Our mower died - what's people's experience with mulching mowers?

[Grizzly_Adams]

Heya all.

The missus was bagging me this weekend to mow the lawn so I topped up the mower and took it outside to start it. One almighty yank later and she's starting up then there's a CLUNK bang bang bang and half a bolt bounces off my shin.

Gives me a good excuse not to do the mowing :angel: but now I gotta get a new mower. Was looking at replacing our old clunker (literally now) with a mulching mower, or maybe one of the ones that can do both mulching and catching.

Does anyone here have any experience and are there any recommendations on which brand to buy? Our last experience with a Rover mower was not that good unfortunately but I'm always willing to believe we got a lemon :( and generally their better than that...

Will be heading out on Monday afternoon to have a look around so was interested in people's opinions before then...

Oh and if it helps we've only got a relatively small yard (though it is on a slope)....

[djam1]

I believe that there is only one answer to this question and its HONDA
I worked in Broome for a while at a lawn mowing business and these were the only ones that cut it.
Beware you will pay

[Captain_Rightfoot]

We have honda mulching mower. The mower itself is good, but the mulching bit only sort of works. I think they probably work if you keep your grass relatively short and mow it a lot.

I tend to wait until our golden retriever (dearly departed) looks like a pale sausage dog before we mow. It doesn't cut it if you do that. Luckily you can just fit a catcher. :)

The motors are great, but they can be a little bit smokey. You have to use a special honda oil too.

[DarrenR]

As already mentioned, a Honda (4 stroke, straight ULP great) is the only way to go, plenty of grunt for the Land Rover owner that spends more time 4WDriving than mowing stupid lawns.

Mine is a mulcher type and again as already mentioned, works fine if you keep the lawn regularly mowed.

So for me the mulcher doesn't do jack except dump lumps of cut grass on the lawn as I only mow when I am being nagged.

I too hard a Rover mower, Briggs & Stratton motor, what a crap heap.

Best regards
DarrenR

[dmdigital]

Yep buy a Honda, Father in laws had one for 23 years and it still starts first go.

The other thing is to get the one with a large (21") cutting deck. Cuts more in one pass so that means less time mowing :)

[Captain_Rightfoot]

Yep buy a Honda, Father in laws had one for 23 years and it still starts first go.

The other thing is to get the one with a large (21") cutting deck. Cuts more in one pass so that means less time mowing :)
Yep. Ours is a 19" I think and the motor is 5hp and it has more power than it needs. It could definitely do a bigger cut comfortably. :)

[abaddonxi]

Don't know that I'd recommend them, but I have a mate who mows about 40acres with a Victa 2 stroke mulching lawnmower. Not the smallest model, not the largest either.

He's had it for about two years.

Thing about it is that he's a monster when it comes to destroying tools, this is the only thing that has lasted.

Cheers
Simon.

[mcrover]

Being a golf course mechanic qualifys me to comment.

The Honda Buffalo 19" would be the first choice but it is 1/2 way to a maxi locker in price.
The Masports and MTD's are all the same these days although MDT has a steel base and Masport an alloy but both have B&S engine but there are two types of bores in B&S engines, a cast iron bore which wears relatively quickly and a Chrome bore which doesn't wear unless abused.
The Chrome one is rebuildable with a ball bearing for the main bearing and the cast iron normally runs a bush.
All the Victor stuff is great these days and nearly on par with Honda and a fair bit cheaper.
Talon isn.t worth looking at if your going to use it alot, but if you only have a small lawn they do the job and is what I have at home but the pull starts can fail and are hard to find parts for.
As far as the mulching mowers the go they do only work if the grass is not long and your only trimming (the one third rule, only cutting one third of the blade of grass)
As far as the mulching / catching mowers go they are a bit of a gimik as for it to be a propper mulcher it needs 2 blades one to cut and one to mulch.
Again it will only again work if just trimming and if it is long you would have to use the catcher or leave windrows.
Most of the Rover stuff that seems expensive is because of the engine and will be much the same other than that, Im not sure of serial numbers so you can see what is what but generaly if you buy it from a good mower shop and not Bunnings then it should be ok as they have to cover the warrenty.
We have only 1 push rotary mower at work as all of ours are ride on cylinder mowers or self driven cylinder mowers and that push mower is a B&S engined masport 21" and it has been faultless.
The other thing to look for is a solid bar blade or swing back blades on a disc.
The swing backs are best for fine cuts and you can run 2 blades for course grasses like Buffalo or 4 blades for finer grasses like couch or winter grasses.
If you really want to spend some money on a mower that wont let you down you could always buy a John Deere or Toro non self drive or self drive rotary mower that is a step up from the honda but about the whole price of a pair of Maxi's.

