Recommend me a good lawnmower

boobar

Hi,

I currently have an electric lawnmower that has seen better days. I need to get a new one and have decided on a petrol lawnmower because plugging in the electric and trying to avoid the cable is a pain in the neck.

Anyway, there's a Woodies near me. So if anyone can recommend a decent lawnmoweer from there I'd appreciate it. Or if any other major outlets e.g. Lidl, Aldi etc have decent bargains please share the details.

Boobar

Flesh Gorden

Don't rule out buying off the internet - go around and have a look in local stores, write down the model number and price and compare on ebay

I picked up a Makita ELM3300 last week for the mother that I spotted on ebay, delivered for 80 pounds from the uk

delivery cost was 15 pounds from buyaparcel they're on ebay too but I bought direct

a friend of mine who makes a living from gardening picked up a Toro last year off ebay for €300 less then he was being quoted over here

boobar

Hi Flesh Gorden,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'm going to take your advice and head to Woodies this weekend and then look online.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Boobar

Discodog

If you want a good small mower then you will not get better than this. I am a contractor & I bought the same (from the same supplier) last year. It is a brilliant machine, very light & easy to start. Based on my twenty years of experience with Honda's it should last you at least 10 years which makes it exceptional value. This mower is €525 in my local Honda dealer. The seller is brilliant & delivery was 48 hour. Oh & it is a self drive so no need to push !

The same seller has bigger versions of the same machine if you need it.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RECON-HONDA-16-IZY-HRG415SD-SELFDRIVEN-LAWNMOWER-C_W0QQitemZ350317397345QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Home_Garden_GardenPowerTools_CA?hash=item51908b4561#ht_1672wt_1167

piddler

The Problem with the cheaper mowers is the decks are made of light steel and will rust away in a couple of years,
An ABS plastic deck is a good option or the aluminiun decks are super too
But the steel decks will last if you wash them and spray them with wd40 Fairly often,

The other problem is that if a cable or a wheel goes it'll be hard to get parts as the cheaper mowers sold in the likes of woodies aren't the same as what will be sold in your local dealer,

Other than that Stick with a Briggs and stratton engine, GGP engines are rubbish stay clear,
Honda engines are good but imo are way over rated and parts are mental expensive and unless your going commerical its just not worth it (again imo)

Why not try your local dealer for a bit of advice they might surprise you and at least you'll have some aftersales support woddies and the like are not known for aftersales

The Sweeper

I've got a Masport Genius 4n1 petrol pushmower. It's absolutely fantastic.

My back garden is FERAL - you're talking nearly 800 square metres of foot high grasses, various weeds and here and there, some thistles. Most people would hire a bloke with a bobcat to clear it. Himself and myself are doing it with the masport mower and a set of secateurs.

The mower chips and mulches as well as cuts (have to refill the engine to get around the entire garden in the current state) so it's helping us deal with all of the thistles and other large weeds we're digging out as well. I've no idea how it would perform on a billiard-table lawn, but it's devouring our weed-strewn wilderness greedily.

We've promised it a blade-sharpening when the garden is down to maintenance level.

Discodog

I would have to disagree regarding Honda engines. They are in a different league to B&S. My main mower is a 21 inch Honda Pro. It cost €1300 but has done 9 years of commercial mowing. Honda's always start easily & parts are readily available - I can get anything within 48 hours.

I have used a lot of mowers. Etesia are the best full stop but the cheapest is about €1500. To me there is not a lot of difference between a €800 B&S mower & a €400 one. Many of the "specialist" makes are just re-badged cheaper mowers. The one exception is Rover. Their open back collection system is a copy of Etesia's so they collect well in the wet.

The Honda Izzy came top of the Which consumer magazine tests & is is also BBC Gardeners World top choice. That was at list price. The one I have linked to is half list price & still comes with a full, valid in Ireland, warranty. It is ideal for the average Gardener & at under €300 is one heck of a bargain.

piddler

Discodog wrote: »

I would have to disagree regarding Honda engines. They are in a different league to B&S. My main mower is a 21 inch Honda Pro. It cost €1300 but has done 9 years of commercial mowing. Honda's always start easily & parts are readily available - I can get anything within 48 hours.

I have used a lot of mowers. Etesia are the best full stop but the cheapest is about €1500. To me there is not a lot of difference between a €800 B&S mower & a €400 one. Many of the "specialist" makes are just re-badged cheaper mowers. The one exception is Rover. Their open back collection system is a copy of Etesia's so they collect well in the wet.

