how old does a person have to be to run a mower?

It truely depends upon the maturity of the teen and how responsible they act. I agree, that you don't want an 8 yr old who does not know how to respect the machine to be fooling around with it, same with a 14yr old that is mentally challenged. It is up to the parent to decide when their child is mature enough & responsible enough to handle the responsibilities of operating a lawn mower.

I think 12 years old is old enough to mow the grass. I think having them watch you mow and then you watching them the first couple times is a good idea to make sure they know how to safely do it. It's a good chore for them to learn.

I believe that your son is old enough to run a mower if he is a responsible teen I dont like to see young children mowing its just to dangerous.An eight year old should never mow unattented by an adult. Maby i would allow it at ten and up but that would depend on how mature the child is.

It all depends on if it is a riding lawn mower or a push mower. With our riding lawn mower, you have to be a certain weight for it to go ( I think like 100 pounds). My son is 13 and he has been mowing lawns with a push mower for the past 2 years. He started when he was 11. It is important to go over the safety rules with them at this age, but he has done fine. It is a great way to make some extra $$. I would definitely say the 13 and 16 yr old are old enough. I probably wouldn't let the 8 yr old yet. I don't think that at 8 they are mature enough to understand the hazzards that could happen with lawn mowers.

My partner and I was discussing this last night. My seven year old wants to help mow the lawn. We both agreed that he isn't ready not just because of his age but also because of his size. He is too short to see over the handle bar of the mower. I started to help mow the lawn when I was eight years old. My father gave me the old fashion push mower that didn't have an engine to start with. The next summer I was allowed to use the push mower that had an engine. I think that it should be determined by individual child not be age.

I think 16 is a good age is they are responsible and really know what to do. I would not leave an 8 or 9 year old un-attentded while mowing at all. Also 13 wouldn't be a bad age either as long as they know what they are doing and shown how to propely use the equiptment.