Oil for your Lawnmowers ?

Splitting hairs, Hayter only assemble their mowers. As far as I am aware, they dont manufacture the engines or even cast their own decks. most of the other parts will be bought in also..

The amount of money needed would probably bring a company such as Hayter into financial difficulties. So their accountants that would put a stop to the development of such a machine.

 

Personally when you get a second mower you want a pro machine that has a good back up and trusted.
If you want a 4 wheel mower that has great collection, hassle free with the ability to add a roller then Etesia are the way forward. Don't skimp on mowers, you want one that's got a good name in the industry.
Look for your local dealership, they will offer demos and then see what you think.
John Deere also do some commercial 4 wheel mowers and Deere have a very good customer care record. They are manufactured by their German sister company who trade under another name but also supply Deere. Just don't touch their rear rollers and check the feel as their handles are different and make the machines feel very heavy in the hand.
After a 5 week wait for my Hayter repair I really don't want that again or though that was more to do with the company who did the work.

 

Thanks for some more very useful info.

Regrettably, my present financial situation is dire due to a shocking spring and the costs of moving house, so it rules out pretty much anything other than a cheapish mower. Maybe something second hand of a decent make than one that's a more of a 'home brand' and nightmare to get parts for.

An Etesia would be the first choice but I'll have to keep mowing.weeding/hedging etc and keep saving up for something half-decent.

BTW... 5 weeks for them to repair your Hayter! That's obscene - surely the parts aren't THAT difficult to obtain as they're a popular brand. The repair guys need a real kick up the backside.

 

Hayter use parts from many suppliers to assemble their mowers and I agree with your point on that. But manufacturers like Honda and John Deere aren't short of a bob or two and they could afford the engineers and designers to produce something that could poentially sweep the market directly in their favour.

 

You might be able to find a good second hand Etesia or an ex demo unit. Mine was a demo unit and I save around £500 on the machine .
One thing to consider is as you are using tools for long periods each day you need to look into the vibration levels. High vibration levels cause problems with blood vessels, nerves and joints.
HAVS is permanent and that will end your career and be with you for the rest of your life.
Our tools are that bad they they are among the examples on the HSE site, brushcutters and mowers.
When you purchase tools you will see a vibration levels , pro tools tend to have less through designs to lower the levels.
Domestic aimed tools will have high levels and even though they feel fine you will be slowly damaging your health.
This is missed by 99% of start ups and even experienced tradesman.
There is a chart that helps to show the recommended time of use against vibration levels.
So for example a domestic brush cutter with loop handle will have a much high level than a commercial model with cow horns and anti vibration sections added to it. The same applies to mowers. Deere add a small device to some handles to lower levels, others are more complex and design the handle and machine around it to lower long term use.
My advice is don't skimp, part of business is not just getting out and doing the work but also understanding health and safety issues concerning tools, their use and your health.
There's no going back once you do the damage, your business stops, your private life is also disrupted.
It's one reason why I also run a battery mower for quite a few small lawns as electric based tools have very low levels. Each year this technology gets a step further and will be the much better than petrol at some point.

 

True, but they wont for the simple reason lawn mowers are only a small part of their profits. They'll put the best engineers on those projects that would make most money for them.

If there is one thing that annoys me about mowers, both pro and amateur level ones, is that everyone on todays market could be improved in quite a number of areas. As Liz mentioned above, vibration is one of those.

Another is noise. My neighbours electric makes more than my petrol one...then there is fuel efficiency...I could go on forever.

 

You're bang on about vibration levels. It can cause serious problems and my step Dad is a tree surgeon who suffers terribly with numb hands, pins and needles, particularly when it's even slightly cold outside. It's vibration white finger after using chainsaws for a number of years.

Last year when I first started out, my hands for a few weeks (even though wearing rubber coated cloth style gloves gloves all the time) used to cramp up at night and tingle like hell. I've got some anti-vibration gloves but they so thick that they're restrictive and it's hard to grip the strimmer and Hayter handles efficiently.

But as gonna be out of this gardening career as soon as poss (with a bit of luck), hopefully the vibration levels won't have a permanent effect.

 

Once the fingers/hands suffer damage from vibration, its not something that gets better over time. Its a permanent injury.

There are a few things that can be done though. The most stupid sounding, if the handles are tubular steel, is to drill and tap a hole in them, fill them with sand, then plug the hole....it does have to be topped up at times, but done correctly works. Ask me how I know!