Lawnmower time

Except it won't, because there's plenty of efficient vacs already under the power limit - and plenty of inefficient, noisy, shit ones waaaay over it.

Reply to
Adrian
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Are they, bejabers? Mains electric mowers are by far the best solution for small lawns, and we have had a few for the past 30+ years.

Sounds like the Daily Wail, actually. It isn't hard to make a reasonably quiet petrol motor if one tries, and almost all of the better ones are.

Regards, Nick Maclaren.

Reply to
Nick Maclaren

It's probably a safety matter, anyway. Even excluding the people who use vacuum cleaners for strange and unnatural purposes, the most powerful are definitely a potential danger if one gets the end of a bare tube against bare skin.

Regards, Nick Maclaren.

Reply to
Nick Maclaren

I dream of being able to cut the grass, the hedge and the neighbours overhanging branches with a vaporising laser beam.

Reply to
Adrian C

On my 'lawns' I rely on the scalping to keep the dimmocks under control - the dimmocks are made by ants, especially in v. wet weather.

Reply to
PeterC

Are they, bejabers? Mains electric mowers are by far the best solution for small lawns, and we have had a few for the past 30+ years.

Which part of the op's post about the size did you miss? 300ft x 80ft.... That's a bloody long extension lead

That's NOT a small garden suitable for an electric mower on regular use.

Reply to
Nthkentman

"Vir Campestris" wrote

We have an ancient mains electric Hayter with aluminium deck that I inherited from my mother in 1993, broke once due to me being careless but the spares were easily available and cheap. Personally if I were in the market for a petrol mower for such a lawn as yours I would take a serious look at the Honda range.

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Reply to
Bob Hobden

You clearly did not read the post I was responding to.

(a) That is NOT a small lawn. (b) It is complete nonsense that they are for solely the class of gardeners specified; they are commonly used for business premises (often large ones), where the amount of grass is small and next to the building.

I wouldn't use one for a 24,000 square foot lawn, either. Mine is a tenth that size, at most.

Regards, Nick Maclaren.

Reply to
Nick Maclaren

He said 50 x 25 metres, which is about half that size.

I use a 50 + m cable to cut our hedges.

Janet.

Reply to
Janet

That's ride-on mower size. I really wouldn't fancy doing that much grass with a walk along one, even self propelled. With a normal size, say 40cm, cutting width mower you're looking at 2 to 2.5 hours to mow that including time for stopping and emptying the grass collector which is actually about half the total time depending on how long you let the grass grow and therefore how often you need to stop. You'll walk about 2.2 miles mowing plus whatever you do to empty the grass collector. Say 3 miles total per cut. Good exercise mind you.

By the time you're up to the really big self propelled mowers with 60 cm or more cutting width which will save some time it's not that much cheaper than a ride-on.

The one thing I'd never do again is buy a mower without grass collection. You might think it's not that big a job to rake up after mowing but it is when you're already tired and the clippings get stuck in the grass, turn into a sort of mat of dry brown crap and eventually bugger the lawn completely as it's starved of air and sunlight. That's how I killed my last lawn. Never going to make that mistake again.

I'd be thinking about a small ride-on mower for £1200 or £1300.

Reply to
Dave Baker

(Needless to say, whatever you buy, it must be self-propelled!) And it should be petrol, because for that size lawn you need a big one.

I cut quite a lot of grass, of different sorts. I have a really crappy old petrol mower, which I got in the small ads of the local paper (worth a look), which I use for doing the rough edges and awkward bits, and for the biggest bit of grass I cut, I have the use of a ride-on (Mountfield). I guess this piece of grass (which is a really awkward shape) is maybe 50m x 50m - the ride-on is a real blessing, partly because the grass is also on at least two slopes: a real bloody nuisance!

If I'd been the one to buy the ride-on I'd have bought one which collects the grass: this one can only mulch, which as others have said, makes a bloody mess ... in particular because we never have a dry summer, not ever (not up 'ere lahk anyway). Thus you're left with lines of wet grass up and down the place. (The theory of mulching is very good; I think it arose somewhere where they have long hot dry summers.)

And in conclusion: I've asked two professional gardeners what sort of mower they buy for choice, and they both said without hesitation: "Honda, every time".

hth John

Reply to
Another John

He said 50 x 25 metres, which is about half that size.

I use a 50 + m cable to cut our hedges.

With a lawnmower?

Reply to
Nthkentman

It may be tempting fate to say it, but generally the Honda engine on my grass cutter has been quite easy to start. The engine is a GCV160 5,5 hp. I bought it in 2006. Much better than the previous engine, which was to bad that my neighbour seeing (or hearing) my frustration offered to lend me his grass cutter.

What annoys be about Honda is that it is impossible to get a decent engine manual.

Reply to
Michael Chare

I missed the part where he said that. I did, however, see the bit that said it was half that length.

Reply to
Adrian

No, I just whirl the cable round and round very very fast. I got the idea from using a strimmer.

Janet.

Reply to
Janet

On all machines, Honda. Due to increasing immobility, I bought a robot (Irobot) some years ago. Bad idea, no real power, kept getting caught in corners (Partly my fault, I had laid the guiding wire too close to the fence, and needed screws drilled into the tyres to get traction in wet times), So , I retreated to using the pushed petrolhonda and letting the robot touch up. Now, This year, I am thinking of a Honda Ride-on, smallest about 4000euros. (Cheaper would be hiring people to do it, but I dislike allowing people around if I'm not at home)

Reply to
greymausg

Further, sheep?.. I have a few otherwise. They get to be pests in a smallish space, reach over fences and eat plants, get sick, need water _AND_ extra food, knock down fences by jumping up and tryiing to get across the fence. Not an answer. Goats (or deer)?.. 8ft fences.

Reply to
greymausg

... and having go to the end of the thread - I know less about goats than sheep, but I do know how you tell them apart.

Sheep are grazers, goats are browsers.

A sheep will graze the lawn, a goat will browse the flowers :(

Two ticks for Honda though.

Andy

Reply to
Vir Campestris

Perhaps they were prone, too?

Reply to
RustyHinge

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