Does a petrol flymo use less fuel than a "regular" lawnmower?

[susie2007]

On 21 Nov, 11:15, AJH wrote: when a mate demonstrated his

I've never heard of a bicycle mower!

[AJH]

I'm not surprised, it's still a top secret invention! or was ;-)

It sits in a shed in Bagshot, waiting for the next season, and my only contribution to the project was an old mountain bike.

AJH

[Andy Burns]

What's its 0-60 time?

[The Natural Philosopher]

I wouldn't say that with any certainty.

garden 4 strokes are not optimised for fuel efficiency at all.

In general 2-strokes are used because they are lighter - stuff that doesn't have wheel on in effect.

[susie2007]

Does it look something like this?

[AJH]

AJH

[AJH]

Yes little 2-strokes are less worried by inclines and big (diesel) ones have forced lubrication.

I know one firm I worked for had a contract planting shrubs on a motorway embankment, though I was not involved with it. They were using a small, pedestrian controlled, wheeled auger to make the shallow pits and crumble the soil. This had a B&S 4 stroke engine and it did eventually seize because at the angle the oil wasn't being distributed by the splash system.

AJH

[Autolycus]

As others have said, a Flymo uses quite a lot of its power just to hover: a self-propelled mower might use well under half a horsepower to turn a cutting cylinder, perhaps a little more for rotary cutters.

As a very, very rough guide, look at the rated power of the engine. For every horsepower, it will use about a pint of petrol an hour when working flat out, but it won't be anything like flat out in practice. So a typical 3.5hp pushed mower might use, say, 1 pint /hour, and a larger self-propelled one, with perhaps a 5hp engine, say 3 pints/hour. YMMV.

[geoff]

Err ...

No comment

[Dave Liquorice]

My milage does vary. My B&S 4.5 hp self-propelled 18" cut rotary does about 1pt/hr, this is on bumpy ground and cutting long grass. Also rough paths on steep hills.

[The Natural Philosopher]

My 13.5bhp 'lawn' tractor does as little as a gallon an hour, or as much as a gallon every three, depending on the state of the grass.

Cost me about £3 an acre in fuel to cut grass.