I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower. I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?



--
Murphy's ultimate law is that if something that could go wrong doesn't, it
turns out that it would have been better if it had gone wrong.

On Feb 27, 11:46*pm, "GB" wrote:
I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower.

We've got rather more than "medium sized" and a Hayter a model or two
up from that (electric start). It's OK. I prefered the Lawnflite
before it to be honest.

I never use the electric start. Crap keyswitch, and I find it quicker
to pull start it than to do all the key wiggling needed to make it
work.

It's far too light on the rear roller to stripe it. Probably a good
thing too, as it's a bit flimsy around the rear roller and enough
weight to stripe it would probably break it. If I want stripes, I'd
use the 1950s (and built like a Vincent) Jaguar push mower with the
geared rear rollers.

Generally though, it works and copes with a big lawn. It will even cut
it over-long or wet, just not both together. Starts easily, hot or
cold.Obviously it enjoys fresh petrol, but it's far from fussy.

It came from Redblade mowers near Southport. Very good people for
spares and servicing.

"GB" wrote in message
...
I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower. I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?

I have a 16 year old Hayter Harrier 56, which looks basically the same as
that, but probably bit bigger. It has been abused all its life but still
starts easily and cuts well leaving a nice stripe on the lawn. So yes I
would say that is a sensible buy.

Mike

On Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:46:15 -0000, "GB"
wrote:

I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower. I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?

I only like cylinder mowers. Unfortunately they are so expensive I
can't afford one. My mum used to have one like this
http://tinyurl.com/6h5pc6d but that was forty years ago and it had a
metal, not plastic, grass-collection box. Built like a tank.

The Amazon price for the 14 inch is a whacking £578 plus £65 delivery
(sixty-five quid!!)

I reckon an entrepreneur could bring the price down considerably.
Almost 600 quid for a ruddy mower! Someone is making massive profit
here. What is a mower? An engine, a cylinder, a frame in which to
mount them. Pretty much it, really. Don't get me started on electric
mowers. The cable is a real PITA.

MM

"MM" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:46:15 -0000, "GB"
wrote:

I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower.
I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?

I only like cylinder mowers. Unfortunately they are so expensive I
can't afford one. My mum used to have one like this
http://tinyurl.com/6h5pc6d but that was forty years ago and it had a
metal, not plastic, grass-collection box. Built like a tank.

The Amazon price for the 14 inch is a whacking £578 plus £65 delivery
(sixty-five quid!!)

That's incredible. I bought a new Suffolk Punch shortly after I got married
and I am sure the whole thing cost about £65. It was not a good machine,
catch a stone (or a stick even) and the cylinder blade bent!

Mike

On 27/02/2011 23:46, GB wrote:
I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower. I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?

IME the best place to buy is a specialist garden machinery supplier.
They know the products extremely well and can recommend a model that
will do exactly what you want.

Colin Bignell

On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:00:18 +0000, MM wrote:

I reckon an entrepreneur could bring the price down considerably.
Almost 600 quid for a ruddy mower! Someone is making massive profit
here.

£600 is a bit pricey but there is also and element of "you get what
you pay for".

What is a mower? An engine, ...

Top of the range Honda with cast iron block or chinese clone with
unlined aluminium block?

... a cylinder, ...

Made from stamped thin sheet or decent thickness cut steel?

... a frame in which to mount them.

Again pressed from thin sheet or cast frames bolted together?

Don't get me started on electric mowers. The cable is a real PITA.

Only if you don't engage brain about how to handle it both in storage
and use. See recent thread on extension cable coiling and when mowing
have the cable only over the cut area and work away from the supply
point.

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Nightjar \"cpb\"@" "insertmysurnamehere wrote:
On 27/02/2011 23:46, GB wrote:
I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower. I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?

IME the best place to buy is a specialist garden machinery supplier. They
know the products extremely well and can recommend a model that will do
exactly what you want.

Great places to buy if you enjoy the sensation of money being sucked out of
your wallet.

The £159 mower I bought from Makro refuses to die ten years after I bought
it. That's good enough for me.

On 28/02/2011 10:38, Steve Firth wrote:
"Nightjar\"cpb\"@""insertmysurnamehere wrote:
On 27/02/2011 23:46, GB wrote:
I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower. I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?

