The Great Big Lawnmower Thread

Top mower, €4000 isnt far off what you might expect to pay cash without trade in for new. Any new equipment drops 20% in the first year once it's used, and half the warranty is gone. You'd have to check with a dealer that the other year or the extended 5 year option is still valid on transfer if ownership. If you could buy new for €4400 straight deal, I wouldn't see the value in this, but the owner is adamant, if unrealistic. The main dealer could happily clean it, warranty it and sell as a demo asking €4k, but he wouldn't buy it back for remotely near 4 grand.

Isn't Goop something that Gwynneth Paltrow sells, that smells like... the seat of my lawnmower?

Buy a solid replacement tyre. Honest they really are worth the money builders merchants should have them for around €30? I only paid about 25 but that was a while back.

I am looking for a petrol lawnmower, self propelled.

Grass area=130 sq meter.

Budget = €250.

I found this, but slightly over the budget and only 1 year warranty.

Edit:

Found this with 3 years warranty. But it's electric. Any thoughts on this?

https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7366682/Trail/searchtext%3ECORDLESS+LAWNMOWER.htm#tabrev

Thanks.

What's your opinion on the electric cordless lawnmower?

I do wait until grass is somewhat longer (busy with job) 😅 I haven't cut the grass since 3 or 4 months at this stage. But in summers, maybe every 3 weeks.

€3500. Assuming its a 2021 machine, 5112 ZL, it's about right price wise, with a bit of room to haggle and assuming at least 6 months warranty on engine, tranny and main deck components (though this might not include timing belt, as you can break these us you snag a root or clatter a post etc). See if you can push it to 3200, with a common sense warranty, maybe get it for 3300.

They'll pull up a decent slope, but the limit is safety, not its ability to climb or lube the engine. Too steep is dangerous if the front lifts and you go back pulling it with you. More of a risk on manual box mowers with belt clutch, sudden release facing up a steep slope woul easily flip these over assisted by a heavy bag and heavy driver. 15° or 1 in 4 is the recommended maximum slope on a tractor mower.

You shouldn't have a problem with the variable drive. No chain on these. These drives are well proven, horizontal belt to vertical pinion drive gear and clutch on the rear axle, with a variable diameter v pulley on the pinion shaft. I've had to replace one of these drives on a high quality Stiga I owned, but it had been in continuous use for 16 years, so it owed me nothing. More common issues would be the variable speed bowden cable which pulls the belt tighter and opens the pulley faces reducing its effective diameter, thus speeding up the mower. I've had these break a few times in the life of various mowers, a bit like a bicycle brake cable. It is an extra thing to go wrong, but the choice of speed is very useful, and the only difference between a fixed speed and variable is the split pulley on the gearbox, and the cable mechanism.

I think the Toro mechanism is a composite of the speed variator operated by the clutch bar which also engages the drive to the wheels, so that the harder you push the drive bar forward, the higher the belt ratio and speed. How well it works I couldn't say, but the mechanics of it are the same.

Stihl are high end, they are actually the Viking brand rebadged when Stihl bought the Viking company some years ago. You won't find any green Viking walk behinds at this stage I reckon. I see the 655 VS and 655 VM on offer at mower.ie , the website of ISE Forest and Garden. Both have variable speed, aluminium deck, mono bar handle, but the VS has a B&S engine, and a blade brake clutch. The VM has a Kohler engine. Blade brake means you can leave the mower idling while emptying the bag. They're only asking an extra €100 for this option, which just about covers the parts used. At €1190 though, you should look at all options and higher end brands, Honda, Harry, etc. The Stiga 55s Twinclip, https://mower.ie/product/stiga-twinclip-55-s-h-bbc-self-propelled-petrol-lawnmower is a contender in your price range, with a Honda engine, variable speed, unique double faced Twinclip blade for finer cutting, and blade brake, and it still has the dna of the original Swedish brand before the Castelgarden merger. Happy hunting.

You have your research well done, and all your observations are spot on. I wondered was height an issue, you're on the money there, and I see you've done a height rack mod like myself for good clearance. I also wondered if weight was an issue, 53cm mowers can be an awkward lift into a car. I've a Cobra alu deck machine which I used to have to collapse into the boot of the car for mowing an elderly relatives garden, but thats history now, (the relative, not the mower). Some mowers are better than others for lifting and folding the handles. I had considered the Husqvarna composite deck LC353 mower at one stage, I checked it out and was satisfied with its simple, open but robust construction, quality of its drive, wheels and handles, and it's light composite deck at 30kg. It had a cutting height of only 75mm, which is fairly low. I opted for the electric start Cobra in the end as it was mostly used by herself. The Husqvarna brand has suffered in recent years though as it tries to compete at the lower end, and is exiting that segment afaik.

You're also accurate in describing how some robust brands have sourced some models from the generic pattern market, in order to have an economy range. Others may have downgraded quality due to mergers. The almost unaffordable Stiga brand did shift downwards when the company was bought by GGP, aka Castelgarden. Over time though the Castelgarden products seemed to improve from their big box days, and they have attained a quality level and price in their larger models. It seems though that they are trying to differentiate the Stiga models again. GGP is now Stiga Group. I was impressed with their electric start model when I viewed it some years ago, it was second on my list, but I regret not going for it. Deck fitting, wheels, handles and controls were very well made.

Stihl have a large network of dealers, based on their hand tool legacy, and often only keeping parts stock for the smaller stuff, unless they were also Viking dealers, but they have a main distributors in the city. Parts through dealers are very expensive, but their iron grip on simple things like part manuals and part numbers has loosened thanks to the Internet. I rang a Viking/Stihl dealer a few years ago and asked for a price on a tractor mower deck timing belt by its part number. After a telling pause, he said, defensively, " where did you get that number?". I asked was it a trade secret, was I not supposed to know it. The Viking manual actually was, for main dealers eyes only, but the web is your friend. He never rang me back with a price. If you fix your own stuff you'll be well able to hunt for competitive prices further down the road should you need them. If you choose well, hopefully you won't need any for a long time.

It may refer to the change of engine to Stilhl badged engine from the B&S legacy engine of the Viking 5112. What does the dealer say.

I have an area of lawn around 13 meters by 10 meters that needs occasional mowing, but I can't run anything heavy out there, no big power mowers. Strimming it can be done but....ugh... that means it doesn't get strimmed too often!

I looked at a push mower at Woodies, looked like junk, frankly, cheap and plasticky. Anyone got a good quality, not too massive a push mower they'd recommend, or some other mower? There's a septic field below it with pipes and all and all we can do is walk on it, no motorized equipment at all.