Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass and long grass will stall the motor. I
keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
get used each year.

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
mowers now. Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
it seems mowers are heading that way too. It might be my last
chance to buy a petrol one!

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
https://piaohong.s3-us-west-2.amazon...net/index.html

On 27/08/2020 14:21, Stephen wrote:
Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass and long grass will stall the motor. I
keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
get used each year.

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
mowers now. Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
it seems mowers are heading that way too. It might be my last
chance to buy a petrol one!

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
https://piaohong.s3-us-west-2.amazon...net/index.html

A lot depends on the size and issues of your lawn (do you let it grow
long, for example).

If you find your mains electric inadequate it could be that it is a
rather poor model, or that you are asking too much of it which suggests
petrol might be the way to go.

Modern batteries are becoming a match for i/c engines for smaller
hand-held tools. But typically, mains tools will at least match the
performance of battery ones.

On 27/08/2020 14:30, newshound wrote:

A lot depends on the size and issues of your lawn (do you let it grow
long, for example).


+1
My petrol mower cuts long wet grass at the beginning of the grass
cutting season - which last year ended in early December and this year
started in early February

A friend has a battery powered mower which cost nearly 3x the price of
my petrol mower and although it works very well it is restricted to a
maximum of dry medium height grass. The batteries have lasted 3 to 4
years but the charger did fail in a fairly dramatic way with a blackened
circuit board and a few black remains of components. The replacement
charger was around £40.




--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

I had an old atco battery mower many years ago, although it was better than
a thrashing mains model it ate batteries which in those days were of course
lead acid.
I know my gardener uses petrol, he simply says, if you want it to mow
anything get a petrol mower before they ban them for the emissions many
give out, same goes for strimmers, and other gardening devices.
Brian

--
--
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"newshound" wrote in message
...
On 27/08/2020 14:21, Stephen wrote:
Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass and long grass will stall the motor. I
keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
get used each year.

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
mowers now. Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
it seems mowers are heading that way too. It might be my last
chance to buy a petrol one!

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
https://piaohong.s3-us-west-2.amazon...net/index.html

A lot depends on the size and issues of your lawn (do you let it grow
long, for example).

If you find your mains electric inadequate it could be that it is a rather
poor model, or that you are asking too much of it which suggests petrol
might be the way to go.

Modern batteries are becoming a match for i/c engines for smaller
hand-held tools. But typically, mains tools will at least match the
performance of battery ones.

On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 14:21:50 +0100 (GMT+01:00), Stephen
wrote:

Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass

Not sure you are advised to mow 'wet grass' with any domestic mower?

and long grass will stall the motor.

Quite?


keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
get used each year.

Cable electric are probably simpler (maintenance wise) in the long
term over petrol engine models.

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
mowers now.

And have been for a while now. ;-)

Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
it seems mowers are heading that way too.

And all sorts of garden / power tools.

It might be my last
chance to buy a petrol one!

;-)

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing

This will depend on all sorts of variables, including how often you
use them, how hard you use them, how you charge them and how you store
them.

and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?

That one is a 'piece of string' question. You can get cheap mowers
that are trying to do too much with low spec motors and batteries up
to 'quality' / branded kit that you have to pay handsomely for.

You might start by considering how long it typically takes you when
the mower isn't struggling then check to see how that compares with
the advertised run time of a battery mower that fits you budget
(allowing some leeway for marketing and battery aging).

Cheers, T i m

On 27/08/2020 14:42, T i m wrote:
On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 14:21:50 +0100 (GMT+01:00), Stephen
wrote:

Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass

Not sure you are advised to mow 'wet grass' with any domestic mower?

and long grass will stall the motor.

You might start by considering how long it typically takes you when
the mower isn't struggling then check to see how that compares with
the advertised run time of a battery mower that fits you budget
(allowing some leeway for marketing and battery aging).

Yup IME even my petrol mowers[1] don't work well on wet grass - and will
struggle with the first cut of the season if its long and wet.
Collection and clogging being the normal problem.

About the only mowers I have heard good results for on collection of wet
grass are Contax ride ons with the rotary brush sweeper collector.

