Petrol or Electric Lawn Mower?
Discussion
Boozy said:
It's not a huge garden by any means and relatively flat, I like the idea of a petrol mower but saw the new fangled electric rotary jobs, the cable issue does bother me! where's the best place to get second hand mowers from? flea bay?
Flea Bay? Over my dead body 
Look in your local Yellow pages for garden machinery places, the decent ones take old machines in p/x.Electric. I've had a Flymo for the last 16 years and it's still going strong. No need to mess around with smelly oil & petrol and starts literally at the touch of a button. No servicing required apart from a blade sharpen every 5 years but to be honest you don't even need to do that. It's also extremely light compared to a petrol driven mower. When it finally breaks (maybe another 5-10 years?) I'll definetly go for another electric 
Edited by Silver993tt on Saturday 15th August 20:50
Both have their problems of course, either trailing leads or remembering to fill a can occasionally when you fill the car. Avoid 2-strokes if offered, all that mixing and at the end of the season you are left with a mix you can't do anything with.
Edge of town sheds are thinking about getting rid of their summer stock but doubt if you'll get much there at your price point.
Edge of town sheds are thinking about getting rid of their summer stock but doubt if you'll get much there at your price point.
Silver993tt said:
Electric. I've had a Flymo for the last 16 years and it's still going strong. No need to mess around with smelly oil & petrol and starts literally at the touch of a button. No servicing required apart from a blade sharpen every 5 years but to be honest you don't even need to do that. It's also extremely light compared to a petrol driven mower. When it finally breaks (maybe another 5-10 years?) I'll definetly go for another electric
Edited by Silver993tt on Saturday 15th August 20:50
plastic has no place on PH. Flymos are for girls and gheyers...HRG. said:
Silver993tt said:
Electric. I've had a Flymo for the last 16 years and it's still going strong. No need to mess around with smelly oil & petrol and starts literally at the touch of a button. No servicing required apart from a blade sharpen every 5 years but to be honest you don't even need to do that. It's also extremely light compared to a petrol driven mower. When it finally breaks (maybe another 5-10 years?) I'll definetly go for another electric
Edited by Silver993tt on Saturday 15th August 20:50
plastic has no place on PH. Flymos are for girls and gheyers...My car isn't electric, and neither is my lawn mower. I would use a petrol nose trimmer if I could find one
Tunku said:
HRG. said:
Silver993tt said:
Electric. I've had a Flymo for the last 16 years and it's still going strong. No need to mess around with smelly oil & petrol and starts literally at the touch of a button. No servicing required apart from a blade sharpen every 5 years but to be honest you don't even need to do that. It's also extremely light compared to a petrol driven mower. When it finally breaks (maybe another 5-10 years?) I'll definetly go for another electric
Edited by Silver993tt on Saturday 15th August 20:50
plastic has no place on PH. Flymos are for girls and gheyers...My car isn't electric, and neither is my lawn mower. I would use a petrol nose trimmer if I could find one
I've had 2 relatively cheap petrol mowers (£100 ish each) the first one lasted about 5 years , the pull cable return mechanism failed first eventually engine seizure , equated to £20 year so not bad. It's replacement , now into it's third year is self propelled which makes the task that bit easier. Although you don't get perfect stripes as with a cylinder , you can get a similar looking effect if you keep the mower in a nice straight line alternating direction of cut.
Edited by R60EST on Saturday 15th August 23:48
You're in danger of showing your ignorance here...
Alfa_75_Steve said:
I'm looking at this at the moment.
We have an electric cylinder mower, but it's crap, and I hate the cable.
Is there any big disadvantage in going for a petrol rotary if you don't care about stripes?
Rotary has nothing to do with stripes, they come from the rear roller. I have an excellent Honda rotary with roller which produces very nice stripes.We have an electric cylinder mower, but it's crap, and I hate the cable.
Is there any big disadvantage in going for a petrol rotary if you don't care about stripes?
I have a cheapo Flymo petrol with a B&S 4-stroke that has worked fine (had it 2 years). There was no way I was going to buy an electric one, it just makes the wrong noise!
I also have a very cheap 2-stroke strimmer that isn't running properly at the mo - if you were in the locality a couple of weeks ago you may have heard me turning the air blue and proclaiming loudly that I should have bloody well bought an electric one
I also have a very cheap 2-stroke strimmer that isn't running properly at the mo - if you were in the locality a couple of weeks ago you may have heard me turning the air blue and proclaiming loudly that I should have bloody well bought an electric one
Electric mowers can be fine, the obvious problems being the length of cable needed and it getting in the way. How big is your garden, and where is the power point (ideally in a corner, so the cable is always to one side)? Since the cable is always dragging, you will need to flick it out of the way if you up-&-down, it becomes a pain if you do round-&-round.
Wheeled is better than hover, except if you have a steep slope.
Cylinder is better than rotary, giving a cleaner cut (so the cut blades won't go brown). Don't believe the hype about roataries mulching the cuttings. You should have a grass box, and have somewhere to compost those cuttings. The latest thing is mulching mowers (which shred the cuttings much finer) - these do seem to work, but are out of your price range.
Cylinders are, however, much more sensitive to blade sharpness and setting. So take a close look at the adjustment mechanism & how easy it is to sharpen as you'll be playing with it much more frequently.
Wheeled is better than hover, except if you have a steep slope.
Cylinder is better than rotary, giving a cleaner cut (so the cut blades won't go brown). Don't believe the hype about roataries mulching the cuttings. You should have a grass box, and have somewhere to compost those cuttings. The latest thing is mulching mowers (which shred the cuttings much finer) - these do seem to work, but are out of your price range.
Cylinders are, however, much more sensitive to blade sharpness and setting. So take a close look at the adjustment mechanism & how easy it is to sharpen as you'll be playing with it much more frequently.
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