This article was updated in May 2025 to provide the most recent guidance.
A ride-on lawnmower is an essential piece of garden machinery for professional landscapers and gardeners with large lawns or entire estates to maintain.
But with so many options on the market, how can you be sure you’re buying the right one for your business?
Our handy commercial mowers buyers guide details the different options, factors to consider, and the right questions to ask to guarantee you’ll end up with the ride-on lawn mower that best meets your needs.
Before you even begin to consider brands, there are several types of commercial ride-on lawn mowers to choose from. They each have different strengths – which is right for your business depends entirely on your client base and typical workload.
From a lawn tractor to a stand-on mower, discover the next addition to your toolkit with our guide.
Lawn tractors and garden tractors are powerful pieces of garden machinery that offer excellent versatility.
A lawn tractor or garden tractor is best suited to large gardens and rural areas, and will even cope with tough terrain, although they can struggle with steep sloping ground.
They come with wide cutting decks and, often, a comprehensive set of features including hydrostatic transmission, allowing you to mow at a wide range of speeds. Arguably, the greatest strength of a lawn tractor (or garden tractor) is its power and versatility.
Most lawn tractors can accommodate a range of attachments, such as scarifiers, aerators, and trailers, broadening the scope of work they can perform. Garden tractors are even stronger in this regard; they're typically more powerful and can accommodate attachments for heavy-duty tasks.
Zero-turn mowers are famous for their productivity and manoeuvrability – they're ideally suited to larger lawns and cutting through huge swathes of grass very quickly.
Their cutting efficiency comes from their tight 360-degree turning circle, which is achieved with individual hydraulic control handles for each wheel. This equips the operator with the power to cover the entire area far more quickly than with a standard ride-on mower, where each turn might involve several manoeuvres.
Thanks to their agility, these ride-on lawn mowers are extremely good at negotiating obstacles.
However, they can be more expensive, and while they have speed and efficiency on their side, they are slightly more challenging to handle (though nothing for a professional to be concerned about). If you're consistently working on larger areas, the boost to your productivity may soon balance out the extra upfront cost.
A front mower is any ride-on mower with a front-mounted cutting deck. Front mowers allow you a better view of the cutting area and help you to cut around and under obstacles more easily, reducing the need for additional strimming work.
You also avoid flattening the lawn as you cut it with a front mower, as the weight of the machine is behind the deck, which is especially helpful when you need to mow longer grass.
Like lawn tractors, front mowers can usually be fitted with a range of attachments and accessories. Many front mowers can switch accessories and cutting decks; they can be changed to suit the time of year, like being used to mulch in spring, or accommodate an increased cutting width. This adaptability is clear when you look at options upon purchase; you can often choose between hydrostatic and manual transmission, and rear or side discharge, allowing you to find a front mower that suits your needs.
Technically, a stand-on mower is a ride-on, because the machine is carrying the user. Stand-on mowers help you avoid sitting for long periods; a benefit that can be vital for professionals who suffer from back issues.
Avoiding back trouble is only one advantage; stand-on mowers offer quick dismount, excel on inclines, and are adept at cutting uneven terrain as the rider can shift their weight as needed. They also offer excellent visibility, as the higher vantage point offers a fantastic view of the lawn and surroundings as you mow.
While some stand-on mowers are large mowers with a wide cutting deck – ideal for covering larger lawns – many are more compact in size, making it easier to access hard-to-reach areas, like gated parks or fenced gardens. If you need a ride-on mower that can navigate several obstacles – such as in a cemetery, for instance – a stand-on offers the manoeuvrability you need.
In our survey of landscape professionals in the UK, France, Italy, and Germany, 98 percent stated they would factor in the engine make when deciding on a ride-on mower purchase – and many viewed it as the most important factor overall.
Your engine is the heart of your machine – the power and quality of the engine you buy will be a major factor in how effective and long-lasting your mower is, and how varied the tasks are that you can perform.
Many leading commercial lawnmower brands fit engines from specialist engine manufacturers, rather than using cheaper non-branded engines, and there’s good reason – a commercial ride-on lawnmower is the backbone of your business, and that requires serious, dependable, and reliable power.
Kawasaki V-twin engines offer power that professionals can rely on. We've spent decades perfecting the performance of our engines, and they are tried and tested in commercial environments – for long-lasting, assured quality, a Kawasaki engine won't let you down.