Good luck
Damo

[Tank]

Heya all.

The missus was bagging me this weekend to mow the lawn so I topped up the mower and took it outside to start it. One almighty yank later and she's starting up then there's a CLUNK bang bang bang and half a bolt bounces off my shin.

Gives me a good excuse not to do the mowing :angel: but now I gotta get a new mower. Was looking at replacing our old clunker (literally now) with a mulching mower, or maybe one of the ones that can do both mulching and catching.

Does anyone here have any experience and are there any recommendations on which brand to buy? Our last experience with a Rover mower was not that good unfortunately but I'm always willing to believe we got a lemon :( and generally their better than that...

Will be heading out on Monday afternoon to have a look around so was interested in people's opinions before then...

Oh and if it helps we've only got a relatively small yard (though it is on a slope)....
Everybody raves about honda, I reckon they're crap, they have throw away engines, because they cost more to rebuild than to buy a new one.
I would recommend an Australian made mower called Supaswift Toughworker, has pressed metal body, so no cracking alloy rubbish, 200mm tall fat wheels for easy pushing, 20" cut(stay away from Single Bar cutters, they have no inertia to cut taller than average grass), solid disc with swingaway blades, a USA built Tecumseh (Te-cum-see) 5 hp OHV 4 stroke engine, with oil pump to Pressure feed all the vital internals, easy start motor with primer, we have had ours for 15 years without a problem, which is good considering it sits in the shed for 6-8 months of the year and it always starts, no problem, used to be under the name of Big Bob and was half the price of Honda and other brands, stay away from the small Briggs&Stratton engines, like the Honda they are throw aways, Regards Frank.

[mcrover]

Tecumseh, I was trying to remember that name while I was writting it.

Victor use Tecumseh 4 stroke engines on their mowers and they are pretty good as far as Ive seen, Their 2 stroke engines like all 2 strokes don't like running on straight unleaded :mad: like the greens keepers like to do.

As far as Hondas not being easilly rebuilt or cheap, I did piston, gudgen and rings on a buffalo the other day and it cost about $90 but that was with a bit of discount from the local mower joint but it wouldn't be more that $100 retail and they are easy to build and normally the only thing that goes wrong with them is coking up around the valves so they lose comp.

For that I use a bit of valve grinding paste and the cordless drill (only mount the drill above where the collet sits it's only about 5mm but does work), and just set slowly on low speed lap them in.

have to take the head off but ive never replaced the head gasket and it's only 4 bolts.

Probably not the recomended meathod but works for me.

Ive heard of big bob the slasher without reverse but I have only seen them with B&S engines down here and Ive never seen that brand of mower but it sounds good.

As for straight bar blades, I don't recomend them either as they can bend crank shafts more than anything else.

[mcrover]

Buy the way the Tecumseh engine is a copy of the honda engine as far as Honda is concerned (a mate of mine works for Honda small engines and outbourd motor R&D) and from what Ive seen i'd agree but I wouldn't stake a bet on it.

I see these things everyday and have for 11 years, motors on pumps, mowers, line trimmers, chainsaws and edgers.

Anything that cuts trims or moves is used on golf courses and the thing that people don't think about is that they need to be serviced every 50 hours of use minimum and if you don't use it that much then even if you don't use it you have to run it at least every couple of months to keep every thing lubed and service at least once a year even if it hasn't done 50 hours.

