YARDMAX YG2860 Review
The Only Real Gas Brand Amazon Still Stocks
The YARDMAX YG2860 is a 22 inch self-propelled gas mower with a 201cc engine and a 6 speed CVT, rated 4.0 stars from 467 ratings at $359.99. Owners with a quarter acre of thick grass get the most from it, and the catch is front wheel drive on a 95.7 lb machine, which several owners say stops pulling as soon as the grass gets long.
The verdict
The one mower here a hardware store would recognize
Nine of the ten gas mowers on Amazon worth writing about come from brands that sell almost nowhere else. YARDMAX is the exception. The same YG2860 shows up in Google shopping results at Home Depot for the same $359.99, which makes it the only mower in our lineup you could buy, break and get parts for in person.
The hardware reads like a proper gas mower too. A 201cc engine, a 22 inch deck, a 6 speed continuously variable transmission, spiked rubber tires and a deck cleanout port so you can hose the underside without tipping the machine. No other mower in our ten offers a cleanout port.
Two ratings for one mower
Amazon shows 4.0 stars from 467 ratings. Home Depot, going by Google shopping results for the same model at the same price, shows 3.7 stars from about 2,800 ratings.
Six times as many owners rated it three tenths lower. Neither number is wrong, and the bigger sample is usually the more reliable one. Anybody choosing a gas mower by Amazon star rating alone is reading the smaller and kinder of the two.
Starting it, and this part is good news
YARDMAX fits an automatic choke and says there is no need to prime or choke the engine. Owners confirm it.
russellhjoy, 5 stars on 17 Sep 2026 with 3 helpful votes, opens with the price and the point: $350 shipped to the door, and the mower replaced his old one and cut massively overgrown wet grass with no problem. He says it started immediately out of the box with no priming. James hatchet, 5 stars on 22 Sep 2026, says it was easy to put together and started right up.
Automatic choke is the single most useful feature in this category, and only two mowers in our ten advertise one.
Front wheel drive is the real weakness
Hector Arellano gave the YG2860 4 stars on 21 Jun 2026, and his headline is blunt. Front wheel drive does not help much. He reports the drive does not pull the mower as well as he expected, which he puts down to the weight of the machine and the small front wheels, and says you end up pushing it anyway when the grass is high.
The physics agree with him. Front wheel drive loses grip as weight shifts rearward, which happens every time you lift the handle to turn, go up a slope or load the deck with thick grass. On a 95.7 lb mower there is a lot of weight to shift.
Ryan, 1 star on 8 Oct 2026, had the worse version of the same problem. His Select PACE 6 speed CVT transmission did not work at all out of the box, so the feature he paid extra for was dead on arrival. One failure is not a pattern, and a drive system that fails immediately is still the thing to check on your first mow while the return window is open.
What the listing will not tell you
YARDMAX publishes the deck material as plastic and stamped steel, and a weight of 95.7 lbs. Not published anywhere on the page: the number of cutting height positions, the cutting height range, the grass bag capacity, the warranty length or the fuel tank capacity. Our spec fields say so rather than filling the gaps.
The missing warranty length matters more, because warranty is the whole argument for buying a gas mower from a brand with a service network.
Who should buy it
Quarter acre lawns, kept on a regular schedule, with a slope or two. Clover26 AJ, 5 stars on 19 Oct 2026, calls it the best mower he has bought in a long time and says you cannot find a good quality push mower at the price. An owner aged 72 says the 6 speeds let him walk behind it with ease.
Anyone whose grass regularly gets away from them should buy rear wheel drive instead, and the SENIX 22 inch at $359.10 is the cheapest way to get it.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Prices and availability are accurate as of the date shown and change often.
What stands out
- 6 speed CVT, so you set the pace instead of matching the mower
- Automatic choke with no priming, and owners report first pull starts
- Deck cleanout port, which no other mower in our ten has
- Spiked rubber tires for traction on slopes
- The only mower here that major hardware stores also stock
What to watch
- Front wheel drive, and owners say it stops pulling in long grass
- 95.7 lbs, the heaviest mower in our top ten
- One owner had the CVT transmission fail out of the box
- Home Depot shows 3.7 stars from about 2,800 ratings on the same mower
- No warranty, bag size or cutting height range published on the listing
Full specification
| Cutting width, inches | 22 |
|---|---|
| Cutting heights | Single lever deck adjustment, number of positions not published |
| Drive | Self-propelled, front wheel |
| Grass bag capacity | Yes, capacity not published |
| Mulching | 3-in-1, mulch, bag or side discharge |
| Weight, lbs | 96 |
| Suits lawns up to | Up to about a quarter acre |
| Warranty | Not stated on the listing |
Buy it if
You have a quarter acre with a slope or two, you want to pick your own walking pace, and you would rather buy a mower that a hardware store will also service.
Skip it if
Your grass gets long between cuts. Front wheel drive loses traction as the deck loads up, and a rear wheel drive mower like the SENIX 22 inch will keep pulling.
Questions people ask
Is the YARDMAX YG2860 front or rear wheel drive?
Front wheel drive, according to the Amazon listing. Google shopping results for the same YG2860 at Home Depot describe it as rear wheel drive, so the two retailers disagree. Owner Hector Arellano settles it on 21 Jun 2026, reporting that the front wheel drive does not pull the mower well because of the weight and the small front wheels.
Why is the Home Depot rating lower than the Amazon rating?
Same mower, same $359.99, two different samples. Amazon shows 4.0 stars from 467 ratings. Home Depot shows 3.7 stars from roughly 2,800 ratings. Six times the sample and three tenths lower, which is a good reminder that a single retailer rating is not the whole picture.
What does the CVT actually do?
A continuously variable transmission lets you dial the ground speed up or down instead of choosing from fixed gears. YARDMAX markets it as 6 speed Select PACE. One Amazon owner aged 72 says the 6 speeds let him walk behind it with ease.
Is the YARDMAX hard to start?
Owners say no. russellhjoy, 5 stars on 17 Sep 2026, reports it started immediately out of the box with no priming, and cut massively overgrown wet grass without trouble. The automatic choke is doing that work.
How heavy is it and does the weight matter?
95.7 lbs, the heaviest mower in our top ten. Weight helps the deck sit flat and hurts everywhere else, including on the front wheel drive, which has less grip to work with once the front end lightens on a slope.