[1] Old manual 3.5hp 14" petrol Hayter, and 13.5HP 36" ride on.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 27/08/2020 18:28, John Rumm wrote:
[1] Old manual 3.5hp 14" petrol Hayter


I've picked 3 of these up off freecycle in the last year, one B&S
sidevalve one with good steel deck I use for picking up hedge cuttings
and thus reducing their volume, one nearly new mountfield with OHV
engine and plastic deck I cut my lawn with (about 10 minutes every few
weeks) the other side valve B&S which had a badly rust perforated steel
deck I patched up and modified with a piece of tube to shred a clump of
bamboo for a neighbour who had given up taking it to the green waste
site during the lockdown and it had all sprouted where it lay.

On Thursday, 27 August 2020 at 14:42:51 UTC+1, T i m wrote:
On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 14:21:50 +0100 (GMT+01:00), Stephen
wrote:

Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass
Not sure you are advised to mow 'wet grass' with any domestic mower?
and long grass will stall the motor.
Quite?

keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
get used each year.
Cable electric are probably simpler (maintenance wise) in the long
term over petrol engine models.

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
mowers now.
And have been for a while now. ;-)
Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
it seems mowers are heading that way too.
And all sorts of garden / power tools.
It might be my last
chance to buy a petrol one!
;-)

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
This will depend on all sorts of variables, including how often you
use them, how hard you use them, how you charge them and how you store
them.
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?
That one is a 'piece of string' question. You can get cheap mowers
that are trying to do too much with low spec motors and batteries up
to 'quality' / branded kit that you have to pay handsomely for.

You might start by considering how long it typically takes you when
the mower isn't struggling then check to see how that compares with
the advertised run time of a battery mower that fits you budget
(allowing some leeway for marketing and battery aging).

Cheers, T i m
I bought my son a Hyundai self propelled petrol mower last year, and it will tackle long wet grass without any problems. It was easily assembled after watching YouTube video and easy to start. It cost £200 from Amazon.
David

On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 14:21:50 +0100 (GMT+01:00), Stephen
wrote:


I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?

I don't imagine that most of them are designed to have their batteries
changed, or not at the cheaper end of the market.
(Bought a cheap Mountfield from B&Q 13 years ago and I just needed to
pay £35 to get it fixed because the carburettor had rusted and the
rust had blocked the fuel line. With an additive in the fuel to stop
the rusting it's good to go for another 13+ years now.)

Peter Johnson wrote:
On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 14:21:50 +0100 (GMT+01:00), Stephen
wrote:


I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?

I don't imagine that most of them are designed to have their batteries
changed, or not at the cheaper end of the market.

All of them have removable batteries, but if you buy at the Lidl end of the
spectrum you might not be able to source replacements. Many of them are on
Makita/Ryobi/etc battery systems like other power tools. The fancier ones
are higher voltage and do their own thing.

Even if you can't buy replacements, all of the batteries can likely be
recelled - they're probably just 18650s inside.

Theo

On 27/08/2020 14:21, Stephen wrote:
Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass and long grass will stall the motor. I
keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
get used each year.

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
mowers now. Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
it seems mowers are heading that way too. It might be my last
chance to buy a petrol one!

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
https://piaohong.s3-us-west-2.amazon...net/index.html

I replaced my old self-propelled corded mower three months ago with a
self-propelled battery mower (Mountfield). This was mainly because I had
changed the layout of the garden over several years and I got fed up
with having to keep stepping over the cable or moving it. I've only had
to cut the grass a couple of times because of the drought we've had here
and the mower performed well. There's only around 100 - 120m^2 of lawn
left, and a single charge handles that ok.

--

Jeff

But what will the performance be like in 2 years time? Poor enought to
warrant a new battery - or will you put up with deminished performance.

On 27/08/2020 17:17, JohnP wrote:


But what will the performance be like in 2 years time? Poor enought to
warrant a new battery - or will you put up with deminished performance.

If I remember I'll post a reply in August 2022.

--

Jeff

On 27/08/2020 17:58, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 27/08/2020 17:17, JohnP wrote:


But what will the performance be like in 2 years time? Poor enought to
warrant a new battery - or will you put up with deminished performance.

