Time for a new lawnmower!

[robzilla]

hey all,

thought a forum load of mechanically minded land rover nuts would probably be a good place to start!

Our current mower is a relic from the 70s. Old Rover 2-stroke, that just can't handle the job anymore. Still starts first pull and runs ok, but the catcher doesnt work as the clippings clog up the exit chute real easily, and in any grass longer than say 2-inches, i have to mow real slowly as the engine just doesnt have the ponies and suffers under the load.

So what's good in mowers these days? Our lawn area isnt big by any means, can do front and back in about 45mins, give or take.
Only requirements is a big catcher and a decent motor to get through thick patches.

what are people's opinions on Honda's? i'm hearing lots of good things about them at the moment.

or what are other reputable brands to look into?

I won't be going cheap, so no GMC, Talon, Chinese-Super-Happy-Mower etc...

Let us know your experiences, opinions, recommendations etc.. :D

EDIT: this is probably the type of unit i'm looking for. Simple 4-stroke with good specs.
http://www.productreview.com.au/showitem.php?item_id=9665

[amtravic1]

Buy a Honda. Mine is 17 years old and was used commercially for 2 years. When I bought it the salesman said that it would last for at least 5 years used commercially or a lifetime for home use. The later ones get just as good a report.

[dmdigital]

X2 for Honda, best mower I've ever owned.

It had been sitting for 4 months, turned on the fuel tap, pulled the cord, started. Motor is fully rebuildable if you get the right model. Mines an HRU196D and I like the mulching function as I don't use the catcher. I bought it about 3 years ago.

My father has a Honda mower that is 10 years old and my father-in-law just replaced his 27 year old one.

[F4Phantom]

electric mowers are here and able. I am not here to convince you of the brand I got, there are quite a few available these days. They are far better for the planet which is the reason I got mine, but there are many other reasons I would never go back. EG. no starting, you want to empty the catcher? just stop it. Not much noise, good torque, clean cut, (BTW I am talking cordless DV rechargeable) no fuel storage, no maintenance at all. Just charge the batterys (I have 2 packs) and use. If one runs out just switch the packs and keep going. It is the right technology for the type of equipment a lot like a cordless drill makes no sense to be powered by a petrol engine. I get 1 quarter acre per batt.

Mine is a cheap as chips chinese electric but its still much nicer to use than any petrol I have owned including victa, masport and honda.

[lokka]

Buy another Rover with the suzuki 2 stroke engin best mower ever made they are set up like a 4 stroke with a govener and increase power on load demand my mate who mows for a living has honda's and hes used my rover and rekons its as good but i think it has more power than the honda and its more economical to run :D

[robzilla]

Buy another Rover with the suzuki 2 stroke engin best mower ever made they are set up like a 4 stroke with a govener and increase power on load demand my mate who mows for a living has honda's and hes used my rover and rekons its as good but i think it has more power than the honda and its more economical to run :D
yeh i was thinking another 2-stroke would be good, but i thought they were hard to find? aren't 2-strokes being banned the world over or something?

and more economical than a 4-stroke? gotta admit that's pretty hard to believe :eek:

EDIT: Oops got my facts wrong. our current one is actually a Victa, with a "Mark 4 160cc" two-stroke

On that note, lets start a 2-stroke VS 4-stroke war :p so when it comes to mowers, lets us know your personal pick and why.

and as for electric, sorry but couldn't do it. Plus all my experience with cordless tools is the batteries die after a while. just stop charging, or only hold tiny amounts of charge etc...

[Bushie]

After 25 years I've recently updated from a Masport to a Honda, certainly happy with it so far (just didn't realise how down on power the old one was)


Martyn

[Bigbjorn]

I swear by Briggs four strokes. Currently I use a Rover 21" cut with a 5.5 hp Briggs industrial engine with cast iron bore, bought 1993. Has electronic ignition, float bowl carb. and dry paper aircleaner with precleaner element. Did three lawns for more than half the time owned. Plenty of grunt for the long and thick stuff. Still works perfectly. It replaced a Victa 18" with 4 hp Briggs bought 1979. The Victa's wheels and frame were worn out, not the engine. It did three lawns its whole life. Before this I had a Scott-Bonnar two stroke. I swear I will never have another two stroke.

