Which Lawn mower should i choose?

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Which Lawn mower should i choose?

shaopu

111 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 4

#99156 13-Mar-2012 22:12

just moved to a new house which have a big section (semi slope) with about 400 sqm of lawn to mow..

currently have a Victa Lawn Master 148cc 4 stroke from Bunnings 6 months ago, cost $350, the grass is really thick and it keep on stuck when i am cutting low..

thinking of selling off the current one and buy a better one:
options:

Bosch Rotak 37 Li Cordless Rotary Lawn Mower -- read some reviews and seems to be quite a good one especially i trust German brand a lot, but was worry about the power out of an Electronic one for cutting such a thick grass.
Masport 300AL

both are available to be redeemed by using my credit card point, or otherwise i can redeem some bunnings voucher and get from bunnings. any other suggestions??

Cheers

jordi

CRXAGN

1 | 2

1923 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 138

#594836 13-Mar-2012 22:28

I'm currently using a battery operated 'Enviromower' (24volt Gel battery).
I cut a similar area to yours, but it's all flat. I've been monitoring the V and I to see how hard it's working and a quick summary is that it doesn't like longer grass (or clumps). These will slow the mower and load it up causing the inbuilt fuse to pop.

How long is long? Last mowed 2 weeks ago and am in Canterbury.

amford

92 posts

Master Geek

#594872 13-Mar-2012 23:36

I would go petrol over electric and make sure it has an alloy body rather than a steel one. The lifetime increases significantly.

itxtme

2102 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 557

#594904 14-Mar-2012 06:22

I agree petrol mowers are far superior, you should talk to an expert about your situation at a lawn mower shop. Previously had an electric, granted it was cheap - it burnt out (under warranty) several times. The key to a good lawnmower is making sure you have fresh petrol. People tend to fill their 6l reservoir tanks up and not use it up within a 6 month period. I have been told that the fuel start degrading within 4-6 weeks, so your engine wont run as nicely. I tend to get 2l or so in my reservoir which lasts a month'ish and if I am going over the 6 weeks with it just pour it into the car to be used up - the beauty of 4 stroke versus 2!

There has been a lot of rain this year, with the warmer weather it has been an absolute grass growing frenzy, which may be adding to the difficulty of mowing your grass short.

maverick

3594 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 80

Trusted

WorldxChange

#594911 14-Mar-2012 07:25

I don't know ask the wife which one she prefers to use....

And then the fight started .....

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

Andrethegiant

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#594912 14-Mar-2012 07:25

+1 for petrol. I'd recommend a 4 stroke, alloy body mower too. I recently brought a Masport 550AL from Mega Mitre 10 when it was on special a while back. goes really well. I remember the sales guy told me I should also factor in how long it takes me to mow my lawn in deciding what mower to get.

myopinion

939 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 112

#594932 14-Mar-2012 09:07

Don't buy a crappy cheap lawn mower. You definitely get what you pay for in this category. I have about 1/3 of an acre of lawn to mow and was pointed in the direction of a Honda HRU 196 D. There are new models out now and I would highly recommend a Honda. Don't buy a lawn mower from Bunnings or Mitre 10 for god sake.

Lego

Shop now for Lego sets and other gifts (affiliate link).

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 125

#594942 14-Mar-2012 09:17

Get a decent manual push mower, they don't run out of petrol, and you don't have to worry about running over the power cord, plus you get plenty of exercise.

That said, don't buy anything with a Briggs & Stratton engine, they're gutless bloody things, and unfortunately are pretty much the norm, I'd agree with the above about a Honda 4-stroke, those things will eat whatever you throw at them. 2 Strokes are fine for doing a general "tidy up", but for really long grass, you'll the torque of a 4-stroke engine.

@KnightNZ

shrub

790 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 272

ID Verified

#594943 14-Mar-2012 09:17

just do 2 passes with your petrol one 1st up high then do a low one....
Electric is useless unless you have a tiny bit of grass eg a townhouse.

timmmay

20858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5350

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#594970 14-Mar-2012 10:30

I have a mains electric mower, one that consumer recommended 5 years ago or so. It works fine even if the grass gets a bit long, but a petrol power definitely has more power. I wouldn't buy a battery mower, too heavy, not enough power. I've never run the cord over.

dclegg

2806 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 810

Trusted

#594991 14-Mar-2012 10:45

itxtme: The key to a good lawnmower is making sure you have fresh petrol. People tend to fill their 6l reservoir tanks up and not use it up within a 6 month period. I have been told that the fuel start degrading within 4-6 weeks, so your engine wont run as nicely.

I never knew that until I embarrassingly discovered it last year. I had my lawn mower serviced, but directly afterwards I found it was stopping after 10-15 minutes of use (it takes 1-2 hours to mow my lawn, depending on length). I took it back, and the mechanic took another look but couldn't find anything wrong with it.

It still had the same problem so I took it back again. He then told me about how petrol degrades over time. As this was over winter, the petrol I had was nearly 6 months old. I sacrificed that petrol & got some more from the service station. The mower worked like a champ from that point on. Lesson learnt. :-)

vexxxboy

4336 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2072

#595026 14-Mar-2012 12:13

i use a mulching mower and i would never part with it ,, i dont have to worry about clippings and it cut my mowing time in half, no stopping to empty the catcher, they are not cheap though

Common sense is not as common as you think.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

trig42

5889 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2094

ID Verified

#595029 14-Mar-2012 12:19

I used to have a Victa Pro 460 mower. It was awesome. It seemed to love the hard stuff. It was about $800, but it never missed a beat and it cut everything.

maverick

3594 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 80

Trusted

WorldxChange

#595031 14-Mar-2012 12:21

You can not beat a Rover Mower, I swear by mine ... its like the energizer bunny just keeps going and going and cuts great.

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

scuwp

3927 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2510

#595048 14-Mar-2012 13:11

I am in the same camp as most others replying:

4 stroke
Bigger the better (something Tim "The Toolman" Taylor would be proud of)
Alloy body (don't bother with steel, the cheaper price just isn't worth it)
Plastic catcher (forget the fabric ones)

Always been a Masport fan myself, latest with Quantum 50 motor, now about 5 years old, starts first time every time (even the missus can fire it up which is a bonus, she can do the job from start to finish!), never missed a beat, and mow anything down.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

Handle9

11923 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9674

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#595067 14-Mar-2012 13:51

To me an alloy body is nice but not essential - it's a time value of money thing. An alloy body will last alot longer but if you're happy replacing your mower more often it really doesn't matter. I made a choice to buy a cheap steel mower because I'm only mowing a couple of hundred square meters so to spend too much would be overkill.

The only thing I would definitely say is essential are ball bearing wheels. If you're buying at the cheap end of the market some of them have bushed wheels and are horribly hard to push.

1 | 2