I have about 1/3 acre of lawn that is relatively flat. When I moved two years ago the previous owners had left an old 18" rotary lawn mower (4 wheeled push). I have struggled with it replacing bolts and holding it together with duct tape and string. No the my slow renovation of the house is coming to an end I need to start on the garden. and having a decent lawnmower which does not take 2-3 hours to do the job would be a start. I want a lawnmower that is reliable, I have generally used rotary lawn mowers with a cylinder in the past and find them better, as they go across edges, and generally ride on the grass rather than dig in (although moss treatment scarifying twice a year should gradually eliminate this). They should give a longer lasting stripe and in theory a better finish. I have put the following key features as a priority at least 19" get the job done rear roller aluminum / alloy / plastic deck (not steel) My nearest local dealer has atco's Hayters and Honda's. The Honda's do have an impressive spec but a huge price tag. I was not entirely convinced by the Atco range. I found Lawnflite pro 19 as a possibility. However another dealer recommended Weibang legacy 48 as a better specification at a slightly cheaper price. I have never heard of either brands until starting to research for a new mower, but Weibang appear to be new to the market. Do people have any opinions / experience of these machines / other options I should consider?
Welcome to Gardeners Corner Quentin. The only mower I can help you with is the Honda. I know they have a high price tag but you really can't go wrong with these, they are very reliable. My previous mower was a Honda which I had for 14 years, it would have gone on longer if the spares for it had still been available. I currently have a 6 year old Hayter which is very temperamental with starting and running problems. I would also avoid Mountfield's as the engines are now Chinese and apparently very unreliable.
I've been using an MTD 6520C for the last 16 years. It has a 56cm cut, and, even if I have done a cosmetic restoration on it twice, has been relatively reliable. The only thing that needs replacing at regular intervals is a return spring on the drive. Spares are still available over the counter. Fully agree with Sheals comments about the Hayter. The one I had was the same when I had one prior to the MTD!
Sheal and Sandy Ground. Thanks for your comments about Hayter I was thinking about them still as I preferred to buy from the old Gentleman in the local dealer that sold them (the other dealer was more hard sell, listened less). I assumed a Hayter would be Ok as it uses a Briggs and Stratton engine, I had a look and some of the reviews online of it are not great, problems with rollers and drive.
I've had my Hayter (22") for over 20 years with no trouble and have it serviced every two years. The previous Hayter was 30 years old when I upgraded to the current one. Having a good local place to service them is an enormous benefit. Have a look around for service places and they sometimes sell good reconditioned ones quite cheaply.
I've a Hayter 48pro which has been reliable and is heavily used due to my work. The pro does not have a split roller so no chance of mud entering unlike their split roller versions. I've also a rear roller John Deere which is very heavy in the hand and reliable too. All rear rollers suffer with damp grass apart from the very old Hayters of the past. Fine in dry weather but Devils in wet or damp grass where they clog and fail to fill the collection bags. If you look at the Hayter bags they slope so the grass if heavy falls back and as the chute is small this creates problems. One of the biggest issues with rough running Hayters is crap in the fuel. My local dealer fitted a filter to avoid this. Lawnflites had drive issues, they are a copy of the Honda but the drives can be a bit iffy at times. Another Make is Viking, they do rear rollers and some contractors like them. Plastic box on many models so no stupid cloth bag that needs a clean to keep the airflow at max. Hondas are fine, on par with Hayter if you go for the upper models. The only other make is Etesia which out classes all above in how they perform as they have great cutting ability regardless of weather but you need a new the new 46 model that have the ability to add their rear roller as an extra so its a 4 wheel mower with an added roller. I'm not convinced the roller and wheel combination leaves lines as neat as say a Hayter but they are mighty fine mowers. There is no one mower that outshines, some cope better with poor conditions, others leave a better finish in the way of looks. Hayter and Honda would both be best as spares are easy to find as you have a local dealer.
