Best Lawn Mowers for Hills

1. How We Picked

A mower that is excellent on a flat quarter-acre can be miserable on a bank. It can spin its drive wheels, bog on the climb, slide sideways on damp grass or tip a wheel into a hollow and scalp the lawn. So we judged these mowers on the things that change when the ground tilts: which wheels are driven, how big the rear wheels are, how the drive speed is controlled, how much torque there is to keep the blade up to speed on a climb, and how the weight is distributed when you are walking across a slope rather than along it.

We started from the self-propelled mowers we already rate highly in our best self-propelled lawn mower guide and cut the list to those with rear-wheel or all-wheel drive. Front-wheel-drive models did not make it, for reasons the next section explains. We then checked each remaining model against its manufacturer's published specifications for drive type, wheel size, torque, weight and cutting-height range, and dropped anything we could not verify.

We also dropped mowers that are no longer sold new. The obvious casualty is Honda. The HRX217 and HRN216 were for years the default recommendation for hilly lawns, but Honda stopped producing gasoline walk-behind mowers for the US market in September 2023 and sold through remaining stock in 2024. A new HRX advertised today is old stock or a reseller listing, so check the warranty terms before buying one.

Every pick here is a walk-behind. That is deliberate. On a genuinely steep lawn, a walk-behind is the safer tool, because you can step away from it. Riding mowers and zero-turns have hard slope limits, which we cover in detail further down, and if most of your lawn sits inside those limits our best riding lawn mower and best zero-turn mower guides are the better place to start.

Finally, we weighed the cost of each mower against how much of its extra capability a typical hilly lawn would use. All-wheel drive, bigger engines and bigger batteries all cost money, and on a gentle slope a good rear-wheel-drive mower does the job for less.

2. RWD vs AWD vs FWD on a Slope

The single most important spec on a mower for hills is which wheels are driven. When you push any mower up a slope, its weight shifts toward the rear wheels. A rear-wheel-drive mower benefits from that: more weight on the driven wheels means more grip. A front-wheel-drive mower suffers from it: the front wheels unload, and on a steep enough climb they simply spin. The effect gets worse when the rear bag fills, because the bag adds weight behind the rear axle and lifts the front end further.

That is why front-wheel drive, which is common on budget self-propelled mowers, is the wrong choice for hills. It does have a real advantage on flat lawns with lots of obstacles, since you can tip the mower back onto its rear wheels to turn and the drive disengages. Our front-wheel vs rear-wheel drive lawn mower guide covers that trade in detail, but on a slope the answer is simple: rear-wheel drive or better.

All-wheel drive adds power to the front wheels as well. On a dry, moderate slope it is only a modest improvement over a good rear-wheel-drive mower, and independent testing has found the same. Where it earns its extra cost is on steep climbs, on damp grass and on side-slopes, where one driven wheel losing grip would stop a two-wheel-drive mower or let the deck slide downhill. With four wheels pulling, one slipping wheel is not the end of the pass.

How the drive speed is controlled matters almost as much as which wheels it powers. A single-speed drive is tiring on a slope, because it pulls at the same pace uphill as on the flat and you end up either jogging or dragging. Variable systems such as Toro's Personal Pace, which reads how hard you push the handle, and EGO's Touch Drive, which puts a speed dial under your thumb, let you slow right down on a steep pitch without releasing the drive.

3. Our 7 Top Picks

Every mower below drives its rear wheels or all four, because front-wheel drive loses traction as weight shifts back on a climb. We have ordered them by how well they suit a typical hilly lawn, not by price. The Toro all-wheel-drive Recycler leads because it copes with the widest range of slopes and conditions, the EGO is the best choice if you want battery power, and the TimeMaster is for large, rolling lawns that are too steep to ride. If your slopes are gentle, the cheaper rear-wheel-drive picks will serve you just as well.