The Honda Izzy came top of the Which consumer magazine tests & is is also BBC Gardeners World top choice. That was at list price. The one I have linked to is half list price & still comes with a full, valid in Ireland, warranty. It is ideal for the average Gardener & at under €300 is one heck of a bargain.

Don't get me wrong the 21inch pro honda mowers are a superb mower to be honest if I'd a large area I'd buy one instead of a ride on just for the fact that it'd keep going forever,I've people coming in to me with pro honda mowers they start cutting in march and stay going flat out until october the rackets in the back wheels do suffer and the Roto stop clutch wear out other than that they're pretty bullet proof.

That said and enough of the praise.....
All parts for any make a dealer sells should be available in 48 hrs unless it is a rare part honda included.
Honda bits are far more expensive tho, one example is the aforementioned rackets the honda ones are about €40 or so for the kaaz mower which is a copy of the pro honda (and not a bad yoke either it has the same honda engine) cost €15 they'e the same quaility however they're slightly different and won't fit:(

The engines on the cheaper hondas are ok, They're no easier to start than the new B+S engines no choke or primer, Gaurenteed to start in 2 pulls,
The one thing I find about honda engines is that if water contaminates the petrol the carbs suffer and new carbs aren't cheap.
As for the Izzy mowers the decks are Fierce light and I've replaced a couple of gearboxs in the powerdrive ones
The masport mowers are a good machine so are the rover and the toro
but thats just my view!!

cavanman3000

piddler wrote: »

The Problem with the cheaper mowers is the decks are made of light steel and will rust away in a couple of years,
An ABS plastic deck is a good option or the aluminiun decks are super too
But the steel decks will last if you wash them and spray them with wd40 Fairly often,

The other problem is that if a cable or a wheel goes it'll be hard to get parts as the cheaper mowers sold in the likes of woodies aren't the same as what will be sold in your local dealer,

Other than that Stick with a Briggs and stratton engine, GGP engines are rubbish stay clear,
Honda engines are good but imo are way over rated and parts are mental expensive and unless your going commerical its just not worth it (again imo)

Why not try your local dealer for a bit of advice they might surprise you and at least you'll have some aftersales support woddies and the like are not known for aftersales

listen to this man!!! woodies have no parts for their mowers and you might have to dump a mower for want of a simple part, try your local dealer i bought a viking mb650t and its a dream.

Discodog

The Vikings are getting good reports but most contractor that I know only got theirs this year so no long term opinion.

BostonB

Never heard of Vikings. What other brands are popular with contractors?

Discodog

Etesia are the absolute best as they will collect every blade of grass in torrential rain but they are very expensive.

Contractors are not always a good guide as many buy the cheapest, give to a student & then throw it away when it dies.

CJhaughey

Rover and Masport are two very good brands, Viking is owned by Stihl- Jury still out.
Honda some are better than others not all the same quality.
Seriously have a look at the Rover Clutch on their driven models and tell me that they aren't the biggest you have ever seen.
The guy that sells Rovers near me reckons that he has never seen one come back for a clutch yet from anyone including contractors in about 7 years of selling them.

Discodog

Both Aussie !. Rovers also collect well in the wet thanks to a wide shute.
Quite a few LA's in the UK use Rovers. Masports are also popular & you can get some good online deals.

The Aussie's use a cutting disk with bolt on swinging blade tips. Some contractors prefer this as it protects the crankshaft. My only personal reservation is that both use B&S engines & I prefer Honda engines. To me paying more than €600 for a B&S machine is too much.

The problem with this thread is that this is the worse time of the year to buy a mower. My baby Honda was €250 online in December but it's a lot more now. I would make do & buy in November !.

CJhaughey

Discodog wrote: »

Both Aussie !.

Not quite, Masport is made in New Zealand.

Burgess5

My advice. Go to a specialist dealer and buy the best mower you can afford. If you have a large garden buy as big a mower also as this will cut down cutting time.
There are lots of cheap mowers in supermarkets, DIY stores etc. They don't last and you will struggle to get parts.
A decent mower will last 10 years and won't break your heart. In the same time you could go through 3 or more 'cheap' mowers.
I use a TORO mower and get great service from my local dealer the odd time I need him.

BostonB

Can you recommend any dealers around Dublin or near?

Discodog

I have to disagree with Burgess. In my experience unless you know a dealer well he might sell you the machine that either makes him the most profit or that he needs to be rid of.

