We are looking for a petrol mower (we think) for our lawn - the garden is
supposedly just under 1/4 acre and contains beds as well as lawns. We think
that we want a roller as this apparently will make it possible to avoid
having to strim the (many) edges. We also think that we want aluminium as we
are not brilliant at cleaning things. At the moment we seem to have got it
down to either a Hayter Hawk at about £300 or a Hayter Harrier 41 at about
£360 (both these are online prices). However we are not sure what the
difference is? Could anyone give us any advice please? We'd like to know:

are petrol ones a good choice for us - lawn is reasonably level but a bit
bumpy, it is often damp, we cut it about once a week or so and are not after
a bowling green but we do have a lot of edges.

are hayter as good as we'd been told?

is aluminium worth paying extra for?

does getting a self propelled one make life hugely easier? (hubby will do
the bulk of the mowing and is quite "hefty"). we are also not sure that we
could afford self propelled.

and what is the difference between the hawk and the harrier?

and are online suppliers any good?

thanks in advance,

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)