4

Greenworks Pro 80V 21" Brushless Self-Propelled Mower

80V Battery, Rear-Wheel Drive, 10-inch Rear Wheels

Best Value Battery

4.4 (3,000 owner ratings)

The Greenworks Pro 80V is the mower we would point to for a buyer who wants the practical benefits of battery power on a slope without paying EGO prices. It uses rear-wheel drive with variable speed, which is the right layout for hills, and it rides on 10-inch rear wheels with 8-inch fronts, a larger rear wheel than most battery mowers at this price. Larger rear wheels matter on a slope because they ride over bumps rather than dropping into them, and a wheel that drops into a hole on a side-slope tips the deck and scalps the grass. Its weight, around 68 lb with battery, is a real advantage too. A lighter mower is easier to hold on line across a grade and easier to turn at the end of a pass without the rear end swinging downhill. Greenworks rates it at up to 70 minutes on the included 5.0Ah pack, and as with every battery mower, a lawn that is mostly climbing will use that faster. The brushless DigiPro motor is rated by Greenworks as comparable to a 160cc gas engine, which is fair for normal grass and a little optimistic in thick, wet growth. The weak points are modest: the maximum cutting height of 3-3/4 inches is lower than we would like for a sun-baked slope, and the self-propel control is less smooth than the two premium systems here.

Pros

• Variable-speed rear-wheel drive puts the traction where the weight goes when you climb
• 10-inch rear wheels are larger than most battery mowers at this price, which helps on rough, sloped ground
• At about 68 lb it is noticeably lighter than the gas mowers here, so it is easier to control on a traverse
• Up to 70 minutes of rated runtime on the 5.0Ah battery, and the battery runs the whole Greenworks 80V range
• 4-year limited tool and battery warranty

Cons

• Cutting height only goes to 3-3/4 inches, a little short for keeping cool-season grass tall on dry slopes
• Self-propel feels less refined than Toro's Personal Pace or EGO's Touch Drive

The Bottom Line

The sensible battery pick for a small to mid-sized hilly yard when the EGO is more than you want to spend.

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6

EGO Power+ LM2206SP 22" Aluminum Deck Self-Propelled

56V Battery, Cast Aluminum Deck, 11.1 ft-lb

Most Torque (Battery)

4.5 (400 owner ratings)

If the LM2156SP is EGO's best-known mower, the LM2206SP is the one it built to answer the question of whether a battery mower can match a strong gas engine in heavy grass. EGO rates it at 11.1 ft-lb of torque and blade speeds up to 3,350 RPM, the highest figures of any battery mower in this guide, and on a hill that headroom is what keeps the blade from bogging when the drive and the cut are both working hard. The Touch Drive self-propel runs from 0.9 to 3.1 mph, and the slow end of that range is useful: on a steep pitch you want the mower to crawl, and many drives lurch rather than creep. The 22-inch cast aluminum deck is the other headline. Aluminum does not rust, EGO backs the deck with a lifetime warranty on registration, and a cast deck holds its shape better than stamped steel over years of bumping into slopes and edges. Like the LM2156SP, it has no oil or fuel to worry about at angle, and it uses EGO's Select Cut system with interchangeable lower blades. The honest objection is price, which sits well above everything else here, and a shorter track record. If your hill is steep and your grass is thick and you want battery power, this is the most capable option; if either is moderate, the LM2156SP does most of this for less.

Pros

• 11.1 ft-lb of torque, the most of any battery mower here, so it holds blade speed climbing through heavy grass
• Cast aluminum 22-inch deck will not rust, and EGO backs it with a lifetime warranty on registration
• Touch Drive self-propel from 0.9 to 3.1 mph gives a slow, controllable crawl for steep pitches
• Up to 70 minutes of rated runtime on the included 10.0Ah battery
• Eight cutting heights from 1 to 4 inches, with levers front and rear

Cons

• Very expensive for a walk-behind, gas or battery
• Fewer owner reviews than the long-running LM2156SP, so long-term reliability is less proven

The Bottom Line

The premium battery choice for steep lawns with thick grass, where torque matters more than price.

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4. How Steep Is Too Steep?

Every riding mower and zero-turn manual includes a maximum slope, and for most residential machines that figure is somewhere between 10 and 15 degrees. It is a limit, not a target. It assumes dry grass, good tires, a smooth surface and a skilled operator, and the manufacturers are clear that you should stay well under it when any of those conditions is missing. Walk-behind manuals are more varied, but they carry similar warnings about steep grades and about slopes near drop-offs, ditches and water.

