Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it? Which width is best to go for?

The reviews about self-propelled mowers seem contradictory. I think a
variable speed one would add more to the cost. Some reviewers say the
single speed ones are too fast; others say they are fine. What is the
reality in your experience?

Thanks,
Stephen.

Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it? Which width is best to go for?

The reviews about self-propelled mowers seem contradictory. I think a
variable speed one would add more to the cost. Some reviewers say the
single speed ones are too fast; others say they are fine. What is the
reality in your experience?

Thanks,
Stephen.


How long is a piece of string? Ultimately size is related to the amount of
grass you have to cut.

Personally I wouldn't bother with self propelled on a 16"/41cm mower.

Tim

--
Trolls and troll feeders go in my killfile

On 11/07/2016 22:36, Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it? Which width is best to go for?

The reviews about self-propelled mowers seem contradictory. I think a
variable speed one would add more to the cost. Some reviewers say the
single speed ones are too fast; others say they are fine. What is the
reality in your experience?

Thanks,
Stephen.

I have the larger width, it is harder to get in and out of the barn
where it lives, but does a nice job, mine is push powered as I like to
trot around at speed, my son has the same model but his has power
assisted drive, it engages the drive as you push forward and removes the
effort of pushing a heavy mower. We have both had self propelled in the
past but didnt like the slow speed.

Most of the newer mowers I come across are poor at picking up the
cuttings if the grass has any length or is more than slightly damp they clog

--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
National collections of Clematis viticella & Lapageria rosea

In article ,
lid says...

Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it? Which width is best to go for?

Depends on the size of your lawn and how strong your arms/back are; on
the wider machine you'll notice the extra weight when turning it at the
end of each row.

The reviews about self-propelled mowers seem contradictory. I think a
variable speed one would add more to the cost. Some reviewers say the
single speed ones are too fast; others say they are fine. What is the
reality in your experience?

I would always go for self-propelled. Compared with most men I have a
short stride but I haven't found single speed ones too fast for me.

Janet

On 11/07/2016 22:36, Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it?

About 5cm ;-)

(you knew someone was going to say that!)

Which width is best to go for?

41 is a good general purpose mower and will cope with most situations,
but its a bit small for larger lawns.

The reviews about self-propelled mowers seem contradictory. I think a
variable speed one would add more to the cost. Some reviewers say the
single speed ones are too fast; others say they are fine. What is the
reality in your experience?

I don't know, since my old Hayter 16" is a push mower and its the only
one I have used extensively. Personally I have never missed self drive
on it, since its very light and easy to push. However I can see it would
be more desirable on a larger mower.


--
Cheers,

John.

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

On 12/07/2016 01:15, John Rumm wrote:
On 11/07/2016 22:36, Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it?

About 5cm ;-)


I usually overlap the strips I am mowing by around 5 cms. Otherwise, I
miss bits. So the effective cutting width is 36cms, compared to 41cms.

Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it? Which width is best to go for?

The reviews about self-propelled mowers seem contradictory. I think a
variable speed one would add more to the cost. Some reviewers say the
single speed ones are too fast; others say they are fine. What is the
reality in your experience?

Thanks,
Stephen.


Just a couple of other things you might like to think about.

Deck material. Steel decks will rust eventually, a good plastic/GRP deck
will last until you do something really stupid. ;-) Mine is 25 yrs old and
still going strong.

Rear roller. Not just good for putting stripes on the lawn but also makes
it easier to mow over the edges of the lawn as it's easier to stop the
mower tipping and scalping the grass.

Horse power. The B&S 3.5 Hp engine is pretty ubiquitous on 16" mowers and
does a pretty good job. That said, I was using a 5 hp Honda engined mower
yesterday and the extra oomph was nice for longer grass. Personally think
that cold starting isn't as good with the Honda engine.

Tim

--
Trolls AND TROLL FEEDERS all go in my kill file

I used to have a battery self propelled one and it was way too fast.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Tim+" wrote in message
...
Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it? Which width is best to go for?

