So far I've tried a mechanical Qualcast Panther 30 that couldn't cut my grass and a Flymo that ripped it up.
Can anyone recommend me a lawnmower that actually works!
I think I'd prefer a decent electric rather than petrol (if there is a decent electric).
Last edited by Rocket Man; 7th May 2017 at 16:55.
I had an electric Mountfield years ago that was excellent.
Fast forward to last summer and I had to replace a Qualcast, so I bought a new Mountfield Princess.....and it's rubbish, so one to avoid IMO.
Not a patch on the one I had 20 years ago, so I have much the same problem as yourself.
P.S. don't get me started on strimmers!
My (limited) research so far leads me to conclude that there aren't many (if any) current production lawnmowers that are worth the money unfortunately.
I think you are right.
Most seem to be quite average.
I went to a local dealer who sells second-hand petrol mowers as well as new electric and petrol ones.
He reckoned a decent second-hand petrol would be better than an electric.
He is a Honda dealer and often has used Honda Izzy's in that weren't much more than an electric.
Of course, I knew better!!
How long are you letting your grass get before cutting it? Most mechanical mowers will make short work of grass if its less than a couple of inches coming off and its not soaking wet.
Eco friendly:
I've recently bought a Suffolk Punch (petrol self propelled). It was owned by a guy who didn't understand petrols, so he often couldn't start it and left fuel in the carb over the winter. I bought it as a non-runner for £25. After five minutes of stripping and cleaning the carb, it purrs like a kitten, cuts the lawn, rolls it (with stripes) and is there for me as an excuse to escape her indoors when I want to tinker. Perfection and a lot cheaper than golf clubs!
It's newly laid turf and I let it grow too long for the mechanical but I don't want to churn it up with the Flymo.Originally Posted by jammie*dodger
I've just bought a Cobra GTRM40. Only use once but good results so far. Cheap enough, rear roller for stripes and so it doesn't fall into the borders, decent grass collection box and option to mulch too.
I ordered from here :
http://www.mowdirect.co.uk/cobra-gtr...lawnmower.html
i looked at petrol but wanted a rear roller and didn't want to spend too much.
Using a Sabo - came with the house 14 yrs ago. It has the well-known Brigs and Stratton engine. The Sabo is unbrakeable. Havinf said that, for the looks I prefer a cylinder mower with a roll at the back.
Menno
I bought a new lawn mower last year, from the research I did it seems that the only companies making good lawn mowers any more were Al-Ko and Honda, I went for an Al-Ko, one surprise I got was that Qualcast are now a Homebase own brand, they bought the name, but they are Chinese rubbish now.
Bosch Rotak.
Not strictly true. Qualcast is owned by Bosch and is sold exclusively through Homebase and Argos.
They still imply that it is a British brand, made in Britain, which is a marketing lie, http://www.argos.co.uk/static/ArgosP...-shop-home.htm, now that Homebase has been sold, I wonder which one will end up with it.
I have just bought a new Honda HRX petrol mower and it is fantastic.
I have a large(ish) garden, so a petrol mower is essential for me.
I am not sure if that recommendation translates through to Hondas electric mowers, but it maybe worth a look.
Honda Izzy
I bought a Honda engined Atco Liner 18SH last month and have been very pleased with it so far. It starts first time and runs very smoothly.
+1
Had one for over 10 years now and still going strong. Replaced the blade last year 'cause the old one had been sharpened away but that's all I've done maintenance wise apart from cleaning under the skirt from time to time. Cuts the lawn fine and cuttings pick up is very good. Also seems to be okay on quite wet grass. Neighbour has one and another big fan. Of course it depends upon the size of your lawn. Our is c. 350m.
btw I kept the old blade and also use the mower to 'sweep' the tarmac drive - good at picking up leaves, loose gravel, tree blossom, etc...
:D haha I laughed out loud.Eco friendly:
I had a Bosch rotak, lasted about 18 months. They do get recommended so quite possible I was just unlucky.