[robzilla]

how often do you service the 4-stroke mowers? and what's serviceable on them? just engine oil and air filter?

[LandyAndy]

Go the Honda:cool::cool:
We got ours secondhand from a friend who left town to shift to Perth to a no lawn block.His place was on 2 titles and had LOTS of lawn,Deb now uses it for the mowing round I started and she took over.Great machine.
Andrew

[dmdigital]

how often do you service the 4-stroke mowers? and what's serviceable on them? just engine oil and air filter?
I have a very sandy block so blades on any mower don't last well. Other than that you've got it, oil and filter.

[Armadillo]

These are quite reliable.....



http://www.ibrutus.net/files/images/aulro/Sheep1.jpg

And you can also get a manual to help you get the most out of your new mower...



http://www.ibrutus.net/files/images/aulro/Sheep2.jpg

[robzilla]

haha if i came home with one of those i think my Jack Russell would die of excitement!
We gave her a piece of sheeps fur once, bout the size of an A4 sheet of paper, it was destroyed in a minute or so :p

[V8Ian]

Honda is fantastic; quiet, reliable and economical to run. The only downside is parts, they're expensive, fortunately not often required.

[robzilla]

alternatively, keep your eyes out on fleabay, trading post etc...

If i can find a 4-stroke mower for under $100 in running condition i'll buy it, and tinker with it :D

the B&S motors sound surprisingly good with a bodged up exhaust :p this was a 3hp or 3.5hp i used for a high school project

[amtravic1]

how often do you service the 4-stroke mowers? and what's serviceable on them? just engine oil and air filter?

I think I have changed the oil maybe 5 times in 17 years. I have never done any other work to it other than new blades and cleaned the air filter. Got better things to do than service lawn mowers. get a Honda.

[101 Ron]

Honda is very good and you pay much more for this.
Kmart are currently selling for $200 a ball bearing wheel, steel high arch constrution ,catcher ,4 stroke honda copy OHV 5 horse motor,with other good stuff.
Kmart for $250 buys you as above but with a mulshing feature.
I think the brand name was Sanli ????
they were also selling one for $98 made of plastic and was rubbish.
The honda copy cat motors are just as good as the jap ones.
Infact alot of so called Jap motors are now made in China.

[scarry]

If you get the four legged one,it will fertilise the lawn at the same time & also exercise the jack russell.Runs quiet & little maintenance:)

If you want the wheeled one,go the honda.Mines around 15yrs old,done heaps of work,got a 3/4 acre block.It replaced a Rover 4 stroke which also was a dam good mower.All i do to the Honda is replace the oil & air filter once a year,& replace the blades when necessary,usually also once a year.

Sometimes i clean & re oil the air filter during the year depending on how dirty it gets.

Always goes first start,everytime.

I remember when i got it ,was a lot easier to push as the wheels were so much bigger than the Rover.

[d@rk51d3]

Just be aware that the Honda motors on the cheaper side of the scale have aluminium cyliders. You really need to keep on top of the servicing if you want a long life out of it. Once the oil gets slightly dirty, the cylinder starts wearing faster.

You need to make sure you get the commercial version if you want steel sleeves.

Just don't get a Techumseh.

[numpty]

Another vote for the Honda here (19R). Have had ours for about 8 years and as others have said, change oil and filter annually. Ours gets a hard time occasionally, when the front acre and a half is a foot long :), it still cuts well.

