On a flat lawn under a few hundred square metres, rarely. On a slope, or with a heavy machine, it changes the job entirely. The decision is about gradient and mass, and lawn area barely enters it.
What the drive is for
A self-propelled mower drives its wheels from the same engine or motor that turns the blade, and you steer rather than push. What that buys is the ability to move a machine that is too heavy to push comfortably — which is precisely the machine you want on a large or rough lawn, because mass is what keeps a deck steady.
The two cases where it is close to necessary are a lawn with a real gradient, where pushing a loaded mower uphill is genuinely hard work, and a petrol machine with a steel deck and a full catcher, which is a substantial object to move by hand at the end of a long pass.
What it costs
Weight, first: the transmission, the belt and the geared wheels all add to a machine that was already the heaviest of its type. A driven mower that has run out of fuel or charge is harder to move than a push mower that has.
Service, second: a drive belt is a wear part, and on the cheaper machines on this shelf it is the part that fails first. A push mower has no such component.
And price, third, which on this shelf is usually the smallest of the three considerations.
What the listings do not tell you
Whether the drive speed is adjustable. Some machines offer a variable speed, some a single ratio chosen by the maker, and the single ratio is not always a comfortable walking pace. Listings state it inconsistently, and where a maker does state it, the review page here prints it.
Whether the drive is on the front or rear wheels. Rear drive holds better on a slope and on wet grass; front drive is easier to turn at the end of a pass because lifting the handle disengages it. Neither is a tested characteristic.
How this site handles it
The mower reviews here print mass as the maker states it, alongside deck width, because the two together are what decide whether a machine wants a drive. Where a listing names the drive type or the speed range, the page reports it as stated; where it says only “mit Radantrieb” and nothing more, the page says that is all there is.
The questions that keep coming in
Does self-propel make mowing faster?
It makes it less tiring, which is not the same thing. Walking speed is set by you on most machines and by a fixed drive ratio on the cheapest ones, and neither is faster than a person pushing a light mower on the flat.
Can the drive be switched off?
On almost every machine, yes — the drive bail is separate from the blade bail, and releasing it leaves the mower to be pushed. Whether it pushes easily is another matter: a driven machine pushed with the drive disengaged is heavier and geared.
Last reviewed 26 September 2026