I picked up a very cheap qualcast expecting it to break after a few months and it's been fine for years. Smaller than the Bosch but seems better designed, get a lot more grass in the basket, looks flimsier but has lasted. Think they are now owned by Bosch.
Just picked up an old Honda petrol mower for £100 this afternoon
The paints a little flakey but kicks like a mule
+1
Thanks for all the input so far.
I'm considering either the Bosch Rotak or the Honda Izzy. What are the pros and cons of electric vs petrol?
You havnt mentioned what size the lawn is. Electrics are worth considering for small gardens only in my ignorant opinion.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Get the panther sharpened.
Honda, Honda and thrice Honda.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Agreed 100%, super reliable and worth every penny.
I bought a Honda izy a few weeks ago. Very pleased , easy to start up , cuts great. Get a self propelled one makes mowing the lawn a breeze.
I find it somewhat unsettling that this is the second time time I find myself in agreement with Andyg within a week.
Mind you, I bought a large petrol mulching Mower from makita last year and have been very happy with it so far.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
I've got two small lawns.
Honda seems to be the most popular choice, is there any particular model that would be better for small lawns?
Sorry about that
Our Honda is 22 years old, been serviced 3 times and is used every week (from spring to autumn) on a quite large front and rear lawns. Actually it's been more reliable that my Sthil brush cutter and Blower.
Not cheap, but you get what you pay more.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
I would go for the smallest and cheapest petrol model I could find. Don't be afraid to go second hand providing it has a plastic chassis. A new blade and a service is about £100.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Turns out that my wife is morally opposed to Diesel.
Is there an electric worth buying?!
Another fan here. I have a Rotak 34 for our small lawn and it's been faultless for the past eight years.
Turns out that my wife is morally opposed to Diesel.
Is there an electric worth buying?!
They are petrol - not diesel.
If you want electrics have a look are the rechargeables Worx do quite a good.
However one option might be rip up the lawn and astro turf it. Lots of great (and realistic) products out there. Then its maintence free.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Hayter - I've got a petrol one and it does good stripes, cuts well and starts easily. They also do a couple of electric models. I had a new Qualcast before that and it would literally shake itself to bits while mowing.
http://www.hayter.co.uk/electric-lawn-mowers
I can recommend my friend Mark who runs Northants Landscapes. He does an excellent job.
I have a 32" Qualcast electric for a small lawn at the front of the house. I have to be very concious not to mow over the cable as I mow in circles around a tree. The cable is a pain but the light weight of the mower means I can carry it with one hand through the house. Can't do that with a petrol.
For the large lawn at the rear I use a Hayter 54" petrol. I bought the Hayter 10 years ago as an ex council clear out. It's well used but never misses a beat.
Where I work the professional gardners use Hayter and Honda petrol mowers.
Thanks, is this the one? There seem to be a few variants.
http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebas...VRatingsAnchor
25+ year old Honda 1950. Starts first time, runs like a dream. PX value now higher than when I bought it.
Also believe Masport are very good. Pinnacle of the NZ motor industry
Sent from my iPad using TZ-UK mobile app
Yep that's the puppy... two small lawns and it's fine. The lead is JUST long enough so I don't need to use and extension lead from the outside socket - unless I'm vacuuming the driveway where a longer lead is required (used to use Henry for the drive but using the Rotak is much quicker and you don't look quite so daft).
I have a Bosch cordless which is great few years old but going strong it has a lithium battery so it's light but needed something a bit more robust when we moved so went for a Hayter Spirit 41 and must say that the built in the UK ( Bishops Stortford) quality is excellent unlike some of the ROC made product mine is corded electric but their product range is excellent.
I recently bought a Mountfield Princess 42 for a newly laid lawn,put down just 6 weeks ago. I have only used it 5 times so far, but have found it to be excellent. It has 6 different cutting levels and by gradually moving down I have gone from using the longest (6) down to currently to the mid cut (3). It has cut really well and not ripped at all.
