Help me understand what I need in a lawnmower!

whippet

I am moving in to a new house in the next few weeks and I will need a mower very quickly.

The garden is circa 0.5 acres and is mainly grass (I wouldn't say lawn) with some quite steep hills and undulations.

I obviously will need a mower rather quickly and I know very little about them.

Is there anyone here who might be able to suggest some options for me, I reckon I could stretch to about €1000.

newmug

whippet wrote: »

I am moving in to a new house in the next few weeks and I will need a mower very quickly.

The garden is circa 0.5 acres and is mainly grass (I wouldn't say lawn) with some quite steep hills and undulations.

I obviously will need a mower rather quickly and I know very little about them.

Is there anyone here who might be able to suggest some options for me, I reckon I could stretch to about €1000.

Why will you need a mower quickly? Is it extra fast-growing grass or something?:D

If I was you, I'd go to my local hire place and just rent a normal mower once or twice a month. Shouldn't be any more than E20 a go. At least then you will be able to learn a bit about them aswell. Keep your grand!

Ash.J.Williams

whippet wrote: »

I am moving in to a new house in the next few weeks and I will need a mower very quickly.

The garden is circa 0.5 acres and is mainly grass (I wouldn't say lawn) with some quite steep hills and undulations.

I obviously will need a mower rather quickly and I know very little about them.

Is there anyone here who might be able to suggest some options for me, I reckon I could stretch to about €1000.

Avoid places like b&q and woodies. Honda and husquavarna and harry are great. Go to one of the smaller shops, that repair and sell. Those guys tend to enjoy discussing the options and can definitely advise on what NOT to buy, as they fix them!

Here's a basic honda model: Honda HRG 465S. The push model is €479 and the powered option is €559. Powered just means you just have to stand behind it and steer it. Push is great for a workout!

Gurgle

Half an acre isn't that much, spend 200 to 300 on a petrol mower and you'll be fine. They pretty much all have the same Briggs and Strattan motor. Get something with a metal body and a decent sized grass box.

Just don't go for an electric mower, they're only suitable for tiny gardens.

Most hire places rent out mowers too, some have half day or hourly rates. Saves you storing the mower, maintenance etc as well as the cost of buying the thing.

-edit- Hire places often sell them off at big discounts at the end of the season

Yawlboy

I think you will be surprised how long it takes to cut .5 acre - as suggested above try renting different models/types until you find one the suits.

whippet

I would prefer to buy as I am in a pretty remote area and wouldn't have the desire or mode of transporting a hire mower and couldn't be a the behest of a hire company to deliver and drop off.

It would be a powered drive mower alright (to make sure the missus has no excuse for not cutting it). I have plenty of storage and I would prefer to have my own as it means being able to cut it as much as possible, I have young kids and the garden will be their playground.

people have been telling me about mulching mowers, which interests me as it would mean not having to collect the grass !! is it that simple with mulching?

cozzie55

whippet wrote: »

I would prefer to buy as I am in a pretty remote area and wouldn't have the desire or mode of transporting a hire mower and couldn't be a the behest of a hire company to deliver and drop off.

It would be a powered drive mower alright (to make sure the missus has no excuse for not cutting it). I have plenty of storage and I would prefer to have my own as it means being able to cut it as much as possible, I have young kids and the garden will be their playground.

people have been telling me about mulching mowers, which interests me as it would mean not having to collect the grass !! is it that simple with mulching?

Mulching mowers are great for 3 reasons,
1 Obiviously you don't have to collect the grass
2 Your constantly fertilising your lawn with its own cuttings as it breaks down
3 Its alot quicker to cut a lawn with a mulcher due to not needing to empty the bag

But on the other hand they have 3 negatives IMO aswell
1: Because the grass gets left on the lawn, granted its chopped up very small, if the lawn is any bit wet or damp all the grass sticks to your shoes if you walk on the lawn so expect trails of grass around your yard or in the house if you leave the kids out on it.
2: Mulching lawnmowers are expensive
3: If the grass is wet when you are cutting it, the mulched cuttings tend to clump together and hence you get clumps of grass up and down your lawn where you have cut.

