Ride-on Mowers
To mow a really big lawn, you may prefer to take a seat on your machine, rather than walking for miles behind it.
Towed seats
Some of the larger, petrol driven, 'walk-behind' mowers are powerful enough to pull a towed seat (or trailing seat). This is usually a seat set on a roller and attached by a tow-bar. The weight of the operator enhances the effect of the roller, giving a strong striped effect.
Lawn tractors
The classic 'ride-ons' are like mini-tractors. Almost all of these are rotary mowers, with a horizontally-set blade beneath the body of the tractor. Clippings are usually collected in a large box to the rear of the lawn tractor; the machine may be fitted with an alarm that tells you when the box is full. Key things to consider when buying a lawn tractor include the cutting width, and the manoeuvrability of the machine - particularly important if you have some tight corners to negotiate. Smaller versions of lawn tractors, without obvious bonnets, are sometimes referred to as 'garden ride-ons'.
Rollers
Some ride-ons have rollers, to give that striped effect.
Mulching
Like some rotary mowers, ride-ons may be fitted with a mulching function, which chops the clippings very finely, and then scatters them on the lawn, rather than collecting them - returning nutrients to the grass, and helping to retain moisture in the lawn.
Gang mowers
For really big areas of grass, multi-gang sets of cylinder mowers can be towed behind a full-sized tractor.