Lawnmower recommendations

randella

thumpingrug said:

Ok Chaps, thanks for your input.  The garden is on the small side but longer than the standard length of cable on the Bosch cheapo plastic mower thing that I found in the shed that came with the house.  It also dent cut well, has no collection box and just spays grass everwhere.  I had avoided petrol as i assumed lots of maintenance but it would appear not so i may look again.  I had also discounted flymo's as i wanted something that will cut nicely and ive never seen a fly do that.  Cheers again.

If your garden's big enough to warrant a petrol then get one with a Honda engine as everyone else has suggested.  The ones my Dad had down the years lasted forever - I think he's had two since the one I used to mow the parents' lawn with 30 years ago, and one of those got given away in perfect working order.

That one in your shed sounds like it got left there for a reason - the little Bosch ones work well if they're not borked, but if you need extra cable then yeah, hassle.  My lawn is the exact size of the cable

strtdv

Get a Honda petrol one. Seems expensive when you buy it, but likely to last 20 years. The deck in ours eventually rusted through, motor was still going strong

John_A

Another vote for petrol, I got a self propelled one from Argos for £150 and it’s brilliant, starts, cuts, gets put away and repeat.... 

Got a cordless electric one that took 3 charges to make a complete hash of 40m3 of grass, bloody hopeless

ESBlonde

11 seasons ago I bought a petrol rotary mower from BEEANDQUE at thier end of season sale. It was ex Demo sold as as for £99. Just the petrol filler cap missing.

I added engine oil and petrol expecting a couple of years use at best, I'm still using it and when i say using, I mean I cut my small lawn front and back the RHS neighbours front, another 2 neighbours front and back and about the same area again in the drift/footpath at the back of our houses to keep it tidy and discourage acts of littering About and hour and a half each week if I do it all.  I also cut the grass around the allotment and use it in autumn to chop and gather leaves for composting. She smokes a bit on start up these days and sometimes take two or even three pulls, oh and the starter string has been replaced a couple of times. I've resharpened many times and indeed replaced the blade once. It's a USA made Briggs and Stratton Engine. When it eventually fails, flags will be lowered to half mast and cremation will ensue. It's been a faithful friend.

I'd buy another but maybe with a honda engine and powered rear roller next time. I can't take it back' I've lost the receipt!

kaypeejay

boogieman said:

We’ve got a Bosch Rotrack, or some name like that. It works fine. Has a big grass box and a roller on the back, so you can do stripes if you’re bothered, which I’m not. We had a Flymo before that. It was crap. 

Me too, had it for 11 yrs now with no trouble whatsoever. They come in various widths so you can choose one for your size of lawn. I use with an extension cable for longer lawns and it's great. Won't cut thick wet grass but that's just an excuse not to mow the lawn!

Gagaryn

When I used to mow the lawn I used an old Atco Royale, it was very good, I'd recommend one, presume they are cheap enough to pick up secondhand and are truly bullet proof. That was a few years ago - now got no garden.

pintspiller

Honda or Mountfield mower. Or anything with Honda or Briggs and Stratton engine. Minimum 16" cut. Generally.

alexh

breezytele said:

Try searching for an old Ransomes Ajax....
 the ‘Bentley’ of pushed cylinder mowers.

Works best on a truly flat turf with fine grasses, but they have a good roller and make fine stripes. It would be a bit of a work out on a larger area though

For a larger lawn, I’d reconsider a petrol mower, but either way, a cylinder cutter works best

No, a cylinder is best for a specific scenario, a rotary is better for others.

A cylinder is excellent if you are able to cut little and often, and have a relatively flat lawn. It won't cope with long grass. It's more expensive to purchase initially, and it will require a more complex and costly sharpening procedure A rotary is better if you cut less often. 

Get a Honda rotary if you're normal. Buy a cylinder if you're a lawn obsessive (or get both).

I have a cylinder. With kids and so on a rotary world probably have been more sensible!

Mick

strtdv said:

Get a Honda petrol one. Seems expensive when you buy it, but likely to last 20 years. The deck in ours eventually rusted through, motor was still going strong

20 - 30 years ago I might have said the same.  Not now though, there's other makes that do it equally as well, and a lot cheaper. 

Philly_Q

Paving slabs.

Lodious

Mick said:

strtdv said:

Get a Honda petrol one. Seems expensive when you buy it, but likely to last 20 years. The deck in ours eventually rusted through, motor was still going strong

20 - 30 years ago I might have said the same.  Not now though, there's other makes that do it equally as well, and a lot cheaper. 

You can buy replacement decks for Honda's. Pretty easy to do a DIY swap. 

ESBlonde

Cylinder petrol mowers tend to be heavy, and while they are self powered for movement, they can be heavy and hard work on the back if you make a lot of turns. So long straight runs on level lawn - good. Short runs and flower beds interspersed - bad. they do leave a lovely finish as long as you mow at least once a week and more may to july.

ROOG

lots of used petrol cylinder mowers on gumtree, some of which have had little use. Macho types who realise that they dont need/cant practically use a big petrol mower in a postage stamp garden.  

Mick

Lodious said:

Mick said:

strtdv said:

Get a Honda petrol one. Seems expensive when you buy it, but likely to last 20 years. The deck in ours eventually rusted through, motor was still going strong

20 - 30 years ago I might have said the same.  Not now though, there's other makes that do it equally as well, and a lot cheaper. 

You can buy replacement decks for Honda's. Pretty easy to do a DIY swap. 

I know you can,  repairing garden machinery is my day job.    What I was saying is, just because it's got Honda written on the top of it, don't think it's the same quality as one bought 20 years ago, because it most certainly isn't.

Garthy

I have a self propelled BMC LawnRacer, cannot remember the capacity but it’s enormous like 175cc. I also have a Ransomes Ajax cylinder mower for summer.