petrol or electric lawnmower

[tiger woods]

I am thinking of upgrading my existing petrol lawnmower as its smoking alot and the bodywork is showing signs of wear and tear,i only have a smallish back garden and was thinking of an electric mower,I was looking at the Gardena powermax 36e in B&Q for €176, it can mulch which i am told is the latest craze in mowing and also can put stripes on the lawn which i always admired but only ever seen on a golf course,but my father keeps telling me to stick with a regular petrol mower and forget about all the fancy gadgets on the Gardena.My budget would be no more than €180

 

[lionstour]

get the esisting one serviced? It a Lawn mower so i a bit of bad paint work such a problem?

 

[Towger]

As per Liontour. You need a 'Cylinder' mower for the stripes. You also need fairly flat grass, as they cut closer to the ground.

 

[tiger woods]

its more than a bit of bad paintwork ,where the engine joins the body is rusting away and in fairness the mower owes me nothing i have it 10 yrs this year

 

[tiger woods]

so even though the gardena promises stripes it might not deliver

 

[dinjoecurry]

if you have a smallish garden the electric ones are great .no hassle to start, no having to keep petrol around the place

 

[doyler]

dont know about electric have always used petrol ones but i was introduced to a mulcher recently and it's the best invention ever i have a small area to cut to and no where to put grass afater cutting. i was so surprised with the result the mulcher gave the lawn looked great and its supposed to be good for your ground aswell no emplying of grass into bin bags and the issue with discarding the grass is gone. just be careful on the electric ones that you have the facility to plug it in outside and that it will reach all area's required. go for it.

 

[jaycen]

You roll stripes into a lawn, look for a mower with a roller bar, doesn't matter whether it's electric or cylinder.

 

[tiger woods]

Doyler can i ask which mower did you buy and how much and where did you get it

 

[gebbel]

I would also go for an electric mower. I have had the same one for 3 years and find it great. It's a Bosch Rotak and I only bought it after a lot of research. It gained a which.co.uk best buy award. If I remember correctly it is in or around your budget.

 

[Air]

I had a electric mower for my small back garden, the problem was that for the past two summers it rained so much I didn't get much opportunities to cut the grass. When it eventually was dry enough the grass was too long for the electric mower to handle. Got myself a petrol one instead, much better for the long grass and can handle damp grass as well.

 

[doyler]

sorry the one i have was a present to me second hand i might add few years old toro 600 series is all i know prob too big to be honest for what i need sorry cant be of more help i know the toro brand are very good.

 

[demoivre]

I changed from a mulcher to a mower with a collector a few years ago because the amount of clippings being brought in around the house on our shoes was a pain in the butt, particularly when the grass was damp or wet. Also you will have to cut the grass more often with a mulcher or you will be left with trails of grass. I'd seriously question whether or not a mulcher is suitable at all for Irish weather conditions where you might not be able to cut the grass for a week or more. Give me a collection mower any day.

 

[safety1st.co]

for what it's worth, i got an old petrol mower for nothing some years back that sounds just like that... rusting and smoking badly. i had it serviced and a had a decent 2nd hand body put on it for about €50 total... still going strong now. tip... clean under it after use!!! stops the damp grass rotting the body

 

[Tomodinhio]

Id go with a Flymo, they're are great for cutting grass, got one recently for 100 quids in homebase, it even collects the grass and compacts it for you, its easy to push about because it hovers and has a retractable thingy for the wire. What more could you want.
Personaly id love a sit on mower..... ill have to get a much bigger garden first tough.

 

[Slash]

As per Liontour. You need a 'Cylinder' mower for the stripes. You also need fairly flat grass, as they cut closer to the ground.

And a cylinder cannot be used on damp grass, whereas a rotary mower can.

You roll stripes into a lawn, look for a mower with a roller bar, doesn't matter whether it's electric or cylinder.

The mower needs to be reasonably heavy to achieve stripes. I tried out an electric mower with a roller a couple of years and it was pretty useless, really only a toy.