Erik Mclean / Unsplash
Gas riding mowers represent one of the largest single purchases most homeowners make for their yard. a breakdown in the first few years adds repair costs on top of an already significant investment. Mowing season comes around every year, making a machine's long-term dependability more important than almost any single feature. Brand reputation often drives purchasing decisions, but owner experience is a more accurate predictor of how a mower holds up over time.
Consumer Reports surveyed members on 18,560 gas-powered riding mowers purchased between 2015 and 2025, and these five brands earned the strongest marks.
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Credit: Kubota
Kubota earned a reliability score of 97 out of 100 in Consumer Reports' member survey data for lawn tractors, the highest score in the category. CR judged Kubota excellent for both predicted reliability and owner satisfaction, making it the only lawn tractor brand to earn top marks in both measures. CR members reported very few problems with their Kubota tractors in the first five years of ownership.
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Credit: John Deere
John Deere scored 71 out of 100 for predicted reliability in the lawn tractor category, placing it second in Consumer Reports' rankings. CR rated the brand very good for reliability and excellent for owner satisfaction, a pairing that puts it ahead of every other brand in the category on the satisfaction measure. According to CR, John Deere lawn tractors with solid reliability and outstanding satisfaction ratings appear among the top-performing models in its current ratings.
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Credit: Snapper
Snapper ranked first for predicted reliability among zero-turn mowers in Consumer Reports' survey, with a score of 94 out of 100. CR found that Snapper leads the 14-brand zero-turn category by a wide margin on reliability, though owner satisfaction came in at a midrange score. CR members reported very few problems with their Snapper zero-turn mowers in the first five years of ownership.
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Credit: John Deere
A reliability score of 78 out of 100 puts John Deere second among 14 brands in Consumer Reports' zero-turn mower data. CR rated John Deere very good for predicted reliability and excellent for owner satisfaction in this category. John Deere is among a group of zero-turn brands that earned very good reliability scores alongside excellent owner satisfaction marks.
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Credit: Gravely
At 74 out of 100, Gravely and Exmark tied for third in Consumer Reports' zero-turn reliability rankings. CR rated both brands very good for predicted reliability and excellent for owner satisfaction. According to CR, both ranked among the strongest performers across all measures in a category where no brand earned a poor or subpar reliability rating.