If I remember I'll post a reply in August 2022.

And someone else will post another reply in 2032 :-)

Jeff Layman wrote:
On 27/08/2020 17:17, JohnP wrote:


But what will the performance be like in 2 years time? Poor enought to
warrant a new battery - or will you put up with deminished performance.

If I remember I'll post a reply in August 2022.


One of the problems with all the Lithium batteries
in the house, is charge management. Not putting
too much charge in them. Putting too little charge
in them (due to self-discharge over time).

It's not particularly good, to leave them on the
charger for 9 months, until the next grass mowing season.
That keeps the battery at 100% too much of the time.

Depending on the quality of the battery, you might want
to check it every three months or so, to see what kind
of self-discharge rate it has. That's if it has a
fuel gauge. That's how often I check the laptop pack.
I charge it back up to 70-80% if it needs a charge.

If a multi-cell pack "goes below 0% charge", a
charger is not allowed to charge it. It "won't
take a charge" when that happens.

Multi-cell packs, one of the cells can become
reverse-biased when run below the limit and
any kind of load is applied. (Even running a LED
would be enough.) The reverse-biased cell plates
out metal, ruining the cell. Packs work best if
all the cells match and they all "go downhill"
at the same moment.

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/...ased_batteries

Paul

On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:17:41 GMT, JohnP wrote:




But what will the performance be like in 2 years time? Poor enought to
warrant a new battery - or will you put up with deminished performance.

Depends on the quality of the battery and charger, how many charge /
discharged cycles it has been though and to what depth for each, how
the battery has been stored and the load it was put to when in use.

Cheers, T i m

On 27/08/2020 14:21, Stephen wrote:
Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass and long grass will stall the motor. I
keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
get used each year.

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
mowers now. Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
it seems mowers are heading that way too. It might be my last
chance to buy a petrol one!

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
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I would be tempted by one of the robotic lawn mowers. There are now
some that are less expensive. You probably have to set them off quite
often as the ones I have seen don't pick up the grass.


--
Michael Chare

Jethro_uk wrote:
I would be tempted by one of the robotic lawn mowers. There are now
some that are less expensive. You probably have to set them off quite
often as the ones I have seen don't pick up the grass.

You would have thought with the deluge of "smart" things, making one that
could hold some clippings, dump them in a set location (which could have
a charger attached) and pretty much keep the lawns cut all summer.

They chop the grass super-fine to mulch it back in, and they cut every day,
so in theory you don't get snowdrifts of cut grass that you do with a
regular mower. I haven't seen them in action to know how well it works out.

Theo

Is it a cylinder type? Can it cut paper if you have turn it by hand? Often
a stone can move the all impotant bottom blade and the "scissor action" is
ruined.

On 27/08/2020 14:21, Stephen wrote:
Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass and long grass will stall the motor. I
keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
get used each year.

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
mowers now. Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
it seems mowers are heading that way too. It might be my last
chance to buy a petrol one!

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
https://piaohong.s3-us-west-2.amazon...net/index.html

You don't need to buy a Honda mower for £400. You can get a perfectly
adequate Mountfield mower for far less than half of that - look out for
offers at Screwfix etc. Just make sure it's got a Briggs and Stratton
engine - they last for ever even if you neglect them mercilessly.

If you're not too fussy, you can pick up a reasonable petrol mower at a
car boot sale, or even at a tip shop - my local tip sells them. I paid
£40 for a Mountfield mower with a B&S engine at a car boot sale about 10
years ago, and it's still going strong.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

On 27/08/2020 14:21, Stephen wrote:

Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass and long grass will stall the motor. I
keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
get used each year.


Yup, BTDTGTTS

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
mowers now. Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
it seems mowers are heading that way too. It might be my last
chance to buy a petrol one!

You could probably get a decent enough one with a Brigs & Straten
engine. They seem pretty dependable.

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?

A good few hundred cycles on decent batteries.

Here is a good look at the kind of performance you will get from a
decent machine with 36V/40V batteries[1].

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZpYv1MdQs0

[1] in the power tool world 18V and 20V refer to the same battery
voltages - just counted at different parts of the charge cycle.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 18:23:42 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

You could probably get a decent enough one with a Brigs & Straten
engine. They seem pretty dependable.