Anything good you will have fork out plenty for and anything cheap will not last very long and unless you know the history don't buy a second hand one unless it's really cheap like free and you don't care if it only does a few cuts.

[LandyAndy]

HONDA!!!!!
Ive been wanting a Buffalo self propelled for a couple of years,bit the $1300 pricetag put me off.
Just bought a secondhand Honda non selfpropelled yesterday for$100!!! and a sthil whipper for $50.No there not hot,the guy who owned the Shell roadhouse sold up and dosent need them in his new place.Bonus is he is a perfectionist,so they are well looked after.
Rover 4 strokes are rubbish,my first did a motor(3.5hp),my fault I "tickeled it up a bit" had it putting out more HP than the 5hp motor I replaced it with,lasted 2 years with the "power upgrade":D :D :D :D :D I got a 5hp mower from work with a worn out deck,put the 5hp motor on my good deck.Now my deck is stuffed too,the 5hp thats done heaps of shire mowing plus 2 years for me is chewing the oil and has a hell of a knock in the bottom end.Free to good home before it goes to the tip!!!
Andrew

[mcrover]

Send it to the tip andy, Upping the govner setting will stuff em every time.

[LandyAndy]

It will go to the tip.
But not before we get on the homebrew one nite,open the governor and see how many revs she pulls before it bangs!!!
Might even remove the cutting disc for safety and more revs:cool: :cool: :cool:
Andrew

[mcrover]

Naa just take the swing backs of as the disc wont do to much damage.

They are great when they let go in a big way just be standing back a bit and do it at night.

Who needs fire works :wasntme:

[DarrenR]

If you have a look around on building sites (housing industry Perth WA) you will see more often than not, Honda generators, cement mixers. Robin motors also seem to have a good run.

We also used to use Honda generators on the FFR Land Rovers.
Farmers would be another good example of people that need small motors to run trouble free, any farmers here?

I've always found Honda's start/run well, parts easy to get and reasonably cheap and more tollerant if you do have to do a bodge job repair.

My mower is about 7-8 years old, my generator is 11 years old, both still start first time and don't stop until I am finished, I'd hardley call that throw away.

Best regards
DarrenR

[LandyAndy]

HONDA
Done plenty of years working for farmers.
Honda is the only small motor that cuts it,Robin/subaru are no good,Bang and Stop not much good and there is one other brand thats fairly common but not very good but doesnt come to mind at the moment.
The honda is the only motor that keeps going with little or no maintence.
My mate had a hobby block,he had a soak that he pumped up to the house with a honda firefighter pump.That pump fell in the soak 3 times over 6 years he had the place,WHILST RUNNING!!!!!
All that was needed was a pull the plug out get the water out and change the oil.It was a longstanding joke that he had the only honda powered submersible pump.
Andrew

[953]

Go the Honda!
Ihave been a gardener/lawn mowing contrator 4 over 20 years &it is the best most reliable piece of equiptment i have ever owned.
The average person mows his lawn maybe once a fortnight/26 times a year.
Most contractors will mow at least that per week.1 week commercial equals 1 year domestic.Our mowers generally last us 3-5 years with little maintenance:o and its usually the other components of the mower that let us down not the motor.
But they aint cheap.
Cheers Dean

[George130]

Just read this post. We only have 1/2 an acre but bit the bullet and got a mulching mower and love the thing. We went with a victa 4 stroke but 2 years on and it still starts first go and does a great job.

[UncleHo]

G'day mcrover :)

I would suggest that the "Honda" is a copy of the Tecumseh motor, they have been made in the U.S. since the 1930's and were a major small engine in military use throughout WW11 :) post war most successful mechanical and automotive devises were copied or made under license in Japan.:)

cheers

[DEFENDERZOOK]

if your yard is a sloped fairly steep.....you will need to get a two-stroke.....

if you use a four stroke on hills it kills them prematurely as the oil runs to the side of the sump and doesnt do its job.......
untill the mower is level again......

