Get the appropriate *widest* self propelled power mower and cut it twice a
week, make sure it mulches so you don't have to keep tipping the cuttings;
it will cut down on the time it takes substantially. Fire it up and off
you go; you just walk behind. If you can't afford new, hunt around for a
second-hand one, or look on Ebay:
do your home work.
Roddy

I can't second this enough. We have largish lawns front and back, and it
used to take, more or less, all day to mow. Once we got a wide mulching
mower with swivel wheels, the task shrank to three hours!

Thanks for this info. (thanks to Roddy too, although that post didn't make
it to my news server!).

The problem is that much of our garden is very steep, and the parts that
aren't are broken into several smaller lawns, with steps between, which
means that lugging a heavy mower between them is a problem (maybe it would
work with removable ramps though). It would be handy for our larger lawn
though, so it's certainly a possibility.

A.