Period petrol lawnmowers

[Me!]

I didn't really know I could "feather the driver" either,

I've never used a Honda mower, so I can't guarantee that you can do it on your one. But it certainly is possible on my old Atco, so probably worth you trying it.

 

[JoceAndChris]

how much maintenance they need to get max life out of the mower

I have an HRX 476, smaller blade than yours. It came used from a local taxi driver who did gardens on the side so had probably seen a fair amount of action. He looked blankly at me when I asked him how it had been maintained... It was a bit tatty but the price was right. All I do is change the oil and plug once a year (err, forgot last year but just done it) and it runs perfectly well. I might occasionally hose if off.

The grass bag is starting to come apart and once the ride height mechanism collapsed (Dad! It keeps digging up the ground...) but that just needed a new rivet. It could probably use having the blade sharpened as it was struggling a bit on the long stuff yesterday. I think it'd be hard to break it mechanically but there will be some wear and tear to deal with.

That's very reassuring thank you!

I didn't really know I could "feather the driver" either,

I've never used a Honda mower, so I can't guarantee that you can do it on your one. But it certainly is possible on my old Atco, so probably worth you trying it.

I'm looking forwards to giving it a try! I really want to be able to post a pic of a nice stripy lawn on this thread!

 

[steveb]

Just remember that this mower will have the same aversion to rocks and tree stumps as the other one did, with predictable results... Be careful!

I've not used that sort of mower but in my old beast the trick is to throttle off (in your case feather the clutch) about a yard short of the intended run and let the mower kind of roll unpowered over the last yard. You can then turn it as it slows - tilt back a bit and spin it on the rollers - my 1959 device has twin split rollers so turns on a sixpence - then re-apply power (clutch) for the next cut

I would guess that the principles are similar - yours with a drive clutch should be superior since the blades will continue to cut with no drive do becomes a regular push/pull mower, albeit a heavy one. I have to manually disengage the drive on mine with a lever down on the base if I want to go mowing into tight corners and it's damn heavy to push about.

 

[Flyfisher]

Speaking of drones (as in high tech) has anyone tried those robot mowers that, supposedly, roam around a lawn nibbling away at the grass like some sort of grazing animal before automatically returning to their docking station to recharge their batteries?

Goodness me. Would like to see that live in action!

Chosen at random from loads of online demo videos: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_f-4J98EWrI

I'm quite tempted to give one a try actually

 

[a twig]

I keep looking at the robot mowers, but the set up is a bit of a faff (all the IR/laser beacons) and our garden is fairly sloped and uneven, so I've never been able to justify the expenditure. Given that our cheapo Bosch electric mower (with my dodgy extended lead) keeps on going, the wife will not accept my arguments that we need a proper petrol one :lol:

 

[Feltwell]

[I've a cheapo B&Q own brand self-propelled petrol mower now that was given to me that I keep expecting to die, but it just soldiers on and on - I really don't think you need to spend a lot on a mower. All the cheaper ones seem to use one of the Briggs & Stratton engines, there's not much to them to fix if they ever do go wrong.

Note to self - DO NOT put posts up about mechanical things that keep on going, somehow the mower has read this and decided to sulk on me, it's running but only just.
Ahh well. I'll have it apart, see what needs fixing, worst case scenario I can get a secondhand engine on Fleabay for £50.

It's not like I've got anything else to do! :roll: :lol:

 

[JoceAndChris]

oh no Feltwell!!You were tempting fate there a bit though! Hope you can get it fixed easily.

I was looking at those mowers in B&Q - very attractive prices -but I think our lawn would quickly destroy one!

Just did the second cut with the new Honda- all the advice has been very useful to me, thanks. Much better this time around.