Degrees are hard to judge by eye, and most people badly underestimate their slopes. The easy way to measure is with a straight 4-foot board and a level. Rest one end on the slope, hold the board level, and measure the gap between the downhill end of the board and the ground. A gap of about 8.5 inches is roughly 10 degrees, and about 13 inches is roughly 15 degrees. A smartphone inclinometer app laid on a board works too.

Measure in several places, including the steepest part of the slope rather than the average. A lawn that is 8 degrees across most of its width can have a 16-degree band at the bottom where it meets a driveway or a ditch, and that band is where accidents happen. Also look at what is at the bottom. A moderate slope that ends at a pond, a retaining wall or a road is more dangerous than a steeper one that ends in more flat lawn.

If your slope is steeper than about 20 degrees, stop thinking about mowers. At that angle even a walk-behind is awkward to control and your footing becomes the problem. A string trimmer with a good harness, or replacing the grass with ground cover, is the safer long-term answer.

5. Across or Up and Down: Push vs Ride

The advice about mowing direction is opposite for walk-behind and riding mowers, and mixing them up is one of the most dangerous mistakes people make on a hilly lawn. The rule is simple: with a walk-behind mower, mow across the face of the slope. With a riding mower or zero-turn, mow up and down the slope, never across it.

The walk-behind rule exists to protect your feet. If you mow up and down a slope with a push mower, you are either walking downhill with the mower in front of you, where it can run away, or walking uphill with the mower above you, where a slip can pull it back over your feet. Mowing across keeps you and the mower on the same level, so if you lose your footing you fall away from the deck rather than under it.

The riding mower rule exists to prevent sideways rollovers. A rider has a high center of gravity, with the operator sitting on top of it, and driving across a slope puts all that weight toward the downhill wheels. A small bump or a hollow under the uphill wheel can tip it. Driving up and down keeps the weight between the wheels, and the risk becomes a loss of traction rather than a rollover, which is why manufacturers specify it.

There is one refinement for walk-behinds. Turn at the end of each pass by swinging the mower uphill of you, not downhill, so that the deck is never below your feet. And if the slope is steep enough that you feel the mower pulling you sideways, it is too steep for that mower.

6. Rollover Risk on Riders and Zero-Turns

Riding mowers and zero-turns are responsible for the most serious mowing injuries, and slopes are behind a large share of them. The risk is not only sideways rollovers. On a steep downhill run the drive wheels can lose grip, and once they do, the machine slides regardless of what you do with the controls.

Zero-turn mowers are particularly vulnerable to this. They steer and brake entirely through their rear drive wheels, and the front wheels are free-swiveling casters. On a slope where the rear tires lose traction, you lose steering and braking at the same moment, and the front casters offer nothing to correct with. That is why most zero-turn manufacturers set lower slope limits than lawn tractors, often around 10 degrees, and why our best zero-turn mower guide treats slopes as a reason to consider a different machine.

Many zero-turns carry a rollover protection structure, a steel hoop behind the seat. It only works with the seatbelt on and the hoop raised, because it protects you by keeping you inside the space it creates. With the hoop folded down for a low branch, you should not be wearing the belt, and you should not be anywhere near a slope. Lawn tractors generally have no protection at all.

Practical rules for riders on sloped lawns: never mow when the grass is wet, keep a full bag or a heavy attachment off the mower on grades, avoid sudden turns and stops on a slope, keep at least a mower's width away from ditch edges and water, and leave anything close to the manufacturer's limit to a walk-behind or a trimmer.

If your property has a lot of ground over about 10 degrees, the honest recommendation is a walk-behind from this list for the slopes and a rider for the flat areas, not one machine for everything.

7. Rear Wheel Size, Tread and Weight

Rear wheel size is the spec most buyers ignore and the one that makes the most difference on rough, sloping ground. A larger wheel rolls over a bump or hollow rather than dropping into it. On a slope, a wheel that drops into a hole tips the whole deck toward it, so the blade scalps the uphill side of the cut and the mower lurches. A 10- or 11-inch rear wheel smooths that out noticeably compared with the 7- or 8-inch wheels on cheaper mowers.