If Briggs & Stratton survive the pandemic. Filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy in July.

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Dave Liquorice" Wrote in message:
On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 18:23:42 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

You could probably get a decent enough one with a Brigs & Straten
engine. They seem pretty dependable.

If Briggs & Stratton survive the pandemic. Filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy in July.


I think he meant the engines...
--
Jimk


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On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 22:30:09 +0100 (GMT+01:00), Jimk
wrote:

"Dave Liquorice" Wrote in message:
On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 18:23:42 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

You could probably get a decent enough one with a Brigs & Straten
engine. They seem pretty dependable.

If Briggs & Stratton survive the pandemic. Filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy in July.


I think he meant the engines...

So Jimmy, 1) if B&S go to the wall, how could the OP buy a new mower
with a B&S engine? [1]

2) If B&S go to the wall, how reliable will the supply of spares be?

Answers on a postcard ... ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[1] And who do you think might bail out a company (as a going concern)
making IC engines with the world going electric?

T i m wrote:
On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 22:30:09 +0100 (GMT+01:00), Jimk
wrote:

"Dave Liquorice" Wrote in message:
On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 18:23:42 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

You could probably get a decent enough one with a Brigs & Straten
engine. They seem pretty dependable.

If Briggs & Stratton survive the pandemic. Filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy in July.


I think he meant the engines...

So Jimmy, 1) if B&S go to the wall, how could the OP buy a new mower
with a B&S engine? [1]

2) If B&S go to the wall, how reliable will the supply of spares be?

Spares? Havent bought a B&S spare in the last 30 years for mine. I did
once treat it to a new spark plug but it was probably unnecessary. ;-)



Answers on a postcard ... ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[1] And who do you think might bail out a company (as a going concern)
making IC engines with the world going electric?

Robotic battery powered mowers seem to be the future.

Tim
--
Please don't feed the trolls

On 27/08/2020 23:36, T i m wrote:


So Jimmy, 1) if B&S go to the wall, how could the OP buy a new mower
with a B&S engine? [1]

The brand name will be sold off and will start appearing on Chinese made
engines.


2) If B&S go to the wall, how reliable will the supply of spares be?

If there are enough engines already out there third parties start
supplying compatible spares - often on these engines you just need a new
gasket set, spark plug or petrol hose.


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Stephen wrote:
Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass and long grass will stall the motor. I
keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
get used each year.

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
mowers now. Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
it seems mowers are heading that way too. It might be my last
chance to buy a petrol one!

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?


These links provided as an indication of the absurdity
of BE for mowers. This was the larges battery pack on offer
for this sort of thing as of last year.

https://www.globalindustrial.ca/p/ou...attery-charger

"RUN TIME 60 minutes" === with the one provided battery 56V 7.5Ah

The battery is 30-40% of the purchase price of the mower. Since my runtime
for the yard is 90 minutes, I would need two batteries (so would purchase
this one).

https://www.amazon.com/EGO-56V-BA420.../dp/B07PY6CCNT

That battery pack is also used in a snow blower. The snow
blower takes *two* of those batteries, and will process
snow at a depth of 8" to 10" or so. Still not enough for
all situations. And if you've ever used a snow blower not
matched to the snow depth, you'll know what that means.

When the snow blower uses *four* of those batteries, then
only Bill Gates will have one.

There aren't sufficient field reports for those yet,
as to failure rates. First we have to find enough rich people
to test those for us.

That's more of a power pack than most of them get.

My next door neighbor has a "lesser" BE mower, where the battery
pack is inside the housing and cannot be removed. He gets about
half the lawn done, before stopping for a recharge. And he finishes
the lawn the next day. I don't know where the lawn mower
sits while it recharges, somewhere in the back yard, in the
rain, or whatever... My neighbor got about four years out
of the previous BE mower, and he deserves some sort of award
for trying again.

Paul

On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 14:21:50 +0100 (GMT+01:00), Stephen wrote:

Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass and long grass will stall the motor. I
keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
get used each year.

