The Great Big Lawnmower Thread

deezell

Was the Weibang new when you got it? Seven years is a poor return from this quality brand. All mowers need care, oil check and change, cleaning, touch op against rust, lubrication of cables and levers, sharpening and balancing of the blade every other year, and most importantly, don't leave outdoors.

gaillimh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118820613#Comment_118820613

Yeah it was brand new. I got it serviced every year in March. The underside of it seemed to corrode very badly every year.

The guy I brought it to told me that this was a common problem he had seen with Weibang mowers.

deezell

Power wire brush and a 10€ tin of Rust paint, and the deck would last forever. If you see bad rust and do nothing about it, it will rust progressively faster year on year, until its too late to clean and paint. On a walk behind mower it's not a half hours work, and a couple of euros of red oxide paint from a bulk tin.

My first ride on mower was only maybe 3-4 seasons old, owner had a costly service done every year, yet it came back each year with ever deepening rust pits. I was astounded how serious it was when I turned over the deck first year I owned it, some spots were almost through the plate. Despite removal and painting after that, it only lasted another 3 years, when significant holes appeared, firing grass up in my face. The new deck I installed was coated before I fitted it, and every couple of years after. It was still rust free 15 years after fitting when I sold it, still like new.

So if you buy a steel deck again, get it cleaned and recoated at the end of the season. DIY it if you want. For your budget, you should get an alloy deck.

gaillimh

Cheers for the advice lads. Any specific model recommendations?

Zardoz

Was looking at the Toro 29732/21750 last year and it was 530 euro from a local shop.

The guy was supposed to order it in for me but kept telling me that there was a delay and that it would be in the following month.

Excuse after excuse and the season went.

Its one of the few 21 inch mowers that has a height of 95mm.

Its 700 euro now !

tombrown

Looking for advice

My castelgarden ride on (B&S engine) is having difficulty starting. I have just serviced it (oil, plugs, air filter, fuel filter) and I charged the battery. When I go to start it, the engine has to turn over for a long time before it starts, it is a race between the engine catching and the battery losing enough charge to stop turning the engine, often the battery wins and I have to put it on the charger & try again a few hours later (or, if urgent, will jump start it from car).

It even took a lot of turning over to get it restarted last week after over an hour mowing with it.

Any ideas on what may be causing this?

cathy427

Has anyone come across/ any thoughts on a castelgarden gc 84? Cant see it on castelgarden website or any Irish dealers but agrieuro has it and good lot cheaper than the xdc 140/150 (people on this thread seem to have bought from agrieuro)

https://www.agrieuro.com/trattorino-rasaerba-castelgarden-cg-84-con-sacco-di-raccolta-tosaerba-tagliaerba-p-15928.html

Dohvolle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118831600#Comment_118831600

Manual gearbox would be a turnoff for most. Hydrostatic trans is more common. One pedal goes forward, one for reverse.

Dohvolle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118696544#Comment_118696544

Asking this again. Nobody answered last time.

cathy427

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118831776#Comment_118831776

Thanks for that - much appreciated.

So you with have to stop each time to change up or down gears is that it? Prob make more sense to buy one with the "hydrostatic trans" - it was the price that attracted me!!! :-) Probably looking at 700 to a 1000 more for the non manual ones

coillsaille

I was on here a few months ago asking Deezel to reccommend a ride on for .75 acres of grass between lawn and meadow with slopes involved. He recommended the Stihl 5112 and after many more hours of research I have found no reason to think he was wrong.

Planning on buying the 5112 in the next few weeks. However, there are a few areas I won't be able to cut with the ride on, such as strips along the edges of drops and around the edges of our pond. So now I need Deezel to reccommend a reliable and light petrol push mower for this tidying up mowing. Emphasis on light and easily manoueravable as it will most likely be the wife doing these bits while I plough along with the 5112. Was also thinking if I could find a dealer who has both the 5112 and a suitable push mower I might get a better deal than buying them separately.

deezell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118830079#Comment_118830079

Once its started it runs ok? Sounds like there's no fuel in the carb until several cycles. Check that you didn't displace the crankcase breather hose from the block to the carb. Also check your work replacing the fuel filter, make sure hoses are tight up at the carb. If you have a fuel turn off valve in the line, check that its reopened fully. Clear Fuel filters are directional, but this shouldn't affect flow, its only so the inlet side is to the visible outer of the filter element so you can see accumulated debris over time. Finally, check the plug you put in, see if its the correct one, and If the spark gap is correct, same as you one you removed. Too large a gap may cause ignition difficulty on startup.