[350RRC]

Honda is very good and you pay much more for this.
Kmart are currently selling for $200 a ball bearing wheel, steel high arch constrution ,catcher ,4 stroke honda copy OHV 5 horse motor,with other good stuff.
Kmart for $250 buys you as above but with a mulshing feature.
I think the brand name was Sanli ????
they were also selling one for $98 made of plastic and was rubbish.
The honda copy cat motors are just as good as the jap ones.
Infact alot of so called Jap motors are now made in China.

I bought the mulching version of one of these a couple of months ago. Was prepared to pay up to 7 - 800 but couldn't justify it when I saw them. Paid $380 from a mower dealer, which I thought was very cheap........... $250 is a joke.

Quality appears fine from the outside, time will tell with the internals. Most important thing........... like a real Honda it starts first go.

cheers, DL

[djam1]

I bought the mulching version of one of these a couple of months ago. Was prepared to pay up to 7 - 800 but couldn't justify it when I saw them. Paid $380 from a mower dealer, which I thought was very cheap........... $250 is a joke.

Quality appears fine from the outside, time will tell with the internals. Most important thing........... like a real Honda it starts first go.

cheers, DL

I bought one of these cheap ones too and I find the engine to be excellent
Its only been used for 12 Months but it always starts and runs fine.

[moose]

Buy another Rover with the suzuki 2 stroke engin best mower ever made they are set up like a 4 stroke with a govener and increase power on load demand my mate who mows for a living has honda's and hes used my rover and rekons its as good but i think it has more power than the honda and its more economical to run :D
I've got one of these as well, runs great, but the catcher door/flap thing is rusted out, need a new bit, other than that it's great.

[jaseh]

I worked on mowers for the first 15 years of my life as a mechanic. Worked in the hire industry for 9 of those years and we used Victa 2 strokes all that time.

Most reliable mower I saw in that time was the rover/suzuki 2 stroke, lasted forever and was cheap to fix if anything went wrong. After that it would be the Kubota self propelled, although if something went wrong it was very exy to fix.
After those 2 the Honda and the Victa 2 stroke, can't kill a victa and if it breaks thay are real easy to fix and cheap, hence why we used them in the hire fleet. Only two of these are still in production, the Honda and the Victa.

[robzilla]

looking at the Rover website, looks like they only offer their own motors or B&S motors now :(

also looks like price might be a bit of a consideration now as well, so the Honda's might be out.
But, these Victa's look nice, and on paper sound similar anyway.

Anyone had experience with the current Victa 2-strokes?
http://www.oakleighmowerpower.com.au/productdetail.asp?id=465

Or the same chassis, with a Honda 4-stroke. Allthough it's the "Domestic" motor, doesn't have the cast-iron bore.
http://www.oakleighmowerpower.com.au/productdetail.asp?id=467

[sschmez]

I spent about $900 on a honda a couple of years ago...

Love it ... turned a really hated job into something I can now just tolerate

Starts easy, even Annette starts it and mows :cool: and chews through the "pasture" I grow here without getting bogged down like the thing I had before. Money well spent in my book.

I actually hired the exact mower from one of the local hire places to try out before I bought it ... was easy to find one to hire, they all have them around here ... so do the commercial mowing blokes, just have a look in the trailer as they go past.

Very happy with mine ... would love the 4 stroke brushcutter too ... if I could pay for one:(.

Stevo

[Sprint]

dunno about you guys, but i picked up a victa lawnkeeper with a 3.5HP B&S tonight off one of the outlaws for a bottle of rum.... he'd got the tom tits with it after a circlip went AWOL from one of the wheels and the catcher hatch spring failed..... 18 month old mower for $31.....

and to think i spent ~$700 or so on my stihl brushcutter last year.....

tho that said, my last mower was an ancient victa 2 stroke that lasted through 5 years of abuse till the carby cracked.....

[tab]

The B&S motors must be fed with SAE30 oil only. The Hondas seem to take multigrade ok - I bought a self propelled Honda third hand off ebay = so far so good. Its coming up to Christmas so I might change to oil.