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
mowers now. Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
it seems mowers are heading that way too. It might be my last
chance to buy a petrol one!

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?

----Android NewsGroup Reader----
https://piaohong.s3-us-west-2.amazon...net/index.html

Chap next door bought a Mac Allister from B&Q, corded mains, about £70 3
years ago. Much to my annoyance it cut his fair-sized lawn very well. The
grass was about 6" long for the first cut and I though that there was no
chance - no problem, more like.
What ****ed me of was that I used to cut that grass - it's sports pitch seed
- and my Honda, at 3X+ the price, would have need 2 cuts and clearing out a
few times.
Looks as if your mower might be crap and it could be worth trying a Mac
Allister. I reckon that a cordless one won't hack it.
https://www.diy.com/departments/outd.../N-exwZ1z0s371
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

PeterC wrote:
Chap next door bought a Mac Allister from B&Q, corded mains, about £70 3
years ago. Much to my annoyance it cut his fair-sized lawn very well. The
grass was about 6" long for the first cut and I though that there was no
chance - no problem, more like.

I've been pretty impressed by the corded MacAllister that we've inherited
from a landlord who only bought the cheapest everything.

The main issue was the cutting width - on a big lawn, petrol mowers go
up to about 55cm while the electric was 35cm. It still handled 'meadow'
quality grass, you just had to overlap cuts.

If I were a contract gardener without ready access to power and the need to
get the job done rapidly I'd still want a petrol (or a ride-on).

Theo

"Theo" wrote in message
...
PeterC wrote:
Chap next door bought a Mac Allister from B&Q, corded mains, about £70 3
years ago. Much to my annoyance it cut his fair-sized lawn very well. The
grass was about 6" long for the first cut and I though that there was no
chance - no problem, more like.

I've been pretty impressed by the corded MacAllister that we've inherited
from a landlord who only bought the cheapest everything.

The main issue was the cutting width - on a big lawn, petrol mowers go
up to about 55cm while the electric was 35cm. It still handled 'meadow'
quality grass, you just had to overlap cuts.

If I were a contract gardener without ready access to power and the need
to
get the job done rapidly I'd still want a petrol (or a ride-on).

Petrol will still prevail for cutting larger areas of grass where battery
capacity is nowhere near enough to cut the whole lot in one day without a
long recharge, and where you can't trail a very long mains cable that is
probably 100 metres or more.

Our garden is about an acre, though some of that is pond, flower beds,
greenhouse area etc. But it would need a battery the size of a car (maybe I
exaggerate!) to cut the whole area of grass in one charge, and trailing a
long mains cable would be horrendous.

I cut it with a self-propelled walk-behind mower and can do the whole lot in
about 2 1/2 hours. The previous people had a ride-on mower and a
self-propelled walk-behind mower for the bits that the ride-on couldn't get
to, but they wanted to sell them to us for an extortionate amount, so we
went for the walk-behind as a stop-gap while we decide whether to get a
robotic mower.

In article , NY wrote:
"Theo" wrote in message
...
PeterC wrote:
Chap next door bought a Mac Allister from B&Q, corded mains, about £70
3 years ago. Much to my annoyance it cut his fair-sized lawn very
well. The grass was about 6" long for the first cut and I though that
there was no chance - no problem, more like.

I've been pretty impressed by the corded MacAllister that we've
inherited from a landlord who only bought the cheapest everything.

The main issue was the cutting width - on a big lawn, petrol mowers go
up to about 55cm while the electric was 35cm. It still handled
'meadow' quality grass, you just had to overlap cuts.

If I were a contract gardener without ready access to power and the
need to get the job done rapidly I'd still want a petrol (or a
ride-on).

Petrol will still prevail for cutting larger areas of grass where battery
capacity is nowhere near enough to cut the whole lot in one day without
a long recharge, and where you can't trail a very long mains cable that
is probably 100 metres or more.

Our garden is about an acre, though some of that is pond, flower beds,
greenhouse area etc. But it would need a battery the size of a car (maybe
I exaggerate!) to cut the whole area of grass in one charge, and
trailing a long mains cable would be horrendous.

