New to petrol lawnmowers

[V8RX7]

Plastic is seen as poor but if you have a small tidy garden I can see it's an advantage but it can crack with age/sun or stones hitting it.

Steel is fine if you don't leave wet grass stuck to it.

I do have an old alloy decked one - I bought used around 20 years ago and it's perfect - equally it's only used for10 mins a week around trees.

[Jobbo]

Jambo85 said:

Jobbo said:

Now over a decade old (12 at least), never serviced and abused more as it gets older and I’ve moved to houses with bigger gardens. It started first pull this year. In contrast the previous Mountfield with Briggs & Stratton engine bent its crankshaft running over the corner of a manhole cover.

Have you tried stopping the Honda suddenly with a large lump of immobile steel? Is there any reason for it to fare any better?

I have, ashamedly - it started again quite happily. The only damage I've managed to do to it in over a decade is breaking the plastic clip which holds the throttle cable in place; got a replacement for a couple of quid from Amazon and clipped it back on.

[Halmyre]

I've had a couple of Husqvarnas in the last twenty years, with B&S engines - I only got a new one because the previous one was stolen. Thrives on neglect, I'm ashamed to say. Bung it in the shed in October, drag it out in March/April, couple of inches of petrol still in the tank, half a dozen yanks on the cord and off it goes. Still on the original oil. Appalling lack of grip on anything lower than number three on the ride height though.

[Frimley111R]

Wilts_jeff said:

I have had the Honda engined Mountfield from Screwfix for four years. Absolute monster for the price and still running faultlessly with minor servicing. Great on flat lawn and also on very rough, uneven area in the 'wild' garden....

https://www.screwfix.com/p/mountfield-sp53h-51cm-1...

51 cm!

[CO2000]

I have bought one like this after having the older engined model, nice for a med sized lawn.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/333147743575

[Gio G]

I have a John Deere petrol mower, owned over 15 years, never changed oil or serviced it, just put petrol in it and starts every time.. I think it cost me a few quid back in the day, but worth it.. it will probably out live me..

G

[Wilts_jeff]

Frimley111R said:

Wilts_jeff said:

I have had the Honda engined Mountfield from Screwfix for four years. Absolute monster for the price and still running faultlessly with minor servicing. Great on flat lawn and also on very rough, uneven area in the 'wild' garden....

https://www.screwfix.com/p/mountfield-sp53h-51cm-1...

51 cm!

Every little helps!

[nitrodave]

Don't mess about and get a Honda Izy. Best thing I did last year was buy one after messign about with B&S powered mowers and it's leagues ahead of most things. It's built so well and never failed to start.

John Lewis have £100 off today. If I was in your position I'd snap this up for £264 before the offer ends:

https://www.johnlewis.com/honda-izy-hrg416pk-petro...

[Jobbo]

nitrodave said:

Don't mess about and get a Honda Izy. Best thing I did last year was buy one after messign about with B&S powered mowers and it's leagues ahead of most things. It's built so well and never failed to start.

John Lewis have £100 off today. If I was in your position I'd snap this up for £264 before the offer ends:

https://www.johnlewis.com/honda-izy-hrg416pk-petro...

That's the push version - it's a good price but I'd suggest spending the extra for the self-propelled (SK suffix) version.

[V40TC]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-Izy-HRG-466-SK-46...

[Frimley111R]

V40TC said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-Izy-HRG-466-SK-46...

Shame about the location

[Frimley111R]

I think I'm just going to go with this, 18" blade Izy. It's going to get many year's service so I might as well start with a new one. I know there are some on the web which are cheaper but will take up an entire day to collect but I don't have the time to do all that. It's got free delivery too. And 5yr guarantee

https://www.johnlewis.com/honda-izy-hrg466sk-self-...

[TurboHatchback]

I have a cheap crappy Mountfield (100cc), it came with the house. Presumably it was left with all the other rubbish as it would only run for 10 seconds at a time then cut out, a big blast of carb cleaner back through the fuel primer and a tank of about 75% Redex later it runs like a champ, successfully leveled the jungle which passed for a lawn. We have quite a big garden too and it copes just fine so I think there's no need for big expensive fancy mowers unless you own multiple acres.

[thetapeworm]

Some closure on my part - I went with the Mountfield HP42 in the end. £169.00 with free next day delivery and free oil from https://www.mowersandspares.co.uk.

Really pleased with it so far, the instructions are very poor and I can imagine people with limited flat pack construction skills being concerned that aren't IKEA-like (and no tools are included) but 15 minutes in and I was up and running on the first pull.

Results were good and being cord free is a revelation for me, thanks for all your help (which to be fair I mostly ignored due to my low budget).

[anonymous-user]

thetapeworm said:

Some closure on my part - I went with the Mountfield HP42 in the end. £169.00 with free next day delivery and free oil from https://www.mowersandspares.co.uk.

Really pleased with it so far, the instructions are very poor and I can imagine people with limited flat pack construction skills being concerned that aren't IKEA-like (and no tools are included) but 15 minutes in and I was up and running on the first pull.

Results were good and being cord free is a revelation for me, thanks for all your help (which to be fair I mostly ignored due to my low budget).

Looks a bargain - I bought a Masport rotarola (who doesn't like lawn stripes) and luckily it's gone 11 years without a problem or I'd have needed to disclose it's actual cost to my wife...

[clive_candy]

thetapeworm said:

Any issues with patchy sections if the VTEC kicks in unexpectedly?

Bit of a thread resurrection I know but I thought this really shouldn't go unappreciated.

[Grumps.]

Had a Honda Izzy for a couple of years now and i have never been that impressed with the cutting performance, even from new.

Maybe i need to change my cutting style. Dunno.

[Dannbodge]

Having used to work in a lawnmower/garden equipment shop for several years.

Honda used to outsell everything but at least 3 times and they'd be far fewer in the workshop needing to be repaired

I'd go for an Izy of you can. So simple and easy

[austinsmirk]

Been using a Honda for 10 years now. They’re perfect.