Lawnmowers

[Mojooo]

Currently I have a Flymo lawnmower - its a Hover one but its annoying because it doesnt collect grass very well and actually blows stuff all over my garden

Its new so I will try to return it to Argos.

I have been reading up on Cylinders and Rotarty mowers and decided I wanted a cylinder. Argos only sell a few and the one I want the QUALCAST CONCORDE 32 seems to be getting some mixed reviews on Amazon and the fact that it struggles with longer grass is a bit of a worry - this seems to be true of all cylinders

It also looks like it doesnt do edges very well

Any opinions?

So looking at rotary mowers - this one seems to be very good value and it seems to go to the edge

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7...

anyone have one?

[Simpo Two]

I think of a wheeled rotary as best for rough/long grass. Cylinder mowers work best on good lawns and hovers in-between. Hovers with a grass box don't really hover.

All depends how keen you are on lawns!

[pugwash4x4]

honda Izy every time- worth far more than the extra!

[thebullettrain]

Slight thread-highjack-any thoughts on getting an electric, petrol or cordless lawnmower? I've seen a pretty good Worx 24v cordless lawnmower at B&Q-but I am concerned about the power output and battery life.

[Phooey]

I bought the cheapest Mountfield petrol lawnmower from B&Q about 6 years ago - just over £100 if i can remember. Starts 1st time every time, and still cuts like new - never had it serviced. Had a Flymo piece of st before that.

Petrol all day long for me


ETA the pick up/suction on these are a zillion times better than electric IMO - we have a couple of trees in the garden which tend to drop a lot of twigs, the petrol lawnmowers are very suited to this. Saves having to pick them up by hand before mowing

Edited by Phooey on Sunday 6th June 10:01

[skyslimit]

I'm going to be controversial here. All the following are petrol BTW.

I had a Flymo. It was utter arse that blew grass everywhere but into the grass box.

I then had a Hayter. Great I thought. Proper job. Yeah right.

It broke the first time out. The front axle collapsed. The company (Mow Direct, brilliant service) sent me a replacement within 24hrs. On this one, one of the rear wheels fell off the second time it was used.

Hayter? Used to be awesome. Now junk IMHO. Stick all the Royal seals on it you want chaps, its now made in China to a terrible standard, and I have two bust mowers and a paper trail to prove it.

I then bought a £149, self propelled, no name one from B+Q (also made in China, but to a good standard it seems) It's fantastic. Starts on the first pull and works like a dream.

Seems you dont always get what you pay for.

[Mojooo]

petrol is more than overkill for me.

[bogie]

pugwash4x4 said:

honda Izy every time- worth far more than the extra!

same here...bought a used 14" one for £80 3 yrs ago.....starts every time and just cuts grass, no fuss...I would have another one anyday

[Shaolin]

Mojooo said:

petrol is more than overkill for me.

It seems like that at first but it is so much less hassle not dealing with the trailing wire.

Cylinder mowers are designed to give a fine finish and so to never have to cut long or longish grass, all the complaints about them will be from people who have used them inappropriately.

If you want years of minimal effort mowing I'd go for a petrol - I have a Honda Izy too, they are the VW Golf of lawn mowers, unless you have any other requirements and care how they look why would anyone buy anything else? When it comes to lawn mowers who cares about anything else, so a Honda Izy it is.

[Silver993tt]

Phooey said:

I bought the cheapest Mountfield petrol lawnmower from B&Q about 6 years ago - just over £100 if i can remember. Starts 1st time every time, and still cuts like new - never had it serviced. Had a Flymo piece of st before that.

Petrol all day long for me


ETA the pick up/suction on these are a zillion times better than electric IMO - we have a couple of trees in the garden which tend to drop a lot of twigs, the petrol lawnmowers are very suited to this. Saves having to pick them up by hand before mowing

Edited by Phooey on Sunday 6th June 10:01

I bought a flymo 16 years ago and it's still going strong and still collects the grass

[Rocksteadyeddie]

Mojooo said:

petrol is more than overkill for me.

Nothing petrol powered can ever be overkill.

[CaptainSlow]

Mountfield SP474 here petrol self propelled, never going back to electric.

[Sixpackpert]

Would have a petrol but the size of garden doesn't justify it...yet.

I have one of these.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7...

On the second year with it now and so far so good.

[igiveup]

Mojooo said:

Currently I have a Flymo lawnmower - its a Hover one but its annoying because it doesnt collect grass very well and actually blows stuff all over my garden

Its new so I will try to return it to Argos.