[Robocop]

I receintly purchased one of the new Victa Razor 'mulch or catch' series with the victa 2 stroke motor... and the fancy handle. I am very impressed!! I was looking at the Honda's but avoided because of the price tag. As for mulching I can hardly notice without the catcher as it works so well.

I have noticed between mine and my old man's 20 yo victa 2 stroke is it seems to have some load sensing rpm on it. IE As the load or grass is longer it automatically adjusts the rpm to suit.

I have 1/2 acre to mow and it does it fine.

Cheers Rob

[Tank]

if your yard is a sloped fairly steep.....you will need to get a two-stroke.....

if you use a four stroke on hills it kills them prematurely as the oil runs to the side of the sump and doesnt do its job.......
untill the mower is level again......
Not if your motor has an oil pump which pressure feeds the vitals, like the Tecumseh OHV, Regards Frank.

[Tank]

Buy the way the Tecumseh engine is a copy of the honda engine as far as Honda is concerned (a mate of mine works for Honda small engines and outbourd motor R&D) and from what Ive seen i'd agree but I wouldn't stake a bet on it.

I see these things everyday and have for 11 years, motors on pumps, mowers, line trimmers, chainsaws and edgers.

Anything that cuts trims or moves is used on golf courses and the thing that people don't think about is that they need to be serviced every 50 hours of use minimum and if you don't use it that much then even if you don't use it you have to run it at least every couple of months to keep every thing lubed and service at least once a year even if it hasn't done 50 hours.

Anything good you will have fork out plenty for and anything cheap will not last very long and unless you know the history don't buy a second hand one unless it's really cheap like free and you don't care if it only does a few cuts.
I had a Tecumseh OHV engine years before honda had one on the market,
UncleHo is spot on, Hondas are overpriced crap, Regards Frank.

[Bigbjorn]

My experience of Hondas is with cars and bikes and I wouldn't buy either. Grossly overpriced parts, cheaply and nastily made under a pretty exterior, like Jaguars.Had two Rover mowers with Industrial B&S over the last 32 years. Most of this time they did three largish lawns, and a netball court on a regular basis.A netball court for those unfamiliar with size, is the equivalent of the average suburban block without a house, garage and paths. Never ever had to top up oil between changes in the Briggses. Only problem encountered was with the obsolete diaphragm carburettor in the earlier one. The later one (14 years old) has a float bowl carb. Wholeheartily recommend them to anyone.

[Tank]

If you have a look around on building sites (housing industry Perth WA) you will see more often than not, Honda generators, cement mixers. Robin motors also seem to have a good run.

We also used to use Honda generators on the FFR Land Rovers.
Farmers would be another good example of people that need small motors to run trouble free, any farmers here?

I've always found Honda's start/run well, parts easy to get and reasonably cheap and more tollerant if you do have to do a bodge job repair.

My mower is about 7-8 years old, my generator is 11 years old, both still start first time and don't stop until I am finished, I'd hardley call that throw away.

Best regards
DarrenR
Darren, I used to have a few Water Tanker trucks with 3 Honda motors running pumps on each one, 1st problem with the Side Valve models was that the Valves were always sticking open, which meant no compression for starting, always had to squirt WD40 into them to get the valves unstuck. 2nd at rebuild time parts were so expensive, late 70's was cheaper to buy a Robin or Tecumseh engine to replace, 3rd the conrod (alloy) runs direct on the crankshaft, no bearing inserts and cost $90 back then the cost of rebuild was a joke, and when parked on an angle crank would run dry and stuff motor. Honda copied Tecumseh with their OHV models and didn't have the sticky valve problem anymore, dont know if OHV Hondas have Oil Pump to feed Crank like Tecumseh, your paying through the nose for the Honda name

[DiscoDave]

Ah! Mowing... ;) I have a firefighting pump with a Honda motor that I've had for about a year now and I'm very impressed with the way it starts - virtually first pull after a winter in storage. But then I also have a mower with a B&S motor which I found on the property, an abandoned heap of rust, that turned out to have a smashed con-rod. Took it all apart, replaced the con-rod, did what little I could for the rest of it and it mowed my place for the next three years without problems. Probably would still be doing it now if I hadn't got lazy and bought a Victa ride-on mulch/mower with a 5HP B&S motor.
Mulching is the way to go - bugger this emptying the catcher business! - just go slow in the long bits to give it time to chew through.

