Lawnmower time
 

We've had a pocket handkerchief for the last mumble years, but this
one's a little larger - about 50x25 metres.

I'm not really into stripes. Suggestions for a mower please?

Andy

Lawnmower time
 

Vir Campestris wrote:
We've had a pocket handkerchief for the last mumble years, but this
one's a little larger - about 50x25 metres.

I'm not really into stripes. Suggestions for a mower please?

Andy
Sheep and fence off a small patch for some mint to let them know who is
boss!

Lawnmower time
 

"Vir Campestris" wrote in message
o.uk...

We've had a pocket handkerchief for the last mumble years, but this
one's a little larger - about 50x25 metres.

I'm not really into stripes. Suggestions for a mower please?

A reputable manufactured rotary petrol.
Keep it sharp and the blades balanced properly
Your choice if you need mulching of cut sward, or not into a bag or vac
attachment
Wash it off properly after use or it'll rot
Don't go for *anything* with a plastic base...Just don't.
Electric mowers are for the occasional garden lawn mowing Sunday enthusiast,

Lawnmower time
 

On Tue, 11 Mar 2014 20:34:48 +0000, Vir Campestris wrote:

We've had a pocket handkerchief for the last mumble years, but this
one's a little larger - about 50x25 metres.

I'm not really into stripes. Suggestions for a mower please?

We were in your position last year.

A small ad for a mildly used Viking (Stihl) 17" rotary got jumped at. We
were ambivalent about stripes, too - but this one has the roller, so
shrug

On balance, with somewhat lumpy ground in places, I think it scores over
wheels, since it doesn't drop one rear wheel into a hollow and scalp the
hummock.

Lawnmower time
 

On 11/03/2014 21:51, Nthkentman wrote:
"Vir Campestris" wrote in message
o.uk...

We've had a pocket handkerchief for the last mumble years, but this
one's a little larger - about 50x25 metres.

I'm not really into stripes. Suggestions for a mower please?

A reputable manufactured rotary petrol.
Keep it sharp and the blades balanced properly
Your choice if you need mulching of cut sward, or not into a bag or vac
attachment
Wash it off properly after use or it'll rot
Don't go for *anything* with a plastic base...Just don't.

My plastic-based honda begs to differ. However this may well be more
expensive than the ones you're thinking of - they save steel for their
cheaper models.

Lawnmower time
 

On 11/03/2014 21:51, Nthkentman wrote:
Electric mowers are for the occasional garden lawn mowing Sunday
enthusiast,

Yes. I have one of those, and it isn't going to be up to it.

(And sheep are just too much work. They spend all their time working out
new ways to die)

Andy

Lawnmower time
 

A goat?


Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Vir Campestris" wrote in message
o.uk...
We've had a pocket handkerchief for the last mumble years, but this
one's a little larger - about 50x25 metres.

I'm not really into stripes. Suggestions for a mower please?

Andy

Lawnmower time
 

"Nthkentman" wrote:
"Vir Campestris" wrote in message
o.uk...

We've had a pocket handkerchief for the last mumble years, but this
one's a little larger - about 50x25 metres.

I'm not really into stripes. Suggestions for a mower please?

A reputable manufactured rotary petrol.
Keep it sharp and the blades balanced properly
Your choice if you need mulching of cut sward, or not into a bag or vac attachment
Wash it off properly after use or it'll rot
Don't go for *anything* with a plastic base...Just don't.

My Qualcast mower has a plastic deck. In 20 years it has acquired a small
crack that I've plated over to stop it spreading. Still working well and
hardly ever cleaned after use.

No rust yet! Plastic decks aren't all bad.

Tim

Lawnmower time
 

On 11/03/2014 21:51, Nthkentman wrote:

Don't go for *anything* with a plastic base...Just don't.

Having had the rear wheels fall off my Hayter Hunter 41 at least three
times so far (needing replacement of the plastic partial under tray) I
would have to concur!




--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Lawnmower time
 

In article ,
"Nthkentman" writes:
Electric mowers are for the occasional garden lawn mowing Sunday enthusiast,

I used to agree (having repaired a good many friends' ones).

