Lawn Mower Recommendation

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tdgeek

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#2093084 19-Sep-2018 12:08

networkn:

Wow, you'd have to hope it was pretty good for that kind $ :)

Yep! I was gong the get the Husqvarna 53 model, that was $1800, but I don't want self drive, so this one at a cheap and cheerful $1100 was the next option! 100 off for a Fathers Day special which I wasn't aware of!

To me a mower is just a B+S engine on a box, but they are pretty good these days. We have a 1/4 acre almost, so i get a bigger cut to save time, the mulch is my free fertiliser, so at this cost, Ive taken the mower as a long term investment, as I get time, fertiliser and edging benefits from it.

But yes a far cry from the $299 mower I had.

dt

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#2093124 19-Sep-2018 13:21

@tdgeek where did you pick it up from at that price? I was in at stihl two weeks ago and it was $1650 !

Fred99

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#2093126 19-Sep-2018 13:23

I've actually got a $299 mower, Morrison Vinaro 200ST. I think it was "on special" - reduced from closer to $350.

We've got several small lawns on separate landscaped levels on a hill site. At the time I bought the mower there were stairs between levels - a primary consideration for a mower was that it was light enough to pick up and carry. That put the battery-electric mowers I looked at 5 years ago out of contention, as well as better quality mowers with cast alloy chassis - although in the latter case most of those were wider and larger than I needed.

Anyway, it's a small mower with 420mm cut, B&S 125cc motor, came with self-mulching insert and catcher. It gets parked under cover - but not in an enclosed lockup - it's out of the rain on a concrete pad under a deck. 420mm cut is fine - it takes me 10 or 15 minutes to do the lot.

After years of use:

There's no apparent rust in the chassis - there is a dent in the chassis, presumably from a stone being thrown up. Nothing has broken or needed any attention.
It's always started first time if primed properly and it's reasonably quiet. With starting, the primer rubber thingy is annoying, I keep pressing it but there's no way to tell by feel (increased resistance to pressure etc) whether it's actually primed or not. So I press it 10 times - and it works. I should RTFM I suppose - perhaps there's something I missed. Nope - I'll have thrown the manual away.

The height adjustment is easy to operate and uses only one lever. Excellent.

The handle folds and the cam-levers to lock/unlock this aren't well designed. If they're set so that the lever flips to lock them without too much brute force, they're a bit loose when locked - so the handle wobbles. If you tightened them then I'd be concerned that you'd be unable to flip the levers without breaking them. Doesn't matter for me as I never fold down the handle, but it might be an annoyance - and the typical kind of annoyance experienced with other cheap chinese made stuff - where I think they get the general idea of what something's supposed to do and copy stuff quite well, but then still fail - as probably nobody in the entire mower factory - from the cleaner to the owner - ever actually mows a lawn.

The self-mulching works really well if the grass is dry If the grass is a bit wet, then the main issue is that mulched cuttings stick and build up on the wheels, then drop off as a strip of compressed grass leather - you've either got to run over them again, pick them up - or put up with the mess. I was going to see what happened if I sprayed the wheels with silicone - it might fix that issue - but I can't be bothered. Mowing when the lawn is dry is the solution.

The self-mulching insert is a pig of a thing to insert and remove - especially if there's any buildup of dried grass under the mower.

The catcher is fabric - and also if the grass is wet then presumably the fabric clogs up a bit restricting airflow and the catcher doesn't work well. It doesn't rain so often in Chch - but I guess it could be annoying if you lived in a wet location and had limited timeslots where you could mow lawns.

It seems to cut longer grass ok - small motor but small blades - it copes pretty well. When the grass is that long (ie after being away for a few weeks) it's beyond "self-mulching" effectively. Not a problem with the mower - it is what it is - you can't neatly force 75% of the bulk back down into the 25% of what's left.

Would I buy again? Absolutely - for our needs - was inexpensive, does what it's supposed to do with only minor faults, and has been reliable.

tdgeek

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#2093148 19-Sep-2018 14:06

dt:

@tdgeek where did you pick it up from at that price? I was in at stihl two weeks ago and it was $1650 !

At Stihl, Blenheim Rd, ChCh. Your one is the self drive?

tdgeek

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#2093160 19-Sep-2018 14:15

Fred99:

I've actually got a $299 mower, Morrison Vinaro 200ST. I think it was "on special" - reduced from closer to $350.

Would I buy again? Absolutely - for our needs - was inexpensive, does what it's supposed to do with only minor faults, and has been reliable.

I had a Vinaro 350ST, probably same price. A few years ago, no mulch, 148cc, plastic catcher. Its a capable mower

Priming. It's 3 primes. I often found later times, 4 primes, pull, one more, pull and maybe one more, and away it goes. From warm, a 90yo granny could start it, no primes

Only issue I had is that the catcher didn't fill that well unless it was bone dry, and when I mow, I used twine to hold the flap up, and it doesn't spray that well to the left as I'd want as I was poor man mulching mostly (mow anti clockwise so I mow it again)

Other than that, good value. My upgrade was as its large here, I have fixed the ill kept lawn, and I'm getting a green thumb from sorting out the place, so the mulch fertilising is nice.

dt

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#2093164 19-Sep-2018 14:20

tdgeek:

At Stihl, Blenheim Rd, ChCh. Your one is the self drive?

Ah that would have been it.. they didn't have a non self drive on display. I didn't press go on it at the time as I was going to shop around to see if I could get it somewhere cheaper but i'll definitely be asking about the non self drive when I pop in this weekend.

Means i'll be able to replace my line trimmer as well, woohoo.

AliExpress

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).

networkn

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#2093166 19-Sep-2018 14:27

My current mower, the grass collects around the edges of the out chute. It's annoying.

tdgeek

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#2093168 19-Sep-2018 14:29

dt:

tdgeek:

At Stihl, Blenheim Rd, ChCh. Your one is the self drive?

Ah that would have been it.. they didn't have a non self drive on display. I didn't press go on it at the time as I was going to shop around to see if I could get it somewhere cheaper but i'll definitely be asking about the non self drive when I pop in this weekend.

Means i'll be able to replace my line trimmer as well, woohoo.

Yep, thats it

Masport President® 6000 AL SPV 3'N1 IC

Chassis: 540mm (21”) heavy duty non rust aluminium
Engine: Briggs & Stratton OHV Series 850 Commercial
Power: 190cc 8.5ft/lbs or 11.5Nm

$1649.00

tdgeek

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#2093177 19-Sep-2018 14:36

networkn:

My current mower, the grass collects around the edges of the out chute. It's annoying.

It is. Grass is 80% water, so it builds up and dries and after a while its like cardboard.

I'd scrape it off as best you can, hose it, scrape or brush a bit more later when its wet. If you can get it clean, a quick hose after each mow. Fresh grass is easy to clean, its the buildup that is a pain. Possibly also aggravated by buildup in the inside of the outer body, so the grass isn't as freeflow, perhaps.

vexxxboy

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#2093178 19-Sep-2018 14:40

if you get a self drive mower make sure you check the speed of it , i had one where you literally had to almost run to keep up with it , good for exercise not so much for flower beds and trying to stop it in time .

Common sense is not as common as you think.

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