Some considerations may not immediately spring to mind, such as the amount of storage space you have, or user comfort, but are still important parts of the decision process.
Give thought to how and where you plan to store your mower. Do you have space in a garage, workshop, or shed to accommodate it? And does it need to be transported in a van or trailer? If so, be sure to check machine dimensions very carefully to guarantee it fits.
Many ride-on mowers come with a clippings catcher or bag, which is located at the rear of the mower and will catch the clippings as it cuts. It’s mess-free and convenient, but emptying the bag can be time-consuming, laborious or, for those mowing very large areas, impossible.
There are two alternatives – side discharging and mulching mowers.
Side-discharge mowers recycle the clippings (and the nutrients therein) directly back onto the lawn by spraying them from a dispenser chute located on one side of the mower.
It can reduce fertiliser costs and save time as there’s no bag to empty. However, the blowing out of clippings can be a little messy. Some customers may also not be keen, for example, if they want to be able to use the area after you’ve cut.
Mulching mowers also deposit the grass clippings back onto the lawn, but cut the clippings into tiny pieces before leaving them on the ground directly below where the blade is located. You need mulching capability to do this, because special mulching blades are required.
Either bagless option offers some great lawn benefits and will enable the operator to finish the job much faster than their alternatives.
As you’ll spend riding time sitting down, it’s vital you find a mower with a comfortable, adjustable seat. Some seats come with armrests or high backs for additional lumbar support. These are particularly useful on longer rides.
Other features that can make your riding time more comfortable include additional legroom, a sport-style steering wheel or cup holders. What you choose is down to user preference, but remember, if the mower is to be used by a team of people, you’ll want easy-to-adjust features making it simple to adapt for each rider.
Low-vibration models can also be a good way to reduce the impact of prolonged riding, making the experience even more comfortable.
Lawn tractors can pull a variety of useful attachments, as can many front mowers; many commercial ride-on mowers are capable of doing far more than just cutting grass. These can include lawn aerators and scarifiers, lawn rollers, chain harrows, chipper shredders and trailers.
Whether or not attachments are worthwhile depends on the size of the area you're maintaining and the project scope. Before you go ahead and buy a raft of attachments, however, consider what you really need and if you have the space for them.
Properly considered, however, certain attachments to your ride-on can be a useful time-saver and expand your business offering to customers.
In our survey of professional landscapers, 80 percent said they would buy a ride-on mower from a specialist garden machinery dealer.
While it’s possible to buy a ride-on mower online, most professionals prefer the expertise and hands-on experience offered by a specialist dealer.
There are hazards in buying such high-value products from online retailers. You'll lose the opportunity for a demonstration, and they’re unlikely to offer the same level of support as a dealer – from assistance with choosing the right product, to after-sales care such as sourcing genuine parts.
Commercial ride-on mowers are a significant investment. Buying a new ride-on mower can feel like a big expense, but for many landscape businesses, it's an essential one.
You can typically expect to pay anything upwards of €4,000 for a commercial ride-on mower, and generally speaking, the more powerful the mower is, the more expensive it will be – especially if it’s made by a market-leading brand. But there’s no denying that with quality comes a more robust, long-lasting product, which is a must for professional landscapers and gardeners.
If you’re prepared to invest time into the upkeep of your machine and truly look after it – and importantly, maintain your engine – you will optimise its lifespan and be rewarded with the reliability you need for your business.
Leading manufacturers offer a good range of mowers to suit all needs and requirements. Kawasaki's market-leading 4-stroke engines power the following brands available across Europe: Ariens, Bobcat, Cub Cadet, Etesia, Husqvarna, Hustler, John Deere, SCAG, SECO, TORO, Wisconsin.
We partner with trusted, respected manufacturers to provide professionals with equipment they can rely on. Explore commercial ride-on mowers Powered by Kawasaki today.
We know that a ride-on mower is no small investment in your business. A ride-on lawn mower that can keep up with a commercial-level workload doesn't come cheap – which is why, understandably, you want to ensure you're making the right decision.
Precision engineered for unrivalled reliability, our V-Twins are your ultimate power partner for professional-level turfcare.
In the demanding world of professional landscaping, the reliability and longevity of your equipment are paramount. Extra repair costs, unnecessary downtime and, ultimately, a hit to your bottom line can all result from purchasing machinery that's not fit for professional-level work.
Maximising your engine's performance and longevity requires regular maintenance: it can add years on to the life of an engine.
