If you own a lawn mower, by now you know how much of an advantage it is. It does not only cut the grass but can also be used to carry heavy objects up and down your yard. You can attach barrows, hitches, baskets, or whatever to the lawn mower just as long as it is the recommended weight and not more. It provides an opportunity to perform other clearing tasks on the lawn while mowing.
Tow Capacity Factors:
Unless it is clearly stated by the manufacturers, trying to figure out the exact towing capacity of a lawn mower can be very confusing. This is because it is affected by a lot of factors. While towing a load of 200 pounds might be smoother in one situation, it might not be in another. Here are some of those factors
- Terrain
If the towing will be happening on rough terrain, wet, muddy or sloppy hills, the experience might not be good. You might even have to reduce the weight of the items to tow a little more freely.
- Torque and horsepower
A lot of people get confused when it comes to torque and horsepower. Torque is the lawn mower’s working force. It is what gets the job done. While horsepower is what gets the job done quickly. In the case of towing, torque is more important. If the lawn mower has high torque, the more ability it has to tow various items.
- Manufacturers recommendation
If the manufacturers say you should not tow with your lawn mower, then you shouldn’t. But if you have the money to make replacements that could have been avoided, then by all means feed that curiosity. But don’t go asking for a refund or replacement by the warranty law because doing what was not recommended by the manufacturers cancels that right.
Lawn mowers differ from each other and are made to produce different levels of power. While mower A might be able to tow larger weights, lawn mower B might not. Whichever lawnmower
You have, to make sure to check your manual for details about its use.
- The brake
Okay, you can get your lawn mower moving, but can you bring it to a sudden stop when need be? Although, I commend the typical farmer saying that if you can get it moving, you are fine. That’s just half of what is expected of the vehicle. It is not a safe idea to drive a vehicle that has a malfunctioning brake ability especially when you are towing down a slope.
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How Much Can a Lawn Mower Tow? – Explained
A general rule of thumb states that an average riding lawn mower towing capacity is around 50 to 100 percent of the combined weights of the vehicle and operator. It is all thanks to this rule, that we have been able to deduce that an average riding lawn mower can tow a weight up to 300 pounds and a maximum of 600 pounds.
Luckily and quite fortunately in order not to stress your brain, most lawn mowers come with their towing capacity written in their instructions manual. All you have to do is read through it. To ensure that your lawn mower does a good and efficient towing job, you should not attach items or objects that weigh more than the recommended towing weight.
It can be quite tempting to test the ability of your mower but I don’t think it’s worth the damage. Attaching too much weight than is recommended will strain some parts of the lawn mower thereby causing it to develop faults and malfunction. It could affect the brake, handle, and even the acceleration of the lawn mower.
Also Read: How to Keep Lawn Mower Tires from Going Flat?
What are Manufacturer’s Recommendations?
In every user manual, there is a section devoted to towing capacity. I recommend checking your instruction manual first before trying anything new with your lawn mower. Manufacturers recommend it too. The towing section contains the number for the towing capacity and possibly how to hitch the attachments to the mower.
Note that the towing capacity of a lawn mower is different for every manufacturer. So, do not use another mower’s recommendation or what you heard from your neighbor for your lawn mower.
Although the results of your calculation using the rule of thumb measurement might not be the same as that of the manufacturers, don’t worry, just follow the manufacturer’s instructions. It is most advisable to do that. After all, they made the product and they are the experts, so you’ve got to believe and trust that they know best.
And if the package does not have its towing weight written on it, you can always contact the company’s toll-free customer service to get the information. Even better, you can ask them the exact weight and all the questions concerning your lawn mower towing ability.
In some cases, the absence of a stated towing weight can be the manufacturers recommending that it should not be used to tow. No matter how tempting it might be, do not try to test your lawn mower to see if the manufacturers are wrong.
Summarily, the manufacturer’s recommendation is always stated in the product manual or could be gotten from the toll-free company.
Also Read: What Type of Oil Do I Use in My Lawn Mower?
How Much Weight Can A Lawnmower Pull?
Whether it be towing or pulling, the capacity of the lawn mower should be known before practice.
A rule of thumb states that with a single axle trailer and a well-functioning and adjusted lawn mower, you should be able to pull half or more percentage of the weight of the vehicle plus that of the operator properly. If the ground is leveled with little or no slopes, it is even better.
Navigation through the yard will be flawless. With that said, a calculation was done and the general conclusion is that a lawn mower can tow at least 290 pounds and at most 590 pounds of weight.
While in some cases the exact towing capacity of the lawn mower is not stated in the user manual, the weight of the product will be stated in the package. With just that information, you can get the towing capacity of the mower. Just add your weight to the weight of the product. 50% or 100% of the result is the least and highest weight your lawn mower can tow respectively. Lengthy but quite simple.
Can You Tow With A Lawn Mower?
One of the many benefits of having a lawn mower is its ability to carry out towing activities. Well, it’s not just any lawn mower that can tow, it is the riding lawn mower. Using a push mower would require that you push the lawn mower and the additional weight with just your manpower which is a lot more tiring, unlike the riding lawn mower which only requires you to sit and drive. All you have to do is firmly attach whatever you wish to tow to the lawn mower with a strong strap.
But hold your horses! Before you go trying to attach every possible option to your lawn mower, you need to know its towing capacity. So you don’t go hitching it to an object heavier than the recommended weight and possibly likely to cause damage to the lawn mower.
Even after attaching the object to the lawn mower, how smooth the towing will be can be affected by several things such as the type of terrain the mower is used on. If the ground is wet and steep, there will be difficult to navigate the mower through the yard with the attachment hitched to it. Also, the movement of the mower can be affected by the weight of the attachment.
That is the heavier the attachment, the slower the movement. The movement of the mower when towing with the lightest attachment will be faster and smoother compared to when it has a heavier attachment.
A lawn mower can be used to tow dump carts, hitches, barrows, and hitch brackets. However, whatever you want to mow, make sure you consider the weights of the items before you start mowing.
How Much Weight Can A Cub Cadet Lawn Mower Pull?
“Generally, a lawn mower should be able to pull 50 to 100 percent of the vehicle weight plus that of the operator combined”, says the rule of thumb. At Cub Cadet, the towing capacity for the lawn mower is clearly stated as half the operator weight plus half the vehicle weight.
They also recommend that you keep an eye out for the lawn mower braking system when it is being used to tow.
How Much Can My Zero Turn Mower Pull?
This actually depends on the model of the zero-turn mower. The best way to figure out how much it can pull is to refer to the user manual. Some personal zero turn models like Dixie zero turn can pull up to 200 pounds of weight while the Ferris model can pull 300 pounds. Commercial ones, however, have enough towing ability to pull larger weights.
Like I said earlier, it depends on the model and you should check your user manual. That is where you can get the most accurate number.
Conclusion:
Towing with your lawn mower is very possible. However, you need to know how much it can carry before trying to use it. Luckily, it is no longer so much of a hassle trying to figure out how to use your lawn mower or how much it can tow.
Manufacturers try to make it easy for users to know about their products and how they should be used. All you need is to read. Also, note that the towing movement gets better depending on a variety of factors especially the type of terrain.
Everything that has been said points down to the fact that you need to always refer to your user manual.
