by Gabrielle DeSantis

For small yards, push lawn mowers make for a solid pick. For yards between ¼ acre to about ½ acre, a self-propelled push lawn mower might make the most sense. But for a yard around ¾ acre? Consumer Reports says wide-deck self-propelled lawn mowers and rear-engine riders are among the best lawn mowers for big yards. 

What is the best type of lawn mower for big yards?

Different types of lawn mowers are best suited for different types of yards. For those tackling yards ¾ acre or more, a riding lawn mower or a zero-turn radius model might seem like the best type of lawn mower for getting the job done.

But according to Consumer Reports? Both riding lawn mowers and zero-turn-radius models can be a challenge to store. They can also be much more expensive than other types of lawn mowers. Instead, Consumer Reports recommends choosing either a wide-deck self-propelled lawn mower or a rear-engine rider.

While a wide-deck self-propelled mower’s extra-wide cutting deck will save you about a quarter of the time cutting the lawn, Consumer Reports says rear-engine riders require less storage space than other types of lawn mowers.

“Wide-deck self-propelled mowers and rear-engine riders make up a small share of all the lawn mowers sold in the U.S.,” explained Courtney Pennicooke, a Consumer Reports lawn mower analyst. “But for people with larger-sized lawns, they really hit the sweet spot.”

RELATED: John Deere Topped Consumer Reports’ List of The Best Riding Lawn Mowers and Tractors

The best wide-deck self-propelled lawn mowers for big yards

According to Consumer Reports, the Troy-Bilt TB WC28 ($849) is the best wide-deck self-propelled lawn mower you can buy. It’s also one of the best lawn mowers for big yards. It earned an Excellent score in both bagging and cutting evenness. It also handles tasks like side discharging and mulching well. 

Consumer Reports added that this lawn mower comes with features like a blade-brake clutch, allowing users to stop the rotation of the mower’s blades without actually having to turn off the lawn mower’s engine.

The Toro Timemaster 21199 ($1,249) is another wide-deck self-propelled mower that’s one of the best lawn mowers for big yards. This self-propelled mower earned Excellent scores in bagging and cutting evenness. Consumer Reports also gave it Very Good scores in tasks like side discharging, mulching, and handling.

RELATED: Lawn Mower Maintenance You Probably Aren’t Doing But Should Be

The best rear-engine riding lawn mowers for big yards

Rear-engine riders are also among the best lawn mowers for big yards. Take, for example, the Cub Cadet CC30e ($2,799). This electric riding lawn mower boasts lawn mower features like a high-backed seat, cruise control, and the ability to cut grass while in reverse. Consumer Reports also gave it an Excellent mulching rating, along with Very Good ratings in handling, side discharging, cutting evenness, and run time. 

For a cheaper alternative to the Cub Cadet CC30e, Consumer Reports recommends the Cub Cadet CC30 H ($1,699). This lawn mower costs less than its electric counterpart and earned Very Good ratings in mulching and cutting in side-discharging mode. Consumer Reports also gave this lawn mower a Very Good predicted reliability rating along with an Excellent rating for owner satisfaction.

The battery-powered Ryobi R48110 ($2,813) is also one of the best rear-engine riding lawn mowers for big yards. What makes it one of the best lawn mowers for big yards are its Very Good ratings for mowing tasks like side-discharging and mulching. It also earned Excellent scores in cutting evenness. 

RELATED: Here’s Why Buying an Electric Lawn Mower Might Not Be Such a Bad Idea

How to choose the best lawn mower for your big yard

Shopping for the best lawn mower for big yards doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, there are several choices out there worth considering. These are just some of the lawn mowers that come recommended by Consumer Reports. When it comes to choosing the best lawn mower for your big yard, we recommend taking into consideration the types of lawn mower features you’re looking for, along with how much you’re willing to spend.

The post The Best Lawn Mowers for Big Yards According to Consumer Reports appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Many tourists have discovered that driving in some parts of Boston can be really confusing. Between the winding curving roads and the one-way streets, sometimes it feels like you just can’t get there from here. How did some Boston streets get a confusing layout that causes such difficulty for cars?

The story of Boston’s cow paths

As the legend goes, Bostonians followed cow paths to determine their roads, creating a street layout that doesn’t look planned. According to Boston Magazine, even Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote about this story in 1860, saying, “We say the cows laid out Boston. Well, there are worse surveyors.”

There were cows in Boston in the colonial days. Computer Images explains that Boston Common, today a public park, was set aside for public purposes like militia training, chores, recreation, and grazing cows. The cows weren’t banned from Boston Common until 1830.

Is this a legend or the truth?

RELATED: Does Buying a Car Build Your Credit Score?

While it makes for a quaint story, historians have decided that it is not true that Boston’s streets were based on cow paths. However, it is true that the roads have a confusing layout in the oldest sections of the city, like the historic downtown, the Financial District, and the North End.

The area that is Boston today was built as several small towns located around the three mounds of the Trimountain on the Shawmut Peninsula. Boston Magazine suggests that the confusing road layout stems from the facts of the city’s age, the varied topography, and the multiple original towns.

The director at the Massachusetts Historical Society told the Boston Globe that people in Boston used to toast “the crooked little town of Boston” in local taverns.

The history of Boston’s confusing streets

Boston was named in 1630 and settled by English colonists who built their buildings and roads near the waterfront without having any city planning in place yet. More organized cities, like Washington, DC, or Chicago weren’t laid out until later, 1791 for Washington, DC, and the mid-1800s for Chicago.

In areas where Boston expanded into lowlands by using landfills, the streets are laid out in very orderly grids. That includes the Back Bay, the South End, Southie, and Eastie. The Back Bay section of Boston even includes major parallel streets that are named in alphabetical order.

However, Boston.com points out that even these areas of the city can cause some confusion for tourists. They have a grid pattern, but they aren’t laid out following north, south, east, west directions. That can make it tricky to understand what you’re walking toward. Plus, the grids of the different sections of the city don’t align with each other, says the Boston Globe.

Other sections of Boston include towns that used to be separate, like Roxbury, Dorchester, Charlestown, West Roxbury, and Brighton. Charlestown was founded in 1629, and the others were founded in 1630 like Boston, says Oldest.org. All were incorporated into Boston between 1868 and 1873.

Tim Wallace, who runs the Bostonography website along with Andrew Woodruff, says, “When you have a city like Boston that experienced steady land-building for decades, you’re bound to end up with a somewhat wonky street grid.” The two also point to the many urban squares in the city (and nearby cities as well). The streets end up connecting the many nodes of the squares to form a giant web.

Of course, another legend is that the Boston streets were designed to ward off visitors, from Revolutionary War Redcoats to Yankees baseball fans. The streets continue to be a challenge for any tourists visiting Boston today who aren’t already familiar with the local roads. On your next road trip to Boston, we recommend turning on your GPS or signing up for a tour group.

The post Are Boston’s Streets Really Paved Over Cow Paths? appeared first on MotorBiscuit.