I have just called in to a Honda main dealer. The machine that cost me €250 online has been reduced as a "special offer" in my dealer but it is still €485. I will always try & support local business but the price differentials are too big.

B&Q are selling Honda powered Mountfields which will have full parts back up. The key to getting a bargain from B&Q is to either call in often to catch the special offers or even better get to know the staff !. I was about to buy a Fatmax toolbox last week until a nice member of staff told me that there would be 30% off this week !.

It is a too early in the season to get a good deal. Nothing worse than buying a mower & then seeing it much cheaper a few weeks later.

cavanman3000

i agree with burgess, the people in b&q or woodies know nothing about mowers, every thing is fine untill you have a problem. where do you go then? are woodies going to repace a drive for you? i dont think so. once your warranty is up you can forget about it, all they do is give you another mower if there is a problem during warranty they dont really fix anything or have any spare parts. parts like blade boss, drive's, wheels etc are very hard to get.
at least with a specialist dealer after your 12 months are up you can still go back to him.

Discodog

Not if you buy an established brand that have a dealer network. You should be able to get a Mountfield or even a Homelite serviced anywhere as parts are readily available & B&Q sell both. I would not recommend own brands or unknown ones.

cavanman3000

they just sell machines that used to well known e.g partner, homelite mc cullogh, when you actually go to find a dealer who sells them and stocks parts etc, its a nightmare

Discodog

Well they have lots of Mountfields & parts are readily available for those. The worst problem that I have ever had with obtaining part was trying to get Honda parts from a Honda main dealer - I now buy direct from Honda Ireland

tinofapples

Discodog wrote: »

I have to disagree with Burgess. In my experience unless you know a dealer well he might sell you the machine that either makes him the most profit or that he needs to be rid of.

I have just called in to a Honda main dealer. The machine that cost me €250 online has been reduced as a "special offer" in my dealer but it is still €485. I will always try & support local business but the price differentials are too big.

B&Q are selling Honda powered Mountfields which will have full parts back up. The key to getting a bargain from B&Q is to either call in often to catch the special offers or even better get to know the staff !. I was about to buy a Fatmax toolbox last week until a nice member of staff told me that there would be 30% off this week !.

It is a too early in the season to get a good deal. Nothing worse than buying a mower & then seeing it much cheaper a few weeks later.

Discodog,
What model is this Honda that cost you €250 and can you send me the link to the seller on ebay.

I might be in the market for my 1st lawnmower but money is tight (180-250)

Discodog

The cheapest that they have now is £360. B&Q had some Mountfields with big reductions. However there is a potential problem in that B&Q Galway are using a Galway mower repairer for warranty work & they are useless.

Prices will continue to drop as we get nearer to the end of the season. I buy my mowers in December !.

I got mine from here: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/TheSuperbowl

They also trade under this name: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/WSS-Direct

tinofapples

Discodog wrote: »

The cheapest that they have now is £360. B&Q had some Mountfields with big reductions. However there is a potential problem in that B&Q Galway are using a Galway mower repairer for warranty work & they are useless.

Prices will continue to drop as we get nearer to the end of the season. I buy my mowers in December !.

I got mine from here: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/TheSuperbowl

They also trade under this name: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/WSS-Direct

Yeah I saw the Mountfields in B&Q last week some with Honda engines (But very pricey). Might take your advice and use the in-laws petrol or my own electric until December or at least out of summer season to invest myself.

Cheers mate.

Discodog

20% off all Garden including mowers this weekend at B&Q

banchang

I highly recommend New Zealands finest : Masport.

I have mine for 12 years & still going strong. Serviced only once I'm ashamed to say. Parts readily available.

Distributor: John McKenna Lawnmower Spares Limited
31 Blackwater Road,
Dublin Industrial Est.,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 11.
Ireland
Phone: +353 1 8309379

bigblackmug

These are selling in Aldi in Germany at the moment. I'd expect that if they reach Ireland they'll be at around 279 euro.

I looked at them yesterday and they look very good value.
Ball bearing wheels. self-propelled, 3 year warranty, ,single lever height adjuster, adjustable padded handle, good B&S engine, single lever height adjuster and a 5litre petrol can thrown in for good measure.

Keep an eye out for them if you are in the market for a new lawnmower.
If they reach Ireland they'll sell quickly.

https://www.aldi-sued.de/de/angebote/angebote-ab-donnerstag-11-april/detailseite/ps/p/gardenline-benzin-rasenmaeher/