I’ve just moved into a house with a large garden so have bought a driven Mountfield petrol mower. It’s really struggling to cut grass and pickup at the same time… I am having to mow the lawn, then go over it again to pickup – this seems such a waste of time and energy.

Am I missing something simple? Your experiences/ advice would be much appreciated!

how long is the grass, how much are you cutting, is it wet, how fast is the mower running, have you got it set to mulch….?

Basically these home use ride on mowers are crap, if grass is reasonably long you have no chance of cutting and collecting unless you go at a snails pace, if it’s wet then don’t bother! You have to be cutting at least once a week so grass is short and you have a chance of collecting at the same time.
I had a home type small John Deere LTR 180 put up with it for a couple of years then gave up with it and purchased a commercial type with powered collector now I can cut long wet grass and collect no problem.

By driven do you mean ride on or self driven, ie you don’t have to push it?. Are you sure it’s not filling up quicker than you expect? As soon as its full, it’ll start leaving all the cut grass behind.

I’ve had a cheap mountfield – was just over 100 quid – for over 10 years, it’s never missed a beat.

Nobeerinthefridge – It’s a Mountfield 461r pd, it’s not a ride on but does have a ‘drive’ button. I have tried bone dry with not much grass, it does seem to struggle massively with slight gradients – is this something that others have had problems with?

It doesn’t seem to make a difference if it is set to drive fast or slow.

Thanks for the help so far – I have tried looking in a more suitable place for lawn mower advice but can’t seem to find anything!!

How have you got the height setting set up? Maybe set to cut grass too short?

That should’nt happen with a new mower on dry grass. Can you ask advice at the shop you bought it? But yes check the shute to the box is clear and the height is correct for the length of grass.

scotsman – Member
Basically these home use ride on mowers are crap, if grass is reasonably long you have no chance of cutting and collecting unless you go at a snails pace, if it’s wet then don’t bother! You have to be cutting at least once a week so grass is short and you have a chance of collecting at the same time.
I had a home type small John Deere LTR 180 put up with it for a couple of years then gave up with it and purchased a commercial type with powered collector

What’s a powered collector? I’ve done this for a living for 7 years and never heard that.

Generally, the mower is probably just underpowered. Also, if the bag has never been cleared, or if the blade is worn out, you’ll lose the vacuum effect. So clean the bag with a pressure washer and fit a new blade if it needs one. If you can find the governor spring, set the engine speed at higher revs. Clean the underside of the deck too.

Doesn’t sound right to me. I’ve got a Mountfield petrol mower and it’ll pretty much go through anything my garden can throw at it with ease.

Powered grass collector I don’t do it for a living, but I know what one is!

Even my cheap and nasty B&Q petrol lawn mower collects the grass properly unless the box is full or the grass is very wet and long.

However I agree with this:

Generally, the mower is probably just underpowered. Also, if the bag has never been cleared, or if the blade is worn out, you’ll lose the vacuum effect. So clean the bag with a pressure washer and fit a new blade if it needs one. If you can find the governor spring, set the engine speed at higher revs. Clean the underside of the deck too.

Ah we’re talking lawn tractors now, not walk behinds…not relevant to the OP by the sound of it

Thanks for the support

glasgowdan – the comment about being underpowered could be accurate, it has stalled once or twice when going up slight inclines and into longer grass. Is there something I could do to restore it to its original full power (assuming this is the case).

I do empty the bag regularly but will pressure wash it and give the under carriage a good scrub.

Thanks all.

Check that the diaphragm isn’t split as it’ll weaken the mixture meaning less power, or a cracked inlet manifold, our old petrol mower suffered this, also check air filter isn’t blocked.

If its really long grass set it at the highest cut , probably about 3″ high , then cut again when the grass has dried out a bit . Its only an 18″ cut on that model and if you’ve got a large lawn its going to struggle trying to cut long wet grass .