New Lawnmower?

[mike]

elderly but quite fit stepparent's cheap 3 year old battery powered lawnmower has died and he's looking for a suggestion for something that'll 'see him out'.  It's a big lawn (70x25m?), with some quite wet bits and some quite slopey bits and it's a steep gravel path to get to and from the shed.

I was thinking a wide (50cm+) self propelled petrol with key start, no roller, that could mulch *or* collect the grass.

Any suggestions for manufacturers to be looking at or definitely be avoiding? 

[Little Jim]

Depends on how rich he is (or how rich his Step Son is!) and how long he thinks he's got left grass cutting.  I have got a Honda mower that came with the house, so it is at least 20 years old as that is when we moved in and it was certainly not new then.  It still starts first pull every time and has the minimal possible maintenance.  I am pretty sure that Honda now do key start ones.  But they are certainly not cheap to buy.

[Regulator]

I'd recommend a trip down the A10 to Wrights Mower Centre.

You can then have a slice of pizza and a coffee at Hot Numbers afterwards as a reward. 

[Legs]

A pair of LawnMaster L12s?  We got one last summer and it's brilliant.

[mike]

I'd recommend a trip down the A10 to Wrights Mower Centre.

You can then have a slice of pizza and a coffee at Hot Numbers afterwards as a reward. 

good shout, did exactly that this morning and got a deal on a 'weibang' mower! (yes, partly because the name makes me chuckle)   Very good sausage sandwich @ hot numbers too.

@legs - they look fantastic but might attract attention from people passing by on the footpath behind the house...

[citoyen]

I’m also in the market for a new mower - after years of putting up with our crappy Flymo, I’ve had enough. Similar needs: garden has slopes and bumpy patches, and is quite big. Also gets a bit boggy in places in winter.

I’d love to get a robot mower but probably a bit too spendy. I don’t mind doing the lawn myself, just want something to make the job a bit less of a painful chore.

Any recommendations welcome.

Wrights would be a bit of a trek for us but there’s a decent looking mower specialist just the other side of Canterbury ( https://www.stuartjdaws.com/index.html ) so I think we’ll be paying them a visit.

They stock Weibang. Is this a particularly good make then? Never heard of them before.

They also do second hand so maybe they’ll have some good deals.

[mike]

Apparently they use the same motors as Hayter, feel quite well built, have variable speed which I thought made sense as aged parent gets older.  Also grey, not red or orange which most of them seem to be.

[citoyen]

Apparently they use the same motors as Hayter, feel quite well built, have variable speed which I thought made sense as aged parent gets older.  Also grey, not red or orange which most of them seem to be.

If we go down the self-propelled route, variable speed definitely sounds like a good idea for our garden, which has lots of tricky bits to navigate and tight corners.

Out of interest, what was the Weibang model you got? Have you used it yet?

Looking at the aforementioned local mower place, even the most basic variable speed Weibang model they stock, the Virtue 46SVP (at £500) is 2.7kw, 46cm blade and 55L clippings bag, compared to our Flymo's 1.8kw, 36cm and 26L.

I really haven't appreciated until now quite how crap our Flymo is! (Well, it's probably fine for a small garden with a flat, square lawn but really not up to the job for our garden. £500 feels like a lot to spend on a mower but it seems to be a reasonable ball park figure for something that will be capable of taking the pain out the job.)

[citoyen]

Just been looking at an EGO mower as well - battery power might make more sense long term than a petrol mower.

The one I'm looking at has "Bright LED headlamps for mowing at a time that suits you".

Yeah, think I'll give that one a miss, thanks. The temptation to mow the lawn after getting home late from the pub would be too much... guaranteed to end in tears.

[mike]

Out of interest, what was the Weibang model you got? Have you used it yet?

the 50 SVP.  Not used it yet, will deliver it this weekend and give it a go then, if it ever stops raining..

[FifeingEejit]

I am now also in the market for a new lawnmower.
The cheapo Bosch thing that came with the house munched it's motor at the weekend, which maybe isn't a surprize as I kept over heating it trying to cut grass that doesn't dry out and gets stoopid long between cuts cos it's raining (I really need to cut the hedge down a bit)

anyway...
needing something better.
Preferably with adjustable cutting height.

