The Great Big Lawnmower Thread

dos29 wrote: »

There's a noticeable difference between fastest and slowest but unfortunately it means that slowest is practically stopped. Anything below top speed completely unusable, to me at least.

Pop off the cover over the variator. See if there's a cable adjuster to pull the belt tighter. Tightening the wedge belt pulls it into the centre of the split axle pulley, spreading the pulley sides apart and reducing the effective pulley radius, speeding up the drive.

Comerman wrote: »

Hi folks, I'm in an estate with roughly 1/2 acres of separate green areas. We have a cub cadet rzts which is giving up hope after 3 years of heavy going, our local garage is recommending a Snapper ztx275 which costs e5050. Any suggestions or recommendations please?

The Snapper well up to the job, but if you only got 3 seasons out of the Cub on less than 2 acres, I'd be careful who you let drive it. Cut higher, slower, sharpen blades. Is the underlying ground rough? Easy to shake the bones of any machine. It's why contractor kit is so robust and pricey, they way they mule into jobs.

Comerman wrote: »

Thanks deezell, in fairness to the cadet it took a lot of hardship it's an estate with potholes and god knows what in the greens. and another guy drove it earlier in the year and twisted the deck :-) the design has one deck wheel outside the front wheel which gets caught in everything.

Higher, and slower! I let a young lad up on a Castelgarden many years ago, he managed to burst the front axle pinions and shear the sprocket bolts off the rear axle differential in less than half an acre. Machine was rattlling and pulling to one side like a jalopy. Best of luck, find an oul fella to drive, lad from the men's shed maybe!

mslater wrote: »

Hi there, I'm wondering if anyone has bought this Pro Lawn Lawnmower in Woodies. It's on sale for €399. It's the self drive with 56cm cut and 163cc Briggs and Stratton engine.

Just wondering if it had a mulcher, there's very little info on their website. Thanks in advance

Read through the last couple of pages. On sale for €320, down from €399, yeah?

Edit: Assumed you were on about different lawnmower, sorry.

mslater wrote: »

Hi there, I'm wondering if anyone has bought this Pro Lawn Lawnmower in Woodies. It's on sale for €399. It's the self drive with 56cm cut and 163cc Briggs and Stratton engine.

Just wondering if it had a mulcher, there's very little info on their website. Thanks in advance

Looks decent the last time I was in woodies, wheels might be a bit on the light side. These generic mowers are generally 3 in 1 by default. Collector bag, side discharge opening, and usually mulching with either the bag flap closed or a plastic plug in the chute. Mulching with a non mulching blade is a compromise, only useful in light cutting. It's a big ask to mulch 56cm of heavy cut with 163cc of engine.. Woodie's site says it has only three height settings, which is odd. Reviewer says it has variable speed drive, through not advertised. That can easily add €80-100 to a mower price. If it has, it's a lot if mower for €399, with a b&s engine to boot and huge 56cm cut. Wheels would be my concern, and the quality of handle fittings, though these seem generic these days. As are the wheels. If they break, you'll eventually find a match on some other brand.

deezell wrote: »

Looks decent the last time I was in woodies, wheels might be a bit on the light side. These generic mowers are generally 3 in 1 by default. Collector bag, side discharge opening, and usually mulching with either the bag flap closed or a plastic plug in the chute. Mulching with a non mulching blade is a compromise, only useful in light cutting. It's a big ask to mulch 56cm of heavy cut with 163cc of engine.. Woodie's site says it has only three height settings, which is odd. Reviewer says it has variable speed drive, through not advertised. That can easily add €80-100 to a mower price. If it has, it's a lot if mower for €399, with a b&s engine to boot and huge 56cm cut. Wheels would be my concern, and the quality of handle fittings, though these seem generic these days. As are the wheels. If they break, you'll eventually find a match on some other brand.

Yes it was €499 now down to €399. I have just moved house and the old push mower I had for a small back garden is struggling with the new garden.

It looks like a beast of a machine. The one for €319 has a mulcher so I'm guessing this one must also.

