Petrol Lawnmower - Good Idea?

dazzajl

Go ride on or go home. Let’s not mess about here 

mgaw

Went from petrol to electric , way easier and if one thinks ahead the cable is very little hassle. 

Sporky

dazzajl said:

Go ride on or go home. Let’s not mess about here 

Zero turn with a flail deck, if Lawn Mower Simulator taught me anything. 

mudslide73

I've still got a Mountfield SP but my son keeps breaking the plastic drive chain cover. He fails to inspect the lawn for stones and it gets smashed. I've had 3 on there. Our current house has a much smaller garden than our last but I refuse to get rid of it. Petrol goes stale quite quickly and a splash of new stuff in the tank makes everything OK. 

Stevepage

obviously one of these

GuyR

Ancient Hayter bought on eBay for £100. I sharpen the blade with a grinding wheel every other spring. Change the oil once in a while. It’s a thing of wonder.

Stratavarious

Nitro boost…

https://youtu.be/PRd4g-46u5g?feature=shared 

Iamnobody

Or a decent battery mower

https://www.toolstoday.co.uk/stihl-rma248-ak-36v-cordless-lawn-mower-46cm

MrBump

Well I went and gone and dun it. Entry level Hayter. Just did the first mow of the year and it's really good. Loud... used Aspin fuel, which claims to avoid a lot of the reported lawnmower fuel issues. 

As ever, thanks for the advice. 

By the way - when I was a kid we had a small holding, and always kept goats. If Mrs Bump allowed, I'd have one now. Awesome creatures. 

Offset

Webb petrol mower.  A gazzilion times better than the POS B&D electric thing that preceded it.

Rob1742

Think when I had mine serviced it cost me like £600, so they aren’t cheap.

Mine goes wrong from time to time, always worried about the first start up in the Spring.

So for me not being very mechanically minded they come with a bit of a headache. 

But on the other hand I really enjoy doing the lawn, in a world of my own and something I actually enjoy doing 

m_c

Biggest issue with any small engine that sits for a period, is modern unleaded fuel goes off when stored in small quantities (especially if exposed to the atmosphere and vibration)
So in the case of lawnmowers, they'll usually be fine when used every week or so, but once they've sat over winter they won't start.

Cheap option to prevent issues is to let the engine run dry before storage, however that isn't always practical.
Bit more expensive option is use some Briggs and Stratton Fuel Stabilizer.
Or the more expensive yet option is to buy and use some Aspen fuel for the final couple cuts. I personally wouldn't use Aspen all the time, as it is a fair bit more expensive than normal unleaded.

gumbothewiddler

I got a mount field self drive petrol mower with a steel deck and Honda engine. It was their budget model and I bought it a few years ago and it’s been brilliant on my sloping lawn. 

Jfingers

I need one so bought a Honda Izy. Had it almost 15 years, steel deck is rusted out. Local bloke is charging £260 for a new deck and a full service. The deck is £120 plus vat...

Neil

Had an old Qualcast petrol mower for 25 years that eventually rusted away but always started straight away in the spring.

Currently have a McCulloch that was pretty cheap and is on its last legs but I've had 15 years out of it and again always started in the spring pretty much first time.

Casually looking round for a replacement but I need at least an 18" cutting width which narrows the field a bit.

boogieman

m_c said:

Biggest issue with any small engine that sits for a period, is modern unleaded fuel goes off when stored in small quantities (especially if exposed to the atmosphere and vibration)
So in the case of lawnmowers, they'll usually be fine when used every week or so, but once they've sat over winter they won't start.

Cheap option to prevent issues is to let the engine run dry before storage, however that isn't always practical.
Bit more expensive option is use some Briggs and Stratton Fuel Stabilizer.
Or the more expensive yet option is to buy and use some Aspen fuel for the final couple cuts. I personally wouldn't use Aspen all the time, as it is a fair bit more expensive than normal unleaded.

It’s honestly not that difficult to drain the fuel for overwintering. Let it run low, then just take the filler cap off, tip the mower on its side and let it drain into a flat pan. More difficult for a heavy or ride on mower admittedly, but you could still disconnect the fuel pipe at the carb end and drain it there. 

I’ve always bought E5 petrol 5 litres at a time and stored it in a normal screw top plastic fuel container, never had any issues with it going off over winter. 

Pre season servicing is simple enough for most people to do yourself. Change the oil, clean and gap the spark plug or swap it out if it’s badly fouled/eroded, change or clean the air filter, check the plug lead for cracks or damage, maybe lube the cables and linkages if you’re fussy.