Lawn Mower Advice Please

Quigleyandme

Quigleyandme

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The time has come to replace my clapped out self-propelling petrol lawn mower. I have three lawned areas, one about 1/8 acre and two smaller, all of which are flat. The push petrol mowers are a lot less expensive than the self-propelling petrol mowers. Can a reasonably fit 60 something woman push a push mower on the flat without an excessive amount of effort being required? I’m not averse to a bit of effort but I don’t want to kill myself. Any advice appreciated as always.
 
Newer lawn mowers are very lightweight and pleasant to "drive" across your lawn. I recently treated myself to a cordless one with Amazon credit and while it's not as powerful as my previous one, it's so light and easy I have already done the lawn three times this year and am not hating the idea of another early cut to help things start growing nice and even!
 
I would always buy self propelling. I won't be getting younger and likely won't get fitter. And if for any reason I couldn't cut the grass when it's a manageable length then I'd be very glad that I had bought a self propelled mower that would make light work of the longer grass.
 
I bought a self propelling four pack years ago - now wishing l‘d bought a ride on. It depends how much and how often you need to cut the grass, it’s actually far easier to just pay for someone else to do it. If l’m desperate l phone a gardening service and they do it in about 15 mins ….with a ride on, worth thinking about relative costs of lawnmower and servicing as well.
 
I have got a Husqvarna self propelling. It was about £800 two years ago & OMG it's a workhorse. It has helped me to tame a really rough, overgrown bit of field & mowed all sorts of things that it probably wasn't designed to mow. Having said that, 4 acres of sloping clay is quite a lot to keep on top of, and I am considering getting some sort of topper for the quad to pull... I do love my mower though!
 
OK Speaking as someone who cut lawns for a living til retirement (one of my many many jobs which also one horses!)

1. Do not buy a cordless. Fine for younger people with smaller lawns but not powerful enough for a lawn your size. My neighbour bought one last year and has regretted it ever since. He had to but a second battery to get his lawn done and it was a struggle for him every week

2. Self propelled is defo best and you can stretch to it key ignition. I have a self propelled lawn mower at present and its a difficult if nigh impossible start on the pull in the spring. I shall go for a key ignition this time. I'm 60

3. You may be able to get one second hand refurbished from your local garden machinery supplier.
 
We bought a cordless lawnmower last year. We went for the Makita version as my OH uses Makita tools so we already had a good supply of batteries, although the deal we got online included an extra charger and two batteries. It was about £450.

The marketing blurb said the mower we bought was suitable for large gardens and professional use. However like almost all battery powered kit any promises on battery power/ life imho need to be taken with a handful of salt.

Our lawn mower is "Ok". It's strengths are when the lawn is being cut weekly or more often, it is really great for a quick trim where it's just taking a uniform bit off the length. The battery life is then good and you can hear that the motor is not being stressed. It just glides along no problem and does a good job, although it doesn't have a roller so no stripes.

It's weakness is whenever you you need it to do more. Like when you've been away for a fortnight and the lawn is that bit thicker. You then need to raise the height right up and cut it in several runs. Plus you're recommended to overlap the strips to let it cut more easily, so instead of ten strips you're doing 16 etc - and is probably why it doesn't have a roller now I'm thinking about it!

It feels like there's a real lack of torque / power, and as soon as it is working harder that's when you hear the motor being stressed and eating through the battery and before you know it is has run out of power.

I'd still recommend one but only for a small garden where it's getting very regular cutting. Anything over and above that, I'd personally recommend putting the money towards a new or reconditioned petrol mower. ?
 
Could a corded electric mower work?
Mine is so easy and light but indomitable too; it cuts through anything
The only downside is faffing about with the cable

I've never tried a cordless mower but my Makita cordless strimmer is fairly feeble
 
Robot lawn mowers!!
We have had ours for two years now (he is called Roger :D) and he does a grand job.
Works a few hours every day and no grass mowings to pick up.
All you have to do is to a bit of work up front to make your lawn robot friendly, like laying down the boundary wire and setting up the base station.
Our lawn has never looked better! About 1/4 acre of lawn, on a hill and not square
 
I agree with self-propelled. Especially if the grass gets long for some reason and youve got more wheel friction. When young and fit manual ones were an arm workout.