When mulching, is the key to cut your grass often so it doesn't get too long? And if it's long, just cut it with normal lawnmower?

mslater wrote: »

Yes it was €499 now down to €399. I have just moved house and the old push mower I had for a small back garden is struggling with the new garden.

It looks like a beast of a machine. The one for €319 has a mulcher so I'm guessing this one must also.

When mulching, is the key to cut your grass often so it doesn't get too long? And if it's long, just cut it with normal lawnmower?

Spot on.

Ditto, and speaking of old hat, that reference to Irish acres brought me way back to the late 60's, 'following' my oul lad's International Harvester corn drill, which was calibrated in statute acres. I'd have to divide by 8, multiply by 5, work out the amount of barley or wheat sown per Irish acre, then adjust the variable toothed gear to tweak the sowing rate. The machine dated from the 2nd world war. 'Following' btw meant standing on the footboard of the drill as it tore around the field, watching, unblocking, cutting open bags and filling with fertiliser on the move. Mad. 12 hour days in the spring, but maybe a few off school. Sigh.

deezell wrote: »

Ditto, and speaking of old hat, that reference to Irish acres brought me way back to the late 60's, 'following' my oul lad's International Harvester corn drill, which was calibrated in statute acres. I'd have to divide by 8, multiply by 5, work out the amount of barley or wheat sown per Irish acre, then adjust the variable toothed gear to tweak the sowing rate. The machine dated from the 2nd world war. 'Following' btw meant standing on the footboard of the drill as it tore around the field, watching, unblocking, cutting open bags and filling with fertiliser on the move. Mad. 12 hour days in the spring, but maybe a few off school. Sigh.

Yes, and maybe get a few slaps from the Brother's who were teaching back then for missing a day ( or days) used to dread the call which came every day " Na buachailli go raibh aslatair inne, ta siad ag teastail anois.

Moved to new house, reasonably big lawns - around 2500 sq mts. Will be delaying any ride on mower purchase until finances stabilise! Did first 2 cuts with a rental Herkules 52.5 cm G53SHLV-C and was impressed.

It is for sale for €399 here:
https://www.gardenmachinery.ie/lawn-mowers/herkules-self-propelled-21-mower.html

Since I have no clue - is this a decent price for a good mower? Or are there cheaper as good equivalents?

Bawnmore wrote: »

I could be wrong and someone else will be around to correct me if so, but that looks like a rebrand of the Pro-Lawn from discussions over the last few pages. Available from Woodies for €320 currently here.

I think even the Pro Lawn is a rebadge of the Hyundai original? A few variants around I think alright though.

GinSoaked wrote: »

The Hyundai garden equipment side of the company seems to only sell rebadged chinese stuff. Their mowers, strimmers, pumps, leaf blowers and chippers are all available under other brand names.

The only possible advantage to the Hyundai brand name I can think of is that they aren't too bad for spare parts if you don't mind dealing with their main dealer in the UK. In the UK all their gear bought from the main dealer has a 3 year warranty but I don't think there is a big enough dealer here to do that.

I've used "PRO" branded stuff for a few years now, mainly supplied by Woodies, and always found it to work fine. I currently have a ProPlus combo, with strimmer, chainsaw, and hedge cutters, and all are still working fine, after more than 5 years. They are fine for the amateur ( like myself) if and when they pack up, they wont owe me anything. For full time gardening professionals though, they wont be good enough, I'd say.

dos29 wrote: »

Build quality is good for the price point. Noticeably budget in a couple of spots but overall good value.
I'm probably noticing things that I wouldn't normally because I'm coming from a pro grade Husqvarna that I had picked up second hand.
Where it could improve:
Could be better in the handlebars and plate connecting them to the deck, (a bit lightweight), the height adjustment lever, (doesn't seem very secure), and the linkage between the wheels is a small bit mushy. Quick release plastic handlebar levers are unnecessary and big, likely to snag if running alongside foliage, or a sharp standing stone in my case!
The front piece is just a lifting handle really so not too concerned.

Thanks ,appreciate the reply.
Whats the highest height setting like ,it says 75mm , which is a bit on the low side .