I cut it with a self-propelled walk-behind mower and can do the whole lot
in about 2 1/2 hours. The previous people had a ride-on mower and a
self-propelled walk-behind mower for the bits that the ride-on couldn't
get to, but they wanted to sell them to us for an extortionate amount,
so we went for the walk-behind as a stop-gap while we decide whether to
get a robotic mower.

We've 2/3 acre and for the best part of 40 years, I used a self propelled
petrol beast which took the best part of 3 hours. Then I bought a sit on -
main job done in under an hour with another 20 minutes for the edges.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

On 28/08/2020 12:29, charles wrote:
In article , NY wrote:
"Theo" wrote in message
...
PeterC wrote:
Chap next door bought a Mac Allister from B&Q, corded mains, about £70
3 years ago. Much to my annoyance it cut his fair-sized lawn very
well. The grass was about 6" long for the first cut and I though that
there was no chance - no problem, more like.

I've been pretty impressed by the corded MacAllister that we've
inherited from a landlord who only bought the cheapest everything.

The main issue was the cutting width - on a big lawn, petrol mowers go
up to about 55cm while the electric was 35cm. It still handled
'meadow' quality grass, you just had to overlap cuts.

If I were a contract gardener without ready access to power and the
need to get the job done rapidly I'd still want a petrol (or a
ride-on).

Petrol will still prevail for cutting larger areas of grass where battery
capacity is nowhere near enough to cut the whole lot in one day without
a long recharge, and where you can't trail a very long mains cable that
is probably 100 metres or more.

Our garden is about an acre, though some of that is pond, flower beds,
greenhouse area etc. But it would need a battery the size of a car (maybe
I exaggerate!) to cut the whole area of grass in one charge, and
trailing a long mains cable would be horrendous.

I cut it with a self-propelled walk-behind mower and can do the whole lot
in about 2 1/2 hours. The previous people had a ride-on mower and a
self-propelled walk-behind mower for the bits that the ride-on couldn't
get to, but they wanted to sell them to us for an extortionate amount,
so we went for the walk-behind as a stop-gap while we decide whether to
get a robotic mower.

We've 2/3 acre and for the best part of 40 years, I used a self propelled
petrol beast which took the best part of 3 hours. Then I bought a sit on -
main job done in under an hour with another 20 minutes for the edges.

Convert it to a wild flower meadow. Just cut diagonal or curved paths
through it. Then cut the main part once a year after the seeds have
fallen.

On Fri, 28 Aug 2020 11:18:47 +0100
"NY" wrote:

Petrol will still prevail for cutting larger areas of grass where battery
capacity is nowhere near enough to cut the whole lot in one day without a
long recharge, and where you can't trail a very long mains cable that is
probably 100 metres or more.

I'm inclined to disagree, I picked up a battery lawnmower from one
of the Teutonic twins along with four batteries for it. Each battery only
lasts about 20-30 minutes of use so when it beeps pull the battery and put
in a fresh one. Of course this was only feasible because the batteries were
sensibly priced (90wh for ‚¬35) a lot of manufacturers seem to think that
batteries are razor blades.

It's also less effort to use and does a better job than the
self-propelled petrol lawnmower it replaces.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith | Directable Mirror Arrays
C:\WIN | A better way to focus the sun
The computer obeys and wins. | licences available see
You lose and Bill collects. | http://www.sohara.org/

On 28 Aug 2020 10:52:10 +0100 (BST), Theo
wrote:

snip

If I were a contract gardener without ready access to power and the need to
get the job done rapidly I'd still want a petrol (or a ride-on).

When daughter was doing that for a living they had a couple of
Qualcast branded self propelled rotary petrol mowers, the smaller one
of which she 'loved' for it's portability and general ease of use,
especially in the smaller gardens.

They would always start first pull (hot or cold), had a reasonably
sized collection box and she was very efficient with it.

I think they had B&S engines.

The ride on hydraulic driven 'gang mowers' at her current work are too
big for most peoples side gates. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On Thursday, 27 August 2020 at 14:22:05 UTC+1, Stephen wrote:
Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass and long grass will stall the motor. I
keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
get used each year.

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
mowers now. Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
it seems mowers are heading that way too. It might be my last
chance to buy a petrol one!

