If you want perfect stripes, then you need a mower with a rear roller. The roller flattens the grass as you mow, allowing for excellent lines. Your answer to the next question will come down to how serious you are about lawn care. Cylinder or rotary mower?
What is a cylinder mower?
A cylinder mower operates differently to the mowers most people will be used to. Unless you work professionally in lawn care you will probably have never seen a petrol-powered cylinder mower, you may well, however, have seen a hand-powered one.
A cylinder mower has a set of rotating blades that spin as the mower works, these blades slice the grass against a plate. The blades give the mower more of a scissor-like cutting effect. Cylinder mowers allow for an excellent close cut; they are the ultimate in lawn perfection.
The downside to cylinder lawnmowers is that they do not work well on long grass, only purchase a cylinder lawnmower if you are able to cut your lawn once or ideally twice a week.
Best Cylinder Mower For Stripes
As with all Masport products, the Masport Olympic 500 uses only the highest quality components, so it will give years of service with minimal maintenance requirements. Its rugged steel chassis provides outstanding longevity and provides a rigid and stable cutting-platform for a neat, uniform finish.
This is some serious professional level kit, and I will admit it may be a bit overkill for most gardeners. However, if you are after the ultimate lawn, then this is your mower.
The Masport will cut all the way down to just 7mm, for reference a high-quality golf club will cut their greens down to between 3-5mm. So this is a close cutting mower, but how well will it stripe?
The Masport has both front and rear rollers to produce an excellent stripe. Both rollers are steel, allowing for good weight and pressure, which leads to better, more pronounced stripes.
Best Budget Petrol Lawn Mower For Stripes
New for the 2020 Season, the Feider TR4240 petrol lawnmower will be worth every penny. The build quality of these machines are extremely well made. The sturdy construction of the mower accompanied with the rear roller will give a striping finish to the lawn.
It’s all well and good me showing you a £1000 mower and saying it will give you good stripes, it better bloody had I hear you say! For those who can’t afford to spend thousands on a mower (I envy you if you can!) then this mower is a much more budget-friendly option.
The Feider is a regular rotary mower with a rear roller, allowing for striping. This mower is heralded by users for its ease of use, low cost and how smooth it is in operation.
It has a cutting width of 42cm and can cut from 20mm up to 70mm adjustable to 5 positions.
Best In-between Petrol Lawn Mower For Stripes
Achieve that classic British lawn-stripe the low-effort way with this powerful, self-propelled roller mower from acclaimed New Zealand manufacturers Masport. 
This is our top pick overall, for those serious about stripes but without the budget for the cylinder mower. This mower has a heavy steel roller allowing for beautiful, pronounced stripes.
Supplied with a 54.5-litre catcher and offering a 46cm width-of-cut and Briggs & Stratton XVS 675-Series engine; a 190cc four-stroke unit with Ready Start™ for the choke- and primer-free ignition; and mechanical decompression that ensures just a delicate pull on the starter-rope will see the engine spark into life.
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