A way to stay a cut above the neighbors: super mowers

WELLINGTON, Ohio - Linda and Bob Thayer recently invested in a sporty new set of wheels. It boasts a premium engine, high-backed ergonomic seating and all-wheel steering that can turn the vehicle on a dime.

It also cuts the grass.

They're part of a new trend fueling green envy in America: the rise of the tricked-out lawn mower. Today, speedier cutting technology is practically de rigueur. Mower makers are now focused on mimicking the auto industry with cosmetic and creature comforts. Sun shades, iPod compartments, cruise control, chrome hub caps and even alternative fuels are all part of the mower mania.

Cutting-edge designs start at around $3,000 and go for more than $10,000—or roughly the cost of a 2010 Nissan Versa.

Hustler Turf Equipment offers the $10,000-plus commercial "Super Z" mower, which can jet along at 15 mph and has enough mechanical brawn to cut grass 40 hours a week. The price tag hasn't deterred residential customers, who "simply want the biggest, baddest mower on the block," says marketing director Adam Mullet.

Tim Strong of Raleigh, N.C., recently paid $4,000 for a commercial-grade reel mower from Locke, a brand once used in Yankee Stadium. It lends a striped appearance to his lawn by bending blades in alternate directions as he mows. It's also attention-getting. One neighbor marveled, "That's a pretty big-sized machine you've got there." Strong says that no other machine will give him the scissor-like precision-cut he wants for his Zoysia grass, a cushiony turf common on the golf links. "Quite frankly, I think your lawn and how you maintain it sends a message about how you treat other things you own and who you are," he says.

Despite environmentalists' ongoing campaign to peg grass as water-wasting turf, homeowners are snapping up high-end riding mowers with an appetite not seen since before the recession. After double-digit decreases for the past two years, U.S. shipments of riders are expected to climb slightly more than 6 percent over the next two years, according to the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute.

For some buyers, the new mower mood is a reaction to the economy. As tight credit, unemployment woes and lower home resale values persist, more people are staying put and improving existing dwellings — as well as investing in higher-end equipment to care for it.

For others, a mower upgrade is tinged with a little neighborly competition. "Most of us are guilty of trying to get the yard to look better than our neighbors. That goes right along with equipment having to be cooler than the neighbors," says Jim Bednar, a senior marketing manager for MTD Products' Cub Cadet brand. Last year, Cub Cadet added an iPod holder with earphone slot into its lawn tractors. "It's well beyond cupholders," Bednar says.

To a large extent, there is pent-up demand after a several-year dry spell where consumers belt-tightened and repaired old equipment. Now that they are ready to buy, they are often buying big—especially the pricier "zero-turn" riders, which can make super-tight rotations around trees or flower beds, often cutting mowing time in half.

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