The reviews about self-propelled mowers seem contradictory. I think a
variable speed one would add more to the cost. Some reviewers say the
single speed ones are too fast; others say they are fine. What is the
reality in your experience?

Thanks,
Stephen.


How long is a piece of string? Ultimately size is related to the amount of
grass you have to cut.

Personally I wouldn't bother with self propelled on a 16"/41cm mower.

Tim

--
Trolls and troll feeders go in my killfile

Stephen a écrit :
The reviews about self-propelled mowers seem contradictory. I think a
variable speed one would add more to the cost. Some reviewers say the
single speed ones are too fast; others say they are fine. What is the
reality in your experience?

We tried hovers, push electric, petrol and finally the self-propelled.
The area and growth was just too much for any of them, but what we
found with the self-propelled one was that its drive wheels would slip
on any but the shortest and dryest grass. It was not help at all, when
it was most needed.

We moved onto a ride on small tractor style which has been absolutely
brilliant. Overkill if you only have a small space to do, but quick,
easy and reliable for anything bigger.

On 12/07/2016 09:11, Tim+ wrote:
Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it? Which width is best to go for?

The reviews about self-propelled mowers seem contradictory. I think a
variable speed one would add more to the cost. Some reviewers say the
single speed ones are too fast; others say they are fine. What is the
reality in your experience?

Thanks,
Stephen.


Just a couple of other things you might like to think about.

Deck material. Steel decks will rust eventually, a good plastic/GRP deck
will last until you do something really stupid. ;-) Mine is 25 yrs old and
still going strong.

With emphasis on the "good"... My Hayter has what appears to be an Ali
deck, but the lower rear section is actually plastic. This is fine
except for one design feature, where the rear axle is fixed to this with
a couple of plates screwed over a notch in the plastic. Eventually the
plastic cracks, and the rear axle falls off! I am on my third or
possibly fourth rear plastic bit in 25 years...

Rear roller. Not just good for putting stripes on the lawn but also makes
it easier to mow over the edges of the lawn as it's easier to stop the
mower tipping and scalping the grass.

Horse power. The B&S 3.5 Hp engine is pretty ubiquitous on 16" mowers and
does a pretty good job. That said, I was using a 5 hp Honda engined mower
yesterday and the extra oomph was nice for longer grass. Personally think
that cold starting isn't as good with the Honda engine.

More power is important if you want to be able to mulch as well.


--
Cheers,

John.

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

John Rumm wrote:
On 12/07/2016 09:11, Tim+ wrote:
Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it? Which width is best to go for?

The reviews about self-propelled mowers seem contradictory. I think a
variable speed one would add more to the cost. Some reviewers say the
single speed ones are too fast; others say they are fine. What is the
reality in your experience?

Thanks,
Stephen.


Just a couple of other things you might like to think about.

Deck material. Steel decks will rust eventually, a good plastic/GRP deck
will last until you do something really stupid. ;-) Mine is 25 yrs old and
still going strong.

With emphasis on the "good"... My Hayter has what appears to be an Ali
deck, but the lower rear section is actually plastic. This is fine
except for one design feature, where the rear axle is fixed to this with
a couple of plates screwed over a notch in the plastic. Eventually the
plastic cracks, and the rear axle falls off! I am on my third or
possibly fourth rear plastic bit in 25 years...

Well I've only known the deck on my old Qualcast Suffolk Turbo. The only
crack in 25 years was caused by a big stone being fired up from underneath
but there are no fatigue cracks anywhere and it's still structurally sound.

Tim
--
Trolls AND TROLL FEEDERS all go in my kill file

On 12/07/2016 09:11, Tim+ wrote:
Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it? Which width is best to go for?

The reviews about self-propelled mowers seem contradictory. I think a
variable speed one would add more to the cost. Some reviewers say the
single speed ones are too fast; others say they are fine. What is the
reality in your experience?

Thanks,
Stephen.


Just a couple of other things you might like to think about.

Deck material. Steel decks will rust eventually, a good plastic/GRP deck
will last until you do something really stupid. ;-) Mine is 25 yrs old and
still going strong.

