Lawnmower recommendations - shop, with/with-out plug

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Setanta12

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Thought this was a simple exercise but the plethora of models out there ...

So, house in an estate having a normal small garden but lawnmower may be used for similar sized second garden from time to time.

So;

- Plug with extension cables, or battery/petrol ?
- Woodies / Homebase etc - discounts available, or am I too late buying in the year already?
- Model ?
- Would normal brown-bin do for cuttings? Do you leave grass cuttings on lawn itself ? Or require a hood/catch-all with the mower ?
 
I use an electric mower. McCullough is the model I found the best. I use an extension lead and I use a hood. Grass can be either brown binned, left on grass or composted. Homebase and Woodies are usually the dearest -shop around.
 
I have a battery mower, expensive if you are buying early in the year, I bought mine in after summer sale. Handiest thing ever for a small garden and if you don't want to be messing with petrol, no leads to mind either.

Bosch Rotak model, bought in B&Q I think, Woodies used to have them too but picked it up for half nothing in B&Q sale, they are not a great seller so they always have them leftover.

I put the cuttings under my hedge so can't help with the bin question.
 
For what it's worth, I bought a manual mower recently, and used it on my lawn for its first cut. It's this one:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Qualcast-Pa...YJAI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363082264&sr=8-2

There is a larger version also.

I am very happy with it. Mechanically it is quite simple, and there should be little to go wrong. If anything should go wrong then I would fancy my chances at fixing it.

It is not perfect. The collector does spill some grass, and its capacity is not all that great. However I was pleased with the cut it gave. It's very neat and easy to store, environmentally friendly, quieter than petrol or electric mowers and I hope will prove to be reliable.
 
Really depends on use and practicalities.
Where are you going to store it, for example - if in garden shed either electrical or petrol, but if in house anywhere definitely not petrol (smell, risk, etc). I've had both over the years, personally I prefer petrol as it avoids hassle of leads and is better at cutting longer grass. With electrical mowers they struggle if the grass is not cut as frequently, so I find petrol ones a bit more flexible from that perspective. Also petrol ones I find a bit better if grass is a little damp.
You also mention a second house/lawn. When cutting grass there do you have easy access to power (eg if a rental house is there any hassle getting in for power, if so petrol may be easier). Though electrical much easier to transport in a car boot, lighter and generally a bit smaller. Also if you don't have a side passway and had to take through the house electric is definitely easier.
Re battery operated - never had one, but had battery strimmer. Great at the start but after one year I found the battery life terrible and one full charge would not do each time. No idea if same applies to mower but reality is you need strength in a mower.
I would tend to look at the practicalities and use, rather than purely price, as mowers last, if minded, as a one off type purchase.
Woodies have tended in the past to do Easter sales with decent petrol mowers around the one fifty mark. A good electrical one would be in the same price range. Don't think brand name is that imporant unless you want to spend a lot more.
 
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I used to have an electric one and it was grand, but then it gave up the ghost and for purely economic reasons I got a manual one to replace it, similar in style and price to the one mentioned by @bugler.

I was astonished to find that I now mow the lawn in much less time than I used to with the electric one - I usually manage it while pasta is cooking for dinner. I think it's that there is no messing about with cables and plugs, and also I don't have to rake up the cuttings afterwards because the push mower has a basket (although I have to empty it a few times each cut). The push mower is also much easier to carry and get in and out of the shed because it's just smaller and lighter.

I would say save your money and go for a push mower - easier, cheaper, faster and takes up less space in your shed.

Oh I put the cuttings on my compost heap, but I don't see why you wouldn't be able to put them in to your brown bin (they are compostable, after all).
 
I am on my second battery one, had the first one for maybe 10 yrs, had to change the battery once only, it was a Flymo but they don't seem to do battery ones anymore. The Bosch one I have now about 3 yrs, battery still flying, it is a much stronger machine that the Flymo which was like a Fisher Price toy but it did the job. The Bosch battery does not stay on constant charge like the Flymo but is charged as needed, takes about 30 mins or so and will cut for at least 30/40 mins which more than does the amount I have.
 
I have both a manual and an electric model. The manual push mower cuts the grass much shorter (I am sure there is a way to change the level, but I have not figured it out yet), and the ground needs to be fairly even or the grass will definitely spill from the grass collector. Whatever you do - get something that collects the grass - especially if you have kids - otherwise grass will end up being dragged into the house on feet. Also if your lawn is not well draining, leaving the grass clippings will encourage moss. I bought a Bosch Rotak 34 electric lawnmower, and am very happy with it. Cuttings go into brown bin.
 
wbbs said:
... I put the cuttings under my hedge so can't help with the bin question.
Click to expand...
Brilliant use of the clippings. I used to do this with my late father's old ride-on mower. With the grass-collector off, and the little door held open with a wire coat-hanger, firing the clippings into the hedging, keeping the weeds down and dispensing with the need for growing piles of slimy, smelly, rotting grass.

OP if your garden(s) can get away with a battery-powered mower, getting one would be my suggestion. I currently use a LIDL/ALDI self-propelled petrol mower for the last 6/7 years and no problems so far, just noisy. Servicing is DIY and easy for me.
 
I have had the following, bosch electric with a lead , flymo with wheels and lead, original (?) flymo with lead and no wheels.

Bosch electric is by far the best of the three. got it in B+Q.
 
Thought I'd detail my experiences with a manual push-mower.

Bl00dy hard work! Garden is more uneven than I thought and any postponement of cutting the lawn means its next-to-nigh-impossible to cut. I've had to pull out the strimmer on occasion for grasss i would have thought the mower could go through.

Lawn looks scalped after cutting too.

Methinks I will invets in a petrol one next tim/year.
 
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