One other possible problem is if you left a lot of fuel in it since last year. Old fuel can go bad, absorb moisture, break down and clog the carb. Did it run OK until you worked in it or was it hard to start when you took it out. Add a little petrol treatment to help unglue possible gum in the carb.

deezell

deezell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118831790#Comment_118831790

If you have a 2 year warranty or more, it's often conditional on a first year service. With light use it may appear that oil is barely contaminated, filter is good etc, but if it's a brand new engine then there is the probability that there will be more wear particles in the oil from the initial run in period. It's the same with car manufacturers to have a service and oil change after a short period from new, maybe only 1500km, then say every 20,000 or annually, whichever comes first.

On a mower, lying up over winter, oil can absorb moisture, can become gummy and acidic, so a change can do no harm, though with modern high quality oils it's not fatal either to start it up and use it for the second season. I'm as guilty as most of delaying oil changes, especially after you dip it and it's completely clean. A service may include blade removal and sharpening, and again, as its a new mower, an inspection to see if there are any loose bits or misalignments after a first season in use. Anything like this would be warranty work anyway provided its less than warranty age.

I would recommend peering under the deck to check for rust. The hose doesn't alway get off all the sticking grass residue, and can in fact soak it and make it more effective in promoting rust on paint flaked areas. See my previous post re deck cleaning and a coat of oxide, which may not be included in a service anyway, as demonstrated on @gaillimh's Weibang which rusted away after 7 years though serviced annually.

deezell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118832108#Comment_118832108

Sounds like a plan. Set your budget for the hand mower. Don't go too large if it's for fiddly areas and being operated by a poor delicate little female (you must like having your ribs elbowed). A 45cm/18" is probably ideal, something with solid wheels and bearings if there's going to be a lot of twisting, tooing and froing. Smaller format wheels are preferable, those huge penny farthing wheels on some cheaper mowers might roll easier in a straight line, but suffer badly from sideways lateral forces due to the greater leverage on the axle, and can become quite wobbly after a short enough time. Consider the Toro 20944 46cm, prices for Toro seem to have escalated though. This Stihl ticks the boxes, https://www.beattys.ie/products/rm-248-t-lawn-mower , but stock may be an issue. Stihl do a range of light Polymer decks, and affordable battery machines. These may be a better option if the hand mower work is less straight runs and more twisty stop start. You may not even need a self propelled mower if it's only tidying up girl's work after the manly tractor stuff.

coillsaille

"Tidying up girls work" Jaysus Deezel don't be putting such words in my mouth or I will indeed have badly bruised ribs..😁

Some good advice there, cheers. Yeah I was wondering would which would suit best between a light petrol model or a sturdy battery one. Definitely don't need it to be self propelled because there would be a lot of forwards/backwards and turning and twisting involved.

Dohvolle

Thanks Deezell, exactly the answer I'm looking for.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118832478#Comment_118832478

tombrown

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118832456#Comment_118832456

Thanks

Checked all fuel hoses and breather hose and all seem OK. I do have a valve in the fuel line, but that is fully open & when I was checking the hoses I tested it on & off and it seems OK (managed to spill petrol all over my jeans, to boot :)). Unfortunately I threw out the old plug, so nothing to check it against - I may just buy one or two spare & see if they help.

Tried again this morning having charged the battery overnight and it still wasn't catching - had to put the battery on charge again (I measured it before I tried and it was showing 13V) - is it possible this is a battery problem? Maybe I'll try jump-starting it to rule that out (though I am not to keen on doing that)

I did have a little fuel (probably a liter or less) in the tank left from last year that I topped up with 4-5 liters of new stuff. I may try the additive to unblock the carb - can you recommend a particular one? Can I get in any regular garage?

For the record - I serviced it 2 weeks ago, and took it out for a cut last week , it took a bit of time to get started but did start OK then; seems to have got worse since

UPDATE: Got it started later this morning (after charging the battery for a few hours). Still took a bit of time to catch, but go there in the end. I should have mentioned that the engine sometimes backfires (I think - loud pop anyway) when turning over, often just before she catches.

Anyway, had her running and did a small bit of mowing. At one point she stalled (like running out of fuel), but I restarted easily enough. I did notice a small fragment of leaf in the fuel tank, that may have temporarily blocked the fuel outlet, so that might be a cause. I cant see how to get it out, except by removing the fuel tank.

deezell

So its refusing to start as a result of being layed up over the winter, rather then anything you might have done. Old petrol can cause clogging of carb if it breaks down due to evaporation and moisture absorption. As a first fix you could mix some fresh petrol with STP, Techron, or Redex, do some mowing and see. You might need to open the carb and clean out the bowl, there could be deposits formed on the inside blocking jets. Does your mower have a manual choke? When starting try dribbling some petrol into the carb intake if its accessible. If it fires immediately this will indicate if its fuel starvation.

