The Lemon Fool

You might think that you get what you pay for, but they’re coming down in price and I have one rated as capable of 1000 sqm, Bluetooth & wifi controlable, which is doing a great job on my 300 sqm lawn and was less than £400.

simoan wrote:As for what I think of your thoughts on investment matters and your overall approach to investment, I think I'd better keep schtum.

Well we had better both do that then.

Dod

And yet another video re robot mowers. This one is an Irish chap who gives a fairly comprehensive explanation of pros & cons and various practical tips. It’s really useful. https://youtu.be/WtlK9h4nLeA

I'm a very satisfied Honda mower customer. I buy them new, keep them for about 10 years, sell them for a good price and buy a replacement. Just sold one (21 inch cut) on Ebay. Will be picking up a new one next week.

Honda usually have special offers end of March/early April but they are not as cheap as a Flymo.

A group of us do voluntary grass cutting at a certain location, using a fleet of old mowers, all donations. Most have Briggs and Stratton engines which are, on the whole, pretty reliable. So many are manufactured in the World, they are a common and robust design. The main problems are dirt in the fuel, causing a blockage in the carburettor (can be cleaned, but replacement carburettors are quite cheap to buy and easy to fit) and old E10 petrol which has absorbed water. We use Super now throughout. Old, broken spark plugs can be a problem as well.

In our experience the rest of the mower falls to pieces before the engine fails. So it is worth having a close look at how robust the mower chassis, height adjustment, cables and levers are when you buy a new one.

Professional mower servicing must be a dying art. A service costs perhaps £60 and you can buy a new one for £150.

Just to complete this story, I finally bought a Webb mower with a Briggs and Stratton engine. Quite heavy but it is self propelled which helps. Does a good job and just what I was looking for. I will donate my old petrol Flymo in case someone wants to have a go at servicing it. It has been remarkable and kept going for about 27 years. That can't be bad.

Dod

GrahamPlatt wrote:You might think that you get what you pay for, but they’re coming down in price and I have one rated as capable of 1000 sqm, Bluetooth & wifi controlable, which is doing a great job on my 300 sqm lawn and was less than £400.

Thanks for these comments. I looked at them but could not find one that seemed to suit my grass (I would not call mine a lawn, more like a tamed meadow although with few weeds) You will see that I have settled on a petrol mower.

Dod

Dod101 wrote:Just to complete this story, I finally bought a Webb mower with a Briggs and Stratton engine. Quite heavy but it is self propelled which helps. Does a good job and just what I was looking for. I will donate my old petrol Flymo in case someone wants to have a go at servicing it. It has been remarkable and kept going for about 27 years. That can't be bad.

Dod

Last year, I put my old petrol mower (with a fuel pipe leak) on Freegle and it was snapped up within hours
https://www.ilovefreegle.org/

--kiloran

kiloran wrote:

Dod101 wrote:Just to complete this story, I finally bought a Webb mower with a Briggs and Stratton engine. Quite heavy but it is self propelled which helps. Does a good job and just what I was looking for. I will donate my old petrol Flymo in case someone wants to have a go at servicing it. It has been remarkable and kept going for about 27 years. That can't be bad.

Dod

Last year, I put my old petrol mower (with a fuel pipe leak) on Freegle and it was snapped up within hours
https://www.ilovefreegle.org/

--kiloran

fuel pipe leak i can manage
what has beaten me on cheaper lawnmotors though is the carburettor gasket
- worth getting a known engine used in a few places just so you can be configent of getting parts (and not wasting time trying to cut one out)

-sd

servodude wrote:fuel pipe leak i can manage
what has beaten me on cheaper lawnmotors though is the carburettor gasket
- worth getting a known engine used in a few places just so you can be configent of getting parts (and not wasting time trying to cut one out)

Ah yes, the Briggses used to have that trouble at one time, but I haven't heard of it happening lately. They also used to have a flexible membrane inside the carb that functioned as a sort of fuel pump (it's too hard to explain...), and the dealer prices for spares were unreasonable, although Ebay was kinder on the wallet. Always fixable, though.

I'm another fan of Webbs with Briggs and Stratton. Ours has the bigger 150cc engine, and oversized rear wheels that make for easier manoeuvring. Triffic.

BJ

FWIW I'm delighted with my battery powered Einhell. Does my 400sq m+ with no discernible loss of power.

Leothebear wrote:FWIW I'm delighted with my battery powered Einhell. Does my 400sq m+ with no discernible loss of power.

Thanks for that. I didn't know that Einhell did battery mowers and was thinking of getting a Makita when our old corded bites the dust. I already have plenty of Makita tools, but Einhell is much cheaper!

