The Great Big Lawnmower Thread

fryup wrote: »

but are they classed as a professional groundsman machine?

Never ever have Westwood been professional machines! Back in the 80's they tried to sell their mowers as professional and got a lot of flak for being so crap.

There is a new company called Westwood that makes a very high end lawn ride on thats price puts it in the professional league.

The current Westwood owned by Ariens https://www.westwoodtractors.com/

kaiserrussel wrote: »

Thanks deezal Ill take a look - everything seems so expensive on this machine. was originally helping a friend and ended up buying it form him. dad had one for years and years.

Whats the model number.

PuddingBreath wrote: »

Anyone got a recommendation on a robot lawnmower? looking at the worx at the moment. Front and back garden with path to traverse in between. About 800m2 in total. Many thanks.

The SIL bought a Husqvarna robot about a month ago, and its doing a great job. TBH, I didnt have much faith in them before I saw this one in action, now I'm converted. You do need a level lawn though,,,otherwise it will get stuck. By this I mean if cattle broke in, and left hoof marks, you would need to fill them in. It even goes in under the trampoline, which was previously a no go zone.

lightspeed wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a cordless lawn mower with decent battery?

I only have a small garden front and back but dont like the corded getting in the way when using a corded lawnmower.

Im debating whether to go battery operated or petrol. I feel petrol might be longer lasting but does come with hassle of servicing.


So battery powered might do but im weary of the running time living up to expectations. I see even some of the more expensive ones done seem to list their running time but from reviews they dont look great. I see some complain battery dont hold their charge and have awful trouble bringing it back etc. Spear and Jackson have one with decent reviews on Argos but i see a lot of complaints like the above on trustfinder.com.

Should i just go with a petrol mower?

Personally, I'd stick with the petrol enigine one...with a Briggs and Stratton engine ( unles you want to go a bit upmarket for a Honda or Stihl etc) Change the oil and plug once a year, at the end of the mowing season, drain the petrol, and park it in dry place. And thats it. I bought a Castlegarden back in 1984, and its still going strong. It has the hard plastic deck ( I'm not sure whats the righ name for it, but its rust free ) and the B&Q engine.
With the battery powered one, it will all depend on how long the battery lasts while mowing, and how long it will last in terms of time, before it becomes useless. But having said that, I've never had a battery powered one, and am just going on battery powered tools in general. I'm pretty sure that some one who has one will be along and will give you some advice on it

deezell wrote: »

I seen this 20 inch cut Mountfield with a Honda GCV 170x engine in B&Q Naas yesterday as I walked past. I was impressed by how sturdy it looked and felt, for a fairly generic mower. Good value for that size and engine at a little over €400 iirc. Mountfield SP53H 160cc.....

I bought one of those late last year. Reckoned the Honda engine was a better bet than a B&S.

The lawnmower is an engineering design disgrace. One of the well known issues ( grass getting by the drive belt grass cover causing the belt to come off ) happened within the first 10Hrs of use.

No gearbox, so fixed walking speed ( conflicted about this - is it good 'cause its simple or is it bad 'cause there are times you need to go slow / fast ).

Bought in B&Q. At the time they gave discount on account of age of purchaser and it being a certain day of the week . I dont know if they will still do that.

After discount it came in at under 400.

I recall Woodies had a very similar Honda engined unit with a different brand name at the time. Woodies would have been cheaper if it were not for the B&Q discount. ( this was towards 'end of season' last year )

BTW I suspect that pricing across Irish B&Q stores is not always uniform

recyclebin wrote: »

In the end I went for the Blackstone with Y196V engine for just under €300 with the €10 euro off. Only ordered it last night so waiting for it to arrive. Just note that if you use the Agrieuro.de website prices look lower than Agrieuro.co.uk but they will still add Irish VAT when you go to pay so prices end up the same on both websites.

The main reason I went with Agrieuro over the other options was for easier access for spare parts and price was slightly cheaper than Woodies. Everyone else looks more expensive. I even saw the Hyundai version with Y173V engine for sale in my local hardware store for €680!!!

How are you finding the machine so far ?
Would you recommend it ?

It looks similar to this Webb one I saw in Coopstores except for the engine
https://www.coopsuperstores.ie/Garden/Lawnmowers/Petrol-Lawnmowers/Webb-Pro-21-Self--Propelled-Rotary-Lawnmower-1799600

how come ride on deck's aren't made out of hard plastic or aluminium or cast iron or some other material/metal that doesn't rust?

fryup wrote: »

how come ride on deck's aren't made out of hard plastic or aluminium or cast iron or some other material/metal that doesn't rust?

The size of them makes strength an issue. When you mow over a house brick and smash a hole in the side of a plastic deck you are exposing yourself to unnecessary danger which isn't good for the reputation of the manufactures. A steel deck may rust out but it happens slowly so the user is aware of any danger and its at their risk if they use a rusted out deck. Then of course you need a deck that will protect a blade moving at about 3000 rpm which you have to assume could potentially come flying off at full speed.

Of course there are materials that could do the job but why do cars rust out and why don't they galvanise all the bits that rust out? Alot is down to cost and the designed lifespan of the unit.

recyclebin wrote: »

I have only used the Blackstone SP530 twice so far. I only have a small garden at the moment and not a lot of grass growth so it's not really being pushed to it's limits or anything. Build quality seems decent enough. It started on the first pull of the cord out the box too which is impressive for a no name engine. I also like the four forward speed gearbox. Gears are selected manually via lever. I tried cutting at the highest and lowest settings and it worked fine. For €300 you can't really go that wrong.

The Coop stores looks very similar except for engine and gearbox.

Thanks for the review, it sounds like a good machine.

I had a look at the Web Pro in Coop stores it looks fairly solid.
Only issue I would be worried about is the 75mm highest cut setting, it might be a bit low for me.

I have ~1000 square metres of lawn.
I was also considering this Toro, its 550 euro locally, goes to 95mm height.
https://www.jdslawnmowers.ie/product/toro-21750-mulching-lawnmower/

The Continental Op wrote: »

I think there is some EU law regarding maximum height of cut. Years ago when I cut grass commercially highest cut on several mowers we used was over 100mm and very easy to get a foot underneath. The lower max heights being to try and stop that danger.

I never knew that but I guess it makes sense. It wouldnt be to difficult to modify a mower if you needed extra height.

deezell wrote: »

It was easy to do on the Cobra mower. The curved toothed rack that holds the height lever was bolted to the deck. I just removed it, drilled two new holes, and replaced it, about two notches higher. Adding an extra few cm to top height.

I have the deck on my current lawnmower modded too, I took your advice, but I need to upgrade to a more powerful machine.

75mm should be ok now as I've done alot of work on my lawn over the last year, removing thatch, moss, fertilising and cutting it more regularly so its lower than it was.

Zardoz wrote: »

Thanks for the review, it sounds like a good machine.

I had a look at the Web Pro in Coop stores it looks fairly solid.
Only issue I would be worried about is the 75mm highest cut setting, it might be a bit low for me.

I have ~1000 square metres of lawn.
I was also considering this Toro, its 550 euro locally, goes to 95mm height.
https://www.jdslawnmowers.ie/product/toro-21750-mulching-lawnmower/

i have the toro, have a half acre of grass, find it a great mower well able to mulch or collect, starts first pull, have it nearly two years, i believe its a 2017 model