Lawn Mowers

[foxwelljsly]

Well, am picking up this 20”/51cm AL-KO lawn mower on Saturday. £500.

An electric 20” mower with enough batteries to do our lawn would have cost more than twice as much.

Was advised that the engine is identical to the Honda equivalent and that it should last a lot longer than the small Qualcast it is replacing.

 

[boneman]

My Einhell push mower has been fab. No batteries, petrol or earplugs required!

 

[SteveG]

We've got about half an acre of lawn at our cottage and advise from local folks with similar gardens is for either Honda or Hyundai, with the latter being cheaper. An electric mower isn't really an option for us so we'll be going with one of the larger petrol powered ones.

 

[Hoopsontoast]

I've just bought a Honda Petrol, the HRS 536VK Mulching one. Not had a chance to start it yet due to the rain! Was tired of my cheapish Makita LXT, needing 4x batteries to not even finish both fronts and rear lawns.

Overview

Cut your lawn in record-breaking time with the Honda HRS petrol mulching lawn mowers. Learn more about it's lightweight design and efficient features.

www.honda.co.uk

 

[Ponty]

I've just bought a Honda Petrol, the HRS 536VK Mulching one. Not had a chance to start it yet due to the rain! Was tired of my cheapish Makita LXT, needing 4x batteries to not even finish both fronts and rear lawns.

Overview

Cut your lawn in record-breaking time with the Honda HRS petrol mulching lawn mowers. Learn more about it's lightweight design and efficient features.

www.honda.co.uk

That‘s a decent bit of kit. I like mulching, saves so much time and hassle. Better for the lawn too. Of course, you need something with a bit of ooomph to work well. Seems electric mowers suffer range issues with anything other than a postage stamp garden. As ever, horses for courses.

 

[SteveG]

I think this is the one my wife has decided on:

https://hyundaipowerequipment.co.uk...rt-self-propelled-petrol-lawnmower-hym560spe/

 

[cctaylor]

I've just bought a Honda Petrol, the HRS 536VK Mulching one. Not had a chance to start it yet due to the rain! Was tired of my cheapish Makita LXT, needing 4x batteries to not even finish both fronts and rear lawns.

Overview

Cut your lawn in record-breaking time with the Honda HRS petrol mulching lawn mowers. Learn more about it's lightweight design and efficient features.

www.honda.co.uk

A newer version of the one I got for the church. You should be very happy with it.

 

[Colinb]

I have a Al-Ko 52 cm self propelled with honda engine here. Been using it for quite a few years. Its very well built and quite heavy but does a really good job and goes through wet or long grass no problem. It also has a side shoot to spray the cuttings into the hedge bottom along the side of the garden which has a hedge. I can cut our lawn, which is 45m x 15m in about 40 mins and a tank full of fuel will do about 3 cuts. In the next few months I will stop collecting the rest of the clippings and put the mulching attachment on so I wont need to add any lawn feed or worry too much about hot dry weather. Spares are readily available too.

 

[wow&flutter]

I think this is the one my wife has decided on:

https://hyundaipowerequipment.co.uk...rt-self-propelled-petrol-lawnmower-hym560spe/

You won’t be disappointed SteveG, that’s the larger version of the one I bought. That one wouldn’t have fitted through my concrete shed door so it was ruled out, it does have the bigger engine, though not much heavier. Quite a bit more expensive though and looks like a three week waiting time on this model!

 

[camverton]

Go Electric I'd suggest. Ego power are the business for a petrol power equivalent, Self drive and a good 45 mins minimum usage time. Lesser electrics can struggle with longer wetter grass if you have any. Cobra and Stihl also very good indeed, with Cobra being best VFM. Recharge takes no time at all (lunch break only) and maintenance in minimal.

I like Honda, i had a small Izzy years back but the steel deck was a rust bucket. My ex hand mower was a Toro. No complaints at all. proper machine.

I bought the biggest Ego+ mower five years ago when I moved into a house with 1/2 acre very hilly garden with some very rough areas of grass and plenty of tree roots. I’ve been pleased with it, although the battery is now just starting to show signs of age on longer rougher cuts at the beginning of the season. If buying look for offers of extra battery, although in practice when it is time to recharge the battery I like to recharge myself with a cuppa.

Same battery fitting for their other products which include a very good strimmer, the line of which by some miracle, never gets tangled. Some of the items in the multi tool are a bit gimmicky and barely worth bothering with.

One of the amusing features are headlights - and a warning in the instructions not to cut grass in poor light!

 

[Ponty]

I bought the biggest Ego+ mower five years ago when I moved into a house with 1/2 acre very hilly garden with some very rough areas of grass and plenty of tree roots. I’ve been pleased with it, although the battery is now just starting to show signs of age on longer rougher cuts at the beginning of the season. If buying look for offers of extra battery, although in practice when it is time to recharge the battery I like to recharge myself with a cuppa.

Same battery fitting for their other products which include a very good strimmer, the line of which by some miracle, never gets tangled. Some of the items in the multi tool are a bit gimmicky and barely worth bothering with.

One of the amusing features are headlights - and a warning in the instructions not to cut grass in poor light!

If it will fit in the strimmer head, use Oregon square nylium. It’s way better than normal line. In my Stihl petrol it’s brilliant, smashes through anything and much safer than a brush cutter.

 

[Rockmeister]

And Ego's own braided thread is also excellent.

 

[CageyH]

What size line are you using?
My tool of preference for clearing the woods for the first cut of the season is an Airecut 300. A brilliant blade that avoids clogging.

However, I am looking for a decent line for the regular cutting.

 

[madmike]

We have a gardener...end of.

 

[camverton]

What size line are you using?
My tool of preference for clearing the woods for the first cut of the season is an Airecut 300. A brilliant blade that avoids clogging.

However, I am looking for a decent line for the regular cutting.

I use 1.4mm which is fine enough to cut cleanly but not so thin as to keep snapping. For anything really rough I use the brush cutter - with care, and whilst wearing the £19.99 work boots mentioned in the ATC speaker thread!

 

[camverton]

We have a gardener...end of.

You have my sympathy.

 

[Beobloke]

We have a gardener...end of.

I'd love a gardener, but my wife assures me there's no need as she already has one...

 

[cctaylor]

I prefer to use an aluminium loaded nylon line. It seems to be more durable and worth the extra cost.

 

[gavreid]

In this video Mick (again) cleans up a carby but watch when he puts it back together at just how much water there is in the fuel tank - you'll be shocked and amazed!

 

[Paul L]

I think the sort of person with a small or medium lawn who trims it maybe once per fortnight for a few months of the year will be bewildered at the variety of choices made on the thread and the hobby-pricing some of it looks like. Very different from those with larger gardens, country living or tougher ground to tackle of course who need a decent tool rather than a consumer appliance many of us can make do with.

my needs fall into the first category and through the years I used petrol which was both great and a misery at the same time trying to start it after winter non-use then corded electric which was convenient but a bit of a pain avoiding mowing over the cord and using an extension cable.

A mate kept saying that by the time you’ve set up a corded electric you’re half way round the lawn with a cordless. I looked at Greenworks and others but they seemed expensive especially when factoring in a second battery. I took a chance on a Spear &Jackson for £220 with two 40v batteries and now into the 3rd year of use, when it packs up I will happily replace with the same again.