IME the best place to buy is a specialist garden machinery supplier. They
know the products extremely well and can recommend a model that will do
exactly what you want.

Great places to buy if you enjoy the sensation of money being sucked out of
your wallet.

The £159 mower I bought from Makro refuses to die ten years after I bought
it. That's good enough for me.

Mine actually dissuaded me from buying the more expensive one I went in
to buy and sold me one that was cheaper than anything in the garden
centres at the time. It is still going strong a dozen years later.

Colin Bignell

GB wrote:
I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower. I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has mostly
very good reviews.

Rotaries give reasonable stripey effects. With or without the rollers.
Its a functon of which way the grass gets ent by the cuters.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?


a GOOD hayter - and they are nowhere near as good as they were, is a
damned good machine. Avoid plastic bodies if possible.


My only beef with that one at a casual is that its not self propelled,
and pushing a mower is hard work.

But the self props start around £450 in Hayter badges IIRC.

MM wrote:
On Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:46:15 -0000, "GB"
wrote:

I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower. I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?

I only like cylinder mowers. Unfortunately they are so expensive I
can't afford one. My mum used to have one like this
http://tinyurl.com/6h5pc6d but that was forty years ago and it had a
metal, not plastic, grass-collection box. Built like a tank.

The Amazon price for the 14 inch is a whacking £578 plus £65 delivery
(sixty-five quid!!)

I reckon an entrepreneur could bring the price down considerably.
Almost 600 quid for a ruddy mower! Someone is making massive profit
here. What is a mower? An engine, a cylinder, a frame in which to
mount them. Pretty much it, really. Don't get me started on electric
mowers. The cable is a real PITA.

wait till you get a ride on. £1500 at least. For anything that lasts.


MM

On Feb 28, 7:51*am, "MuddyMike" wrote:
I have a 16 year old Hayter Harrier 56, which looks basically the same as
that,

16 years? Probably made on a different continent. Hayter used to be
really good back then,

Nightjar "cpb"@ insertmysurnamehere wrote:
On 28/02/2011 10:38, Steve Firth wrote:
"Nightjar\"cpb\"@""insertmysurnamehere wrote:
On 27/02/2011 23:46, GB wrote:
I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol
mower. I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a
rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has
mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top


Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there?
Also,
where's the best place to get one?

IME the best place to buy is a specialist garden machinery supplier.
They
know the products extremely well and can recommend a model that will do
exactly what you want.

Great places to buy if you enjoy the sensation of money being sucked
out of
your wallet.

The £159 mower I bought from Makro refuses to die ten years after I
bought
it. That's good enough for me.

Mine actually dissuaded me from buying the more expensive one I went in
to buy and sold me one that was cheaper than anything in the garden
centres at the time. It is still going strong a dozen years later.


Garden centres are profit centres in all but name..

The steel strip hoops and netting we made from steel and agricutral
netting cost about 10% of the flimsy crap that the garden centre had on
offer.

My ride on comes from the local John Deere center. The forecourt is full
of 1000bhp earth moving and plough dragging kit. I feel almost
embarrassed going to the desk for a set of cutter blades..

It's not too bad a brute really.


Colin Bignell

Tim Streater wrote:
In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

GB wrote:
I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol
mower. I'd like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite
happy with a rotary rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on
Amazon, which has mostly very good reviews.
Rotaries give reasonable stripey effects. With or without the rollers.
Its a functon of which way the grass gets ent by the cuters.



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...001SEQQCI/ref=

cm_cr_pr_product_top
Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out
there? Also, where's the best place to get one?

a GOOD hayter - and they are nowhere near as good as they were, is a
damned good machine. Avoid plastic bodies if possible.

My only beef with that one at a casual is that its not self propelled,
and pushing a mower is hard work.

But the self props start around £450 in Hayter badges IIRC.

I got a Hayter R53A a year ago, for about £550. This is a self-prop
petrol rotary, electric starter, and is fairly wide which with half an
acre of grass to mow is important. Ally body and a Briggs & Stratton
engine.

Since it mulches I don't bother with the grass bag, just shoot the
cuttings out and they disappear quickly enough. Takes about 2 hours here
to cut the lot.

Cutting width is 53cm, the one the OP was looking at is 41cm. Need to
judge whether that matters or not.

yeah, I am looking at that one for the 'places the ride on (48") cant
reach"..

SWMBO has a chance of being able to start it.

