Which lawnmower?

VfM4meplse

It seems the time has come to replace my lawnmower. It was an inexpensive electric Qualcast when I bought it, and it has since given me 17 years of service, albeit on a small (40' lawn) until this year - my lawn is over 100' and the first cut of the year is a tough one. Aside from that, it's easy to maintain, flat with a couple of indentations I have yet to fill in. The ground is relatively dry and not at all squelchy. I'm not keen on a petrol mower so would be happy to stick with an electric mower, as I have more than enough extension cable. I'd like to go with something basic but reliable.

So the question is, which one? Recommendations are welcome.

spadoosh

Theres pros and cons of all mowers.

The likes of fly mo are good because theyre usually pretty light so easy to handle, the drawbacks are a poor cut and you need fairly decent weather, itll make a mess if its slightly wet.

Petrol mowers cut in all weathers although are on the heavy side.

Electric rotary mowers are pretty much the middle ground.

You can get battery mowers to give you the freedom of no cords but limited by battery capacity (not used one but i suspect power is somewhat limited too).

Problem is theres hundreds to choose from. The main variations are in cutting width, power, box capacity and cutting style (fixed blade rotary / cylindrical / and the cheap plasticy blades. as well as roller or not)

I dont think you can go too far wrong with the Bosch rotak models. Theyre a very generic mower and seem to get good reviews across the range. Id try and stick to the named brand ones if you want it for 17 years as its easier getting replacement blades (unless of course youre someone whose happy sharpen your own) also they tend to have parts for when the wire inevitably gets mowed or becomes dangerously exposed.

Justagardener

I would really consider a cordless mower. Professionally I have moved over to cordless tools from petrol, on hedge cutters, strimmers and blowers. No mowers yet as I have 5 newish Hondas so waiting for their demise(a few year yet!) But looking fwd to having a cordless mower. I have seen them In action and there is nothing to complain about. Battery power has moved on in leaps and bounds.

CapricornLass

When we couldn't get the parts for our petrol mower several years ago, we took a deep breath ( a very deep breath) and bought a Ryobi lithium-ion battery powered mower. Our lawn is big out the front - 90m square, and almost the same again out the back, and unfortunately it hasn't enough power to complete both. However, its easy to start - no tugging at cords cursing that the damn thing wont fire up, no messing around with cans of petrol, no trailing wires across the garden, less noisy, and much much lighter to lift ( we have a terraced bit at a different height.) Its been worth every penny to us, especially as we are now much older. As an added bonus, the batteries will also power up a leaf blower and a strimmer.
If it went, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another l-ion mower.

doberly

We have a EGO 21" 56 volt rechargeable lawnmower. It is powerful, easy to push and not noisy.