My biggest surprise -having not bought s lawnmower in 20 years- was how they weren't a huge amount of money. This was £159 everywhere, so I bought from a local specialist. To top it all great service from them.
Lastly, the reason I am waxing lyrical about this, it that it's one of the few purchases that I have made in the last five years since buying my current 'Money Pit', sorry house that we have worked really hard to
renovate that hasn't disappointed me straight off and needed to be re-worked or returned and re-bought to get right
John
Spoke too soon, finally gave up the ghost today with an acrid smell from the motor!
OK, I thought, 8 years isn't too bad given the neglect it's had so trotted off to get a replacement Rotak 34 from Homebase. Got it home and started to put it together and, to my disappointment, it's nowhere near the quality of its predecessor.
Feels flimsy and the grassbox is made made up of 2 pieces of mounded plastic which clip together, only they don't, not without leaving gaping gaps. Grassbox is made of ultra thin plastic too.
Very disappointed and I have taken it back for a refund.
Now I'm in the same boat as Rocket Man and looking for a replacement.
Seen some Ryobi mowers which look ok, has anyone had any experience with these?
Given the size of our garden I'm set on electric not petrol.
Last edited by JeremyO; 21st May 2017 at 16:26.
Al Ko with a Honda engine. Not that there is anything wrong with Briggs & Stratton. My last one lasted 20 plus years.
Regarding the overly long grass, cut it with cut height set on max. Leave a few days and reduce cut height one notch. Repeat until grass is the right height.
If you want stripes you need a lawn, not a patch of grass. Lawns demand constant work, ask a greenkeepet at your golf course.
I'm glad that I saw this, I was just about to buy one!
There must be at least one decently made electric lawnmower in current production, surely?
I've never found a decent reliable electric, they always seem to last a couple of years and then die.
My own preference is Honda engine and secondhand - most other things are variable. I've had two over the past 20 years and for the past 20 we've had around an acre to look after so it gets properly used - possibly even a justification for a diesel!
My current mower was bought from a landscape gardener who was replacing his fleet of 4 mowers - it was 10 years old then and and had been propoerly looked after. In the 6 years I've owned it, the blade has been replaced twice and the starter cord once. I service it every third year and it's been good enough - I have dogs and everybody's children in my garden (at least that's how it feels - there were 300+ teenagers here last summer for my daughters after-prom) so it's not a show lawn by any means - backing into 290 acres of river meadow gives a reassuringly high number of lawn weeds also
I'd echo the sentiments above - get a small (preferably Honda engined so you can get spares) petrol mower with a plastic chassis so it doesn't rust and keep it serviced. Every three or four years is ample - a mower doesn't need servicing every year.
This is what we've got, think it's the 34cm wide model and it has had no problems making the first cut after winter for me. Grass was a good 6-7 inches long but I did have to cut it twice, once on the high position and then on the lower.
Most of the Bosch Rotak I looked at were made in China with the exception of the Rotak 40 which is made in the UK.
After my my last experience I had a very thorough poke around the assembled Rotak 40 on display and was pleased to see that this appears to be just as robust as my previous defunct Rotak 34 so I've bought one.
If it lasts as long as its predecessor I will be happy.
Shoulda, bought a Honda brush cutter....Sorry about that
Our Honda is 22 years old, been serviced 3 times and is used every week (from spring to autumn) on a quite large front and rear lawns. Actually it's been more reliable that my Sthil brush cutter and Blower.
Not cheap, but you get what you pay more.
Every powered garden item we have is a Honda..... 2 mountfield honda powered mowers, Honda brush cutter, and a Honda powered logik, topper for doing a 4 acre paddock...all are old, and all start first or second pull.... they get an oil change, an air filter and a spark plug every 2 years or so....
The only non Honda is the Kawasaki Mule, and to be fair is been as reliable as the Hondas....
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