We have 1.5 acres more or less.

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Feb 28, 7:51 am, "MuddyMike" wrote:
I have a 16 year old Hayter Harrier 56, which looks basically the same as
that,

16 years? Probably made on a different continent. Hayter used to be
really good back then,

my Hayterette is around 1987 vintage IIRC. BUT its a bugger to push.

24 years? gosh..seems like yesterday.

On 28/02/2011 12:20, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Nightjar "cpb"@ insertmysurnamehere wrote:
On 28/02/2011 10:38, Steve Firth wrote:
"Nightjar\"cpb\"@""insertmysurnamehere wrote:
On 27/02/2011 23:46, GB wrote:
I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol
mower. I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a
rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has
mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top


Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out
there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?

IME the best place to buy is a specialist garden machinery supplier.
They
know the products extremely well and can recommend a model that will do
exactly what you want.

Great places to buy if you enjoy the sensation of money being sucked
out of
your wallet.

The £159 mower I bought from Makro refuses to die ten years after I
bought
it. That's good enough for me.

Mine actually dissuaded me from buying the more expensive one I went
in to buy and sold me one that was cheaper than anything in the garden
centres at the time. It is still going strong a dozen years later.


Garden centres are profit centres in all but name..

The steel strip hoops and netting we made from steel and agricutral
netting cost about 10% of the flimsy crap that the garden centre had on
offer.

My ride on comes from the local John Deere center. The forecourt is full
of 1000bhp earth moving and plough dragging kit. I feel almost
embarrassed going to the desk for a set of cutter blades..

How do you ever manage to walk past all those toys in the forecourt?

Colin Bignell

On 28/02/2011 08:00, MM wrote:
On Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:46:15 -0000,
wrote:

I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower. I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?

I only like cylinder mowers. Unfortunately they are so expensive I
can't afford one. My mum used to have one like this
http://tinyurl.com/6h5pc6d but that was forty years ago and it had a
metal, not plastic, grass-collection box. Built like a tank.

The Amazon price for the 14 inch is a whacking £578 plus £65 delivery
(sixty-five quid!!)

I reckon an entrepreneur could bring the price down considerably.
Almost 600 quid for a ruddy mower! Someone is making massive profit
here. What is a mower? An engine, a cylinder, a frame in which to
mount them. Pretty much it, really. Don't get me started on electric
mowers. The cable is a real PITA.

MM
Notcutts have it for around a hundred quid less:

http://www.notcutts.co.uk/Suffolk-Pu...r/pid-00248746

Biggles

On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:03:59 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wait till you get a ride on. £1500 at least. For anything that lasts.

By all accounts, even the brands that were once good are pretty much junk
these days and relying just on their good name to get them by - and
that's not going to last forever. I went the other route and picked up
an ancient s/h tractor because I knew where there was an identical one
languishing as a source of spares - so every time something major breaks
I've got a supply of parts on tap (and the local farm supply place still
sells consumables such as blades, belts, pulleys and bearings)

Our neighbour has something that's halfway between a lawn tractor and a
regular farm tractor; it's not nearly as large, but has a proper
drivetrain and set of implements - I'm thinking that might be the way to
go once our existing lawn tractor finally becomes unrepairable, as it
lacks all the plastic-fantastic muck-metal meccano parts that seem to
infest the lawn tractor end of the market.

cheers

Jules

Nightjar "cpb"@ insertmysurnamehere wrote:
On 28/02/2011 12:20, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Nightjar "cpb"@ insertmysurnamehere wrote:
On 28/02/2011 10:38, Steve Firth wrote:
"Nightjar\"cpb\"@""insertmysurnamehere wrote:
On 27/02/2011 23:46, GB wrote:
I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol
mower. I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a
rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has
mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top



Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out
there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?

IME the best place to buy is a specialist garden machinery supplier.
They
know the products extremely well and can recommend a model that
will do
exactly what you want.

Great places to buy if you enjoy the sensation of money being sucked
out of
your wallet.

The £159 mower I bought from Makro refuses to die ten years after I
bought
it. That's good enough for me.

Mine actually dissuaded me from buying the more expensive one I went
in to buy and sold me one that was cheaper than anything in the garden
centres at the time. It is still going strong a dozen years later.


Garden centres are profit centres in all but name..

The steel strip hoops and netting we made from steel and agricutral
netting cost about 10% of the flimsy crap that the garden centre had on
offer.

