The Great Big Lawnmower Thread

colm_mcm

yep, plenty oil in there.

yop

Sound similar enough problem to mine, was told it was the mix, there is a nut on the carburettor to adjust the fuel and air mix.

BUT in mine there wasn't any!!!

Except mine in DRINKING petrol!!! Pure dog. New filter and plug and its still at it.
Without the nut/bolt to adjust its hard to adjust it

colm_mcm

no nut on this one either. fuel isn't stale and it has oil.
Maybe I'll replace the plug and see what happens.

fryup

hello,

i need to change the oil on my ride on, but i can't find the bleed point and i've got no user manual.........its a 10.5 briggs & stratton.

any ideas?

Gun Monkey

Hi, I've had a good look through most of the posts on here regarding ride on mowers and nobody seems to have mentioned a mower that is suitable for a lawn that is not flat (i.e. sloping down at a considerable angle as opposed to just uneven or bumpy) The overall size is about 3/4 of an acre and very little of it is flat, the hill is approx 30 or 40 degrees and i'm unsure how suitable the common garden ride on would be for it. Surely there must be plenty of people out there with similar lawns? Can anybody recommend a suitable mower or even suitable type of mower- I already know that hydrostatic driven is better, and that rear grass exit is better than side exit for the heavy damp conditions that are common here in ireland and also that mulching is more suited to dry sunnier conditions and may lead to a very mossy lawn, given conditions here in ireland.
I've also heard that most manufacturers will not stand by their warranty on an incline such as this. Does anybody know if this is the case? I would hope most modern engines would have suitable oil supply for operation on this kind of incline- not much point spending a few grand on a new mower only to have it seize up on the first use! Can anybody clear this up a little for me? Cheers!:D

E39MSport

Gun Monkey wrote: »

Hi, I've had a good look through most of the posts on here regarding ride on mowers and nobody seems to have mentioned a mower that is suitable for a lawn that is not flat (i.e. sloping down at a considerable angle as opposed to just uneven or bumpy) The overall size is about 3/4 of an acre and very little of it is flat, the hill is approx 30 or 40 degrees and i'm unsure how suitable the common garden ride on would be for it. Surely there must be plenty of people out there with similar lawns? Can anybody recommend a suitable mower or even suitable type of mower- I already know that hydrostatic driven is better, and that rear grass exit is better than side exit for the heavy damp conditions that are common here in ireland and also that mulching is more suited to dry sunnier conditions and may lead to a very mossy lawn, given conditions here in ireland.
I've also heard that most manufacturers will not stand by their warranty on an incline such as this. Does anybody know if this is the case? I would hope most modern engines would have suitable oil supply for operation on this kind of incline- not much point spending a few grand on a new mower only to have it seize up on the first use! Can anybody clear this up a little for me? Cheers!:D

I have a filtration bed that has severe slopes and I was advised a simplicity regent with 18.5 hp B&S engine and 20" rear wheels. It's a monster and I love it. Climbs the hill with ease. Got it from abbeygarden.com. Nice people and good value.

thekooman

E39MSport wrote: »

I have a filtration bed that has severe slopes and I was advised a simplicity regent with 18.5 hp B&S engine and 20" rear wheels. It's a monster and I love it. Climbs the hill with ease. Got it from abbeygarden.com. Nice people and good value.

the local graveyard have one of these Husquvarna 4 wheel drives.... my father says they will go anywhere!
http://www.husqvarna.com/ie/landowner/products/riders/husqvarna-riders-for-landowners/

cost them around 5500+.

chriscross1

The craftsman rideon lawnmower 19.5 hp 42" cut is the business, bought one 3 weeks ago for €2800 and well happy with it, 2 year guarantee, my neigbour has one as well.:D:D