I have been reading up on Cylinders and Rotarty mowers and decided I wanted a cylinder. Argos only sell a few and the one I want the QUALCAST CONCORDE 32 seems to be getting some mixed reviews on Amazon and the fact that it struggles with longer grass is a bit of a worry - this seems to be true of all cylinders

It also looks like it doesnt do edges very well

Any opinions?

So looking at rotary mowers - this one seems to be very good value and it seems to go to the edge

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7...

anyone have one?

I have that exact mower. It is very good, gives some nice strips and cuts through anything! Including long grass, The motor is very strong. I've had it 3 year snow and nothing has gone wrong with it. Either cut the grass wet and it didn't bother it at all.

As with all electric cable mowers, its the cable that is the most annoying thing. I have to use an extension lead with it too as the wire it comes with is just not long enough to reach to the end of my 50' garden.

But apart from that it is great.

[Ynox]

Petrol every time for me - regardless of lawn size.

I've burnt out 4 electric mowers before we bought a petrol one. Minimal maintenance needed - sharpen the blade, clean the air filter, change oil every couple of years. Only problem was the carb diaphragm went, new one was £2 or so and easy to fit.

[Aviz]

igiveup said:

Mojooo said:

Currently I have a Flymo lawnmower - its a Hover one but its annoying because it doesnt collect grass very well and actually blows stuff all over my garden

Its new so I will try to return it to Argos.

I have been reading up on Cylinders and Rotarty mowers and decided I wanted a cylinder. Argos only sell a few and the one I want the QUALCAST CONCORDE 32 seems to be getting some mixed reviews on Amazon and the fact that it struggles with longer grass is a bit of a worry - this seems to be true of all cylinders

It also looks like it doesnt do edges very well

Any opinions?

So looking at rotary mowers - this one seems to be very good value and it seems to go to the edge

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7...

anyone have one?

I have that exact mower. It is very good, gives some nice strips and cuts through anything! Including long grass, The motor is very strong. I've had it 3 year snow and nothing has gone wrong with it. Either cut the grass wet and it didn't bother it at all.

As with all electric cable mowers, its the cable that is the most annoying thing. I have to use an extension lead with it too as the wire it comes with is just not long enough to reach to the end of my 50' garden.

But apart from that it is great.

I also have that exact mower, and it;s excellent, my lawn is only small though:



I researched for ages, reading the reviews on amazon, and i particulary wanted stripes. It gets right up against the decking, and i don;t need to strim.. The cable is a little short, allthough it does reach from the house all the way round mine, you may need a longer cable or an extension if it's much bigger.

I have let it grow to about 5 inches, and it didn;t have a problem. Pretty good with wet grass too.

Reviews here :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000NLRBOY/ref=...

Edited by Aviz on Monday 7th June 15:46

Edited by Aviz on Monday 7th June 15:47

[RedLeicester]

Rocksteadyeddie said:

Mojooo said:

petrol is more than overkill for me.

Nothing petrol powered can ever be overkill.

Quite right.

OP - you need this:



Just think - you can drive one way, cut the entire lawn, then the following week turn it around and come back the other way. Think of all the time and energy you'll save.

[Mojooo]

Rocksteadyeddie said:

Mojooo said:

petrol is more than overkill for me.

Nothing petrol powered can ever be overkill.

You're talking to someone who would use the car less if I could and I hate the smell of petrol

Frankly even a bit of servicing and changing oil is too much hassle (for a busy man like myself you understand). I think the downsides of a wire are overstated, we have always had them so know no better really.

I have just purchased the Bosch Rotak 34. Can't wait to try it out next week when the grass is a bit longer.

[Mojooo]

Just used it for the first time



Very very little grass going astray. Easy to empty the box out as well.

Cuts through the grass very easily

Its weird not being able to moved the mower wherever you wnat like a Flymo, you can only really go straight

It does cut to the edge where the edge is free but it struggled where you come up against a fence IMO.

Finally though, this stripes thing. Doesn't seem to work very well. From what I understand the roller does the work if you mow the lawn in a different direction each time. Doesn't work that well, plsu I cannot get the mower right to the edges where the fence is so I wouldn;t be able to get a stripe from the edge anyway.

Woudl it work better if you cut the grass shorter in one direction??

[Simpo Two]

'Stripes' is simply about the blades of grass leaning one way or the other - it's the way light reflects off it. The roller pushes the blades of grass over, that's all. You can't get stripes starting at right angles from a fence with a mower; there will always be a gap because the physical size of the mower gets in the way.

There are two ways out. One is mow round the circumference afterwards, giving an outer ring. The other is get a broom out and push the grass one way or t'other. That's how we got 'stripy lawns' when doing PR shoots for grasscare products

Edited by Simpo Two on Saturday 12th June 21:55