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The Great Big Lawnmower Thread

aoifski

I'd appreciate some advice about lawns and lawn mowers. We have about 1/4 -1/3 an acre of lawn. Top soil was put down when we moved in about 4 years ago, not the best stuff - quite stoney. We raked but did not rotovate it at the time, and then rolled and then sowed a lawn.

It's ok - the surface is a bit rough still and not flat. We have a petrol rotary at the moment and it takes quite a while to cut all this grass. And it grows like wildfire in the spring/summer.

We want to buy new rideon mower and I am all for buying a tractor mower to spin around the lawn in as little time as possible.

My husband has gotten it in his head somehow that he wants this manicured lawn, and wants to buy a petrol powered cylinder mower - the ones used for cricket and golf greens! Believe me our lawn and surface is far from this!

Questions:

To get even surface with manicured lawn would we have to rotovate and completely redo the surface/soil and resow?
Presumably a cylinder mower (self propelled) is totally unsuitable for what we have right now?
Any tractor mower recommendations for a nice cut which will appease my husband?!

Thanks in advance!

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Daz_

Hi Deezel, my3cents and Co.

Any recommendations on a ride on mower for roughly an acre and half ? Need a bit of power as quite hilly in places and like the option of collect and mulch .
Are Honda highly regarded ?( HF2417 HME for example )
Have an Oleo MAC 42 inch deck . Find it a bit heavy on fuel and not very quick .

Thanks

my3cents

Daz_ wrote: »

Hi Deezel, my3cents and Co.

Any recommendations on a ride on mower for roughly an acre and half ? Need a bit of power as quite hilly in places and like the option of collect and mulch .
Are Honda highly regarded ?( HF2417 HME for example )
Have an Oleo MAC 42 inch deck . Find it a bit heavy on fuel and not very quick .

Thanks

I have the Honda HF2417 HME its a 2005 model and still going strong. Replaced the deck (DIY) at the end of last year (€250) and had to buy a couple of expensive parts over the years (vacuum capsule for blade engagement this year €130) but otherwise been a good reliable machine with some life left in it yet.

Can't say the Honda is very quick and you can't really cut at full speed anyway, very slow in reverse not like the old Kubota mower I once had which went as fast in reverse as it did forward. Honda also seems heavy on fuel but at that sort of engine size I think they all are.

49801

my3cents wrote: »

Take the deck off?

Deck off already for another job. Since off already thinking may as well paint even though I did it a little over twelve months ago.

jmreire

Daz_ wrote: »

Hi Deezel, my3cents and Co.

Any recommendations on a ride on mower for roughly an acre and half ? Need a bit of power as quite hilly in places and like the option of collect and mulch .
Are Honda highly regarded ?( HF2417 HME for example )
Have an Oleo MAC 42 inch deck . Find it a bit heavy on fuel and not very quick .

Thanks

I have the Honda HF2417, and find it great...have about 3/4 acres to cut. It's my 2nd Honda, After the first Honda, I bought a Viking MT 6127 ZL. as I thought that it would be better for the size lawn I have to cut. I have to say that it's a fine big comfortable mower, more refined than the Honda, but as it has a wider wheel base...it's really only suitable for vert level lawns,,, which mine is not... so I went bach to the Honda again, and I am very happy with it. Great machine.

ppn

I'm looking at buying from the 'Agrieuro.co.uk' site and just wondering has anyone an opinion on these two mowers;

* Stiga Combi 50 SQ H heavy-duty with Honda GCV 160 engine
* Stiga Combi 50 SEQ B with B&S 675EXi IS engine

They seem to be the same chassis apart from the engine and the B&S one is electric start, which would be useful if it doesn't give trouble.
I'm upgrading from an awful machine with a B&S 500 Series engine. It has a mulcher feature but there's just not enough power to mulch at all and generally just very underpowered.

Will the two machines above be equally capable of proper mulching given that the Honda seems to be a little more powerful - 3.8hp vs 3.2hp it looks like... Am I aswell of with the Honda as past experience with B&S hasn't blown me away?

Thanks for any replies.

ppn

bbari wrote: »

If you scroll back few pages, I bought a Stiga Lawnmower from agrieuro. Got answers of my queries over the online chats, lawnmower was shipped and delivered as promised. They have partner repairs center in Ireland, if under warranty, the shipment charges to/from are to be paid by them. Their prices are 20%-30% cheaper than the cheapest here, you get oil etc with the lawnmower too.