Vtwin

Hi, bought a second had Husqvarna CTH220 the other day with a 21hp Kawasaki engine, has 64 hours on clock, went mowing today, and all well until around 40 mins in, when I engaged the cutting deck after empting the back box, the engine started coughing and running really rough. Also noticed it took a good few turns to get engine going, when it was warm. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas, plenty of oil in her, and oil filter has just been changed. Thanks

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^

check the air filter, clean the spark plug.......and just make sure you did'nt overfill with oil

Vtwin

fryup wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^

check the air filter, clean the spark plug.......and just make sure you did'nt overfill with oil

Thanks, will do, have manual with mower but doesnt cover engine.
I was think it could also be that the back boc is not on right, as I think there is some sort of mechanism that does not allow cutter engagement if box not on correctly.

MidlandsM

Vtwin wrote: »

Thanks, will do, have manual with mower but doesnt cover engine.
I was think it could also be that the back boc is not on right, as I think there is some sort of mechanism that does not allow cutter engagement if box not on correctly.

There's a satety switch on the back grass collector, once its opened, you're mower may die if the blades are engaged. The switch could be a bit "gammy" so as to speak.
One way to see if it's gammy is to bypass it, just connect the 2 wires (temporarily) and see if the issue stops.
If its just the switch, its an easy and cheap fix, just replace it.
Also, there's a safety switch under your seat and another on the brake/clutch - check those.

Vtwin

MidlandsM wrote: »

There's a satety switch on the back grass collector, once its opened, you're mower may die if the blades are engaged. The switch could be a bit "gammy" so as to speak.
One way to see if it's gammy is to bypass it, just connect the 2 wires (temporarily) and see if the issue stops.
If its just the switch, its an easy and cheap fix, just replace it.
Also, there's a safety switch under your seat and another on the brake/clutch - check those.

Thanks Midlands M - will also check that out, I think I probably overfilled the collector, on the last run - manual says alarm will sound when full, but looks like it doesnt work/exist, or I didnt hear it with ther muffs. Will also check the sparks, etc, hopefully nothing major....

Discodog

MidlandsM wrote: »

There's a satety switch on the back grass collector, once its opened, you're mower may die if the blades are engaged. The switch could be a bit "gammy" so as to speak.
One way to see if it's gammy is to bypass it, just connect the 2 wires (temporarily) and see if the issue stops.
If its just the switch, its an easy and cheap fix, just replace it.
Also, there's a safety switch under your seat and another on the brake/clutch - check those.

I love the "temporarily" bit. Many of us professionals permanently disconnect these switches as they can become a serious pain. The worry is that new ride ons may feature a car style brain that won't allow the switches to be bypassed.

The full alarms are never loud enough. I once disconnected the sounder & connected it to a super bright LED mounted on the dash.

MidlandsM

indeed....I said "Termporarily" as its a safety feature and I guess its good to put a safety feature of the mower back in place when sorted.
It'll also keep the mower 100% original which is nice to be able to hearld when you go to sell or trade your mower.
The Bright led is a good idea.......they should have just did that on all of them as I wear ear protection myself when mowing.

Discodog

As you know the problem is that so many running issues end up being caused by the safety switches. The operator presence (seat) switches are a permanent problem. Also the increasing use of integrated circuits makes tracing switch faults harder.

Unfortunately most machines are clones so there is no real development & people tend to buy by price so there is no incentive to make better machines. It always amazed me that the big trade shows like Saltex never had anything that was really new.

Vtwin

Thanks for all the posts, the switch under the seat was already disconnected, yer man that sold it reckoned the mower used to cut out when he was leaning over on one side of the seat when tearing around tight corners. Would I be right in thinking the Kawasaki engine would be a better bet for reliability than the B & S, see the new ones have kohlers.

secman

I have a large enough site and use a ride on to mow the grass, I also have a petrol strimmer, its great for open rough areas to keep in check but its a bit risky using it around shrubs , have lost a few ! Would I be better off getting a small electric strimmer or even a small push mower for the tight areas near shrubs ?
All suggestions welcome.

