Talk to me about pe...
 

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[Closed] Talk to me about petrol lawnmowers

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Our crappy electric flymo has bitten the dust so a replacement is required.

Having used a petrol mower in the past, which almost made the mowing experience a joy, I'm after some advice on what to look for.

Doesn't have to be big, and certainly not one of the ride on variety.

Ta


 
Posted : 06/04/2009 8:22 am
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Go for a Briggs and Stratton engine, don't get self propelled (unless you've a large, hilly lawn) and make sure you keep the oil topped up. Search McCulloch for good value.


 
Posted : 06/04/2009 8:28 am
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Honda are the very best.


 
Posted : 06/04/2009 8:29 am
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Agree that Honda are the best, but most stuff with a Briggs and Stratton are OK. Make sure the engine can be left idling. I had a Lawnflite once that would not do this - you had to restart everytime you emptied the grassbox. Don't know if walk behinds have mulching capability now, but get one if they do as it feeds the lawn and means you don't have a grassbox to empty


 
Posted : 06/04/2009 8:54 am
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WTF is all that about? Anyway, what I forgot in previous post is to say don't touch Mccullough - they are made from papier mache and will last no time


 
Posted : 06/04/2009 9:23 am
 -m-
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It probably depends how much you've got to mow. We bought one of the cheap ones (variously branded as McCulloch, JCB etc) with a plastic body [i]second hand[/i] some years ago when we bought a house on a corner plot with long verge areas to the front and side. Fiddling about with extension leads was a nightmare, so for £40 the petrol mower was a massive improvement.

It's still going strong. One of the wheels comes loose when you're mowing, but I could probably fix it if I could be bothered.

I'm sure more expensive mowers are better built, and the Honda ones are really smart, but based on the performance of the current one I don't see that the cost would have been justified for our modest needs.

Although the convenience is great, it's worth noting that petrol mowers aren't the most environmentally-friendly of devices. The engines are fairly crude devices so the emissions are pretty poor - a far cry from a decent modern petrol engine in, say, a car.


 
Posted : 06/04/2009 9:30 am
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Buy a nonda... If you get fed up with it/don't need it, they fetch good prices s/h so you can shift it on (or even buy s/h in the first place).


 
Posted : 06/04/2009 9:46 am
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I have a petrol lawn mower I dont use anymore, couple of years old, works well. £ 30 its yours to anyone who wants to pick up from Bolton.

Its red, thats all I know!!!!!!!!!


 
Posted : 06/04/2009 10:08 am
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I have a petrol lawn mower I dont use anymore, couple of years old, works well. £ 30 its yours to anyone who wants to pick up from Bolton.

Its red, thats all I know!!!!!!!!!

is it a Ferrari?


 
Posted : 06/04/2009 10:10 am
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bruneep - Member

I have a petrol lawn mower I dont use anymore, couple of years old, works well. £ 30 its yours to anyone who wants to pick up from Bolton.

Its red, thats all I know!!!!!!!!!

is it a Ferrari?

Not notice a "prancing horse" symbol on it?


 
Posted : 06/04/2009 10:20 am
 Del
Posts: 8226
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i have a honda izzy. smallest one, self-propelled and easy to control. it won't let you idle it if you leave it alone, but does start easy. it is considerably nicer to use than the POS hover it replaced, and it makes mowing the lawn a lot quicker and nicerer for sure, and i can leave the lawn to get pretty long if i want - huzzah!


 
Posted : 06/04/2009 11:02 am

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