Any idea where their 'partner repair centres' are? They told me that they have no service support in Ireland?

jmreire

ppn wrote: »

I'm looking at buying from the 'Agrieuro.co.uk' site and just wondering has anyone an opinion on these two mowers;

* Stiga Combi 50 SQ H heavy-duty with Honda GCV 160 engine
* Stiga Combi 50 SEQ B with B&S 675EXi IS engine

They seem to be the same chassis apart from the engine and the B&S one is electric start, which would be useful if it doesn't give trouble.
I'm upgrading from an awful machine with a B&S 500 Series engine. It has a mulcher feature but there's just not enough power to mulch at all and generally just very underpowered.

Will the two machines above be equally capable of proper mulching given that the Honda seems to be a little more powerful - 3.8hp vs 3.2hp it looks like... Am I aswell of with the Honda as past experience with B&S hasn't blown me away?

Thanks for any replies.

You are talking about push / self propelled mower's? I have a self propelled Honda Izy 20", with mulching capabilities, electric start. It works fine... I like the Honda brand... they make qulity machines, and very good engine's. So far no problem's with it.

ppn

jmreire wrote: »

You are talking about push / self propelled mower's? I have a self propelled Honda Izy 20", with mulching capabilities, electric start. It works fine... I like the Honda brand... they make qulity machines, and very good engine's. So far no problem's with it.

Both self-propelled. Just looking for advise re. 'Honda GCV160' versus 'B&S EXi675 electric start' in terms of power and reliability. The two mowers listed are €430 - €500 + €20 shipping. I'm sure the Honda brand lawnmower is much more expensive and I'm not willing to pay more for a Honda deck.

jmreire

ppn wrote: »

Both self-propelled. Just looking for advise re. 'Honda GCV160' versus 'B&S EXi675 electric start' in terms of power and reliability. The two mowers listed are €430 - €500 + €20 shipping. I'm sure the Honda brand lawnmower is much more expensive and I'm not willing to pay more for a Honda deck.

B&S make a very good engine too....I have a very old ( 1984 ) castlegarden push mower, with a B&S engine in it......start's and runs fine, even after all these years. So I would not be one bit afraid of any B&S powered engine. You should be OK with B&S, regarding the deck...any mower I ever had, new or old. I always wire brushed the underside of the deck, and sprayed it with an undersealer like "Body Schutz ", which is a sealer that is used on the underside of car bodies....I'm pretty sure that there may be even better undersealers on the market nowadays. But it will prolong the life of the mower. Make sure that you change the engine oil frequently too, that's the life of the engine.

deezell

ppn wrote: »

Both self-propelled. Just looking for advise re. 'Honda GCV160' versus 'B&S EXi675 electric start' in terms of power and reliability. The two mowers listed are €430 - €500 + €20 shipping. I'm sure the Honda brand lawnmower is much more expensive and I'm not willing to pay more for a Honda deck.

I have to say the B&S 675 i electric start engine is great, especially as SWMBO does all hand mowing and was getting a bit ol...., a bit tired of pull cord starting. We've just replaced a 20 year old Stiga combi with a 51cm cut Cobra equipped with this engine, it's well up to the job. The Stiga combi 50s are 48cm cut so you'll have plenty of power. For mulching you might want to get the flatter mulching blade for the extra €16, as this will reduce the strain when mulching as it doesn't have the higher grass lifting fins of the collector blade. It will still throw grass into the bag if required.The rated power for the B&S is 2.5 Kw (3.35 hp) on the Cobra spec sheet, which is not that far off the Honda. Both look decent value for money.

deezell

jmreire wrote: »

I have the Honda HF2417, and find it great...have about 3/4 acres to cut. It's my 2nd Honda, After the first Honda, I bought a Viking MT 6127 ZL. as I thought that it would be better for the size lawn I have to cut. I have to say that it's a fine big comfortable mower, more refined than the Honda, but as it has a wider wheel base...it's really only suitable for vert level lawns,,, which mine is not... so I went bach to the Honda again, and I am very happy with it. Great machine.

The viking/stihl is everything you say, it's a huge machine with 127cm cut (50"), so this might be too wide if you have hills and slopes. It's smaller brother, The viking/stihl 5112, is a tighter 43" cut, but with the powerful v 22hp engine of the bigger model, and all the quality of controls and features. I think this is a step up from the similarly priced 17hp 40" Honda mentioned, worth checking out.

