In light of my opinion noted above, I should note that I too routinely walk 2 miles, and I strongly recommend getting a self-propelled mower.
The question is not whether you can mow the lawn with a push mower. Of course you can. The question is whether you want to. And the key question in this regard is how hot and sweaty you want to end up every time you mow the lawn.
Depends on where you live, perhaps. In the Seattle area it’s rarely so hot that I get sweaty mowing 5,000 sq feet of lawn in the summer. I’ve never even considered a self-propelled for my small, mostly flat, yard.
Yeah. I guess if I lived in the deep south and mowed in the middle of the day. But up here in Chicago, even in the summer, pushing a mower doesn’t approach anything I would consider strenuous. Hell, I had my kid do it when he was barely tall enough to push it.
I’ve recently replaced a corded mower with a cordless (Ryobi 36v). I’ve got about 400 square meters to mow - about 4300 square feet. So far, I’ve finished with about 2/3 of the battery remaining. I imagine that as the years go by, the battery won’t last so long, but it looks like I’ve a fair cushion.
Note, though, that it doesn’t mulch. The city gave us composting bins that they pick up, so disposing of the grass is no problem.
It also feels like it’s a little heavier than the previous corded, but since I don’t have to watch the cord, or change which outlet I plug into, that’s fine.
Too late to edit:
Looks like cordless models from Ryobi are available in the States that mulch, and at least one that is self-propelled. Some other makes as well, judging by the Home Depot website.
I’ll just chime in on the electric mowers; my yard space is roughly double yours. After years of dealing with balky gas engines, this year I switched to an battery mower, a Greenworks 40V, which sells for roughly $280. Obviously I can’t speak to longevity, but I can tell you this mower does a great job mulching grass and leaves, and the battery charge lasts for about 1.5 mowings of my lot. Also, I do not miss the noise.
One thing I should add, I mentioned the list price, but I actually bought the mower during a Lowe’s sale where it was 35% off. I don’t know how often that happens, but if you don’t have to mow right now, it might be worth keeping an eye out for sales.
$280 is a really good price. I’ll have to keep my eyes open for that, I have about 5 months probably.
That’s really good to hear.
Would you provide some more detail? Where are you, what kind and how many leaves do you get? Do you mulch ALL of the leaves, or do you do any raking?
I’m in the Chicago area. I and many neighbors have large trees, including oaks and maples. I mulch ALL of my leaves, which can occasionally pose a challenge to a gas mower. I imagine if I went rechargeable I could handle it by mulching more often, instead of waiting until they got well past my ankles…
Oak trees are tough, I deal with 4 of them in my current yard and they make poor mulch if just left in place as there is usually just to much mass. If you ensure they’re spread out, apparently oak leaves are fine for mulch.
I’m in New England and have lots of trees, but I haven’t tried mulching the leaves when they’re thick on the ground - instead, I’m mulching every day, just a quick run over what’s fallen, including very small branches (this is also my daily cardio). If I went & tried a spot with thick leaves, what would you consider a success?
Well, I’ve gone after piles of leaves so deep, that my gas mower stalled out! 
Maybe if I had a nice, light, rechargeable, I’d do it more often. Daily seems a tad much, tho.
Each year I do the balancing act - if I mulch too early/too often, my neighbors’ leaves just blow onto my lawn. And if I wait, my leaves blow to my neighbors. So I usually do it a limited number of times - maybe 3-4, including one final time around Thanksgiving when I rake the leaves out of the beds and from under bushes. When they are really thick, sometimes I’l go over them a second time.
Yeah, oak leaves are tough. I usually try to kick the leaves somewhat evenly across the lawn. And sometimes I start in the middle and work outside, so the mulch is expelled towards the beds.
I’ve long disliked my gas mower. We bought it years ago, when my kid used to do the mowing. It always starts, but can take up to 20 pulls. I bet I get a rechargeable next spring.
Wow. A 2-stroke Lawn Toy? That is an OLD power mower!
The one my father had when I was a kid was gas-powered of course (these were the days when there was no alternative) but he bought the key start option, which used a small battery to let you avoid having to deal with the pull cord.
Yeah - but if I replace it, it won’t be w/ gas. I really dislike the noise and the pollution. Just haven’t gotten around to replacing it yet, as it still works…
I realize that. I was just reminiscing about my father’s Toro self-propelled walk-behind lawn mower. Their house is on an acre, but we only mowed a portion of it, although parts were on a slope. I’m wondering if the battery-powered mowers available today would do the job.
I want to correct which mower I got - it was this one, the 60V brushless lithium ion, push, battery + charger included, sold at a deep discount:
That said, the one I described, the 40V, is out there at the price I described (battery included):
17" is pretty small I was shooting for a 20" to 21". But that is a good price.
I was looking online at EGO trimmers a few days ago. Thinking of getting rid of my Echo gas trimmer. It will use the same battery(s) as my snow thrower & leaf blower. Pretty sure it said the expectancy was 10 years and I think $75.00 Cdn. I can live with that.
So, I’m beginning my final search now as I’m in the new place and the growing season is around the corner.
I am going with one of the corded 20" to 21" mowers in the 12 to 14 amp range.
I want mulching and am trying to verify they come mulching ready and not can be mulching.
Kobalt, Greenworks & Sun Joe are among the options.
I believe that the Kobalt is a rebranded Grernworks, but I am not sure. That said, I liked my Kobalt a lot and it mulched pretty well.