Secman

MidlandsM

Vtwin wrote: »

Thanks for all the posts, the switch under the seat was already disconnected, yer man that sold it reckoned the mower used to cut out when he was leaning over on one side of the seat when tearing around tight corners. Would I be right in thinking the Kawasaki engine would be a better bet for reliability than the B & S, see the new ones have kohlers.

@Vtwin, B&S make some of the worlds best small engines, I had loads, never any issues.

@Secman, yeah, a cheapo push mower would be good!:)

Discodog

I would say that BS engines are OK but they do a wide range & differ a lot in quality. I would always go for a Kawasaki or preferably a Honda engine. They run so much smoother with little vibration & last forever. Unlike car engines, progress has tended to make mower engines worse. Honda & Kawa engines are expensive compared to B&S so a lot of manufacturers will fit B&S to save money. An ex council Etesia with a Honda Engine is worth about 30% more than one with a B&S engine.

When Honda introduced their OHC engine they kept the old OHV engine in their commercial mowers for a few years. I knew someone at Honda & he said that they would not use the new engine in commercial equipment until they were 100% happy.

As well as my 21" Pro Honda I also use a 16 inch Honda Izy which I think is a brilliant little mower. It is incredibly light, very manoeuvrable, & with a 4.5 hp engine (up reved to give about 5.5hp) it gives superb collection & goes like a rocket !.

I would also suggest that you protect your shrubs. Ideally each one should have a nice neat circle cut in the grass around them but you can also use drain pipe. Cut a length of pipe in half lengthways & secure it around the stem with zip ties.

When you strim use the guard, on the strimmer, to protect the plants.

Vtwin

Found out what the problem was with the CTH 220, back panel on rear of lawnmower has a safety switch for the back box, the panel was loose (clip had come out), and when I put the box on it wasnt pushing the switch in the whole way and cutting the power. Just popped the clip back in and away she went.

Thanks again for all the help, hopefully I didnt buy a lemon.

fryup

Discodog wrote: »

When you strim use the guard, on the strimmer, to protect the plants.

how come most petrol strimmers don't come with a plant/bark protector

Discodog

Another good reason to by Stihl as you can get a selection of guards.

Diamonddec

Hi guys... I wonder if someone can help me. One of my lawnmowers is about 4 years old and has a Honda 5HP engine. It is self-propelled, but although the self propelled feature was quite quick when the mower was new, it now pulls really slowly ..uncomfortably so really. Is there something I can do to make it fast again? I guess it's the clutch???

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Discodog

You need to identify if the engine is running slow or the clutch is slipping. Try running it along a smooth bit of driveway. If it goes at the correct speed on the drive & not on grass then it is probably the clutch. It may be that the clutch cable need adjusting so that there is only a tiny amount of slack before the clutch engages.

Diamonddec

Thanks for your reply Discodog. I tried it out on the driveway as you said and it's just a tad faster ... presumably because of the lack of friction when actually cutting. However, when I press the lever to increase the power, I notice there are a couple of "flat spots" between slow and fast speeds, where the engine doesn't noticably respond. Also, at a couple of points, it coughs and splutters a bit, with a corresponding puff of white smoke coming from the engine! It was only actually serviced last Friday, so I'm not sure what the problem is.

Planet X

....ah, gotta add more beds. Addictive.

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^

i think u posted in the wrong thread

Diamonddec

As well as having the four year old mower I posted about above, I blew my wad on a new lawnmower on Friday ... a Hayter R53A, which I got for a very reasonable £530! ...



I was going to buy a ride-on, 'cos there's a fair bit to do ...



... and ...



... and ...



... but I'm a tight git and didn't want to blow the thick end of £2k! :rolleyes:

Actually, that's now 3 mowers on the go, so it'll keep the wife and 2 boys busy when I'm watching the World Cup! :eek:

greenpeter

Think you made a very big mistake mate, this is the way forward