Look at the tread as well as the diameter. Deep, chevron-style tread grips slopes far better than the shallow, almost smooth tread on budget wheels, particularly in damp grass. Ball-bearing wheels roll more freely and wear more slowly under the side loads a slope puts on them, which matters because a worn wheel bushing lets the wheel wobble and the deck tilt.

Weight is a double-edged spec. A heavier mower presses its driven wheels into the ground harder and has more traction, which helps it climb. It is also harder to hold on line across a slope, harder to turn at the end of a pass and more tiring to push if the drive slips. On mixed lawns, the sweet spot is roughly 65 to 90 lb with rear-wheel or all-wheel drive doing the work.

Where the weight sits matters too. Battery mowers carry a heavy pack high on the deck, which raises the center of gravity and makes them feel less planted on a traverse than a gas mower of the same weight. And any mower with a full grass bag has a lot of weight hanging behind the rear axle, which is one of the best arguments for mulching on a slope. Our best mulching mower guide covers which decks do that well.

8. Battery vs Gas on Grades

Battery mowers have one clear advantage on a slope that rarely gets mentioned: they have no oil and no fuel. A walk-behind gas engine is typically splash-lubricated, and small-engine makers publish maximum operating angles for a reason. Run one across a steep face for long enough and oil can pool away from where it is needed, the engine can smoke, and fuel can weep from the cap vent. An electric motor does not care what angle it is held at.

Their disadvantage is energy. On a hill, the drive motor works harder to push the mower uphill and the blade motor works harder to keep its speed in grass that is being cut at an angle. Both draw more current, so runtime falls. Manufacturer runtime ratings assume flat, dry lawns, and on a lawn that is mostly climbing you should plan on noticeably less. That is why the battery picks here come with large packs: the EGO LM2156SP with a 10.0Ah battery and the Greenworks Pro 80V with 5.0Ah at a higher voltage.

Torque is the other variable. A strong gas engine keeps blade speed up in thick grass on a climb, and cheaper battery mowers can bog under the same load. The best current battery models have closed that gap. EGO rates the LM2156SP at 8.3 ft-lb and the LM2206SP at 11.1 ft-lb of torque, and in normal grass on a moderate slope neither struggles.

Our recommendation follows from that. If your lawn is under about half an acre and you mow it regularly, so the grass is never very tall, a good battery mower is the better tool for slopes. If your lawn is larger, often gets long between cuts or includes a lot of steep ground, gas still has the edge in stamina. Our best gas lawn mowers and best battery-powered lawn mower guides go deeper on each.

9. How to Mow a Hill Well

Mow slopes when the grass is dry. Wet grass is slippery for your feet and your wheels, and it clumps under the deck, which makes the mower heavier and the cut worse. Mid-afternoon on a dry day is ideal. If you must mow after rain, leave the slopes for last.

Raise the cutting height on slopes. Slopes drain faster and dry out sooner than flat ground, so the grass on them is under more stress in summer, and a taller cut shades the soil and helps it hold moisture. Raising the deck also makes scalping less likely on crests and bumps, which is the most common cosmetic problem on a sloping lawn. For most cool-season grasses, 3.5 to 4 inches on slopes is a good target.

Mulch rather than bag. A full grass bag adds significant weight behind the rear axle, which lightens the front wheels and, on a front-drive or all-wheel-drive mower, reduces traction just when you need it. Mulching returns the clippings to the lawn and keeps the mower's balance consistent through the whole pass.

Keep the blade sharp. A dull blade tears grass rather than cutting it, and the torn tips brown and lose moisture faster, which a stressed slope can least afford. A dull blade also makes the engine or motor work harder, which on a battery mower means shorter runtime. Plan on sharpening at least once a season, or more often on sandy soil.

Finally, wear shoes with real grip. Most slope injuries with a walk-behind mower begin with a slip, not a mechanical failure, and a proper boot with a lugged sole does more for your safety on a bank than any feature on the mower.