My first lawnmower
Last post 21-06-2012 7:33 PM by courierdude. 5 replies.
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20/06/2012 06:10 PM
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Hi, I have (for the first time in my life) a real garden to maintain and have a question regarding lawnmowers. When I was a kid, my dad used to have a petrol powered 'mower that worked well, but we hated it for its weight and noise. It also seemed to require quite a bit of maintenence. I like the idea of an electric 'mower, but I was wondering wether or not the cord would be an inconvenience? My garden is not very big - about a quarter acre, of which three-quarters is lawn. I don't mind pushing a 'mower - I'm still quite active. I don't really have a budget, but don't want to spend stupid money unnecessarily. Thanks for your assistance!
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20/06/2012 08:09 PM
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- AlexS
- Reading
- 06 Sep 2009
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500
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I bet you could pick up an electric mower at an auction or car boot sale for next to nothing and see how you get on with it. My view is that the bigger the lawn, the more the cord is a problem. Worse still, if the grass is long or damp, an electric mower doesn't have the oomph to collect the grass properly. Petrol mowers are (a bit) quieter than they used to be. Personally, I wouldn't choose electric except for a really small lawn. I'd also consider whether a push mower wouldn't be a better option.
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20/06/2012 09:41 PM
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- Hedgelayer
- Nottinghamshire
- 02 Jun 2012
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22
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Hello and welcome to the forum, Unless I've got my sums wrong, that seems like a fair bit of lawn, so I'd be thinking of a petrol mower. I find that the cord for an electric mower becomes more and more of an inconvenience as the lawn size increases. I'm guessing that, if the lawn is roughly square, you'd need at least a 30 yd extension cable. You're also limited to a mower of around 16" cut or less, which may be a bit small for a larger lawn. If you don't mind the cord, then an electric mower has advantages in that it's quieter and cheaper to run. There is a bit more maintenance to a petrol mower, typically one or two oil changes per year, replacing the spark plug on a regular basis and oiling various cables, linkages etc. These tasks are not particularly difficult, to be honest. Hope that helps.
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20/06/2012 10:27 PM
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- 07 Nov 2006
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2,376
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Ah. This where forums like this come into their own. Where experience's can be exchanged etc. Fortunately I have used just about every type and model of mower.
About a quarter of an acre of lawn. By lawn. What exactly do you mean. Is it an area of grassland. Is it flat and resembling something like a bowling green. Would a rotory mower suit the purpose. Would a quick dash around and job done, be the case.
Electric mowers, be they rotory or cylinder type. They serve their purpose. Usually reasonably priced. Little maintenance. Cable problem. As with any electrical piece of machinery of this nature. Keep the cable behind you. For your area of lawn. Perhaps additional fixed outdoor sockets might help. The electric mowers are usually cheaper and lighter to handle.
Push mowers. You are limited to a very narrow cutting area. Petrol mowers. Now the finance comes into it. Once again. There is the choice. Cylinder or rotory. Hayter, Mountfield and others make some good rotory mowers upto about thirty inch cut. Some with grass box.
Cylinder mowers range from 12inch to 36inch Dennis. The latter is the old favourite for sports grounds etc. Good weight for rolling, steady speed ensuring an even cut. This would be my choice, if I had a lawn of such size.
Hope this helps. Mike.
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21/06/2012 03:23 PM
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Wow. Thanks do much for the responses. It is a fairly large area - not all level, but nothing too terribly hilly. It is already a lawn (albeit a bit scruffy looking), so I won't have to start from scratch. I have been offered an old electric 'mower for free by a mate of mine, so will see how that goes and report back. As a quick aside - is it worthwhile looking into a riding mower, or are they stupid expensive? Thanks!
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21/06/2012 07:33 PM
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- courierdude
- cambs/suffolk border
- 14 Feb 2012
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215
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hi uncle oswald, i would say that the most sensible thing you could buy to mow a quarter acre site would definitely be a ride on mower. i dont know what the dimensions of your lawn are but quarter acre is roughly 10,000 sqft approx, so i wouldnt even consider an electric mower as its likely to have a very narrow cut and it would drive me mad to spend the day walking up and down in straight lines! i would look for the largest cut, self propelled petrol mower. the average electric mower comes with a 10m cable and i have have to guess thats because there are only supposed to do small lawns. electric mowers are quite expensive to run too when you look at the size of motor you'll need on a larger cut mower, and the extended time it'll take you to walk up and down the lawn a hundred times. if you have somewhere to park a cheap ride on id go for it. think of an electric with a 32cm cut..thats walking 1000ftx10...which is fine-but it'll take time so you'll feel less inclined to cut your lawn so often so it'll be longer each time you get to it-which means slower cutting and more grass box emptying.. my lawns took about 5 times longer to do with an electric mower then it does now with a petrol machine. much more economical-costs me 50p in fuel to cut my lawns.
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