The Great Big Lawnmower Thread

Clarke of Cavan have a year old (but probably two seasons) one for €9000. For an acre. Its a bit like buying a sledgehammer to crack a nut, but you're getting a commercial machine. If your acre is inclined to be soft, and it is a lawn, not a paddock, be aware of the extra weight and compaction of this machine. Something lighter might be better, and the running cost of a petrol machine will be trivially greater than the saving using agricultural diesel.

Lifting wet grass and blasting it through the bagging chute is all about the velocity of the blade tips and the amount of turbine built into the blade shape, how much like a propeller it is. Some mowers may have extra fans atop the blades. My 50 inch cut Viking (now branded as Stihl) only sticks if the grass is very wet and I go too hard, or if its covered with damp leaves at this time of year. A Honda like this 25hp 48" versamow might be a good buy for under your budget, they have some serious models with mulch on a lever that let's you select it on the fly. https://monaghanhire.com/products/honda-hf2625-hme-ride-on-lawnmower-25hp

I suppose you could inspect the grass chutes to see which one is the biggest. Others here might have good advice on sticky or otherwise baggers. For €8k you're looking at the premium end of most brands,

Ideally change the oil and oil filter now so old oil isn't sitting in the engine. But you'll need to start it again to warm the oil up to change it. Most people don't bother changing the oil now but its best practice.

You could use a liter of Aspen fuel to run the engine and leave that in overwinter as it doesn't degrade like normal petrol.

Again you don't have to but air filter and spark plug are worth replacing each year.

Thanks, have those few bits done now.

Anyone know what this OHV box is on the front of the engine? ...it's a Stiga ST400 engine. Naively opened it to see what was inside and about 10 or 20 Mls of oil dripped out the bottom.

Ok great, thanks a million for that advice. I'm 99% sure it had a gasket on it. I just popped the cover straight back on when I spotted the oil, so didn't get a good look. I'll keep an eye though on next run, thanks again.

Can anyone recommend a decent mower to cut long (possibly wet when time comes) grass in a large area? I have a Solo Alko ride on (2 yrs old) - but going into the new year, the grass is quite long and wet already (wasn't able to cut the grass full season due to medical issues - finished in early October) so when the season begins I will have a real job on my hands and the ride on will not manage it, just wondering what would be best to invest in to get the first few cuts out of the way with minimal problems, a brushcutter / strimmer on wheels? or is there a decent self propelled mower that would do this? Was looking at the likes of this online: https://mower.ie/product/orec-gr537pro-self-drive-lawnmower?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAs6-sBhBmEiwA1Nl8syFA--Z9jZtngekuz8g3e97Ee8_I0ZohzGkRACUxqxpl1dMkfWsCAhoCx_EQAvD_BwE - but it's pricey, even though it says it will manage long wet grass, any opinions or advice would be most welcome, thanks in advance,

^^ I second that. What's the point spending thousands for another machine while hired pro would do the same for a fraction of the price? Especially that's more than likely once-off job.

Yes, Optimate brand. Cost 70-100 depending on model and capacity, but can nurse nearly any type and capacity back to life. Mine has saved and prolonged batteries from mowers to motorbikes to stop start AGMs to a very pernickety auxiliary battery in a lexus hybrid which refused a standard charger.

The cheapo China one from amazon will probably do most of the same stuff, or will appear to, until it doesn't someday, and maybe toasts your battery. If you're only ever going to use it on the mower, it'll do the job.

Today I tried to start my lawn mower (with instart battery ignition). All I hear is a clicking noise and all the green lights on the battery flash repeatedly.

I did take off the blade and sharpen it, so the mower was on its side for a few mins. Could I have flooded a part of it with oil/fuel? The Spark Plug looks OK as well, but maybe needs to be replaced? It worked perfectly before I sharpened the blade.

Any ideas?

Yeah, tried that. I put it back in the charger for 30 mins until it was fully charged. No luck though on the mower. It seems to drain down quickly as well when I try to start it each time

Poor spade connections on the wiring have dogged my instart mower since new. I never know when it'll go click click, but wiggling the wiring while holding down the bar and pressing the starter (requires 3 arms and hands, I know), sorts it till the next time. Battery lamps don't flash though. That only hapoend me on a first use last spring, very cold and batteries were in the garage . Both read 4 green lamps, both went into flat and flashing as soon as I pressed start. Kept them indoors for a good while then charged. Started no problem. Generally, I think it's a poor system, as a current surge failsafe the batteries to 'off' too easily, like on a cordless drill.. An old fashioned lead acid battery will just grunt and turn slowly. Rotate the blade a little to maybe give the pinion a better chance of engaging.

@deezell (or anyone else who might have an answer), looking for a bit of help getting service parts - fuel and oil filters, etc for my Stihl rt5112z ride-on. It's the model with the Stihl engine rather than the Briggs&Stratton engine which used to be in these. I've had a look online but no luck and too many results coming up about the mower itself but no mention of parts on any website selling the machine it seems. The company I bought it from (which is based a long distance from me) does have a service kit on their website but it's for the rt5112z with the B&S engine not the Stihl engine. I'm presuming the service parts would be different sized for the different engines?

Edit to add: I've emailed the company couple of days ago but yet to hear back.

Any help greatly appreciated as ever.

Thanks Deezell, I'll follow that advice and report back in due course.

Cant decide if the petrol would be safer though, no way Im cutting the back garden with the electric if my meadow plan fails and it all goes to grass...

Are Lidl lawnmowers considered okay for light use or have they been bad down the years?

The electric one is not cordless, you've to drag a mains lead behind you, (or in the place you're about to mow, looking at the picture). You'll cut the lead sooner or later. It's also only a foot wide cut, so for tiny areas. Your man in the picture is a 4 foot nothing model who makes the mower look huge....