Been thinking of getting a petrol lawn mower for ages now. Looked around and
the prices range from the dirt cheap (£80) to the outrageous (£1000+)!

Specs I'm after:
Petrol (no cable, easier to mow wet grass as [usually?] more power than
electric)
Rotary blade
Roller (stripes and helps with uneven lawn)
Self propelled (wife needs encouragement to help out with the task!)
Grass collection
Reliable manfacturer.
Cost £400-£500 ish

The one I've eyed up closely is a Honda 425 (specific model with the above
features). Anyone got any bad things to say about this one or others that
would be as good?

Thanks in advance!

In article ,
"Reckless" writes:
Been thinking of getting a petrol lawn mower for ages now. Looked around and
the prices range from the dirt cheap (£80) to the outrageous (£1000+)!

Specs I'm after:
Petrol (no cable, easier to mow wet grass as [usually?] more power than
electric)

Most electric ones have cheap universal motors which are completely
the wrong torque profile for a lawnmower. If you do buy an electric
one, go for an induction motor. You'll find it more powerful at
cutting the grass, even though it may have a less powerful motor,
and as it has good torque at full speed, it it less likely to be
slowed by a clump of thick grass. You may need to go to a lawn mower
specialist -- when I last bought a mower some 6 years ago, none of
the ones stocked by the sheds were induction motor types.

Rotary blade
Roller (stripes and helps with uneven lawn)

Ah, that probably means a cylinder mower.

Self propelled (wife needs encouragement to help out with the task!)
Grass collection
Reliable manfacturer.
Cost £400-£500 ish

I had a petrol driven mower for just over 30 years. It had a Briggs
and Stratton engine, which was actually still fine when the mower
eventually had to go because the bodywork rusted to bits. I gave the
engine one oil change every 10 years, and possibly one or two new
sparking plugs;-)

--
Andrew Gabriel

Reckless wrote:
Been thinking of getting a petrol lawn mower for ages now. Looked around and
the prices range from the dirt cheap (£80) to the outrageous (£1000+)!

Specs I'm after:
Petrol (no cable, easier to mow wet grass as [usually?] more power than
electric)
Rotary blade
Roller (stripes and helps with uneven lawn)
Self propelled (wife needs encouragement to help out with the task!)
Grass collection
Reliable manfacturer.
Cost £400-£500 ish

The one I've eyed up closely is a Honda 425 (specific model with the above
features). Anyone got any bad things to say about this one or others that
would be as good?

Thanks in advance!


Ebay is always worth a good look. I bought my petrol one at a fraction
of the cost

Chris

On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 18:48:44 +0000 (UTC), "Reckless"
wrote:

The one I've eyed up closely is a Honda 425 (specific model with the above
features). Anyone got any bad things to say about this one or others that
would be as good?

Mountfield gets a thumbs up from me. We've had a couple. The first had
a Briggs and Stratton engine which was fine for the 15 years or so we
had it - had to dump the mower because the handle broke away from the
base and it wasn't economically repairable.

Andrew

"Reckless" wrote in message
...
Been thinking of getting a petrol lawn mower for ages now. Looked around
and
the prices range from the dirt cheap (£80) to the outrageous (£1000+)!

Specs I'm after:
Petrol (no cable, easier to mow wet grass as [usually?] more power than
electric)
Rotary blade
Roller (stripes and helps with uneven lawn)
Self propelled (wife needs encouragement to help out with the task!)
Grass collection
Reliable manfacturer.
Cost £400-£500 ish

The one I've eyed up closely is a Honda 425 (specific model with the above
features). Anyone got any bad things to say about this one or others that
would be as good?

Thanks in advance!


I use a honda 425hrb (think thats the model) on a garden i maintain, i think
the "RB" stands for rotor brake, which in a safety feature, let go of the
handle and the blade stops, but the engine continues.. Used it for about 3
years now, no problems, starts first pull every time - even after winter
rest. it is used once a week, about 4 hjours continuous cutting, copes with
quite long grass no problem. quite heavy to manoevre without the drive on.
also quite expensive,

"Andrew McKay" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 18:48:44 +0000 (UTC), "Reckless"
wrote:

The one I've eyed up closely is a Honda 425 (specific model with the
above
features). Anyone got any bad things to say about this one or others that
would be as good?

