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Just moved house this week and for the first time in about 20 years there is a proper sized lawn to mow. So time for a new lawnmower to replace the useless thing we got by with on our previous, tiny, lawn.
Basic specs are no electric cable for power, decent build quality (so I don’t have to pick something else for a very long time) and a decent sized blade/grass basket to get through 200+ meters square of grass.
I have some recollection of Honda izy petrol mowers and some sort of metal bodied makita battery powered unit being mentioned on previous threads. I haven’t had too much luck finding them and don’t really know what I should be looking for to try and separate the options on my own.
So, recommend away please
Sorry, no specific advice for you except when my petrol one expires (it’s likely to be me first I think), I will get a Stihl battery powered mower. They have a good interchangeable battery system, I have a chainsaw, strimmer and hedgetrimmer from them, battery powered and exceptionally powerful and efficient.
I have a Honda petrol mower that is now around 22 years old, has been used and abused and is rock solid reliable. If it dies (seems unlikely) I'll buy another. Mine has a plastic deck which I would recommend, the steel ones rot. It also has a roller to put stripes on the grass, if I were buying again I'd omit this option (heavy, sometimes clogs with grass stopping the self propelled function, more to maintain and go wrong). I service it myself every year which is cheap, easy and quick. Drain the petrol at the end of the season and it will start first or second pull with fresh fuel next year.
Edit to say, I have no near neighbours so noise is not an issue. The Honda is fairly quiet as petrol mowers go, but we are thinking of moving and the drone of petrol mowers can be a bit antisocial. When we do move, I will consider electric for that reason. Ideally a robotic one so I don't have to do it!
My old man has a Honda too.
When worlds collide! 🤣
I did spot a nice sit on mower in B&Q last week. It was about 1/4 of the size of my back lawn.
I’ve got a petrol lawnmower - had it since about 2016. Lawnflite mower with a Briggs and Stratton engine.
Prior to that I’d picked up a very secondhand Mountfield with a rusting deck but a brilliant Honda engine on. I patched the deck several times with aluminium sheet riveted on - but decided to treat myself to a shiny new mower.
The Lawnflite is a better mower but the B&S engine isn’t as good as the Honda. I think they’re both rated to 4.5ho but the Honda would chew through longer grass better without struggling so must have had more torque.
That said, 9 years in and the B&S engine just works - I change the oil / air filter / spark plug each year and it starts 1st or 2nd pull everytime. Nothing has broken on the mower yet - although I think the self propelled mechanism will need a new cable shortly as the ferrule thing on the end is splitting.
Mine has a powered rear roller - I like the self propelled nature of the mower and I like the stripes. The roller mechanism has never got jammed up etc with grass.
When this one does I may consider a rechargeable battery powered mower as that seems to be the way things are going. I just know I never want a mower with a cable - that’s just a pain in the arse.
I'm a fan of battery. We have a Stihl and it copes with our uneven patch nicely. Petrol is so antisocial, and tends to be used when neighbours might want to be outside too. Pretty awful for the environment too.
I would also add do you really need that much lawn? Look at other low maintenance plants that will be better for wildlife or just let a patch go pretty wild with some meadow flowers thrown in. Mow some paths into it. Obviously this doesn't apply if you have kids wanting to play football or cricket, but then they can mow it
Left field
Robo mower ?
We have a basic Flymo one. But a Luba would do it and be done.
Really like ours. The grass has never looked better.
Honda are stopping making petrol mowers I believe
I bought a petrol Honda Izy last year and rate it so far. Dead easy to start, even after sitting in the shed all winter. Seems to last ages between refuelling compared to my old mower, height adjustment is simple and the grass collection bag actually fills up unlike my old one.
If you check out the last thing you replied thread, you'll see my Honda Izy with a new deck in all its glory. It's 23 years old and everything apart from the rusty body is sound. So if it lasts another 23 years that'll be awesome value for money. I'd have liked a plastic deck like blokeuptheroad but not an option on mine.
If you look up hondalawnmowers on eBay, this is where I got the deck from. Great service, he actually rang me to check I'd ordered the right one, and he sells new and refurbished too.