I guess two of them negatives depend on the type of person you are, I personally hate the clumps so end up having to let the lawn try a bit and then regoing over the mulchings to spread them out. On the other hand no one really walks on my lawn so the cuttings on shoes doesn't really affect me.

I don't think you'd get a mulching mower for 1K, but I do know that my local repair/sales place sales second hand reconditioned mowers a good bit cheaper. Even ride-ons if you are interested in them

Darwin

Agree with most of the above except for the point about the cost. I have circa 0.5 acre to cut and a mulching mower but paid nowhere near 1K. You should be able to pick up a new one with a decent Briggs & Stratton motor for somewhere in the region of 400-500. I have mine 5 years and no problems at all.

cozzie55

Darwin wrote: »

Agree with most of the above except for the point about the cost. I have circa 0.5 acre to cut and a mulching mower but paid nowhere near 1K. You should be able to pick up a new one with a decent Briggs & Stratton motor for somewhere in the region of 400-500. I have mine 5 years and no problems at all.

I presume thats a push lawnmower?
Ok i didn't know you could get them in push lawnmowers,
I've a ride-on one and they are more expensive than the equivalent ride-on with a bag

bbam

You could get away with a good self propelled mower.
Ensure you get a lBriggs and Stratton" or a Honda engine. They're both bullet proof and easily serviced.

Don't just go for a metal deck, get an aluminium deck and it won't rust.

Get one with bearings in the wheels.

Self propelled, for your budget you'll get one with two/three speeds. Very handy as speed depends on crop and ground conditions.

Get a mower that mulches and lifts. Then you can decide which you want to do.

I've had great success with Castlegarden. Both on self propelled and ride on.

Buy of a local supplier and you'll have no bother with servicing And spares.

peasant

whippet wrote: »

...some quite steep hills and undulations...

Depending on how steep and how ondulated, a normal mower might not cut it ...pardon the pun.

If working on slopes for a prolonged time, a normal four stroke engine will become starved of oil and seize sooner or later and you'd need either a two stroke engine or something with an oil pump.

Same goes for the ondulations ...if that means rough,bumpy ground a standard mower might be to low and either not cut at all or scalp your grass, depending on where on the bump it is.

haulagebasher

^^^^ as for a 4 stroke being starved of oil, that is utter rubbish, unless you are talking slopes of more than like 45 degrees which you won't be able to go up anyway. And 2 stroke lawnmowers are a rarity these days - they were used years and years ago on cylinder mowers and I haven't ever seen a 2 stroke rotary mower except at vintage shows.OP, 1/2 acre is a good amount to be cutting with a walk behind so you need somthing up to the job. what you want here is a self propelled mower with a cast aluminium deck. Make sure the rear wheels are the driving ones as FWD is a waste of time. I also recommend Honda engines over any other make. Briggs and Stratton are not great and are really only a cheap DIY duty engine. Make sure the engine is a Honda GX-V model as they are professional duty with a cast iron cylinder liner. Avoid at all costs the Honda CG-V range as they are only consumer grade and are much softer having only an aluminium parent bore meaning it will wear out faster.I have had a Kaaz self propelled, Honda GX-V160 powered mower since 1999 and it has cut a good sized lawn with hills and rough spots every year. It has never, ever given bother and has only ever needed routine mintenance work done. However, they are expensive, mine having cost £800 in 1999 which would be about €1300 in todays money. But I can absolutely assure you, they are a pleasure to use, are absolutely bulletproof machines and will last a lifetime. Buying cheap consumer grade mowers will end up costing you more in the long term as they will break your heart with problems and ultimately need to be replaced within a few years as they are not up to sustained use. As me da used say Buy Cheap, Buy Twice.
I think the model LM-5360 in the linked website(scroll down) is pretty much identical to the one I bought in 1999. http://www.kaaz.co.jp/ex_cd/standard/index.html