I've been offered money towards it from mither so have some leeway for something decent ish.

My entire lawnmower selection experience is in Advance Lawnmower simulator.

[citoyen]

Preferably with adjustable cutting height.

This seems to be a standard feature of better mowers but it pays to look closely at the details in the spec...

I've seen some with as many as 10 different height settings.

However, as with bicycle gearing, breadth of range is perhaps more important than number of settings.

[Regulator]

I am now also in the market for a new lawnmower.
The cheapo Bosch thing that came with the house munched it's motor at the weekend, which maybe isn't a surprize as I kept over heating it trying to cut grass that doesn't dry out and gets stoopid long between cuts cos it's raining (I really need to cut the hedge down a bit)

anyway...
needing something better.
Preferably with adjustable cutting height.

I've been offered money towards it from mither so have some leeway for something decent ish.

My entire lawnmower selection experience is in Advance Lawnmower simulator.

I think it's a long way down the A1M for you to get to Wrights...

[Beardy]

I’m about to throw the towel in wrt mending my abused and neglected lawn mower. The new carb and new cable haven’t done the trick. I suspect that the magneto might have died also, but am struggling to test that effectively.

There’s a double jeopardy involved in continuing to try and mend it, the ‘good Monday after bad’ scenario and the ire of Dr Beardy whom is getting mightily pissed off with my lack of tidy lawn mowing. I’m getting a bit fed up with the later as well because I’m using a brush cutter and rake to try and limit the wilding of the estate at the moment.

I want a robot, but realistically we’re also go g to need a ‘collecting mower’ as well for the second cut of the meadow each year. I’d hoped that the existing mower would meet those needs, but if I need to get a replacement it’s going to be a harder sell to Dr B on the robot mower.

[FifeingEejit]

I think it's a long way down the A1M for you to get to Wrights...

Yes, I'd have to get to the A1 first let alone the A1(M)

[Beardy]

I’ve changed the carburettor. I’ve changed the spark plug and the magneto/coil/whatever it’s called. I’ve taken the float and needle out of the new carburettor and put it in the old one and put that back on.

I can see a spark between the HT lead and the crankcase when I turn the engine. I can’t however see a spark in the spark plug gap when I try the same.

It’s ‘trying’ to start, and indeed did start and run for 30 seconds yesterday.

I think I might be chasing an intermittent fault in a system I perhaps don’t know as well as I think I do. But come on, it’s a lawn mower engine; how complicated can it be?

Do I turn it over to a local lawnmower repair man, assuming he can fit me in or do I just call it a day and accept defeat. I think we might have crossed a threshold of diminishing returns.

[rafletcher]

New HT lead?

[FifeingEejit]

if the plug ain't sparking.
is the gap right?
is it grounded on the engine case when you're trying it
is the ht lead absolutely definitley connecting to the plug
when put in the plug hole, is it definitley going in right

You say you see a spark between the crank case and lead when devoid of plug, is it definitley coming from the right part of the ht lead, one way to check is to connect it all back up and crank it at night, expired HT leads can present sparks from the wrong places, thus no enough voles get to the plug for it to spark.

Sent from my IV2201 using Tapatalk

[Beardy]

The magneto is a single potted unit with core/coils/HT lead and plug connector all pre connected. The results I was getting were the same from each combination of old magneto, new magneto, old plug and new plug. All conducted with both the old carburettor, the new carburettor and the bastard love child of both carburettors.

I tried turning the engine with the recoil rope and with an electric drill onto the crank directly.

There is some subtle voodoo that is eluding me, but without the proper diagnostic tools and/or experience I’m damned if I can pin it down.

Dr Beardy has grown tired of my efforts and this afternoon declared the lawnmower dead. I was informed that I would identify and buy a replacement stat. A budget was agreed and the order submitted. I will be the _proud_ owner of a new. Shiney. Hyundai lawnmower before the end of the week.

I have rationalised the purchase on the grounds that even should I procure a robot, grass for the cutting of, before the next growing season, I will still need a more robust haymaker for the initial cutting and clearing of any part of the garden allowed to meadow.

I’m still a little disappointed in myself though. I don’t like to be beaten by technical matters.