Krombopulos Michael

deezell wrote: »

The viking/stihl is everything you say, it's a huge machine with 127cm cut (48"), so this might be too wide if you have hills and slopes. It's smaller brother, The viking/stihl 5112, is a tighter 43" cut, but with the powerful v 22hp engine of the bigger model, and all the quality of controls and features. I think this is a step up from the similarly priced 17hp 40" Honda mentioned, worth checking out.

I bought the stihl 5112 recently and im loving it. Strong engine and my lawn is large, but with slopes and trees and bushes to go around and it does a fantastic job. Would definitely recommend it.

jmreire

deezell wrote: »

The viking/stihl is everything you say, it's a huge machine with 127cm cut (50"), so this might be too wide if you have hills and slopes. It's smaller brother, The viking/stihl 5112, is a tighter 43" cut, but with the powerful v 22hp engine of the bigger model, and all the quality of controls and features. I think this is a step up from the similarly priced 17hp 40" Honda mentioned, worth checking out.

Agreed 100%...the problem for me with the viking M6 was the wheelbase was too big,,,it could not follow the contour's of the lawn, so it was unable to cut evenly... in parts, it was "scalping" the grass and iin other places....it was leaving 5" + uncut. No fault of the mower tough...just the rough ground. But for comfort and ease of use,, it was fine. It had an hour meter too, so was easy to plan service's on it. It has a wide range of cutting levels too, 8 settings.

Daz_

Hi . Anyone have a view on how often should mower blades be sharpened ? Ride on mover and I’ve hit a few obstacles this season . Would they dull quickly?

DeborahLQ

DeborahLQ wrote: »

Great thread, but a bit overwhelming. Anybody know anything about these ones? I'm thinking of getting one.

Recycler 22 in. SmartStow High Wheel Variable Speed Walk Behind Gas Self Propelled Mower
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Toro-Recycler-22-in-SmartStow-High-Wheel-Variable-Speed-Walk-Behind-Gas-Self-Propelled-Mower-20339/205026227

I wanted to update others on this mower. I ended up purchasing this one and I have mowed our 1 acre lawn twice now, the second time my 11-year old did half of it. That should tell you how easy this is to use. So far, this is a fantastic mower. The self propelled feature is very strong and goes up our little incline/hill without me pushing even. It starts the first pull almost every time. And it cut through our tall, wet and rough grass the first time this season without a problem.

I just hope I don't have to come back to this thread at the end of the summer saying how bad it ended up being! But so far, this is a great machine and I am happy.

my3cents

DeborahLQ wrote: »

I wanted to update others on this mower. I ended up purchasing this one and I have mowed our 1 acre lawn twice now, the second time my 11-year old did half of it. That should tell you how easy this is to use. So far, this is a fantastic mower. The self propelled feature is very strong and goes up our little incline/hill without me pushing even. It starts the first pull almost every time. And it cut through our tall, wet and rough grass the first time this season without a problem.

I just hope I don't have to come back to this thread at the end of the summer saying how bad it ended up being! But so far, this is a great machine and I am happy.

Just as important where did you get it and what did you pay?

deezell

my3cents wrote: »

Just as important where did you get it and what did you pay?

Really curious myself. It looks like a US big box store product, I can't find it listed in the few Toro dealers online. There are a few variants, push, front and rear wheel drive, the rear wheel job is called 'personal pace', where the drive speed is set by the push pressure on the lever. At $339 it would be worth the delivery and VAT you'd pay from the States, if it came in under say €500+. Front wheel drive give less trouble, as the wheels can spin easier if pushed into an obstacle. Less clutching too, simply lift the mower front for sharp turns and let the wheels spin.

deezell

FWIW, importing a mower from the US using one of the address pal type of forwarding works out at $151 for this 78 Lb weight mower. That's $490 total, = €436, plus 23%VAT, and €15 customs admin charge, brings it to €551. I'm assuming no customs duty. Is that worth it for a 22"/56cm Toro mower? Good price when you count variable speed, but it's a bit risky if it's not perfect out of the box. Maybe the poster is in the States, so it's local to them.

deezell

Daz_ wrote: »

Hi . Anyone have a view on how often should mower blades be sharpened ? Ride on mover and I’ve hit a few obstacles this season . Would they dull quickly?

