Lawnmowers- any thoughts
 

How much care does a petrol mower require for a medium / large garden?
Really would have liked a GOOD electric model, but cannot find such a thing!
What are others thoughts?

--
Wally

In article , John
writes
How much care does a petrol mower require for a medium / large garden?
Really would have liked a GOOD electric model, but cannot find such a thing!
What are others thoughts?

Garden machinery suppliers often offer servicing - at a price. Any type
of mower will need the blades re-sharpening from time to time. That can
be done on a bench grinder if you have one. Petrol mowers need their
sparking plugs and air filters cleaning or replacing annually, and their
engine oil topping up as required, plus of course petrol as used.

There are good electrical mowers to be had, but they are mainly for
small gardens, or for small areas of larger gardens. Wear and tear on
mowers will be less if they are more frequently used, than if they have
to tackle long grass.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 16:34:27 +0000 (UTC), "John"
wrote:

How much care does a petrol mower require for a medium / large garden?
Really would have liked a GOOD electric model, but cannot find such a thing!
What are others thoughts?

Like Janet said, talk to a decent dealer. If you are looking for a
really high quality lawn then a cylinder mower would be the best ( and
most expensive for a good one ) choice, rather than a rotary. The
downside, apart from the initial cost is higher and regular
maintenance costs if you want to keep it working right - in particular
that is grinding the cylinder and grinding or replacing the bottom
blade as required. For a hard working professional machine, that might
be yearly - for you it might be every few years. Otherwise for rotary
or cylinder it's just checking nothing's dropping off and following
the maker's recommendations for oil changes, lubrication and
adjustment. Some good reconditioned second hand cylinder mowers around
at 1/3 to 1/2 of new price but you need to know what you're looking
at. A good dealer will charge around 40 quid an hour for labour - for
that price you get the job done properly, if you don't you should
complain very loudly.

=================================================

Rod

Weed my email address to reply.
http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

"John" wrote in message
...
How much care does a petrol mower require for a medium / large garden?
Really would have liked a GOOD electric model, but cannot find such a
thing!
What are others thoughts?

--
Wally

Rotary mowers will go for years without attention, the main problem is often
rust on the cheaper steel bodied machines, but then you can afford to change
the machine for the price difference :~)

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

Many thanks for help--are there any special makes to look out for--or to
keep away from?
John
"Janet Baraclough.." wrote in message
...
The message
from "John" contains these words:

How much care does a petrol mower require for a medium / large garden?
Really would have liked a GOOD electric model, but cannot find such a
thing!
What are others thoughts?

Go to someone local who deals in lawnmowers and services them, NOT
some shed like B and Q. Preferably, choose him by recommendation from
neighbours or friends. Tell him exactly what size/shape/slope your lawn
is, how much time you have available, how strong/competent you are, and
ask him to recommend a suitable model. A good dealer will fire up the
recommended model (with a little notice) and let you try the controls.

You can get modern petrol mowers which are self-powered (ie, you don't
need to push, just walk behind keeping up and steering) and have
electronic key ignition like a car. At a cheaper level, you can get one
that starts on a pull-cord or needs pushing. So long as you can read a
bog-simple manual the day to day/end of season requirements are not
difficult to manage even for a technophobe like me, and a very
occasional service by the supplier will take care of anything more
complicated.

Janet.