My ride on comes from the local John Deere center. The forecourt is full
of 1000bhp earth moving and plough dragging kit. I feel almost
embarrassed going to the desk for a set of cutter blades..

How do you ever manage to walk past all those toys in the forecourt?

By keeping a copy of my bank statement handy.

Colin Bignell

Jules Richardson wrote:
On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:03:59 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wait till you get a ride on. £1500 at least. For anything that lasts.

By all accounts, even the brands that were once good are pretty much junk
these days and relying just on their good name to get them by - and
that's not going to last forever. I went the other route and picked up
an ancient s/h tractor because I knew where there was an identical one
languishing as a source of spares - so every time something major breaks
I've got a supply of parts on tap (and the local farm supply place still
sells consumables such as blades, belts, pulleys and bearings)

Our neighbour has something that's halfway between a lawn tractor and a
regular farm tractor; it's not nearly as large, but has a proper
drivetrain and set of implements - I'm thinking that might be the way to
go once our existing lawn tractor finally becomes unrepairable, as it
lacks all the plastic-fantastic muck-metal meccano parts that seem to
infest the lawn tractor end of the market.

As I said, that's why i chose a Deere.
It was less fancy and more expensive, but in the end, repairable.

You can weld a steel deck, not a mezak or plastic one.

http://www.deere.com/en_US/homeowner....html?link=eqf

The L350 is a pretty decent machine.


cheers

Jules

On Feb 28, 1:59*pm, Jules Richardson
wrote:
By all accounts, even the brands that were once good are pretty much junk
these days and relying just on their good name to get them by

I forget the details (try wiki, I recall a good article), but domestic
petrol mowers are now all (for practical values of "all") from just
two makers, who sell under a range of merged brands. One is Chinese,
the other American and Chinese-made. Everything else (including Hayter
and Lawnflite) is just a badge.

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Feb 28, 1:59 pm, Jules Richardson
wrote:
By all accounts, even the brands that were once good are pretty much junk
these days and relying just on their good name to get them by


I had to replace the transaxle on my Hayter ride on three years ago. The new
one was labelled Murray/Tecumseh and had a Countax part number cross
reference!

Mike

On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 06:28:39 -0800 (PST), Andy Dingley wrote:

I forget the details (try wiki, I recall a good article), but domestic
petrol mowers are now all (for practical values of "all") from just
two makers, who sell under a range of merged brands. One is Chinese,
the other American and Chinese-made.

The italian plant has closed then?

--
Cheers
Dave.

Biggles wrote:
Notcutts have it for around a hundred quid less:

http://www.notcutts.co.uk/Suffolk-Pu...r/pid-00248746


I think I'll go for the £6.99 one

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Cutting width is 53cm, the one the OP was looking at is 41cm. Need to
judge whether that matters or not.

yeah, I am looking at that one for the 'places the ride on (48") cant
reach"..

SWMBO has a chance of being able to start it.

We have 1.5 acres more or less.

To put this in perspective, our lawn is around 50-60 ft square, ie less than
1/10th of an acre. That's still 50-60 stripes with a 1ft wide mower.




--
Murphy's ultimate law is that if something that could go wrong doesn't,
it turns out that it would have been better if it had gone wrong.

"Dave Liquorice" wrote:
On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 06:28:39 -0800 (PST), Andy Dingley wrote:

I forget the details (try wiki, I recall a good article), but domestic
petrol mowers are now all (for practical values of "all") from just
two makers, who sell under a range of merged brands. One is Chinese,
the other American and Chinese-made.

The italian plant has closed then?

No, it still seems to be going making "Sovereign" mowers and shredders.

MuddyMike wrote:
"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Feb 28, 1:59 pm, Jules Richardson
wrote:
By all accounts, even the brands that were once good are pretty much junk
these days and relying just on their good name to get them by


I had to replace the transaxle on my Hayter ride on three years ago. The new
one was labelled Murray/Tecumseh and had a Countax part number cross
reference!

Hayter ispart of the Toro group. Decent kit mainly.
Countax appears to be the same as westwood, leastways their website is
broken in exactly the same way.

Tecumseh seems to be more a parts supplier

More like Gertrag, who make gearboxes for a zillion car brands, often
with common parts.


That doesnt make the car manufacturers the same, any more than Dell Sony
and Apple are the same cos they use Intel processors.

