grass collector. Where I walked with her — there is cleanliness.

So the distinguishing features in the dilemma — a trimmer or a lawn mower — are indicated. Now let’s take a closer look.

Related: How to choose a grass trimmer

Types of trimmers

The trimmer is an analogue of a manual Lithuanian braid, familiar from grandfathers and great-grandfathers. Only instead of the usual blade — a working head that cuts with knives or fishing line. At high speeds, the wood turns into a sharp string and crushes grass and small shrubs no worse than a tip.

Distinguished by engine type.

1. Electric trimmer «tied» to the outlet
You will have to buy a reel with a cable in order to be more or less mobile. And carefully look under your feet so as not to get confused or damage the cable. But the electric trimmer does not emit exhaust and is much quieter than gasoline. True, there is a reverse side of the coin:

• if the engine is located below, you will not mow in the dew. You risk getting a charge of current;
• the motor at the top will outweigh the bottom base. You can work with it in any weather, but the hands have an additional load — to keep the balance at the proper level.

2. powerful petrol trimmer
Equipped with an air-cooled engine, so you can mow hectares. Will not overheat. The only thing you need is to select gasoline and oil of good quality recommended by the manufacturer of branded equipment. And mix them in a reasonable ratio, where 25 parts of gasoline falls on 1 part of oil, which is equivalent to 5 liters of fuel — 100 ml of oil.

On a note: oil for two-stroke engines, which is for trimmers and lawn mowers, should burn completely and not leave soot. In this case, it gives good lubrication of key parts at high temperatures. If it does not burn completely, then soot will form on the piston, in the combustion chamber of the cylinder and in the exhaust port of the cylinder. Over time, the scale will begin to fall off, clog the gaps between the piston and the cylinder walls, and work like emery, erasing the coating of the gas trimmer.

3. Rechargeable the most comfortable trimmer
It is maneuverable, but requires regular recharging. It works 20-40 minutes, and it will charge 6-10 hours, depending on the battery capacity.

Read: Mowing is easy: 13 benefits of the Makita DUR364 cordless scythe

«Pros» and «cons» of trimmers: table

Types of lawn mowers

A lawnmower is more often self-propelled than non-self-propelled. He pressed the lever, and she drove along a flat meadow. It is good if the model is equipped with a grass collector. The greens fall into the container where I walked — it’s clean there. Others prefer to choose a unit without a grass catcher. This cuts the mowing into dust and leaves it on the lawn as a natural fertilizer, which prevents the soil from drying out too much.

A distinction is made between electric and gas-powered appliances.

1. The first are quiet, but weakly powerful and with a limited range.
2. The latter mow well even overgrown dry grass, but they roar so that their ears are blocked. They also smoke exhaust.

Experienced gardeners choose a lawn mower based on the design of the cutting part, since it is she who affects the quality of the mowing.

• Rotary (with horizontal sharply sharpened blades) rotate
• about the vertical axis. These do not crumple the grass, but cut clean. The height of the knives can be adjusted in the range of 2-10 cm.
• Cylindrical (rotary) are equipped with a horizontal shaft with up to 12 blades that move clockwise, and the fixed knife is horizontal. The shaft presses the grass, and the knife cuts.

Informative article: How to choose a lawn mower?

«Pros» and «cons» of lawn mowers: table

Purpose of the device

Both the garden trimmer and the lawnmower are designed to cut the undergrowth. It’s just done with different efforts. They carry a trimmer, they carry a mower.

• As for the trimmer: knives will do better with tough grass, bushes and burdock. Fishing line is a lightweight option for lawns.
• You can’t cut grass up to your waist with a lawn mower. In the garden and in the front garden, you can’t accelerate with her either, because you can’t get close to bushes, trees, flowers.

But! Whatever it was, you can’t do without these garden helpers. To each his own, as they say. In any case, the quality factor of the device depends on two indicators.

1. Engine power and type
Mowing a large overgrown meadow with a weak tool is sheer torment. Models running on gasoline are trouble-free.

2. cutting element
Knives — where there are no stones and plantings, ideally on flat lawns. The fishing line is just right for greens in juice. The device with a spool automatically adjusts the length of the «whiskers» depending on the irregularities of the lawn and its roughness.

Informative article: Bosch Indego lawn mower review: she will do everything herself