However, if you go to a proper lawn mower stockist rather than
the sheds, you'll find induction motor mowers (rather than the
cheap universal motors used in most electric mowers), and I
now rate induction motors better than petrol ones - they have
exactly the right torque profile for mowing grass (whereas
the cheap universal electric motors are exactly the wrong
torque profile, and petrol is somewhere in the middle).
Note that the power rating of an induction motor mower will
often be somewhat lower for the same output power or cutting
width, as they're more efficient.

When I last bought one, the induction motor mower was the
most expensive of the choices (electric universal, electric
induction, petrol). However, it doesn't need the servicing
that a petrol mower needs, nor brush replacing of a
universal motor (although most universal motor mowers are
designed to be chucked out when the brushes wear out).

However, induction mowers were getting harder to find (people
won't pay the extra, not understanding the difference), and
it was some years ago since I last checked the market and
bought one.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Lawnmower time
 

On 11/03/2014 23:07, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 11/03/2014 21:51, Nthkentman wrote:
Electric mowers are for the occasional garden lawn mowing Sunday
enthusiast,

Yes. I have one of those, and it isn't going to be up to it.

(And sheep are just too much work. They spend all their time working out
new ways to die)

Andy




And, anyway, they only give you stripes when you've knitted their wool:~}

--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

Lawnmower time
 

On 11/03/2014 20:34, Vir Campestris wrote:

We've had a pocket handkerchief for the last mumble years, but this
one's a little larger - about 50x25 metres.

I'm not really into stripes. Suggestions for a mower please?

Would be easier if you were since the rear roller allows it to be self
propelled and it will also support a larger grass box. You don't say if
your new lawn is bowling green flat or mountaineering steep.

Mine has a bit of both. Adjustable cut depth petrol mower is my choice -
I got mine from a local farm supply shop. The DIY sheds tend to have
cheap & nasty smelly ones that will last one or two seasons at most.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Lawnmower time
 

On Tue, 11 Mar 2014 23:39:04 +0000, Tim Streater wrote:

In article , Nthkentman
wrote:

"Vir Campestris" wrote in message
o.uk...

We've had a pocket handkerchief for the last mumble years, but this
one's a little larger - about 50x25 metres.

I'm not really into stripes. Suggestions for a mower please?

A reputable manufactured rotary petrol.
Keep it sharp and the blades balanced properly Your choice if you need
mulching of cut sward, or not into a bag or vac attachment

Yes, and I was doing OK with a Hayter R53A, now 4 years old. But
yesterday it decided it was boy-racer time. Started it up and it sat
there revving itself up and down, like some teenage **** at traffic
lights. It eventually settled down a bit, but gee, what is it with
these things? And, en plus, it was serviced not long ago.

Suggest spraying all the cables and springs and things with WD40 - I had
this and it was just the automatic governor being a bit sticky.

A blast of WD40 over the area of the engine where all the controls are
managed to cure this.

Cheers

Dave R

Lawnmower time
 

On Tue, 11 Mar 2014 20:34:48 +0000, Vir Campestris wrote:

We've had a pocket handkerchief for the last mumble years, but this
one's a little larger - about 50x25 metres.

I'm not really into stripes. Suggestions for a mower please?

Andy

Back in the day when I researched mowers the choice of rear roller or four
wheel was not to do with wanting stripes - you still get stripes(ish) with
a mower with four wheels.

The reason to chose a mower with a roller was if you wanted to cut close
to the edge or if you had awkward curves such as beds within parts of the
lawn.

The roller allows you to 'hang out' the rear of the mower over an edge and
cut the grass instead of dropping one wheel and digging in.

Alloy decks used to be the best - not fragile like plastic and not rusty
like steel.

My 'Harry' mower has done sterling service but AFAIK is no longer produced.

It has a plastic rear roller which I managed to smash quite
comprehensively by picking up a stone in the blades.

Cheers

Dave R

Lawnmower time
 

On 12/03/2014 11:26, Martin Brown wrote:
On 11/03/2014 20:34, Vir Campestris wrote:

We've had a pocket handkerchief for the last mumble years, but this
one's a little larger - about 50x25 metres.

I'm not really into stripes. Suggestions for a mower please?

Would be easier if you were since the rear roller allows it to be self
propelled and it will also support a larger grass box. You don't say if
your new lawn is bowling green flat or mountaineering steep.

You can get self propelled without a roller. It's pretty common :-)