Titan Lawnmower ( screwfix)

[Andy Burns]

The cinnabar moths are nice though ...

[SH]

carburettors? How Retro!

I suppose you have a magneto on teh lawn mower?

(I've got common rail fuel injection and an alternator, and a stop-start system, electronic parking brake and adaptive cruise control!)

[Andy Bennett]

I have approx 0.25 acre total lawn area. I use an Ego 51cm cordless self propelled mower which has a 56V 6Ah battery - it is now 7 years old and has been faultless over this time. It will easily do my lawns on one full charge - and I mow several times in the winter months and weekly in the summer. The secret wth a cordless mower is to keep the blades sharp. I bought 2 spare blades when the mower was new and replace them on the mower twice a year and regrind them all. I'll admit it was expensive at £650 7 years ago but haven't spent a penny on it since - apart from the

0.3kWh of electricity it costs to recharge the battery per mow.

[Chris Green]

Yes, we encourage them on ragwort that isn't accessible to grazing animals, to provide 'biological' control. :-) The caterpillars are instantly recognisable by their black and yellow stripes which are warning stripes, they (apparently, I've never tried them) taste horrible!

[John Rumm]

Personally I have never really been a fan of corded electric mowers - at least for larger lawns. A robotic mower might be worth looking at. These are cordless, but can be left to get on with it as they self recharge when required, and just maintain an area of grass by doing a little cutting very often.

[John Rumm]

Pretty much been the experience with my Hayter hunter 41... B&S engine that just works, Ali deck, so no rust. The main weakness it has is part of the under tray is plastic, and that brackets that hold the rear axel screw onto this. I have had to replace that a couple of times as it has fatigued and broken at that point.

It is kept under cover, but I never clean it, and I leave petrol in it at the end of the season and it never seems to be a problem (although I do use E5 Super Unleaded).

[Jeff Layman]

I have a smaller area about half of yours, and my 60V 4Ah Mountfield (Stiga) easily does that and still has about half its charge left. It's only three years old, though, so time will tell how well the battery lasts, but your experience is positive.

[aprilsweetheartrose]

Thanks to all for the responses. I have managed to find a lawnmover person who has just collected my lawnmower. Thats about the only good news. He said , as he shoved it in his van " if its the drive belt we can fix it. If its anothing else we wont be able to do anything as you cant get parts for this machine" So, I may well still be .looking for another lawn mower and adding this one to my ever growing collection of rust in machines.

I am still therefore looking for a back up lawnmower or a replacement even.

[Peter Johnson]

+1 My 2007 Mountfield started better after the winter after I got a better shed, and even better after I covered part of the floor with surplus laminate and insulation. I've had the local mobile man out to it twice and run it on ordinary unleaded plus B&S additive.

[Andrew]

My Golden Rod looks nice though, but does tend to self seed and spread if you take your eye off it.

[Andrew]

If you use ESSO Synergy E5 bought in some parts of the UK, then it won't have ethanol either (See the ESSO website), despite the E5 moniker on the pump handle.

[Andrew]

My 10 pound (Fleabay) Qualcast push mower needs no fuel, other than choccy biscuits and cuts anything up to about 3 inches.

[Andrew]

Buy an old-fashioned scythe. Very effective once you get the hang of it and keep the blade sharp. Another reason to only cut the grass on rare occasions.

[John J]

Buy a couple of spare batteries?

[John Rumm]

I possibly do... The place I normally fill the cans at was an Esso station at one time, but then became an independent - it is quite likely they still sell Esso fuel.

(I use super because that is what I stick in the car, and I typically fill the cans at the same time, rather than it being a conscious decision to run the garden tools on that. Having said that, since I have never experienced any problem with stale petrol etc, it might be worth doing just for that benefit)