Way off-topic I know, but I'm going to buy a new one and would like some advice...

We have aquired some grass with our recent move (at the front and back) and it's growing very quickly between cuts!  I don't mind it getting a bit long (4") but the neigbours all have perfect lawns, each blade 2mm high etc! 

Anyway, so as to not upset the street by letting ours get too long and untidy I dragged the lawnmower out of the shed (came with the house) again.  It's bloomin horrible.  It's a small electric rotary mower.  The box fills up very quickly and needs emptying 3 times for the front, it needs pushing in straight lines, jams all of the time and stops at every slight bump.  It is very hard work on our sloping, uneven back garden.  There's no room to turn around either!

So I'm set on a hover mower having used one years and years ago (when I used to cut lawns as a kid).  I have seen one in Argos with a collection box, but a quick search says that these are pretty rubbish as they get heavy as the box fills and don't hover anymore.

Are the £30 Flymo Microlights and a rake actually any good?  They have plastic blades which is a downside I guess.  I want to spend as little as possible but don't want to buy a Tesco own as I expect that will be pants (might be wrong here though)

 

If not I'll be seeing about getting 3 tonnes of gravel delivered

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martin_hurton:

If not I'll be seeing about getting 3 tonnes of gravel delivered

Slabs or brick paving - gravel needs to be raked periodically, or you could always wait until the Pikeys are back in town and go for Tarmac.  

>> Are the £30 Flymo Microlights and a rake actually any good?

No.

Not even slightly.

We have a bit of a lawn. OK, the whole garden is about half an acre . We used to have a big Flymo. It broke the 3rd time I tried to mow the lawn with it which isn't really a surprise - that's a lot of work for a small mower. So I got a petrol driven Honda (which is why I was looking at this thread - it's gone wrong )

Anyway, there's a small patch of lawn around a tree which is really awkward to get the big lawnmower into so one day I bought one of the cheap Flymos. It was reduced to something stupid like 15 quid in Asda. We used it for one season on an area of grass about 15 feet by 6. The motor burnt out. That's less than 20 cuts on less than 100 square feet of grass. They are useless. Nice and light though. And cheap!

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Kidography. It's like photography. But more fun.

Hmm, so the moral of the story seems to be, buy a cheap one, use it for the year (if lucky, if not take it back under warranty) then bin it and buy another cheap one. 

Think I might have a look at the slightly larger version with a bigger motor though.

I don't mind a little bit of work as it's nice to have some greenery, and the birds are enjoying pecking for worms  

If I had 1/2 an acre or more I'd be having a sit on mower.  One day I'd like to have so much land I need a tractor

 

PS - Jonathan, what is wrong with the Honda?  Might be able to help...

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Martin, the lawnmower you do not like, which came with the house, is by the sound of it a finishing mower. It is supposed to be the best for immaculate lawns. It will however not cut grass if it is long. You are supposed to use that mower every 4-5days, and you will find that it will fly over the grass and will be no effort whatsoever.

 

If mowing the grass every 5 days sounds like a joke, than you could ofcourse get yourself a petrol lawnmower for £100 from any big DIY or garden centre. Nothing wrong wrong with these things, last for 5 years and more.

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simon boone:

Martin, the lawnmower you do not like, which came with the house, is by the sound of it a finishing mower. It is supposed to be the best for immaculate lawns. It will however not cut grass if it is long. You are supposed to use that mower every 4-5days, and you will find that it will fly over the grass and will be no effort whatsoever.

 

If mowing the grass every 5 days sounds like a joke, than you could ofcourse get yourself a petrol lawnmower for £100 from any big DIY or garden centre. Nothing wrong wrong with these things, last for 5 years and more.

I think you ar right, hence the wobly stripes!   

4-5 days - no chance.  Take this weekend, whilst everyone was mowing their lawns and washing their cars we went to the Lakes and climed 5 peaks, including Scafell Pike which we did twice Much more fun than cutting grass   I'd like to say I'd do it once a week, but once every two is more realistic.

I would like a petrol mower (something to tinker with!) but as I say, turning the thing around in the garden is quite a task.  The grass is tight to the borders and rockery, and on a slope.  Trying to turn the small plastic rotary mower is a handfull, never mind a heavier petrol mower.  Hence why I thought hover mower might be better, I can shove it into the corners and cut in any direction.  Also storage is a problem.  I was thinking I could hang a hover mower on the wall.

