Lawn mowers

[GMM]

This must have been done many times before but things change so I thought I'd ask.

I have about 750 m2 of back garden, mostly lawned. Current mower is 46 cm and I can't help thinking a wider one would get the job done more quickly. Half the lawn is on a bit of a slope. Not steep, but a bit of a shove to get a hand-propelled mower up when the grass is longish. I've never had a self-propelled mower before, but it would seem a good idea (if I'm ever going to persuade SWMBO to cut it). So, I was thinking of this one:

It's well regarded by its buyers, from the reviews, but there are a self-selected lot o course, so I'm wondering if there's anyone here who knows better...

Cheers chaps

[Tim Watts]

Check the amazon reviews - I have never seen amazon buyers be shy about slagging off a bad product.

[Tim Lamb]

I have two old Mountfields but no experience of the Honda engine (Briggs and Stratton).

They pick up clipped grass well and have a generous grass box. The aluminium deck is prone to the corrosion you would expect from grass sap. The drive engagement is by jockey pulley which can seize if not maintained. On the older machine (20 year Empress) I have replaced the plastic roller with a metal one as the original split and have recently replaced the drive belt.

Spares are readily available on line. If the current machines are as good as the old you should be fine. Perhaps a bit more winter maintenance than I do. Sharpening the blade is also a good reason to own an angle grinder:-)

[Malcolm Race]

I have had experience of both Honda & B&S engines (around 5HP) on Billy Goat leaf vacuums. Honda won hands down

Malcolm

[Tim+]

I've owned a Briggs & Stratton 3.5 HP engined lawnmower for about 20 years now. Always easy to start, unlike a friend's Honda engined mower that is an absolute pig in comparison.

Tim

[newshound]

I'd go with Malcolm's view. My single B&S is OK, though no better than a couple of chinese Honda clones on other machines. By far the best starter is the genuine Honda engine on my rotavator.

[F Murtz]

Why put an url that won't let me in if I don't sign up?

[Bill]

In message , GMM writes

I have to say that, having got the problem with the wire sorted, I am very impressed by my son's Robomow automatic mower. With one of those you wouldn't need to trouble swmbo.

The best thing about it is that it mulches, so there are no cuttings to disperse and his lawn hasn't ever needed any artificial additives.

New, they are expensive, but he got his via some sort of offer and it came unboxed as a load of bits on a pallet. I remember because my duties include acting as "Goods In". At the time of writing, there is a s/h one on ebay (no connection).

[GMM]

They're quite tempting aren't they? Bloody expensive though and I'd want more information than seems to be readily available about them before lashing out that much dosh. Being an eternal 'late adopter', I was thinking I'd wait a few years and see whether that technology matures, or withers, like so many good ideas seem to.

[GMM]

Can't see why that should be the case - it's only the screwfix site

[Vortex11]

I have had 3 Hayter Harrier 56 lawnmowers in my time. Very, very good. Especially the PRO model which has a more powerful B&S OHV engine and an indestructible deck.

I don't know where you are geographically but I have a Hayter Harrier PRO 2012 model I am intending to list on eBay but have not got round to it. I hope to get £350ish. (location Surrey/Hampshire border)

Let me know in the unlikely event you may be interested and I will share some pics.

[Vortex11]

Pics in case....

[Tim Watts]

I just watched a Robomow video - very impressive...

[Bill]

In message , Tim Watts writes

I can confirm that it is in real life. You don't get stripes, and he has had to buy a new set of batteries (standard and cheaper from a 3rd party), but it does work.

He has 5 separate lawns, keeps the charger in the garage and carries the machine to each lawn in turn and plugs in the controller to the appropriate loop. He takes the battery pack out to make it easy to lift up steps, so it's all quite well thought out.

Laying the loops was a chore and we have established that the loop connectors can be a problem out in the elements 24/7, but you can get spares.

[Ernest Clark]

We were going to buy petrol mower for rough grass at back 750 sq m. Decided to get cordless mower that can do to garden grass as well 1500 sq m. Batte ry will not cut all on same charge but it is very light, can tackle long gr ass easily. Main benefit is the speed - take it out...put battery in...star t cutting grass. The rough grass area takes about 20 mins as there is tree s to go round etc. The fiddly lawns take about 20 mins each too. With cup o f tea for battery charging time. Bosch Rotak 37. We were going to get the 4

3 (bigger version) but manouverability and weight seemed more important whe n we handled them in store.

[Muddymike]

This must have been done many times before but things change so I

Mountfield is a decent enough make, but a rear roller driven machine like the Hayter Harrier is better at mowing right up to the edge of borders and leaves a nice striped finish.

Mike

[Dave Liquorice]

Approx ten year old self propelled 18" Mountfield here, it "just works". Each year I think I ought to change the oil but some how never get the tuit. It has been changed once, maybe at the start of it's second season. And I had to replace the crank shaft is it objected to a rather hefty blade impact with something and the stub for the drive pully and blade got bent.

Ours is steel and is rusting I scrape the worst of the compacted clippings off after each use. The plastic box that covers the drive mechanisium isn't tough enough to take impacts from stones kicked up by the blade from mole hills. Ours is a bit of mishmash of pop riveted on bits of thick plastic.

Bench grinder in my case, you can check the blade is still balanced if it's not on the machine. But maybe I'm more sensitive to vibration after the bent crankshaft... B-)

[Tim+]

+1 for rear roller. Makes it much easier to cut right up to lawn edges.

Tim

[mail-veil]

I have been absolutely delighted with my Atco Quattro 20S 4 in 1 with Briggs & Stratton 675E engine

Not a bad word against it in my two years of ownership.

Mike

[F Murtz]

Screwfix seems to want me to log on, maybe it is because I am in AU dont know why.