New to petrol lawnmowers

[Dr Murdoch]

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

My current electric mower won't extend to the boundary therefore I want to go petrol (I know I could go cordless, but this is PH after all)...

My budget is £250, more than happy to go via Ebay. Seen a Qualcast Suffolk Punch for £35 (looks v old, but it perfect running order apparently).

What engines/manufactures are rated and slated?

[djsmith74]

We picked up a Mountfield from Screwfix. Solid bit of kit and very easy to fire up. The self propelling ones do make things easier if you're on a hill.

https://www.screwfix.com/c/outdoor-gardening/lawn-...

[LordHaveMurci]

Honda Izy is the default answer, you may get lucky & find a 2nd one in budget.

[Bill]

LordHaveMurci said:

Honda Izy is the default answer, you may get lucky & find a 2nd one in budget.

+1

[steveo3002]

suffolk punch is pretty awesome if the lawn is fairly flat ,they have a heavy roller at the back and leave really nice stripes if thats your thing , unlike the newer plastic ones arent heavy enough to leave such nice ones

you will always find spares for suffolk punch /honda/hayter

[dhutch]

There was a past thread on this recently.

The Chinese Mountfields will work, but are very much the cheep and cheery end since the brand was sold out about 15 years or so ago. I've just acquired one with my new house and its seriously borderline and nice very nice to use, but does work.
Looking at that link they appear to now have a Briggs and Straton engine, so maybe at least the quality of the engine is improved. But maybe B&S have just branded a low spec motor?

Haytor is the 'rolls royce' option, but they have got very big, heavy, and pricey these days rather than filling the hole left by Mountfeilds new ownership. Brigs and Straton engine. Aluminium deck.

The Honda's appear to get good reviews, very nice engine obviously, but and all right mower as well. I think in the recent thread there was talk of another brand which uses a Honda engine which is also a reasonable buy but I forget the name.

For the budget you might well be better off with a second hand one, but that's I guess even more lottery.

How much grass is there? What sort of finish are you after? Aka, cylinder or rotary, self-propelled? Roller at the back?


Daniel

[C0ffin D0dger]

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.

This year the recoil stopped recoiling, I foolishly tried to take it apart to repair causing a very tightly coiled spring to become less so. I can still start the mower though by just manually winding up the rope each time.

Way I see it as and when this one falls completely to bits another £150 mower for 10 years+ of mowing is good value. Why spend more?

[Johnnytheboy]

Presuming the Qualcast is a cylinder, you'll need to be religious about cutting the grass - they are great for the perfectionist but they don't like cutting long grass.

[nitrodave]

Bill said:

LordHaveMurci said:

Honda Izy is the default answer, you may get lucky & find a 2nd one in budget.

+1

+2

you can get one new for a little stretch over your budget

[motco]

I have a Mountfield (Slovakian, not Chinese) and while it isn't up to the standard of the ones made in Maidenhead (I still have one of those from about 1984), it is a workmanlike machine, easy to use, and reliable. It is, in real terms and numerically, much less expensive than a UK built 'real' Mountfield. It does have a rear roller too!

[Dr Murdoch]

Thanks for the replies chaps!

Here is a pic of the garden, i'm really not sure what is required. The garden nearest the camera is quite flat, however the back is a bit rougher, see pic 2:





I assume a Honda would be good as its more of an all rounder? I would like a roller for the stripes on the main bit of lawn, but will that make a mess of the bottom end (pic 2)?

[Monkeylegend]

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.

[Hobo]

Don't think a cylinder mower would be great for uneven lawns, but if you willing to level them then look for something like an Allett.

This is a decent one under your budget;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hayter-Spirit-41-Autodr...

[Bill]

Anything with a roller is going to be a pain to get onto the top level by the tree. They're sodding heavy.

[Dr Murdoch]

Thanks guys.

I'm now thinking a 'proper' mower for the main bit, and a cheap flymo (with extension cord) for the back bit. Even if done well, having stripes at 90 degree angles is going to look weird...

[Bill]

You could just get a decent mower to cut and a roller (or a brush...) for the stripes.

Edited by Bill on Saturday 22 September 11:26

[Dogwatch]

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.

[BlueHave]

Hobo said:

Don't think a cylinder mower would be great for uneven lawns, but if you willing to level them then look for something like an Allett.

This is a decent one under your budget;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hayter-Spirit-41-Autodr...

A refurb or nearly new Hayter will be a better buy in the long run than the Chinese Mountfield sold at Screwfix.

Anything under £200 then make sure it has a reliable unit with parts readily available so a Briggs Classic 35 or 450 engine which are easy to maintain and work at, gaskets are £5, filters are £3 etc

Unless you go over £500 you'll struggle to get anything with a Honda engine new.

[Willy Nilly]

I've seen an ex demo Honda walk behind mower in our local farm machinery dealer for your budget or a bit less.

It's the end of lawn mowing season now, so you might find a good deal.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Freebie alert!

I have a 10 year old Hayter Motif 48 Autodrive that is now surplus to requirements (bought a new Hayter a few months ago).

It’s not perfect, and now lacks its autodrive mechanism (which had failed), but I believe it still works - will check.

It’s yours for free if you can collect from Woking.

More details in my PM.

Let me know if you’re interested!


Edited to add: Just tried starting it for the first time in about 6 months. Took 4 or 5 pulls because the carb had become unprimed, but it roared into life on the 5th pull and ran sweetly. Could maybe do with some grease on the throttle cable and engine stop cable, and the blade could do with sharpening and balancing, but otherwise it seems fine!

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Saturday 22 September 09:18