UKC

Having previously had a large lawn I had a robust petrol mower that did a workman like job but stated to falter just before we moved so was junked.
Now we have a much smaller lawn (approx 40x30 foot) so not sure whether to get another petrol mower or go electric. Not overly concerned about beautifully manicured but nicely trimmed would be good.

In reply to the sheep:

Petrol. The cord is a hassle.

In reply to the sheep:

robot ?
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=642659

In reply to the sheep:

Duh! Petrol of course.

In reply to the sheep:

Just to put the other point of view, these small cheap petrol engines tend to stop working if you don't use them very often. Unless you have a massive garden a cheap electric mower and a long extension cable is fine. Of course if you have a lot of grass to mow and you do it quite often petrol is better

In reply to the sheep:

I'm occasionally doing an acre with an electric mower. I like the relative peace and quiet and lack of a filthy two stroke exhaust (and can't afford a ride on...) It's also considerably lighter which is nice if you don't want stripes from an integral roller and/or have to go up hill a lot.

A bit of thought and a single-socket extension lead that functions as part of the cord go a long way to reducing cord hassles, get it right and you basically don't have any.

There are now some battery electric models that'll do your lawn size in one charge. Bit early days for battery mowers though, one to revisit in 5-10 years perhaps.

In reply to the sheep:

Electric. Petrol mowers are massively polluting, something like 10 times as polluting as a modern car per hour of operation.

In reply to the sheep: I have seen adverts for electric battery rechargeable mowers so no cord. Has anyone used one of these yet?

This is a vital UKC topic

In reply to the sheep:

Of no use to you whatsoever due to cost - have a look at the Honda MiiMo - you programme it to cut your grass and it auto docks on its charger!!

In reply to stevieb:


Is that true even for 4-strokes? Don't think you can buy 2-strokes anymore.

In reply to MarkJH:
As far as I can tell, they are the figures for 4 stroke mowers. 2-stroke mowers were something like 40 times worse.
I think the biggest problem is the lack of filtering / catalytic converter plus the lower efficiency.
It's hard to find any real figures behind the newspaper statements, but the figures below which compared cars to leaf blowers (so presumably less powerful than mowers) seem to back it up

NMHC NOx CO
2011 Ford Raptor 0.005 0.005 0.276
2012 Fiat 500 0.016 0.010 0.192
Ryobi 4-stroke leaf blower 0.182 0.031 3.714
Echo 2-stroke leaf blower 1.495 0.010 6.445
Idling - Ryobi 4-stroke leaf blower 0.077 0.002 1.822
Idling - Echo 2-stroke leaf blower 1.367 0.000 2.043

ok, the formatting disappeared when I posted it

In reply to sleavesley:
I decked the entire backgarden ( due to impossible moss problems) and put artificial grass out front. Sorted.

( I have a roll of artificial grass if the grandkids want grass out the back, and it is then just rolled out on the deck.

I am now sitting on our swing seat in sizzling hot sunshine in my shorts, and my wife has just offered me an ice cream (instead of nagging me to cut grass. )

I do not possess a mower.

In reply to wintertree:


My Grandpa had a battery mower for his very small front and back lawns. It wasn't very good, but don't know if that was just because it was a crap one to start with - I can't remember the make. They are also heavy, because of the size of the battery required to get any life out of it - unless you spend a small fortune.

In reply to LastBoyScout:

I have a battery mower - does my front and back grass on one charge with loads to spare. Not heavy at all, just the same as any other mower. Battery is not more than 5kg if that. I love it. No plugging and cords. It's a Sovereign one 24V - Not very expensive. They do it at Argos

In reply to the sheep:

Electric. Far less hassle than a petrol mower. The fuel comes out of a hole in the wall and is always there. The oil doesn't need changing. It starts when you press something and stops when you let go. It starts each spring and every other time. Cheap to buy and cheaper to run. Start closest to the house and work away so that the flex is always away from the direction in which you are working. Only a few moving parts as opposed to many.