[DEFENDERZOOK]

I receintly purchased one of the new Victa Razor 'mulch or catch' series with the victa 2 stroke motor... and the fancy handle. I am very impressed!! I was looking at the Honda's but avoided because of the price tag. As for mulching I can hardly notice without the catcher as it works so well.



Cheers Rob



got one too....i will second what he says........it even has a hose attachment where you just plug in the hose to clean it when the jobs done.......

[Quiggers]

Honda, I've had a self propelled version for maybe 4 years, never misses a beat - but it doesn't like wet grass - clogs the exit chute to the catcher.

GQ

[Scouse]

I bought a Masport mulching mower a few years ago. I was in need of a replacement mower & had just laid Sir Walter buffalo.
The Masport mulcher came top in the Choice magazine test of the mulching mowers.

It works brilliantly on dry grass but not too good when damp (like most mowers).

The only problem with using a mulching mower all the time is that the clippings don't have time to fully decompose into the lawn. If you have a very neat lawn, it will soon look scruffy.

I managed to pick up a near new regular catcher mower very cheaply & now use my mulching mower every 3rd or 4th cut.

There were combination catcher/mulcher mowers available but at the time I bought my mulcher mower, the combination types weren't rated too highly. Check them out, maybe they've improved over the last few years.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

I believe that there is only one answer to this question and its ---


KUBOTA!!

[Grizzly_Adams]

Thanks for all the feedback guys, it was all very helpful :cool:

[mcrover]

I receintly purchased one of the new Victa Razor 'mulch or catch' series with the victa 2 stroke motor... and the fancy handle. I am very impressed!! I was looking at the Honda's but avoided because of the price tag. As for mulching I can hardly notice without the catcher as it works so well.

I have noticed between mine and my old man's 20 yo victa 2 stroke is it seems to have some load sensing rpm on it. IE As the load or grass is longer it automatically adjusts the rpm to suit.

I have 1/2 acre to mow and it does it fine.

Cheers Rob


It's called a govenor Rob...

Sounds like a good mower I'd buy that one.

[mcrover]

No use getting into the who copied who argument but it was my mate at honda who told me that so it could be a company line I don't know and Ive already said that.

As for an oil pump, only the commercial Buffalos have them and can be used on nearly any angle and I know 3 Jims mowing blokes who have had them for more than 5 years 2 of which I have serviced since out of warrenty.

It was an old one which one of these guys got me to rebuild the other week which he picked up for a spare and it would be nearly 7 or 8 years old and done countless hours of work and just needed rings, piston and gudgeon pin and also runs beariings on both crank and gudgeon on the conrod.

The side valve engines of any brand will jam valves due to carbon build up on the exaust valve and that is due to not decoking regularly which is sometimes as simple as spraying decoke spray down the carbi every couple of hundred hours while the engine is running or removing the head and cleaning the valves y lapping them in.

Spraying WD40 in the engine doesn't provide lube it just allows the carbon to lap away valve guide and creat a problem which cant be fixed cheaply.

If you have a good lawn like sir walter or couch or ever kyke then a cylinder mower would be much better for appearance as rotory mowers tend to twist the grass as it cuts and makes it cuts un even SOME TIMES (depending on cutting hight).

As far as the clip no breaking down, it takes several months for clip to break down and then causes what is called black layer or in other words a layer that can be near impeneterable to water unless treated with aerating and applying wetting agents to break the surface tension.

I agree that the victor sounds great and would be a great buy for an average lawn.

I think Ive gone on enough.

[cartm58]

l have a gardner called Mark who comes to my place the first week of the month and cuts my lawn for me for $35 whilst l am at work.