Mike

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
MuddyMike wrote:
"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Feb 28, 1:59 pm, Jules Richardson
wrote:
By all accounts, even the brands that were once good are pretty much
junk
these days and relying just on their good name to get them by


I had to replace the transaxle on my Hayter ride on three years ago. The
new one was labelled Murray/Tecumseh and had a Countax part number cross
reference!

Hayter ispart of the Toro group. Decent kit mainly.
Countax appears to be the same as westwood, leastways their website is
broken in exactly the same way.

Tecumseh seems to be more a parts supplier


Seems they all use the same Tecumseh trans/axle. Perhaps Murray / Tecumseh
are the same company as the unit was jointly named.
My old Hayter 18/42 was identical under the bodywork in every way to a
neighbours Countax machine, so they must have both been made in the same
factory at some point.

Mike

On Feb 28, 4:25*pm, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

Toro are actually decent.

Toro was one of the ones I was thinking of. MTD are now very closely
linked to them, although they're still privately owned. The ranges are
pretty much merged - MTD make the cheap stuff, Toro the bigger stuff,
but they sell each one's products under each one's brands and there's
component swap over in the middle. Between this conglomerate and the
other one, the two have some huge fraction of the US & Aus markets,
which is a huge fraction of the world market. John Deere, although big
in tractors, are nowhere in comparison for walk-behinds. Husqvarna are
big in Europe, but not in the USA, and that's just a bigger market.

GB wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Cutting width is 53cm, the one the OP was looking at is 41cm. Need to
judge whether that matters or not.

yeah, I am looking at that one for the 'places the ride on (48") cant
reach"..

SWMBO has a chance of being able to start it.

We have 1.5 acres more or less.

To put this in perspective, our lawn is around 50-60 ft square, ie less than
1/10th of an acre. That's still 50-60 stripes with a 1ft wide mower.


I would get a leccy for that frankly. Mains one.need about 2Kw to mow a
decent 12" strip.


Heck you could cut that one with an electric razor on one charge.. :-)

Or a pair of scissors.

I use the pushalong Hayter for a raised section of that size. But only
because I already have it.

And I cant be arsed to get the ride on out if that's all that needs doing.

On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:08:57 -0000, "MuddyMike"
wrote:


"MM" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:46:15 -0000, "GB"
wrote:

I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower.
I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?

I only like cylinder mowers. Unfortunately they are so expensive I
can't afford one. My mum used to have one like this
http://tinyurl.com/6h5pc6d but that was forty years ago and it had a
metal, not plastic, grass-collection box. Built like a tank.

The Amazon price for the 14 inch is a whacking £578 plus £65 delivery
(sixty-five quid!!)

That's incredible. I bought a new Suffolk Punch shortly after I got married
and I am sure the whole thing cost about £65. It was not a good machine,
catch a stone (or a stick even) and the cylinder blade bent!

Stones!!! No lawn should have stones.

MM

On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 10:22:55 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:00:18 +0000, MM wrote:

I reckon an entrepreneur could bring the price down considerably.
Almost 600 quid for a ruddy mower! Someone is making massive profit
here.

£600 is a bit pricey but there is also and element of "you get what
you pay for".

What is a mower? An engine, ...

Top of the range Honda with cast iron block or chinese clone with
unlined aluminium block?

... a cylinder, ...

Made from stamped thin sheet or decent thickness cut steel?

... a frame in which to mount them.

Again pressed from thin sheet or cast frames bolted together?

Don't get me started on electric mowers. The cable is a real PITA.

Only if you don't engage brain about how to handle it both in storage
and use. See recent thread on extension cable coiling and when mowing
have the cable only over the cut area and work away from the supply
point.

With cable-free mowing my brain has plenty of spare capacity, thanks
all the same. *ALL* cables are a friggin' nightmare. Hoover, iron,
power drill -- you name it, the cable is always a PITA.

MM

"MM" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:08:57 -0000, "MuddyMike"
wrote:


"MM" wrote in message
. ..
On Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:46:15 -0000, "GB"
wrote:

I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower.
I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a
rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has
mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there?
Also,
where's the best place to get one?

I only like cylinder mowers. Unfortunately they are so expensive I
can't afford one. My mum used to have one like this
http://tinyurl.com/6h5pc6d but that was forty years ago and it had a
metal, not plastic, grass-collection box. Built like a tank.