Mountfield gets a thumbs up from me. We've had a couple. The first had
a Briggs and Stratton engine which was fine for the 15 years or so we
had it - had to dump the mower because the handle broke away from the
base and it wasn't economically repairable.

Andrew

AOL
Me Too!
\AOL

My parents have a Mountfield which is currently in 22nd year and still going
well and I have an old one as well. Mine gets new oil and the spark plug
cleaned once a year (last week in fact) and that's it as far as maintenance
goes.

Hope this helps

Mark

Reckless wrote:
Been thinking of getting a petrol lawn mower for ages now. Looked around and
the prices range from the dirt cheap (£80) to the outrageous (£1000+)!

Specs I'm after:
Petrol (no cable, easier to mow wet grass as [usually?] more power than
electric)
Rotary blade
Roller (stripes and helps with uneven lawn)
Self propelled (wife needs encouragement to help out with the task!)
Grass collection
Reliable manfacturer.
Cost £400-£500 ish

The one I've eyed up closely is a Honda 425 (specific model with the above
features). Anyone got any bad things to say about this one or others that
would be as good?

Thanks in advance!


We have just picked up a Hayter Harrier 2 (Briggs and Stratton 3.5HP
Engine) for £15. It was being put into a skip along with other garden
tools sigh so we offered some cash for it.

A quick oil change, filter clean and a new spark plug and it was working
first pull of the cord. It is a rotary and has a roller, self
propelled. Great fun watching my 4 year old engage the clutch while
holding on to it :-).

Anyway,

I have since seen these for around £100 s/h in local papers. It's a
solid machine, built like a tank and sorted out our 'meadow' in no time.
As other posters have said, they seem like very reliable machines and I
have so far been very impressed. If they last 10-15 years from new then
they are also well worth the price tag new.

/Heds

Reckless typed:

Been thinking of getting a petrol lawn mower
snip
The one I've eyed up closely is a Honda

They seem to work fine for the first 3 laps, then go bang ! ;-(

"Heds" wrote in message
...

We have just picked up a Hayter Harrier 2 (Briggs and Stratton 3.5HP
Engine) for £15. It was being put into a skip along with other garden
tools sigh so we offered some cash for it.

A quick oil change, filter clean and a new spark plug and it was working
first pull of the cord. It is a rotary and has a roller, self propelled.
Great fun watching my 4 year old engage the clutch while holding on to it
:-).

You have the mentality of a 3 year old. Would you would have a good laugh
when the 4 year old trips and falls under the mower?

"Mark" wrote in message
...
Reckless typed:

Been thinking of getting a petrol lawn mower
snip
The one I've eyed up closely is a Honda

They seem to work fine for the first 3 laps, then go bang ! ;-(


Some great responses - thanks to all. This one made me laugh though

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote
Most electric ones have cheap universal motors which are completely
the wrong torque profile for a lawnmower. If you do buy an electric
one, go for an induction motor. You'll find it more powerful at
cutting the grass, even though it may have a less powerful motor,
and as it has good torque at full speed, it it less likely to be
slowed by a clump of thick grass. You may need to go to a lawn mower
specialist -- when I last bought a mower some 6 years ago, none of
the ones stocked by the sheds were induction motor types.

I am surprised. Can you name a rotary lawnmower that uses a series motor? In
my experience all rotary mowers on the market today are fitted with
induction motors, even the cheap 'own brands' in the sheds.

From a manufacturing point of view, this means simplicty and therefore
cost-saving - the blade can be bolted straight to the output shaft of the
induction motor without the need for gearing, as well as giving a longer
life. A series motor runs too fast to be able to do that, even ignoring the
issue of torque.


Rotary blade
Roller (stripes and helps with uneven lawn)

Ah, that probably means a cylinder mower.
No, some rotary mowers also have rollers, for example
http://www.gardencentredirect.co.uk/d524/g5604

Heds wrote:

Reckless wrote:

Been thinking of getting a petrol lawn mower for ages now. Looked
around and
the prices range from the dirt cheap (£80) to the outrageous (£1000+)!

Specs I'm after:
Petrol (no cable, easier to mow wet grass as [usually?] more power than
electric)
Rotary blade
Roller (stripes and helps with uneven lawn)
Self propelled (wife needs encouragement to help out with the task!)
Grass collection
Reliable manfacturer.
Cost £400-£500 ish

The one I've eyed up closely is a Honda 425 (specific model with the
above
features). Anyone got any bad things to say about this one or others that
would be as good?