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?


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On 27/08/2020 14:21, Stephen wrote:
Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
clogged up with wet grass and long grass will stall the motor. I
keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
get used each year.

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
mowers now. Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
it seems mowers are heading that way too. It might be my last
chance to buy a petrol one!

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
https://piaohong.s3-us-west-2.amazon...net/index.html

Buy a decent petrol one. The Hayter I bought 25 years ago is still easy
to start and does a good job.

Mike

On 31/08/2020 13:12, Muddymike wrote:
On 27/08/2020 14:21, Stephen wrote:
Hello, I have an electric mower but it's not very good: it gets
Â* clogged up with wet grass and long grass will stall the motor. I
Â* keep thinking I should treat myself to a petrol one but a honda
Â* is £400 and I think is it worth it for the few weekends it will
Â* get used each year.

Every now and then I look on web sites to see the prices and when
Â* I was looking today, I saw that there are many rechargeable
Â* mowers now. Thinking about the recent thread about electric cars,
Â* it seems mowers are heading that way too. It might be my last
Â* chance to buy a petrol one!

I wonder how long the batteries last before they need replacing
Â* and how powerful these battery powered mowers are?


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
https://piaohong.s3-us-west-2.amazon...net/index.html

Buy a decent petrol one. The Hayter I bought 25 years ago is still easy
to start and does a good job.

Mike
But if you bought the same one now, would it still be as good ?.

I was browsing fans in the local electrical shop, and was amazed
at how light they were now. All flimsy plastic bits and pieces now
it seems, compared to ones I bought in 2003 for the last heatwave.

On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 13:39:59 -0000 (UTC), Jethro_uk
wrote:

snip

My biggest bugbear - irrespective of power source - is stopping to empty
the grass box every 2 passes of the lawn.

Something I belive may be close to your heart, I see they are setting
pigs loose in areas of the country that were originally 'managed' by
such animals in any case, because it's easier and more productive at
returning the habituate to what was good and supported good diversity
than anything we can do manually (or afford to do manually). ;-)

In the same way fallen trees or stuff that might be cleared is often
left to provide habitat etc.

Cheers, T i m

On 27/08/2020 15:29, T i m wrote:
On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 13:39:59 -0000 (UTC), Jethro_uk
wrote:

snip

My biggest bugbear - irrespective of power source - is stopping to empty
the grass box every 2 passes of the lawn.

Something I belive may be close to your heart, I see they are setting
pigs loose in areas of the country that were originally 'managed' by
such animals in any case, because it's easier and more productive at
returning the habituate to what was good and supported good diversity
than anything we can do manually (or afford to do manually). ;-)

In the same way fallen trees or stuff that might be cleared is often
left to provide habitat etc.

Cheers, T i m

Wild boar are not so welcome not far away from me in the Forest of Dean.

On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:15:24 +0100, newshound
wrote:

On 27/08/2020 15:29, T i m wrote:
On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 13:39:59 -0000 (UTC), Jethro_uk
wrote:

snip

My biggest bugbear - irrespective of power source - is stopping to empty
the grass box every 2 passes of the lawn.

Something I belive may be close to your heart, I see they are setting
pigs loose in areas of the country that were originally 'managed' by
such animals in any case, because it's easier and more productive at
returning the habituate to what was good and supported good diversity
than anything we can do manually (or afford to do manually). ;-)

In the same way fallen trees or stuff that might be cleared is often
left to provide habitat etc.

Cheers, T i m

Wild boar are not so welcome not far away from me in the Forest of Dean.

No, so I understand, digging up lawns and the like?

However, maybe that should be how it is, they were probably here
before we were, like the elephants roaming though farms in Africa when
they have done so for millions of years before 'man' stuck himself in
the way. ;-(

That's real nature, not what we think it should be pruned into. ;-(

The funny thing is, we are at last realising what needs to be done and
going back to planting wild meadows, allowing margins and passageways
for wild animals etc ... like we had the right to take them away in
the first place.

The stupidity of it all is we are doing it all at our own cost, with
floods etc where previously the likes of beaver would have applied
some management of / to wetlands and flood planes.

Cheers, T i m