You could have a compression problem, possibly a leak from a head gasket, which often will increase on the first use after layup, making starting difficult or impossible. Rings and seals may also be stuck. Is it a single cylinder engine? Turn it over manually with the plug out, put your finger over the hole, see if the compression feels weak. It's subjective I know without a compression tester, but it should be very strong pressure as it rises. A tester is about €20-30, or you might be able to borrow one. A little fuel cleaner into the plug port and turn it over will help loosen stuck rings. Hopefully you can DIY it

I try to remember to run engines dry at end of season, mower, ride on, strimmers etc. I left fuel in my chainsaw last year, I usually run it out, anyway, it was running poorly this week when I tackled some fallen trees, no power under load. Two stroke mix is worse so they say for degrading. I added a little Dipethane to a fresh mix and it done the job, power returned after a few minutes use. I got lucky, as I've previously had tools refuse to come back to life with gummed carbs, and sourcing a carb service kit is often uneconomical on an old well worn device.

deezell

Just read your update. Back firing us indicative of ignition problems, as unburnt air/fuel is ejected but then followed by a fired exhaust which ignites the mixture in the silencer. Check you plug lead, plug in the removed plug, rest it beside a metal part, cylinder head say, and turn over. See if the spark is bright, and every rotation. You could have issues with the ignition interlock circuit, which kills the ingnion coil current when the seat is not sat on, etc. Your new plug might be duff, cracked porcelain from being dropped can ruin a plug and reduce the spark.

Dats_rite

Hi guys,

My ride on is 16 years old and deck has just rotted through. Going to have to invest in a new model.

Anybrecommendations on a ride on for less than €2,500? Half an acre to cut. Thanks

cathy427

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118839865#Comment_118839865

Interested in this as well if anyone has views/recommendations.

Dohvolle made the point a few posts up that the one I link was manual transmission and hydrostatic is now where the market is.

To be fair - if you are going to have it for 16 years again buying the older manual transmission probably not a great plan. That said cant find decent ones under your budget.

deezell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118852149#Comment_118852149

This Castelgarden variant, Alpina BT84 HC, is a small but ideal sized ride on for half an acre. 33" cut, Hydrostatic, Briggs and Stratton engine, electric blade clutch, all under €2500. If you can find one in stock.

https://www.glanbiaconnect.com/shop/product/Alpina-BT84-Hydrostatic-Ride-On-Lawnmower/9098270#colorboxmodel

deezell

This Stiga variant of the same mower with larger Stiga own brand engine a €100 more.

https://www.coopsuperstores.ie/Garden/Lawnmowers/Rideon-Lawnmowers/Stiga-452cc-Hydrostatic-Rideon-Mower-84cm-Cut-1775447

47akak

What is the going rate for an annual service for a ride-on including collect in 2022?

Jofspring

Need to get a new Lawnmower as I'm using a hand me down that the self propel is broken on and the bag keeps falling off the back, it means it can take 1hr 30mins and sometimes more to cut the grass if anyway long.

I'm looking into going down the electric route. Has any experience of the Ego electric lawnmowers? I'm looking into the 52cm self propelled as I'm living out the country and the garden is quite large, maybe 800sqm I think. The grass gets quiet long around the septic tank/sand polishing filter. Would one of these be good enough to cut through that taller grass or am I better off sticking with the petrol lawnmower. I'd like to go electric if at all possible and the ego allowing expansion to other products is intriguing.

Reviews online seem to go from it's fantastic and cuts really well to people saying they have one and won't even cut a small lawn.

deezell

800 sq m is a decent area, less than a quarter of an acre, so not huge. At a modestly brisk self propelled walking pace of 4 kmh you should cover it 40-50 minutes with a 52cm cut, depending on turns, beds, overlap, frequency of bag emptying. If the mower battery has that capacity then I see no issues. My youngest got a tiddler sized electric, maybe 38-40cm, for his semi D back garden. It eats it, light or overgrown, plenty of torque and one hand tool size battery charge does it.

SuperBowserWorld

http://www.rte.ie/news/2022/0401/1289763-climate-rewild-garden/

deezell

The hippy waistcoat I can get on Amazon, the ponytail might take longer, and I've no source of ganja, though you could hide and grow a bit in an acre of wilderness. Until the co. council serves you with a toxic weed order

Jofspring

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118869318#Comment_118869318

Cheers,

Ya when the grass has about 1 to 2 weeks growth I get it done in about 45 mins. If it goes 3+ then it's easily 1hr30 maybe more.

The claimed range is 1,000sqm on one charge.