Thanks in advance!


We have just picked up a Hayter Harrier 2 (Briggs and Stratton 3.5HP
Engine) for £15. It was being put into a skip along with other garden
tools sigh so we offered some cash for it.


Old hayters are good news. The modern ones less so.
#
A quick oil change, filter clean and a new spark plug and it was working
first pull of the cord. It is a rotary and has a roller, self
propelled. Great fun watching my 4 year old engage the clutch while
holding on to it :-).


Well done!

Anyway,

I have since seen these for around £100 s/h in local papers. It's a
solid machine, built like a tank and sorted out our 'meadow' in no time.
As other posters have said, they seem like very reliable machines and I
have so far been very impressed. If they last 10-15 years from new then
they are also well worth the price tag new.


Ive gor a 12 year old Hayterette. Cast cahsis push aolng roraty. Still
does the business. Engine got hard to start, had a regrind of the valves
and its OK now.

/Heds

Reckless wrote:

Specs I'm after:
Petrol (no cable, easier to mow wet grass as [usually?] more power than
electric)
Rotary blade
Roller (stripes and helps with uneven lawn)
Self propelled (wife needs encouragement to help out with the task!)
Grass collection
Reliable manfacturer.
Cost ï½£400-ï½£500 ish

I have a Hayter harrier 41 (14") manual drive mower. Never been that
pleased with it to be honest.

On the plus side the engine (Briggs and Stratton) is great. The single
handle height adjustment is good as well.

However it has never been that good on damp grass and tends to clog far
to easily - you can spend most of your time unblocking it. The motor
break is a pain in that you let go of the handle and it stops the engine
rather than just the blade. Although the main shell is cast ali, the
undercarriage is plastic and that has basically fallen appart over the
years (its about 10 now). Last time I used it, it decided that it was
time to covert itself into a hover mower. The rear axel fell off
again... did another 15 meters of cutting (holding it up by its handle)
before the front height adjust machanism also let go at the front,
leaving the thing beached with no wheels on the ground! I gave up in
disgust at that point (last cut of the year), I figured I would sort it
out "later" (which I guess needs to be about now!)

--
Cheers,

John.

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

Honda are good but pricey both to buy and for spares.

Others have mentioned Mountfield and Hayter - good makes but beware as
they have rubbish stuff available in the sheds aimed at those who just
want something cheap.

Please go to your local independent mower dealer for some quality
advice and after sales service. I trust they will also offer prices as
good as you would see elsewhere (at least the one I worked at does).
They will also assemble it, oil it and ensure it is perfect before you
take it away.

Alan.

Kaiser wrote:
"Heds" wrote in message
...

A quick oil change, filter clean and a new spark plug and it was working
first pull of the cord. It is a rotary and has a roller, self propelled.
Great fun watching my 4 year old engage the clutch while holding on to it
:-).


You have the mentality of a 3 year old. Would you would have a good laugh
when the 4 year old trips and falls under the mower?


Fair enough if I hadn't been right behind him holding on to the handles
at the same time while the engine was at a slow setting.

Was about as safe as it can get.

Thanks for your concern though.

Next week, I think he can try using the chainsaw.....

:-)

/Heds

Kaiser wrote:
"Heds" wrote in message
...

Kaiser wrote:

"Heds" wrote in message
...

A quick oil change, filter clean and a new spark plug and it was working
first pull of the cord. It is a rotary and has a roller, self propelled.
Great fun watching my 4 year old engage the clutch while holding on to it
:-).


You have the mentality of a 3 year old. Would you would have a good laugh
when the 4 year old trips and falls under the mower?

Fair enough if I hadn't been right behind him holding on to the handles at
the same time while the engine was at a slow setting.

Was about as safe as it can get.

Thanks for your concern though.

Next week, I think he can try using the chainsaw.....


If you're so clever take a look here
http://www.shrinershq.org/prevention/mower6-98.html


Thanks for the link.

I know what I did had some element of risk. I had thought about what I
was doing and decided that it was safe. There was no risk of him
slipping, I was holding the handles.

I do not allow them to run on the grass when I am cutting, I always wear
safety goggles (these mowers sure do spit bits out at an amazing speed)
and steel capped boots, and generally make safety my No 1 concern (wife
used to work in Intensive Care Unit, so I have heard enough scary stories).