[Grizzly_Adams]

l have a gardner called Mark who comes to my place the first week of the month and cuts my lawn for me for $35 whilst l am at work.

Last time we paid someone to do that they ended up damaging the side-walls of the tyres on my Defender with their whipper snipper. After we gave them a lipful I swore I'd never do that again - let alone the hassle of locking up the dogs for the day.

[landrovermick]

we have a vertical shaft honda on an old victa chassis - the motor is about 25 years old - its a jem!

[Debacle]

l have a gardner called Mark who comes to my place the first week of the month and cuts my lawn for me for $35 whilst l am at work.

I am with you all the way. If you take into account the rate you are paid at your job during the week plus the expenses of running a mower and the loss of leisure time plus stress, it just aint worth it.
Find someone good to do it every 3-4 weeks and enjoy your weekends.

[mcrover]

Had a bloke cut my ex mother in laws lawns for her and our car was parked out the front.
He had his mower going flat out over the gravel driveway and it through a stone through the rear quater window in the Laser.
$180 later for the window and he tried to argue that it wasn't him, I threatened legal action and he paid up and then sent a bill for $220 for cutting 2/3s of the front lawn with a note at the bottom that legal action will be taken if not paid in 30 days.
We still haven't paid it about 11 years later.

I'll never get anyone else to cut my lawn again.

[953]

Had a bloke cut my ex mother in laws lawns for her and our car was parked out the front.
He had his mower going flat out over the gravel driveway and it through a stone through the rear quater window in the Laser.
$180 later for the window and he tried to argue that it wasn't him, I threatened legal action and he paid up and then sent a bill for $220 for cutting 2/3s of the front lawn with a note at the bottom that legal action will be taken if not paid in 30 days.
We still haven't paid it about 11 years later.

I'll never get anyone else to cut my lawn again.

Obviously u need a little more experience picking the correct contractor;)
Cheers Dean.

[mcrover]

Jims mowing dean and I didn't pick him my ex mother in law did.

[Jojo]

Hi Grizzly,
take a look at this one:
http://www.automower.com/node42.aspx

I have one of these and it was by far the best investment ever made after the purchase of a dishwasher!!!! You won't believe how you ever could cope without such a device.

[hiline]

Hi Grizzly,
take a look at this one:
http://www.automower.com/node42.aspx

I have one of these and it was by far the best investment ever made after the purchase of a dishwasher!!!! You won't believe how you ever could cope without such a device.


now thats just down right lazy :angel:

do they really work :D
where do i get one :D ;)

[JohnE]

Ah mowing a task that ruins a good weekend and can be frustrating.
It is interesting the comments and recommendations on what to buy and what is better than some.
My contribution,
I have always had 2 stroke victa mowers, my first new one i bought in the early 80's it is still going strong,i left it in sydney when we moved, my parents have it. Have an electric scott bonnar reel mower, but it is a shed ornament at the moment.
Up here in paradise I have 5 victa 2 strokes, one new one and 4 older models, they all work, new plugs fuel and airfilters seem to make them go and go.
the new one is a mulching mower and works well on shorter grass, but not too hot on longer stuff, so the catcher goes on.
i have an older steel chassis job, side chute , that gets flogged to death, it starts first go everytime, I use that in the orchard and for the rougher spots, i still haven't broken it.
Then for the orchard , i have a rover ride on with a B&S motor, the motor is fine, I also have a composting mulcher with a B&S motor, it cops a pizzling when i am mulching down old maccas and leaves, and it still goes.
then when all else fails, i put the slasher on the back of the tractor.
Aside from what the experts say, for my money you can't go past a victa.


john

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Hi Grizzly,
take a look at this one:
http://www.automower.com/node42.aspx

I have one of these and it was by far the best investment ever made after the purchase of a dishwasher!!!! You won't believe how you ever could cope without such a device.


does it come with snow tyres Jojo???:p

[mcrover]

Ah mowing a task that ruins a good weekend and can be frustrating.
Johne



Try doing it everyday and then still on the weekend having to do your own now that frustrating.