We have 2 lawns, one is about 20ft by 18ft, the other about 18ft by 18ft.  One is sloping but flat, the other is bumpy, lumpy and sloping!

I should be going to the dump after my cup of tea, so I'll pop-in to the retail park and have a look at a few.

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I switched to a petrol mower last year - finally got fed up with trailing electric cables everywhere, plus we have quite a large front / corner garden.

It's a self propelling one which makes it a doddle to use and only £150. I wanted a sit on one but, try as I might, I couldn't justify it!

I about took my foot off with one of those hover mowers once trying to to mow what could only be described as a meadow........and I didn't even have my dog, spot, with me.

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Phil Jackson
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Oh dear oh dear Martin. You'll never get rich with the thinking of buying one that's good for a year, chucking it and then repeating the cycle. You'd be far better advised getting yourself a couple of sheep (yes I did say sheep), let them munch the grass fattening themselves up in the process and then either sell them to the local butcher or pop down to the supermarket and buy a bottle of mint sauce. You've still got them for a year, maybe less, but made some money along the way. (can't find a sheep)

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martin_hurton:

PS - Jonathan, what is wrong with the Honda?  Might be able to help...

The gearbox has gone :(. On a 2.5 year old mower. It has a 7 year warranty but only if you get it serviced every year at a cost of £75. I didn't so I now have to pay £150 for a new gearbox.

So much for buying an expensive mower so it would last.....

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Kidography. It's like photography. But more fun.

Hi

If you buy a decent mower it will last for years, and the cut will look great, thats my experience, aviod all the cheap Cr*p we get from some of the DIY stores and supermarkets, it will frustratue you having to put it together, bits missing, bits dont fit, then it wont work, or it wil break, then you will have to take it back etc,etc....

Keith

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www.milkfrog.com

Slabs or brick paving - gravel needs to be raked periodically, or you could always wait until the Pikeys are back in town and go for Tarmac.  

I am with Peter on this one... life is to short for cutting the grass. Which is why I moved house to one with NO gardens !!  But beware of the Pikeys, there "tarmac" is only laid 2mm thick, which means the neighbours will have deeper grass twice a week !! and next year you'll be back to the lawn where the grass has come up throught the black stuff....

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"Winston {Churchill} your drunk" -" Yes Madam !! - but you're ugly - and I will be sober in the morning"

Get a Briggs and Stratton engine mower.  Ours is now 11yrs old only had one oil change and is still going strong after the weekly summer 1/4 acre cuts

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Mark

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Martin - if turning round is a problem cut right round the edges first to create a space to turn round on.
We use a petrol mower - it's on it's fifth year now and only had an oil change twice - not even a new plug.

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Jonathan Ryan:

martin_hurton:

PS - Jonathan, what is wrong with the Honda?  Might be able to help...

The gearbox has gone :(. On a 2.5 year old mower. It has a 7 year warranty but only if you get it serviced every year at a cost of £75. I didn't so I now have to pay £150 for a new gearbox. So much for buying an expensive mower so it would last.....

A Honda IZY ??  or a HRB /  HRG / HRX etc ?? Get a new gearbox for about £45 and stick in yourself, only take you half hour.  You can even borrow my Honda overalls if you like.

I hate lawnmowers.

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Wow, never expected so much interest in this thread!

I popped to Homebase on my way back from the dump (van still full of stuff as I have to buy a permit because I am in a van.  Guess I'll be taking the hammer to it all so it fits in the bin then!) and bought a Flymo.  It's got a 1500W motor and had £25 off because the box was damaged (I got it for £45 from £70).  Seemed like a good deal to me so thought I'd give it a try, and it has a 12month warranty etc. 

I'd have liked a petrol mower but don't think the garden is large enough to be honest, and I forgot to mention the steps up the rockery to the back grass.  I didn't think about this bit actually, but I don't fancy lugging a petrol mower up these then pushing it up-hill, never mind when the missus has to do it (hopefully I'll be working so not get time ).  

I've cut the back grass with it and it was very good, I did 2 cuts (one high and one finished - it's got an adjustable height blade and the grass/dandilions were 4" high!) in 15mins, and I expect the following cuts will take just under 10 if I keep on-top of it   And it never stopped once, just keeps on cutting.  Glad I bought the more powerful motor.

We thought about ducks as they give eggs in the morning and keep the grass flat, but we go away quite often so not able to have pets.  One day we shall have the works, sheep, ducks, chickens, tractor... 

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