To be honest, I even worry about taking my kids in the car, in case of
an accident.

Please do not think that I am some nut case who lets his children use
equipment unsupervised, I certainly do not let them anywhere near my
guns, chainsaw, mower, drills, welder etc etc.


regards,


/Heds

In article ,
"Toolmaker" writes:
"Andrew Gabriel" wrote
Most electric ones have cheap universal motors which are completely
the wrong torque profile for a lawnmower. If you do buy an electric
one, go for an induction motor. You'll find it more powerful at
cutting the grass, even though it may have a less powerful motor,
and as it has good torque at full speed, it it less likely to be
slowed by a clump of thick grass. You may need to go to a lawn mower
specialist -- when I last bought a mower some 6 years ago, none of
the ones stocked by the sheds were induction motor types.

I am surprised. Can you name a rotary lawnmower that uses a series motor? In

Maybe they all changed in the last 6 years, but all the Flymos
and the like used to be universal motors. I was often asked to
look at friends'/neighbours' ones when the brushes wore out,
but the brush holders and wiring were always melted too, at
this point so they were not repairable. I had one like this in
a rented house too, which put me off electric mowers for a long
time until a lawnmower specialist showed me an induction motor
one. I could hear some neighbour on Saturday with a universal motor
mower -- pretty instant full speed, but no torque when the going
gets a bit tough.

my experience all rotary mowers on the market today are fitted with
induction motors, even the cheap 'own brands' in the sheds.

From a manufacturing point of view, this means simplicty and therefore
cost-saving - the blade can be bolted straight to the output shaft of the
induction motor without the need for gearing, as well as giving a longer
life. A series motor runs too fast to be able to do that, even ignoring the
issue of torque.

I'm pretty sure blades were just on the end of the drive shaft
of the universal motors. Universal motors can be designed with
various different characteristics. (Washing machine ones can be
quite interesting, as when run with no load and no servo feedback,
some of them will overspeed and fly to pieces.;-)

--
Andrew Gabriel

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote
Maybe they all changed in the last 6 years, but all the Flymos
and the like used to be universal motors.
Flymos - yes, maybe, as I guess that the weight of the induction motor might
hinder their ability to 'fly'. OP asked about rotary mowers (actually he
asked about petrol rotary mowers, so we are probably already off at a
tangent), and in my experience all on the market in the last 5 years or so
use induction motors. Will check on motors used in hover mowers at the
factory tomorrow.

I'm pretty sure blades were just on the end of the drive shaft
of the universal motors. Universal motors can be designed with
various different characteristics.
I agree that they can be designed with different characteristics, but I am
not sure that they can go so low (normally no-load speed for a universal
motor is 15,000-20,000 rpm which is a bit fast for a lawnmower blade).

In article ,
Toolmaker wrote:
[snip]
I agree that they can be designed with different characteristics,
but I am not sure that they can go so low (normally no-load
speed for a universal motor is 15,000-20,000 rpm which is a bit
fast for a lawnmower blade).

AFAIR, my 1500W Flymo, (bloody awful thing), is a
universal motor with a step-down belt drive. I don't
know what the exact speed of the blade is. It 'feels'
like somewhere between 3000 and 4000 rpm, but that's
just a wild guess.

The step-down also incorporates a slipping clutch,
(to try and limit the stall current). With a series-
-wound motor it is definitely good practice to get
into the habit of tilting the mower (off the grass)
at every start-up. This extends the life of the brushes.

--
Tony Williams.

Just a follow up..

I went for a 2nd hand Honda 425c self propelled, roto brake and has a
roller. It was fairly new (very good condition) and I'm pleased with it

Details of the mower
http://www.honda.co.uk/garden/Garden...idCategoryID=3

The RRP is out of this world but online you can get it for quite a bit less.
Got it from a local shop who did a good deal and gave good service. They
have supplied it with 1 yr warranty although I forgot to ask about Honda's
5yr - is this transferable?

"Alan" wrote in message
ups.com...
Honda are good but pricey both to buy and for spares.

Others have mentioned Mountfield and Hayter - good makes but beware as
they have rubbish stuff available in the sheds aimed at those who just
want something cheap.

Please go to your local independent mower dealer for some quality
advice and after sales service. I trust they will also offer prices as
good as you would see elsewhere (at least the one I worked at does).
They will also assemble it, oil it and ensure it is perfect before you
take it away.

Alan.