Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Apr 24, 2010 3:21 pm Hi everyone, Our 2-stroke mower has just died. We need to decide quickly on which new one to get. What is your opinion on diferent type of mowers? 2-stroke or 4-stroke petrol, or electric? The requirements are simple: It will have to do a lot in one mowing session since our backyard is quite large (or should I say it will have quite a bit of lawn). After having a petrol one (2 str), I thought of going electrical simply because of all the fumes and smell. But apparently they are only suited for small areas. Need help with your comments and suggestions ! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Lawn Mower? 2Apr 24, 2010 5:01 pm 4 stroke are better than 2... plus I think the 2's are being fazed out. I have battery mower and plenty of lawn so it's not ideal but it does the job. It's great not to have to mess around with petrol.. no fumes, far less noise and all that was the main reason. Re: Which Lawn Mower? 3Apr 24, 2010 5:08 pm search.php?keywords=lawn+mower&terms=all&author=Fu+Manchu&fid[]=19&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search Re: Which Lawn Mower? 4Apr 24, 2010 8:12 pm Thanks Fu. What's your take on electric ones? Are they capable of managing a large lawn (and a very gently sloping one)? If yes, which one would be good? Budget-wise - not sure, I don't think we need an Einstein ... so maybe about $500 (if that's enough for a trouble free ride ). The new mower will also have to be capable of ocassionally cutting grass that ... *cough* ... has overgrown a little . Yes, true. Unless we get one which I can easily operate myself ... which I thought would only be some electric models. Oh, and the grass will be some type of buffalo (maybe Sir W). The one thing I am concerned about is the power cable. How hard is it to keep it out of the way (I just can't picture this) and what are people's experiences? Summary of pros and cons for el. mowers: Pros: - starts first time, every time (huge plus) - NO fumes (another big plus with me) - quieter - no fuels or oils required to replenish Cons: - safety / nuisance with watching for the cord (big minus) - not suitable for a large yard - iffy with a bit longer grass (need to mow every single week to keep the grass well under ankle high) If electric is no good, then I'd go for a 4-stroke. I read some other reviews and apparently they are better than 2 stroke ones. Pros: - less upkeep - slightly quieter - slightly less fumes Cons: - ??? tell me please My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Lawn Mower? 5Apr 24, 2010 8:15 pm My mum has an electric mower because she has a small yard and ...well, she's old and arthritic. It's pretty light and easy enough for her to manage, but the cord is a PITA and in a big yard I'd imagine it would be really painful. We have a four-stroke Rover. I did heaps of research years ago when we needed a new one and decided it was better than a two-stroke - don't ask me now for all my reasons, it really was a loooooong time ago. Anyway, it's been a good buy, easy to get fuel for, just fill a can with unleaded at the servo and you're right. Plus we've always serviced it ourselves - new spark plug, clean the air filter, change the oil (it's all in the manual) and Bob's your uncle. Seriously, I used to do all the mowing and most of the servicing myself - My husband just had to change the spark plug, because apparently, that's a man's job. Re: Which Lawn Mower? 6Apr 24, 2010 8:36 pm Hey, thanks for your comments, kek! How do you handle the fumes? Seriosuly, our dead one was a shocker for fumes. There weren't any visible clouds, but the smell is a killer (and I mean it is literally a killer). With our large lawns, he typically spends about 2 hours each time (maybe less when the lawn is not that *err* overgrown). So, that's the biggest con for me - breathing in all those toxins. Being stubborn as he is, he just refuses to wear a musk , even in the backyard (men! ). My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Lawn Mower? 7Apr 24, 2010 10:19 pm The trick is to not let it get too long. Fumes were never a drama; allergies are a whole other thing - but that has nothing to do with the type of mower, and everything to do with the type of grass. My husband has a severe allergy to grass pollen, but he's done all the mowing for many years now. Good drugs are the answer. It's a fortnightly job in Spring/Summer and about 4-weekly in the cooler months for us. I have to admit though, one of the selling points of a bigger house was less lawn to mow. Maybe reconsider your landscaping plans and decrease the lawn size? Bigger garden beds, a bit more paving..... ? Re: Which Lawn Mower? 8Apr 24, 2010 11:19 pm Ha, funny you should mention that! We actually purposely went for a bit smaller house (actually, a small footprint), just to save as much as possible of the yard! Although, now seeing it positioned, we could have gone another meter into the backyard without really losing much. Our "problem" is that we love green lawns and open outdoor spaces. You are probably right - we are probably going to reduce the size of the lawn by building a pergola and having wider garden beds along the fences. So, what now feels like a huge space, in effect probably won't be such a big lawn ... Will definitely be considerably smaller than it was with the old house. Maybe even an electric mower would do !! One thing is sure - I have decided (he doesn't know about this yet) that we'll get a real, proper edger. I think there is only one brand (Atom), but might be wrong. I can't stand watching him suffer with that line trimmer. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Lawn Mower? 9Apr 29, 2010 1:15 am Line trimmers will never edge a lawn well or properly. The Atom edger is easy to use for most folks. The little flymo hover mowers will be great for small areas and so will a Flymo push mower. I say the Flymo push mower because the blades can be sharpened where as the other common types sold are disposable items Re: Which Lawn Mower? 10Apr 29, 2010 7:33 am I find line trimmers almost like a bizarre invention. Definitely not someting I would embrace. On the other hand, edgers (like Atom brand) are a complete opposite. If only I knew where to buy them ... never mind, I'll find it (I hope)!! Fu, Flymo push mower - any particular model?? Actually, I think it could be a bit too optimistic for our fairly big backyard My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Lawn Mower? 11Apr 29, 2010 8:55 am Lex One thing is sure - I have decided (he doesn't know about this yet) that we'll get a real, proper edger. I think there is only one brand (Atom), but might be wrong. I can't stand watching him suffer with that line trimmer. We've got a Star Products petrol powered edger that we bought from Bunnings a few years ago. We are on a corner so have a massive amount of nature strip to edge and hubby is quite happy with it. Re: Which Lawn Mower? 12Apr 29, 2010 9:04 am kek We have a four-stroke Rover. I did heaps of research years ago when we needed a new one and decided it was better than a two-stroke - don't ask me now for all my reasons, it really was a loooooong time ago. We've got Masport 4 stroke mulching mower that is over ten years old and it hasn't missed a beat. Would highly recommend a mulching mower particularly if you have a large area to mow as you don't need to stop every five seconds to empty the catcher. We contemplated it for a long time but as we aren't all that good at mowing on a very regular basis we wondered whether it would leave heaps of clippings visable if the grass was high. We were looking at one in a mower shop one day and asked that question and the guy took the mower out the front to the nature strip that had foot high grass and mowed some of it. We bought the mower that day! It was brilliant! It left some grass clippings on top, but at a foot high that would be expected, and had no trouble getting through the high grass. Re: Which Lawn Mower? 14Apr 29, 2010 10:32 am Hi catjim, How is your Masport with producing smelly fumes? Fumes are the reason I'd consider electric mowers over petrol ones. And I just can't get my head around mower/mulcher thing - isn't the grass so fine anyway that it shouldn't need any furhter mulching? Although, as you say, might be handy for us who don't mow that regularly . And when it mulches, does it just spit it all out onto the lawn, or does it still catch the shreded clippings in the catcher like regular mowers ?? Happy mowing with your new buy, DamNita! Do you know what type of Honda did you buy? Electric ? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Which Lawn Mower? 15Apr 29, 2010 1:24 pm Lex Hi catjim, How is your Masport with producing smelly fumes? Fumes are the reason I'd consider electric mowers over petrol ones. And I just can't get my head around mower/mulcher thing - isn't the grass so fine anyway that it shouldn't need any furhter mulching? Although, as you say, might be handy for us who don't mow that regularly . And when it mulches, does it just spit it all out onto the lawn, or does it still catch the shreded clippings in the catcher like regular mowers ?? No fumes at all that I've noticed. I think you would be more likely to get fumes with a 2 stroke but we've never had one so not sure about that one. If you mow with a normal mower without a catcher you'll get trails of mown grass ****** on the top of the lawn. A mulching mower chops it up several times before it spits it down into the lawn so you virtually see no mown grass sitting on top of the lawn. There are mulching mowers that also have a catcher but we were told that these don't work as well as they don't chop the grass as finely. The finely chopped grass also acts as a fertiliser for the lawn as it breaks down. Re: Which Lawn Mower? 17Apr 29, 2010 1:44 pm Lex Thanks, catjim, that's very useful info !! Cheers If you were closer I'd say come and give it a try Re: Which Lawn Mower? 18Apr 29, 2010 2:26 pm No not electric (although my trimmer is). It is a 4 stroke Buffalo Buck. It does have the mulcher attachment also. I must say though, no gyming for me anymore. Just take out the trimmer and mower and work up a sweat that way. Saves money too!! Confused Renovator Re: Which Lawn Mower? 19May 01, 2010 8:22 am Has anyone used a rechargeable electric lawnmower? If so, what are your thoughts? My block is perfectly flat, sandy soil and once the house is built I don't intend having a lot of lawn instead it will be gardens (both flower and veggie) so am considering a rechargeable, just don't know anyone who owns one. THanks Re: Which Lawn Mower? 20May 01, 2010 8:22 pm HappyCamper_au Has anyone used a rechargeable electric lawnmower? If so, what are your thoughts? My block is perfectly flat, sandy soil and once the house is built I don't intend having a lot of lawn instead it will be gardens (both flower and veggie) so am considering a rechargeable, just don't know anyone who owns one. THanks Hi Happy Camper, We have one, and i love it. 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