Our garden is a bit annoying. It's on three levels. I use a petrol mower on two levels but it's difficult to take it to the higher level, so my wife does the bit near the house with the small electric.

Over many years I've come to the conclusion that the Honda motors are the most reliable, though Briggs Stratton aren't bad if you look after them. I've had two mowers where the motors were still working perfectly while the actual chassis started to fall apart!

I'd love a robot but again, the garden is a bit weird and it would take forever to set it up. From next year, I may start paying someone to cut the grass - sorry - weeds.

Steve

PS Get a battery strimmer! I had years of faffing about with petrol strimmers not starting, or getting extension cables tangled up for the electric ones. I have a Makita 36v strimmer and wouldn't change it for anything!

qq
PS Get a battery strimmer! I had years of faffing about with petrol strimmers not starting, or getting extension cables tangled up for the electric ones. I have a Makita 36v strimmer and wouldn't change it for anything!
uq

not wishing to hijack thread
but
I fully agree re battery strimmer...also leaf blower...I have Einhel both and no problems at all
on the strimmer you can use plastic 'blades' which so much easier than plastic string...cheap as chips!!

EGO cordless tools for me - strimmer/edger/pruner/brushcutter.hedgetrimmer multitool, chainsaw, leaf blower, ets.

(back on topic..) Mowers are a McCulloch ride on and a Toolstation self propelled, bot with B&S engines.

I looked at the battery mowers, but they were much more expensive than a cheap petrol one, even with me already having batteries and charger.

Paul

Leafblowers I hate and in my opinion completely unnecessary. I have a lot of leaves in the autumn but a hand rake three or four times and they are gone. A bit more effort but then that is good for us anyway. The noise pollution should ensure that they are banned.

Dod

kiloran wrote:

Dod101 wrote:Just to complete this story, I finally bought a Webb mower with a Briggs and Stratton engine. Quite heavy but it is self propelled which helps. Does a good job and just what I was looking for. I will donate my old petrol Flymo in case someone wants to have a go at servicing it. It has been remarkable and kept going for about 27 years. That can't be bad.

Dod

Last year, I put my old petrol mower (with a fuel pipe leak) on Freegle and it was snapped up within hours
https://www.ilovefreegle.org/

--kiloran

Thanks. I did not know of the Freegle site but my mower has just gone within 24 hours with no effort on my part.

Dod

Dod101 wrote:Leafblowers I hate and in my opinion completely unnecessary. I have a lot of leaves in the autumn but a hand rake three or four times and they are gone. A bit more effort but then that is good for us anyway. The noise pollution should ensure that they are banned.

Dod

My battery powered leaf blower is excellent and gets all the leaves out of the multitude of nooks and crannies in all the rockeries and flights of steps comprising my garden. Reasonably quiet too. I would not be without it.

Dod101 wrote:Leafblowers I hate and in my opinion completely unnecessary. I have a lot of leaves in the autumn but a hand rake three or four times and they are gone. A bit more effort but then that is good for us anyway. The noise pollution should ensure that they are banned.

Dod

I suspect it depends upon your hobbies, how large your garden is, and if you want to get leaves out from under bushes and hedges or around timber buidings/log stores. It takes 2 hours to mow our lawns with a 60cm ride on, then there's the drive, patio, workshop area, and you'd be amazed how conveneint they are for drying the dog or clearing away sawdust from the chop saw or just dispersing it when I've been using the circular saw on large sheet materials.

Paul

DrFfybes wrote:

Dod101 wrote:Leafblowers I hate and in my opinion completely unnecessary. I have a lot of leaves in the autumn but a hand rake three or four times and they are gone. A bit more effort but then that is good for us anyway. The noise pollution should ensure that they are banned.

Dod

I suspect it depends upon your hobbies, how large your garden is, and if you want to get leaves out from under bushes and hedges or around timber buidings/log stores. It takes 2 hours to mow our lawns with a 60cm ride on, then there's the drive, patio, workshop area, and you'd be amazed how conveneint they are for drying the dog or clearing away sawdust from the chop saw or just dispersing it when I've been using the circular saw on large sheet materials.

Paul

drying the dog

We have a 36v Makita leafblower that makes life a hell of a lot easier, but our dog is terrified of it and runs away if I go too close.

I guess it could double as a hairdryer for my wife though.

Steve

A gardener (who just cuts the grass) at £12.50 every other Monday for 6 or 7 months of the year = less than £200 a year. That's around £300 less than the cost of a Honda mower and gives you around 15 hours of extra spare time.

But I guess some people actually enjoy cutting grass &/or like the exercise ?