[slug_burner]

I currently have a Masport and if I had to get another mower tomorrow I would go the Honda. Masport is fine, has dropped a bit of power from new. It was impossible to stall it in the long grass, now you need to watch how quickly you feed it into the long grass. I think it is a 6.5 or 6 hp, I could never go back to 3.5hp.

[austastar]

Hi,
I needed a new mower some 15 years ago.
The electric flymo we had wouldn't work on the new place - grass too long and the ground was uneven - so no 'float'.
I had mucked about fixing old mowers for years, we were still broke, but I wanted a new mower.
Fortunately 2 other neighbours had mowers that were on their last legs, and I was able to go thirds with them in a brand new shiny Rover Briggs & Stratton professional heavy duty mower.
The system works well, one neighbour stores it, the other pays for any parts, and I service it on a regular basis.
We all refuel it after we use it.
Works for us.
cheers

[robzilla]

hey guys,
digging this thread up again, as im still hunting!

are these the Rover/Suzuki mowers that people have been mentioning?
ROVER 2 STROKE SUZUKI MOTOR 4 BLADES & CATCHER SERVICED - eBay Outdoor Power Equipment, Tools, Gear, Equipment, Gardening, Lawn Care, Home. (end time 06-Dec-09 21:31:15 AEDST) (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ROVER-2-STROKE-SUZUKI-MOTOR-4-BLADES-CATCHER-SERVICED_W0QQitemZ140362962330QQcmdZViewItemQQptZA U_Gardening_Equipment?hash=item20ae48d59a)

there's a few on Ebay at the moment, although none in Melbourne :( but will keep an eye if on pops up. looks like they sell for pretty dcent prices

alternatively, i'd be willing to fly upto Brisbane for this bad boy. 55hp lawnmower would really get the job done quickly! :lol2:
ROVER MOWER, 55hp self propelled with catcher - eBay Outdoor Power Equipment, Tools, Gear, Equipment, Gardening, Lawn Care, Home. (end time 06-Dec-09 20:20:43 AEDST) (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ROVER-MOWER-55hp-self-propelled-with-catcher_W0QQitemZ320455427728QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU _Gardening_Equipment?hash=item4a9ca1c690)

[isuzurover]

If your yard is fenced, an alternative is to buy a pair of geese. They will mow (and fertilise) your lawn for you - and they are great guard "dogs"!

Depending on the local regs where you live of course.

[robzilla]

If your yard is fenced, an alternative is to buy a pair of geese. They will mow (and fertilise) your lawn for you - and they are great guard "dogs"!

Depending on the local regs where you live of course.
rear yard is fenced, but still have the open front yard and nature strip.
Plus the existing guard dog (in Jack Russell form) would wet herself with excitement if i dropped a couple geese off in the backyard :p

[isuzurover]

rear yard is fenced, but still have the open front yard and nature strip.
Plus the existing guard dog (in Jack Russell form) would wet herself with excitement if i dropped a couple geese off in the backyard :p

Actually I suspect the geese would beat your jack russel into submission with their wings... but it could be a close thing.

[robzilla]

Actually I suspect the geese would beat your jack russel into submission with their wings... but it could be a close thing.
yeh probably, like with the possums. but the little dog isn't short on committment to a cause! :o

[moose]

hey guys,
digging this thread up again, as im still hunting!

are these the Rover/Suzuki mowers that people have been mentioning?
ROVER 2 STROKE SUZUKI MOTOR 4 BLADES & CATCHER SERVICED - eBay Outdoor Power Equipment, Tools, Gear, Equipment, Gardening, Lawn Care, Home. (end time 06-Dec-09 21:31:15 AEDST) (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ROVER-2-STROKE-SUZUKI-MOTOR-4-BLADES-CATCHER-SERVICED_W0QQitemZ140362962330QQcmdZViewItemQQptZA U_Gardening_Equipment?hash=item20ae48d59a)


Yeah that's the same as mine.