New to petrol lawnmowers

[mr_spock]

I have an older Mountfield (maybe 6 years old), and as I've moved to a house with a smaller garden I'd be interested in swapping for an electric if you want. Serviced a couple of years ago, new carb at that time, works well but overkill for my tiny lawn.

PM me if interested, I'm near Huntingdon but always driving somewhere!

[oblio]

Dr Murdoch said:

I'm about to move house to one with a decent size garden.

My current electric mower won't extend to the boundary...

Have you thought about an extension lead and saving yourself £240 in the process

Not very PH I know but....

[dickymint]

Dogwatch said:

Try to run the engine dry before winter or any long period of non-use, or fit an in-line petrol tap. Left to evaporate petrol - or what passes for it these days - evaporates from the carburetter leaving a gummy residue to be cleaned out before the thing will work again.

2 stroke engines need to be emptied but four strokes not a problem.

My Torro is left outside all year round uncovered!! - started 2nd pull this Spring!

[Dr Murdoch]

oblio said:

Dr Murdoch said:

I'm about to move house to one with a decent size garden.

My current electric mower won't extend to the boundary...

Have you thought about an extension lead and saving yourself £240 in the process

Not very PH I know but....

Indeed not very PH!

I've never been overly happy with my current one, so this is my justification for getting a new one, albeit 2nd hand.

In terms of make, and I'm looking for a bargain in the 2nd hand market (thus I'm not looking at just one manufacturer). From this thread it seems Honda izy's, older mountfields. Hayters are quite common on eBay, are these any good? Same with the Qualcast Suffock Punch.

[Dr Murdoch]

I forgot to ask, is there a simple rule of thumb for the width of lawn vs the width of the mower?

[myvision]

Dogwatch said:

Try to run the engine dry before winter or any long period of non-use, or fit an in-line petrol tap. Left to evaporate petrol - or what passes for it these days - evaporates from the carburetter leaving a gummy residue to be cleaned out before the thing will work again.

20 years of owning petrol mowers I've never drained or had one 'gum' up over winter.

[AAD44H]

Honda, will last many years if looked after I have an Izy

[mikeiow]

Dr Murdoch said:

I forgot to ask, is there a simple rule of thumb for the width of lawn vs the width of the mower?

Only that the narrower the cut, the more walking for you!!
Go large!
A Suffolk lunch would make great stripes on your main lawn. We owned one many years ago, but it was given to us, & without the time or skills to properly fix, we ended up passing it on, it needed serious attention!

[motco]

I had a large and nicely kept (by a previous owner) lawn and bought a Suffolk Punch. The most irritating thing was it's complete inability to deal with long stalks and they look awful. Hands and knees job pulling them up or chopping them off. My old (and newer) Mountfield with rollers leave nice stripes and no stalks. The old Mountfield still works but the body has corroded to the point that I fear the motor could tear itself out of the hood. The Slovakian one (S421R PD 41cm Self-Propelled Rear Roller model) has a pressed steel hood.

Edited by motco on Sunday 23 September 12:31

[Johnnytheboy]

motco said:

I had a large and nicely kept (by a previous owner) lawn and bought a Suffolk Punch. The most irritating thing was it's complete inability to deal with long stalks and they look awful.

That's the problem with Cylinders - you've got to mow at least every 4-5 days in the high growth season to stop this happening, AND keep the blades razor sharp.

[anonymous-user]

Monkeylegend said:

C0ffin D0dger said:

Bought a Homebase Mountfield special when we first moved into our house, some 11 years on it's still going strong, despite little or no maintenance by me.

Same here, the last one cost me £125, only top the oil at the start of the season, fill it with petrol every week, pull the string and off it goes.

Never clean it before I put it away for the winter, just dump it in the garage and pull it out again the following spring.

I run them till destruction which is usually about 9/10 years minimum so they cost me about £15 pa max depreciation plus petrol.

Exactly the same for me too!

[Drive Blind]

Dogwatch said:

Try to run the engine dry before winter or any long period of non-use, or fit an in-line petrol tap. Left to evaporate petrol - or what passes for it these days - evaporates from the carburetter leaving a gummy residue to be cleaned out before the thing will work again.

15 years using petrol mowers - I've never had this issue.

I had a McCulloch mower and now a Mountfield. Both are self propelled and both at the cheaper end of the range. Despite being mostly plastic they've both given me no issues. The McCulloch was 'retired' after 12 years use to a relative with a smaller garden and is still going strong. The Mountfield I've had for 3 years.

I would have loved to spend £££'s and get the top of the range metal deck model but with the budget models doing the job and lasting 10+ years I couldnt justify it.

[thetapeworm]

Just bumping this as I've just tried to use my Bosch corded machine for the first cut of the year and apparently it's dead.

I've always fancied a petrol mower but have a low budget, I was thinking about the Mountfield HP42, can anyone have a quick look at the spec and let me know if there are any issues I should be aware of?

https://www.mountfieldlawnmowers.co.uk/hp42-41cm-h...

I'm confused as heck by it all and am a little sceptical about a used one at this time of year (and can't see much available locally).

[Bill]

Sounds like the chap above is happy with a budget Mountfield, but if you can stretch the budget I've had a Honda Izy that I've utterly abused and shamefully neglected for 12 years that hasn't missed a beat.

https://www.gardenmachinesltd.co.uk/honda-izy-hrg-...

[thetapeworm]

I kept seeing the Izy being recommended and I love the idea of replacing my recently sold Honda CRV with a lawnmower but they are a bit over my unplanned spend budget. I'll keep checking for promotions though, you never know.

[Bill]

There's one on eBay for £140 that can't have had as hard a life as mine.

[toastyhamster]

I've bought a couple of Mountfields locally off ebay, got one fully working for 16 quid and it does a similar amount of grass at my allotment no bother. The other one cost 40 and is in a bit better nick cosmetically as well as having a smoother engine.

This sort of thing:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mountfield-lawn-mower-/...

I cut my own lawn and I also look after the grass at the local scout hut, so the ability to fold the bars down and chuck in the back of a hatchback is ideal.

The Flymo went on ebay, both petrol ones could do with a new blade but they both cut better than the Flymo.

[Coleman262]

Got myself a 2nd hand hayter harrier 41 (smallest cutting deck they do) for £120 very good nick, roller, leaves stripes, going to give it a service when I can be bothered, seen them go for as little as £80 and as much as £200+ 2nd hand.
This one was 5mins from my house so just paid a bit more to save traveling

Brigs and Stratton engine so bullet proof,

[V8RX7]

Personally I'm a fan of used mowers but I noticed Aldi are selling a self propelled one with a 3yr guaranty for £199

https://www.aldi.co.uk/self-propelled-petrol-lawn-...

[HARTLEYHARE1]

Bill said:

Sounds like the chap above is happy with a budget Mountfield, but if you can stretch the budget I've had a Honda Izy that I've utterly abused and shamefully neglected for 12 years that hasn't missed a beat.

https://www.gardenmachinesltd.co.uk/honda-izy-hrg-...

Cannot agree more

Easy pezzy startup even after a cold winter it fires on second pull

Absolutely nothing but a proper mower at little cost with spares galore unlike most