The Amazon price for the 14 inch is a whacking £578 plus £65 delivery
(sixty-five quid!!)

That's incredible. I bought a new Suffolk Punch shortly after I got
married
and I am sure the whole thing cost about £65. It was not a good machine,
catch a stone (or a stick even) and the cylinder blade bent!

Stones!!! No lawn should have stones.

That must be from someone without kids or dogs :-)

Mike

On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:03:59 +0000, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

MM wrote:
On Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:46:15 -0000, "GB"
wrote:

I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower. I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there? Also,
where's the best place to get one?

I only like cylinder mowers. Unfortunately they are so expensive I
can't afford one. My mum used to have one like this
http://tinyurl.com/6h5pc6d but that was forty years ago and it had a
metal, not plastic, grass-collection box. Built like a tank.

The Amazon price for the 14 inch is a whacking £578 plus £65 delivery
(sixty-five quid!!)

I reckon an entrepreneur could bring the price down considerably.
Almost 600 quid for a ruddy mower! Someone is making massive profit
here. What is a mower? An engine, a cylinder, a frame in which to
mount them. Pretty much it, really. Don't get me started on electric
mowers. The cable is a real PITA.

wait till you get a ride on. £1500 at least. For anything that lasts.

If one has the space, why not? Good idea.

MM

MuddyMike wrote:
"MM" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:08:57 -0000, "MuddyMike"
wrote:

"MM" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:46:15 -0000, "GB"
wrote:

I have a medium sized suburban lawn, and I would prefer a petrol mower.
I'd
like a rear roller to give a stripey effect, and quite happy with a
rotary
rather than cylinder. I have spotted this one on Amazon, which has
mostly
very good reviews.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayter-Spiri...pr_product_top

Is that a sensible buy, or is there something much better out there?
Also,
where's the best place to get one?
I only like cylinder mowers. Unfortunately they are so expensive I
can't afford one. My mum used to have one like this
http://tinyurl.com/6h5pc6d but that was forty years ago and it had a
metal, not plastic, grass-collection box. Built like a tank.

The Amazon price for the 14 inch is a whacking £578 plus £65 delivery
(sixty-five quid!!)
That's incredible. I bought a new Suffolk Punch shortly after I got
married
and I am sure the whole thing cost about £65. It was not a good machine,
catch a stone (or a stick even) and the cylinder blade bent!
Stones!!! No lawn should have stones.

That must be from someone without kids or dogs :-)

Or gravel paths, moles or rain..which has a tendency to wash soil down
past stones in dug over flower beds..


Mike

John Rumm wrote:
On 28/02/2011 12:22, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Tim Streater wrote:
In article ,

My only beef with that one at a casual is that its not self
propelled, and pushing a mower is hard work.

The 41cm ones are actually quite light and easy to shift about - no
difficulty pushing one handed etc if needs be. A bigger one would
benefit from power though.

But the self props start around £450 in Hayter badges IIRC.

I got a Hayter R53A a year ago, for about £550. This is a self-prop
petrol rotary, electric starter, and is fairly wide which with half an
acre of grass to mow is important. Ally body and a Briggs & Stratton
engine.

Since it mulches I don't bother with the grass bag, just shoot the
cuttings out and they disappear quickly enough. Takes about 2 hours
here to cut the lot.

If going for mulching, make sure to go for one with loads of power. The
little 3.5hp B&S on my Hayter can't mulch. Even the 13hp in the ride on
has to work hard if its at all long or wet when mulching.

True. I now throw it all out the side till its under control, wait two
weeks and do the same again. THEN I can mulch what the worms haven't eaten.


Cutting width is 53cm, the one the OP was looking at is 41cm. Need to
judge whether that matters or not.

yeah, I am looking at that one for the 'places the ride on (48") cant
reach"..

Pretty much what my Hayter gets used for now - under trees, small
patches of lawn without turning space etc. (another reason why the lack
of self propulsion does not really matter for this kind of work)

well SWMBO insisted on making te grass patches between the raised
vegetable beds too narrow for the ride on.

'I'll cut it myself, don't worry'. Fat chance.

Picturesque it may be, but at the moment its cut with a strimmer. its
100 yards away from the little mower.
and is aa brute to drag it all that wau, and worse to drag it back up
again afterwards.