On 31/05/2018 17:40, David wrote:
On Thu, 31 May 2018 12:24:47 +0100, Stephen wrote:

Hello,

Every year I say I am going to get a new mower but never get round to
it, but I feel the time has come!

I currently have a Bosch electric mower that I have had since 2001. It
says it has an induction motor and I don't know if that's the problem.
Are these the wrong type of motors for mowers? It means it is quieter
than other mowers but it is always stalling.

Odd. I have used both sorts and never had an electric one stall on me.

The blade curves up at the end and is supposed to eject the cuttings
into a box but this never works. I thought it was because the grass was
damp that it stuck together but even now when we have had all this
sunshine, the mower clogs and the motor stalls.

How strange. the air flow should be sufficient to blow stuff into the
bag or whatever collection method it uses. Have you tried cleaning the
bag that the grass cuttings go into? If air can't get out then there
will not be enough air flow to carry the grass cuttings along.

Would a petrol mower be less likely to stall or clog? I've never had one
before. I like the freedom of not having any wires.

Mine is a Mountfield 18" petrol with 135cc Honda engine. It is my second
in three decades used to cut about 1/3 acre all summer long. Its
predecessor fell apart after 20 years due to petrol spills and general
wear and tear. It has only stalled on me when I tried to cut a flagstone
or edging with it and even then it sometimes cut a piece off.

I have a front garden that does not have a lawn yet but I'm not sure
what else to do with it so it may get turfed! It is roughly 10'6" x
14'8" or 3.2m x 4.5m

The main use however would be for the back garden 18' x 41' or 5.5m x
12m approx. Though I will probably put raised beds, greenhouse, etc onto
some of this in the future.

That is probably a bit small to be worth the effort of a petrol mower.
You should be able to get an electric one that works OK.

I know Honda is well thought of for small petrol engines. I see they do
two "Izy" models: one is 16" and the other 18". From what I can tell,
they use the same engine. I was looking at ones that propelled
themselves to make it easier for me. It looks as though they only have
one speed: is that an issue? The larger mower is slightly slower but I'm
guessing that is because it weighs slightly more.

The larger mower costs £100 more. Is it really worth it for an extra two
inches? If I have done my sums right, for my garden I would have to go
up it 13 times with the 16" and 12 times with the 18", so it wouldn't
save me much time. Perhaps I should save money and buy the smaller
model? Either one is wider than my current electric one.

The 18" is my choice for a moderately large set of lawns with one of
them on a fairly aggressive slope where the self propelled feature is
helpful. On the flat I don't find it all that important. YMMV

It only has one speed - sort of slow walking.

We have a Bosch Rotak and it seems to be fine, although we currently only
have a small lawn. I don't know if you just had a bad example.

Best mower we have had was a Harry (no longer made) which had an alloy
deck and a Briggs & Stratton engine. Generally abused and ignored and it
always seemed to start and cut well.

I have found the electric mower to be much easier than petrol, though.

I think it depends a lot on how you get on with things mechanical. They
are fairly simple engines and quite easy to maintain and service but if
you are having to pay someone to do that work they can become expensive.

Electric is by comparison plug and play. Try giving the grass box on
your existing one a really good spring clean and you may be surprising
at how much performance improves. Something is wrong if it jams.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown