MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Any suggestions please? Garden is 80m x 40m, divided into various bits by steep banks, hedges and beds. A ride-on would be impractical/ unsafe due to the slopes and tight spaces. I've been using a second hand Mountfield SP53 bought 10 yeaars ago- it hasn't missed a beat in all that time but is a bit underpowered at times. It is time to move it on now, the deck is so corroded that the clippings wont feed properly into the rather too small grassbox. The wheels are rather narrow too and tend to mark the lawn here in soggy South Wales where the ground is seldom perfect in my north facing garden.
Essentilas would be:
Self-propelled.
Not a mulcher.
BIG grass box.
Petrol but prepared to consider battery.
Definately not mains electric.
Easy start would be good.
LEDs, lasers and purple ano a must.
Cheers in advance,
Honda of a size to suit your pocket
160cc Honda petrol engine Flymo.
Whatever the local shop has in and services.
I had a gumtree special with Briggs and Stratton on, bought about knackered but with occasional oil and filter did me a decade.
I've replaced with a Husqvarna, self propelled and big grass box, although mines smaller than you would need. The local shops both suggested this engine as robust and easy to service. It's orange, has nice handles and just starts first time. I need to do oil and filter as I've had it two years.
Default answer: Gaggia/Cross Climes/Nonda 👍
Our lawn is broadly similar area and topography and I replaced a 16 year old Husky with a bigger model a couple of years ago. As per the above, easy to start (electric start is an option) quiet for a petrol one and just does the job. The only downside is that it doesn’t have a grass box full indicator which the last one did.
Husqvarna automower and spend your free time riding your bike.
You don't even need to pick up the cuttings.
I just bought a toro recycler from our local dealer. Self propelled, alu deck (any steel deck I've had goes rotten), mulches and collects, easy start on no kore than two pulls for 2 yrs guaranteed, handle folds nicely to save space, walk behind magic means no pushing. Ive been buying second hand/ hand me down petrol mowers for yrs and after the last one died I thought this yr id treat myself to a new mower as the same as you, corroded deck fires clippings at me, difficult to start etc. I hate mowing the lawn but this makes it genuinely easy.
That's not a garden, that's a park!!
Cheers folks, much appreciated. I will start looking tomorrow.
Whatever the local shop has in and services.
This.
Our garden is a bit like yours too, with probably a 5m drop across it's width and takes me circa 2-3 hours to cut.
We inherited a well used Efco. A couple of years ago we replaced it with an equivalent model.
The old one had a Honda engine, the new one a copy. The old ones' chassis was well rotten, but the engine still starts 2nd pull. At circa £250 they're an acceptable compromise of quality & cost and bought locally for service/support.
Similar sized garden on three levels, slopes etc here. Just replaced my 20 year old Hayter Harrier 41 with the updated machine. Bullet proof IMHO.
In order to get the appearance of a blanket lawn you have to cut the grass and cut the grass often. Cutting the grass at a high height often will actually enable the grass to grow at a steadier pace and stay constant with height and fullness. While there is some debate on bagging your grass clippings or letting them lay on your lawn to allow nutrients to go back into the ground, if you are properly fertilizing your lawn throughout the year, you really don't need to leave any clippings behind.
I'm a fan of battery mowers. Better for the environment and much kinder to your neighbours. Our garden is a similar size and probably more awkward and the battery mower works well. We have significantly reduced the amount of neat lawn though. A lot of it is more meadow-like and left to get on with it. Great for biodiversity, looks better IMO (or at least as good), and a lot less work.
I’m a fan of battery mowers. Better for the environment and much kinder to your neighbours.
How many batteries for a 3 hour cut?
How many batteries for a 3 hour cut?
Probably two, assuming you are not actually cutting the entire time. If you were just cutting for 3 hours straight then I would have a serious rethink about the amount of lawn