Depends on the obstacle. Bits of branches, wood, tufts of grass or sods of earth will just dull the edge, but nothing to worry about unless you're clattering these constantly, say mowing a traffic rutted verge on the road outside a rural site. I'd check the blade and if its not deformed or missing a corner I'd leave it till winter to sharpen. Some mowers never get a sharpening in their entire life.
If you're hitting stones, gravel, bits of metal or other hard debris you might chip the blade edge, which will require a significant grinding to return a straight edge. You could leave this till end of season to sharpen also, but a sharp chip will cause a little drag on the blade, and a big enough chip will cause imbalance, you'll feel extra vibration on the handles of a hand mower.This you should sort straight away, assuming the blade is not distorted or bent, meaning one edge at a different height to the other. If this happens, and the difference is significant, say 4 or more mm, you should replace the blade, but again, there are people mowing with knackered imbalanced blunt and unlevel blades and they hardly notice. One area to check carefully is the angled lifters behind the cutting edge, these take a fair whack from striking objects as they are raised, so look for cracks in the blade body where the fin rises out and up. If you see cracks running into the flat body of the blade at this point, replace the blade. You dont want a blade tip snapping off some day when you hit that stump/rock/kerb, again, at 2800 rpm.

Shefwedfan

Anyone know how much a full service would cost for motor? need new oil and also blade sharpened

my3cents

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Anyone know how much a full service would cost for motor? need new oil and also blade sharpened

Apart from removing the blade (cheaper to replace it than pay for a service) really what needs doing that you can't do with a can of oil and something to drain the old oil into?

Price depends on the size of the mower standard walk behind should be about €50.

LithiumKid1976

hi
any advice on a lawnmower, the garden is large, .5 of an acre at least. i have a budget of about 3.5k
ive never had a lawnmower before. a contractor was doing it for us. but id prefer to do it myself.

id like the mower to able to mulch etc

Any suggestions or advice.

Darando

Lidl due in a lawnmower - 199€ (they still have other models at 299€ in store)

https://www.lidl.ie/en/special-offers.htm?articleId=19432

B&S engine....

deezell

LithiumKid1976 wrote: »

hi
any advice on a lawnmower, the garden is large, .5 of an acre at least. i have a budget of about 3.5k
ive never had a lawnmower before. a contractor was doing it for us. but id prefer to do it myself.

id like the mower to able to mulch etc

Any suggestions or advice.

Is that a .5 acres of grass or a .5 acre site.

GreeBo

Hey,

I have a garden thats mainly in lawn, lawn area is about 80 foot x 30 foot.
The grass has been well maintained and I want to continue that, to the point of buying a cylinder mower and getting my wimbledon stripes...any recommendations?

deezell

GreeBo wrote: »

Hey,

I have a garden thats mainly in lawn, lawn area is about 80 foot x 30 foot.
The grass has been well maintained and I want to continue that, to the point of buying a cylinder mower and getting my wimbledon stripes...any recommendations?

Without spending a fortune on new, this seated job for €550 ?
https://www.donedeal.ie/gardenequipment-for-sale/cylinder-mower/21842866

Or this walk behind for €200
https://www.donedeal.ie/gardenequipment-for-sale/lawnmower-cylinder-mower/21837058

Both in southeast.

GreeBo

deezell wrote: »

Without spending a fortune on new, this seated job for €550 ?
https://www.donedeal.ie/gardenequipment-for-sale/cylinder-mower/21842866

Or this walk behind for €200
https://www.donedeal.ie/gardenequipment-for-sale/lawnmower-cylinder-mower/21837058

Both in southeast.

Cheers for links.

I should have mentioned Im in Dublin (albeit south side!)

I think I'm ok with a walk behind, it shouldnt take more than an hour, especially since I wont be bagging!

LithiumKid1976

deezell wrote: »

Is that a .5 acres of grass or a .5 acre site.

of grass! at least

deezell

LithiumKid1976 wrote: »

hi
any advice on a lawnmower, the garden is large, .5 of an acre at least. i have a budget of about 3.5k
ive never had a lawnmower before. a contractor was doing it for us. but id prefer to do it myself.

id like the mower to able to mulch etc

Any suggestions or advice.

For such a small amount if grass you'll spend a lot of time turning around corners, so maybe a zero turn mower, front deck, or a tractor with a tight turning circle. Newer tight turn Husqvarnas, Cub Cadet and Stihl (Viking) can turn on a sixpence, metaphorically speaking and I Think Cubs are overpriced for what you get, check out Huskys and the solidly made Stihl. Compare the Stihl RT5097 37" cut with b&s engine to the Cub LT2 36" own brand engine, and the well priced Husqvarna TC138 38"

my3cents

Darando wrote: »

Lidl due in a lawnmower - 199€ (they still have other models at 299€ in store)

https://www.lidl.ie/en/special-offers.htm?articleId=19432

B&S engine....

Irish customers are being ripped off with that mower, I paid £139 for one last month in Lidl in the UK.