Edit, this is the same as mine, but he does larger and self propelled ones too.
Looked into this last year. I was using a mountfield which had a Honda engine and it just refused to die, but it’s cutting area is smaller than ideal, so the lawn took ages.
we’ve got a large lawn, about 4-500 sq m
i really wanted a battery mower, I’ve 4 makita 18v batteries, but the makita 53cm mower was very silly money & reviews weren’t great on battery perf & to get the runtime I needed I’d have to get more batteries.
I didn’t want to invest in another battery system either.
i also couldn’t justify the money for a Honda 53cm mower, if I could it’s what I would have got.
so I bought this instead as it was on special at £270 at the time, Honda engined and seemed ok. It’s not a Honda, but it’s super powerful and the self propelled is quick and does the lawn really well. Build quality seems good too.
I thought Ego mowers were the STW default. Pretty speedy but you get what you pay for. I treated myself to a mower and trimmer at the start of the year, I'd been waiting for my Bosch Rotak to die but gave up. Been excellent so far, bit heavy for small areas (probably because I bought the roller attachment as well which weighs a tonne). Particularly pleased with the grass box performance, that was one thing the Bosch never excelled at, too small and didn't fill properly.
I've ended up heading down the battery powered route rather than looking at petrol models given the comments up above and have ended up with a mower and strimmer from Makita's 36 V LXT range.
They should be turning up this week so I can see how they fair soon enough now that we're out of May and into June.
Sorry, no specific advice for you except when my petrol one expires (it’s likely to be me first I think), I will get a Stihl battery powered mower. They have a good interchangeable battery system, I have a chainsaw, strimmer and hedgetrimmer from them, battery powered and exceptionally powerful and efficient.
You will not regret that. I now have the mower, chainsaw, pole hedge trimmer, short hedge trimmer and leaf blower all running off 1 x AK20 and 1 x AK10 batteries. And we are quite rural with a lot of green to keep tidy.
Battery will do what you need. The consumer reviews sites seem to recommend a Husqvarna, but it's a bit spendy; I went with a Screwfix ownbrand (Titan) for our 100sqm lawn and have absolutely zero complaints. It easily does it on one charge - could probably do it twice actually - not particularly noisy, folds up small to go in the shed. I've only had it 4 months, but would absolutely recommend it.
Turns out the thing making my EGO mower heavy to use wasa the really heavy optional roller. Took that off and it's a lot lighter and more maneuverable. I do like stripes though.
Turns out the thing making my EGO mower heavy to use was the really heavy optional roller. Took that off and it's a lot lighter and more maneuverable. I do like stripes though.
We got an Erbauer (B&Q) battery one, oooo, three or four years ago? Great bit of kit - 46cm blade is big enough for us, light and easy to use, can do two cuts on one charge when the bottom third's doing its No Mo thing. I mulch once it's had its post-winter trim, can do the whole thing inside half an hour, easy, without the faff of emptying the grass box.
I have a large garden but when my petrol mower started to get troublesome I swapped it for a battery mower. I would not buy petrol again. Battery starts first time every time, it is clean and quiet.
I actually went much cheaper than the old mower with an Argos return for £200, 44cm with two batteries and it has been spot on for three years now and looks in great condition. The batteries run on rotation and work as well as the day I got it. I presume I will need to get the batteries rebuilt at some stage though.
I use the mulching attachment most of the year so don't need the grass collector much. You cannot tell that the grass has not been collected the grass looks perfect.
didn’t want to invest in another battery system either.
Don't then.
I've a Bosch blue 18v eco system and I have Makita 18v strimmer and pole cutter... I just use a battery converter works grand.
The new toys mower (DLM462) and strimmer (DUR369L) turned up this lunchtime.
Apart from being a lot bigger than I was expecting they seem very solid and the quick tests I've done so far would indicate they will be more than up to the task of looking after our lawns. Both very powerful and surprisingly quiet in use. Also the 1st time I've had something with a mulching option and that seems like it will be particularly helpful if I can remember to keep using them on a regular basis.