Only decision is hover, rotary or cylinder. The latter gives the prettiest results. A rotary one is better than a hover if the garden slopes or the ground is uneven. A rotary one is better at battering over-long or wet grass. A hover is the most nimble at getting around trees, but will sit down at the edges of flower beds and make big circles in the grass

In reply to stevieb:



Interesting. Thanks.

In reply to Jim C:

But you are missing out on one of the luxuries of summer - the smell of a freshly cut lawn. Of course get a man in to cut it for you.

In reply to the sheep:

Another vote for petrol. I know they are polluting, but I only use a couple of litres a year in mine, so compared to owning a car it's insignificant even at 10 times the levels.
They require maintenance too, which involves an oil change every 5 years or so on my case.
The big advantage over mains and battery electric mowers is power. I don't cut my grass (describing it as a lawn would be a bit pretentious) very often, and the petrol mower just rips through it. Mains electric ones struggled with it.
Add the time saved in not dealing with a cable and I reckon I get the grass cut in half the time using petrol.

In reply to Hooo:

I vote for petrol too. I use about 4-5l per year. I haven't changed the oil yet and it's a second hand mower. I hate messing about with cables and find it much quicker

In reply to L'Eeyore:


I can smell my neighbour's grass when HE cuts it

In reply to the sheep:

If you get electric don't buy Flymo. They're built to break and when they do they're a total hassle to get into. The bolt that retains the blade gets jammed on and the nut an irregular size so they try to to sell you their shite plastic spanner which quickly breaks. I had to file down the nut so it would fit in a non-massive adjustable spanner and even then the nut itself chewed up as it's made from plastic. Got in in the end but a total nightmare. The drive belts perish after about a year too, so it's a fairly regular problem to have to deal with.

In reply to the sheep:

I mow an area roughly that size with a small electric Champion rotary mower that I bought from a DIY store thinking I'd get a year or two out of it, but despite my best efforts to kill it, it has soldiered on for years refusing to die. It makes a pleasant hum and is light and easy to move around. In fact I lend it to my neighbour every week so it's doing double the work.

In reply to the sheep:
Petrol. You don't get that glowing sense of gratitude when it starts with an electric mower.

In all seriousness I've had a mid to low range qualcast electric mower that I got second hand about 15 years ago for £35. My "lawn" is huge and tussocky, sometimes I take the grass box off the back and use it as a strimmer to get rid of bracken, brambles and small trees. I have hit many rocks with it over the years and store it in a damp shed. I've replaced the blade once after it shattered, the only time it didn't work it was due to a break in my 50m extension cable which was quickly fixed.

I love engines and petrol tools but in fairness a petrol mower would be heavy to lug up my garden (it's on quite a slope) and there's no petrol mower in existence that would have cost me under £100 for 15 years use.

In reply to the sheep:

A few months ago, I mowed a hectare of good, deep Zimbabwean grass with an electric mower. It was alright because I had someone to help with cable management. The experience of mowing with the electric engine was definitely preferable to that with any petrol-powered mower I've used in the past but I really don't recommend it for a hectare of lawn - that was quite an undertaking. That said, emptying the grass-box demanded more time than cable management - much much more.

For your lawn, I'd think electric is just fine.

I do recommend modifying the mower. Replace the stock cable with one that is both LONG enough to reach everywhere and of a higher grade of flex than the stuff manufacturers use. My experience is that manufacturers of lawn mowers cut costs and the cable is a good place to do that. Also, extensions are a hassle - just put a proper cable on the thing and call it done.

In reply to the sheep:

Good advice but happily my cable is JUST long enough to reach the furthest edge of my small lawn!

In reply to the sheep:

Get one of those robo mowers which does it for you evey couple of days.....

In reply to the sheep: For that size electric. I cut 300m2+ with an electric on cable in about 45 mins. The biggest hassle is dumping the cuttings.