My honda engine self propelled has been recycled…the engine was good but the hoses/switches/pull start needed renewing and the damp started rotting the chassis…loved it…was a workhorse…got a cheap deal 14yrs ago for 300 quid new….i did the paddocks with it before getting my mini tractor!

If the laws are near electric…a large flymo type mower could be a possibility? Flymo’s are easy to use due to them hovering over the grass.
 
Tiddlypom said:
I've yet to meet an unaccompanied robot mower doing its job on a front lawn while I've been riding past on the road - and for that I am extremely grateful :D!
Click to expand...
With my experience of robot lawnmowers, they tend to be accompanied by attentive husbands who are just fascinated by how they work! Along the lines of the hours spent watching foals :)
 
I bought a pretty cheap Hyundai (I think!) self propelling lawn mower a few years ago fully expecting it to fail rapidly. It hasn't, it's a beast, I love the self-propel, only get run away with occasionally, and it's the only pull-start I can do with my double jointed shoulder. The only time it's ever let me down was when I accidentally filled it with diesel (don't ask!). Tipped it out and it was good as ever!
 
Similarly I bought a cheap self propelled Husqvarna mower 3 years ago. It was £250 brand new. I'd never heard of the brand before and fully expected it to do a miserable job then shortly thereafter die a death. It was replacing a Honda Izzy at nearly twice the price.

Very pleasantly surprised, it was much lighter to use than the Honda, did just as good a job and is still going despite some abuse and not having been serviced ever! I now consider it owes me very little and will certainly buy another if I can't stretch to a robot next time round!
 
Our trusty self propelled petrol Honda with rear roller gets roped into doing all sorts of off piste mowing! This pic was taken in the neds' field in June a couple of years ago. I was late fencing off the equicentral track and had allowed their grass to get too long.

Cue the Honda taking the grass back to lawn height (2nd lowest cutting height) before I put the neds back out on it. Got a fair few wheelbarrow loads off.

0C5C48AD-CFDD-41E1-8A17-9AAA7761AA84.jpeg


I prefer a mower with a grass collection box. IME mulch mowers leave bits of grass around, which then get walked into the house, and they also spread weeds.
 
Tiddlypom said:
I've yet to meet an unaccompanied robot mower doing its job on a front lawn while I've been riding past on the road - and for that I am extremely grateful :D!
Click to expand...

There's a robot mower on one of my cycling, but not riding, routes that is often working on the verge. My bike is immune but my horse probably wouldn't be! The robot mower takes a break for about 3 weeks when the 'Toads Crossing' signs are out.
 
Tiddlypom said:
I've yet to meet an unaccompanied robot mower doing its job on a front lawn while I've been riding past on the road - and for that I am extremely grateful :D!
Click to expand...

Don't worry, ours is virtually silent and compact. We have several groups of riders passing our house everyday and little Bot goes unnoticed.
 
Thank you everyone for all your replies. I do love a flymo and I have several sockets outside so l’m going to see what’s available. The big lawn is soft underfoot and generally damp so something that hovers would be great. I’m sure they make more muscular ones than the little one I had in Devon which never gave me a moments trouble in twenty odd years. Love the idea of a robot and two out of three of my lawns are curbed so it would be easy to set the perimeter but price is an issue. My covid related job is fizzling out, reduced operating hours, which is a good thing for society but not so good for me personally. Woodies has a range of Hyundai petrol mowers at very keen prices but a few negative customer reviews put me off but I’ll think again. I will be getting a self-propelled, thank goodness I asked your advice. I can generally be heard muttering buy once cry once to myself when forking out on big ticket items and it sounds like a push mower at about half the price would be a false economy. The mower I have at the moment is held together with split pins, baler twine and prayers but it doesn’t owe me a thing having done years of service at my Devon yard tackling jobs it was never designed for. The Honda engine is still good so I’m sure somebody with the right skill set will be able to get some more use out of it.
 
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