Price: $232 Weight: 65 lb.
Engine: 140cc Cutting width: 21 in.
Blades: 1 Drive: PushThe horsepower war rages on as compa-
nies try to pump more and more oomph
into their lawn mowers. But this one does
just fine with a modest Briggs & Strat-
ton engine, thank you very much. And
that contributes to the machine’s light
weight, which makes it nimble and easy
to handle. It’s downright fun to mow
with. The TB115 bags and mulches sur-
prisingly well, handles normal-height
grass, and—with the side-discharge
chute in place—performed admirably in
tall grass. Let’s be clear: It doesn’t have
the power of a 190cc mower. But if you
don’t need that, why buy more engine?
For maintaining small lawns or trimming
landscapes prior to tackling the tougher
stuff onboard a rider, this Troy-Bilt is the
cost-effective choice.BEST FOR BAGGING
MURRAY 11A-B2A9758
Price: $236 Weight: 57.2 lb.
Engine: 163cc Cutting width: 21 in.
Blades: 1 Drive: Push
If you’re shopping for a mid-duty mower,
this machine is a great choice. We were
pleasantly surprised with the tight
seal between the bag and the deck;
the resulting airflow under the mower
inflated that bag like a balloon. And sure
enough, it was packed with collected
clippings by the time we were done. For
the price, the mower has a long list of
high-quality parts: a large engine, good
workmanship visible everywhere with
no rough edges on metal parts, and
smoothly rolling wheels. All these con-
tribute to the Murray’s journeyman
performance in bagging, side discharge,
and mulching. And the manufacturer
threw in a bonus feature normally found
on more-expensive mowers: two-lever
deck-height adjustment.
EASIEST TO USE
WORX WG751Price: $348 Weight: 50.2 lb. Volts: 40
Cutting Width: 19 in. Blades: 1
Drive: Push Cut area on one charge:
4,830 sq. ft.The Worx is a light, simple, and, based on
our testing, well suited to smooth sub-
urban yards. Counting the bag and two
batteries, it weighs a hair over 50 pounds.
We found that lightness makes it easy
to push up or across hills, even with a full
grass bag. And its deck was simple to
adjust via the single height-changing lever.
A hatch on the side of the deck permits
you to easily switch between its mulch,
bag, and side-discharge functions. Some
of the weight savings comes via a plastic
nose and a torsion box (a web-like assem-
bly of plastic fins). While that raises some
concerns about the durability, nothing
broke during our test. And the WG751 is
hardly devoid of robust features—it has
two rigid steel axles at the front and rear.March/April 2020 79