please advise me on type of lawnmower

MrsE_2

I have a long skinny garden, the grass is just shy of 100 foot long & only as wide as the house plus 3 foot to get around the side near the house & its even narrower at the bottom as it tapers.

Lawnmover history - the past 6 years!
Had loads of things to buy when I moved in, bought the cheapest petrol I could find, between £50 & £100.
Lastest a few years, my ex husband was good at that sort of thing.
It broke just after we seperated.

Someone gave me their old electric one, boyfriend was using it & it died (while I was on holiday), so he replaced it with another electric lawnmover, from b&q, about £100.

Boyfriends son was cutting grass at the weekend & it smoked, overheated & is dead. The lawn was very long, he didnt have it on the longest cut & he was doing a full stripe, neighbour says he does a half stripe when its really long.

Im rubbish at tools & stuff, I dont think I could maintain & work a petrol mower.

My budget is £200 MAX. Would love to spend less & happy to fleabay a second hand one ideally.

Is an electric cabled one ok for my lawn or is this why they are breaking? Or was it a cheap one used badly? My lawn isnt smooth & my front is worse.

Would a battery one (the cordless type) suit me better or would they not be able to cope with my garden.

I really dont think I can mix the fuel & start & maintain a petrol one.

Do I have to have petrol for my garden?

This is my 4th mower in 6 years!!!! I want this one to be the right type & last!!!!

mrbadexample

MrsE wrote: »

Is an electric cabled one ok for my lawn or is this why they are breaking? Or was it a cheap one used badly? My lawn isnt smooth & my front is worse.

Hayter Envoy or Spirit. The Envoy is within your budget. The Spirit might be better as it's a bit bigger but you'd have to go second hand to get one for £200.

forgotmyname

Cordless mower is probably not a good idea. Batteries discharge when stored for long periods and when discharged they die quickly. So you need to keep charging the battery to keep it in good condition.

You need to be more sympathetic with the equipment. Unless its an industrial or commercial machine thats built to run all day everyday then you need to let the engine or motor cool every now and then.

If the grass is long set the height as high as possible and do a couple of strips then have a cuppa. Leave it for an hour or so and then lower the cutting height.

Or leave it until the next day.

I have a cheap B&D mower that i bought in 1998, Still going strong. Changed the blade once. Thats it.

morg_monster

Our garden sounds like yours, although perhaps not quite as long (have a patio and some paths and beds which shrinks the 90ft ish length). We got a second hand qualcast mower off ebay for £8 when we moved in in 2010 and it's still going strong. One of those hover type cable ones with a plastic blade; and we do have to replace the blade about three times every time we mow (they cost £1 for about 25 in wilkos), but overall it's absolutely great - also it doesn't take up much space in the shed which is a bonus. If you can find a bargain like we did locally on ebay (and we found loads to choose from when we looked), it's gotta be worth a try before shelling out hundreds of pounds?

MrsE_2

http://m.tesco.com/mt/www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-plm042011-self-propelled-petrol-lawnmower-173cc/213-8675.prd?skuId=213-8675 l've got £90 in clubcard vchs to put towards this.

MrsE_2

forgotmyname wrote: »

Cordless mower is probably not a good idea. Batteries discharge when stored for long periods and when discharged they die quickly. So you need to keep charging the battery to keep it in good condition.

You need to be more sympathetic with the equipment. Unless its an industrial or commercial machine thats built to run all day everyday then you need to let the engine or motor cool every now and then.

If the grass is long set the height as high as possible and do a couple of strips then have a cuppa. Leave it for an hour or so and then lower the cutting height.

Or leave it until the next day.

I have a cheap B&D mower that i bought in 1998, Still going strong. Changed the blade once. Thats it.

Thank you, brillant info

MrsE_2

morg_monster wrote: »

Our garden sounds like yours, although perhaps not quite as long (have a patio and some paths and beds which shrinks the 90ft ish length). We got a second hand qualcast mower off ebay for £8 when we moved in in 2010 and it's still going strong. One of those hover type cable ones with a plastic blade; and we do have to replace the blade about three times every time we mow (they cost £1 for about 25 in wilkos), but overall it's absolutely great - also it doesn't take up much space in the shed which is a bonus. If you can find a bargain like we did locally on ebay (and we found loads to choose from when we looked), it's gotta be worth a try before shelling out hundreds of pounds?

Are you saying that those flymo plastic blades wont cut the electric cable?

morg_monster

No, well, it's never been a problem for us! I always make sure I know where the cable is, and work away from the house, and the extension cord we use is designed for outdoor use, but I'm sure I must have gone over the cable at some point. The blades are not that strong - if they hit a sturdy twig, or a broken bit of blade from the last mow, they'll break. So I think it would also either break when confronted with the cable, or bend over it, or something.
This is the mower we have, and these are the blades you're looking at, they're about 3" long.

MrsE_2

Any thoughts on these


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sovereign-Petrol-Lawn-Mower-Briggs-Stratton-Powered-Starts-1st-Time-/151057351051?pt=UK_Garden_Lawnmowers&hash=item232bb8418b

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261224744347?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290926721857?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bosch-32cm-cutting-width-Electric-Rotary-Lawnmower-/221234797972?pt=UK_Garden_Lawnmowers&hash=item33829f1d94





http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/qualcast18-inch-petrol-lawnmower-/171052328056?pt=UK_Garden_Lawnmowers&hash=item27d3836478

MrsE_2

I bought a mountfield hp414 in b&q, it was another £50 for the self propelled.

Ken68

To cut grass with an electric mower, you need to start early in the season before the grass has grown much height,and when the lawn is dry.
A rotary petrol mower is more forgiving but does need strength to pull the start cable and set the heights . A self propelled rotary is almost a pleasure as long as you can cope with the starting and the filling with petrol and the occasional maintenace. Saw a new Champion self propelled rotary the other day £200.