Rear roller. Not just good for putting stripes on the lawn but also makes
it easier to mow over the edges of the lawn as it's easier to stop the
mower tipping and scalping the grass.

Horse power. The B&S 3.5 Hp engine is pretty ubiquitous on 16" mowers and
does a pretty good job. That said, I was using a 5 hp Honda engined mower
yesterday and the extra oomph was nice for longer grass. Personally think
that cold starting isn't as good with the Honda engine.

Tim

The otehr issue is how flat the lawn is: Ours has a significant slope,
so takes quite some effort to push upward, especially if the grass is
long-ish. My strategy is to mow across the slope, starting at the top
and working down, but a decent self-powered one could be useful in this
sort of situation.

On 12/07/16 10:46, John Rumm wrote:
On 12/07/2016 09:11, Tim+ wrote:
Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it? Which width is best to go for?

The reviews about self-propelled mowers seem contradictory. I think a
variable speed one would add more to the cost. Some reviewers say the
single speed ones are too fast; others say they are fine. What is the
reality in your experience?

Thanks,
Stephen.


Just a couple of other things you might like to think about.

Deck material. Steel decks will rust eventually, a good plastic/GRP deck
will last until you do something really stupid. ;-) Mine is 25 yrs old and
still going strong.

With emphasis on the "good"... My Hayter has what appears to be an Ali
deck, but the lower rear section is actually plastic. This is fine
except for one design feature, where the rear axle is fixed to this with
a couple of plates screwed over a notch in the plastic. Eventually the
plastic cracks, and the rear axle falls off! I am on my third or
possibly fourth rear plastic bit in 25 years...

Rear roller. Not just good for putting stripes on the lawn but also makes
it easier to mow over the edges of the lawn as it's easier to stop the
mower tipping and scalping the grass.

Horse power. The B&S 3.5 Hp engine is pretty ubiquitous on 16" mowers and
does a pretty good job. That said, I was using a 5 hp Honda engined mower
yesterday and the extra oomph was nice for longer grass. Personally think
that cold starting isn't as good with the Honda engine.

More power is important if you want to be able to mulch as well.

A rear roller is only useful if you have a decent lawn and short grass
to begin with. I use an electric self-powered mower with 50% overlap on
the return cut for the lousy grass I have. If there was a roller the
grass would be flattened and there would be no point in an overlap cut.

I find the self-power useful on long straight cuts, but it is too
difficult to control on some curves, as it is too fast.

--

Jeff

On 12/07/2016 08:01, GB wrote:
On 12/07/2016 01:15, John Rumm wrote:
On 11/07/2016 22:36, Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it?

About 5cm ;-)


I usually overlap the strips I am mowing by around 5 cms. Otherwise, I
miss bits. So the effective cutting width is 36cms, compared to 41cms.


A bigger overlap is also a fairly good way of cutting long or wet grass.

If the garden isn't too large I would go for the smaller blade model.
Probably they would have the same size/power of engine and the one
fitted with a smaller blade would handle difficult cutting better (start
of season long grass or cutting when still very wet)

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 11/07/2016 22:50, Tim+ wrote:
Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Well my repairs to my lawnmower have not been particularly
long-lasting, so I am back looking for a new mower. I see that petrol
mowers come in 41cm or 46cm width of cut. That doesn't seem much of a
difference: is it? Which width is best to go for?

The reviews about self-propelled mowers seem contradictory. I think a
variable speed one would add more to the cost. Some reviewers say the
single speed ones are too fast; others say they are fine. What is the
reality in your experience?

Thanks,
Stephen.


How long is a piece of string? Ultimately size is related to the amount of
grass you have to cut.

Personally I wouldn't bother with self propelled on a 16"/41cm mower.

Tim


I bought a 41cm rotary lawn mower with a rear cylinder that I have to
push. Because the lawn is not flat I have have wondered whether I should
have bought the self propelled version.

I use a Flymo at a different location. The Flymo is much lighter to move
about in all directions.

--
Michael Chare

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus