Need to replace the mower after 20 years. The Briggs and Stratton Motor is still going like a dream but the rest of the mower is crumbling around it. Mountfield seem like great value but the engine is badged as a Mountfield. I am thinking cheap chinese copy so I guess I should buy another Briggs engined machine.
Are the Mountfield engines any good though as a self propelled for £150 seems pretty good on offer at B & Q?
|
|
Does it matter what engine you get as long as it has enough HP and lasts as long as the mower body?
|
Not one of these then :)
s969.photobucket.com/albums/ae173/focushj/?action=view¤t=DSCF0807.mp4
Although to be fair the replacement has been fine, so far...
(It's the Challenge Xtreme from Argos, which I paid £100 for but is now £120.)
Last edited by: Focus on Sun 20 May 12 at 22:35
|
ROFL :)
Engine probably not a major factor but Briggs engines do last for ever and more importantly they are easy to get parts for and those parts are cheap. I will continue to have a look round.
|
My Mountfield has a Briggs and Stratton engine, bought it from B&Q about 7 years ago; lives outside, thrives on neglect, always starts. Only problem I've ever had is the plug cap which is prone to damage if it catches a tree stump or similar, but it's still on its original plug.
It does a side-valve engine (which AFAIK B&S still are) no harm to burn some oil BTW, most of 'em are designed to do so; so if buying second-hand don't fall into the trap of thinking that because it smokes a bit on start-up it's FUBAR.
|
|
I'm with Mattbod. Get a Briggs for the ease of spare parts. Anything does go wrong and you'll find the answer on the net anyway.
|
The Mountfield I bought about nine years ago has a Briggs and Stratton engine. I'd only had it a few weeks when it refused to start. The repair agent said it had needed a new diaphragm in the carburettor, because at one location it had pulled out from the two clamping faces, causing a leak. He said he'd had to replace diaphragms in brand new mowers. I asked to have the old diaphragm back so that I could inspect it. The witness marks of the clamping lands of the two mating metal parts showed that they were minute, and would obviously be prone to not lining up properly.
On the top of the engine it says "Reliable starting" but it invariably needs Bradex EasyStart squirted onto the air inlet filter before it will start.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Thu 24 May 12 at 15:13
|
|
My 1973 Hayterette with B&S engine runs just fine. Who needs spares when nothing goes wrong..?
|
|
One other suggestion; Honda. Expensive, but by all accounts very good indeed.
|
True - Honda mowers are expensive. I paid £315 for my HR194 in May 1985, which was certainly expensive then - but I've used it every season since and it'll probably outlive me. Blimey - I was in my 30s then, and now I'm in my 60s! I change the oil every autumn and the plug every 10 years or so. It has never had a 'professional' service, though it did have to have the coil replaced 8 (?) years ago.
Honda now sell a range called the Izy - a cheaper version of the 'proper' ones.
|
>> My 1973 Hayterette with B&S engine runs just fine. Who needs spares when nothing goes
>> wrong..?
>>
Yours was probably designed before the days of computer aided design. In those days a lot of things were drawn full size and the designer could see exactly what they would look like in the flesh. Now, with computer aided design, small details can be magnified and the designer can lose all sense of proportion. I suspect that this is what happened with the minute sealing lands on the carburettor diaphragm of my Briggs & Stratton engine.
|
|
Better to look for a known make even if Briggs engines have known weakspots (I had a carb diaphragm go too). Cheaper mowers have genric unbranded Chinese engines which, apart from the dugg build quality mentioned by a forumer earlier, are likley to be problematic for spares.
|
I bought a cheap (£99) petrol mower in Homebase 3 years ago. Branded "Sovereign" (made by Husqvarna), it has a Briggs and Stratton engine, a metal deck, and a tool free, 30 second selection of cutting heights by means of rotating a simple cam adjuster to one of five positions on each wheel. It's not self propelled, but given the size of my lawn, this isn't a major issue.
I've never bothered servicing it. Three pushes of the primer, fires on first pull, runs on second pull whether it was used last weekend or last season. Every time, and without fail. Has never stopped of its own accord (running out of fuel aside)
Probably the best value tool I've ever bought.
|
>>I've never bothered servicing it.
Please change the oil.
|
>> >>I've never bothered servicing it.
>>
>> Please change the oil.
>>
Probably a lost cause, Don't buy his car!
|
>> >> >>I've never bothered servicing it.
>> >>
>> >> Please change the oil.
>> >>
>>
>> Probably a lost cause, Don't buy his car!
>>
LOL. Cars are serviced religiously.
I'm not going to lose any sleep / expend any effort over a £99 lawnmower though.
|
>> Please change the oil.
That's a point. I haven't done so yet on the freeby mower I obtained from a neighbour who chucked it out for the rubbish. I've had it for at least 2 years (I got it going again and he didn't want it back), and don't know the history of it with the previous owner. Can't ask him either as he's since moved.
No idea how much oil it takes, or grade. I just undo the top up cap and presume the little ledge 10mm down inside is where the oil level is meant to be. That's where it's always been anyway. No drain plug, so I guess will have to tip it on its side to drain.
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 25 May 12 at 12:51
|
>> No drain plug, so I guess will have to tip it on its side to drain.
That's not a good idea. You could end up with oil in the carburettor and air filter etc. You need an oil extractor. tinyurl.com/bvtolu4
|
|
Examples please of any unserviced B&S engine that has failed from bearing or cylinder wear before the mower's casing has rotted away?
|
>> Examples please of any unserviced B&S engine that has failed from bearing or cylinder wear
>> before the mower's casing has rotted away?
>>
Err my Hayterette has an aluminium deck ... about 1/8th inch thick...
|
>> You need an oil extractor.
No I don't because I'll probably forget to change it this year as well.
I can't recall the oil ever being changed in my dad's old rotavator either (Briggs & Stratton engine). It had to be at least 15 years old when he sold it.
|
IIRC my B&S engined mower had a drain plug under the deck but might have needed blade removing to gain any purchase to remove. Alternatively there was an approved means/direction in which it could be tipped without risk of fouling the carb.
But you need an FM to R before attempting that!!
|
|
Bought a mower with no service history - tragic.:-)
|
Pretty sure my self-propelled is a Soverign/Husqvarna/B&S one from B&Q - was about £150 6 years ago.
Filled it with 5w-40 Shell Helix synthetic when I bought it.
Check the oil level annually (always clean). Never topped up or changed. Never taken the plug out.
Chops up the grass (and stones) with impunity.
Starts and runs like mentioned above - 3 pumps to prime and fires up immediately (usually give it a pull 1st thinking it might circulate a little oil before firing it up for real).
Wee bit of smoke when starts and then settles down to a smooth run with a smell like a proper classic car exhaust.
I fully expect it to die because of wear-and-tear of the structure rather than engine failure (as alluded to by Zero).
When it dies I'll buy another similar one - garden white goods (well, orange in this case).
|
After 3 years, the oil in my mower is still clean looking, and has moved the merest fraction off the max mark on the dipstick (I do check it before each use).
I filled it with good quality Castrol SAE30 when I bought it, and have never needed to even top it up. This is a low tech, low revving engine which starts up, runs at constant revs for half an hour or so, and is switched off again. Hardly demands a lot of its oil.
There is a drain plug up underneath the blade, which requires a square section socket, IIRC.
If the oil started to look dirty, I'd change it. But it doesn't. I don't believe the engine on a cheap mower warrants any more consideration than this.
|
>>Hardly demands a lot of its oil.
>>
Don't forget that in an aircooled engine the oil has a more demanding cooling function than in a water cooled engine.
|
>> Don't forget that in an aircooled engine the oil has a more demanding cooling function
>> than in a water cooled engine.
>>
Not in a basic engine with splash lubrication. There is no oil pump, so I don't see how the oil is doing much cooling. It's not being pumped around to critical components.
|
>> After 3 years, the oil in my mower is still clean looking, and has moved
>> the merest fraction off the max mark on the dipstick (I do check it before
>> each use).
I thought my oil looked clean on the dipstick until I changed it after 3 years and compared old with new :)
I had to change the diaphram on my B & S engine - the only problem is that it seems to rev a bit too high now. I just wear earplugs.
|
>> No drain plug, so I guess will have to tip it on its side to drain.
Then again, there might be. Caught the blade a good 'un on the paving slabs Saturday. So much so that I took it off to sharpen it. Lurking under all the dead grass is what resembles a drain plug. 17 mm hex bolt, and also has a square section cut in the middle of it. Depending on what mood I'm in, it might get changed one day.
Engine is a Tecumseh, btw. McCulloch TV540SP mower - actually made by Electrolux.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 28 May 12 at 10:24
|
|
Yep, that the drain plug - have a Tecumseh engine on my Hayter.
|
>> .......... and also
>> has a square section cut in the middle of it.
With any luck it will be 3/8" square ~ the same size as torque wrenches etc.
|
I set out to buy a Husqvarna mower with a Honda engine 11 seasons ago but came home with an Italian-made Sandri 'Grand Air' with a 6hp OHV Briggs and Stratton. It's had a couple of plugs and recommended synthetic oil changes and has never given any trouble except when the speed adjustment screw on the carb fell out after a couple of years. I put it back in with some Blu-tack on it and it hasn't happened again. I have to cut a biggish paddock with it, which has an awkward slope at one end meaning it isn't worth using the expat Englishman's favourite toy - a ride-on - so it has always had a hard life.
It has a separate clutch and brake for the blade, which means you don't have the hassle of re-starting it all the time but now I am looking for a replacement I find it's an expensive option.
I bought the Sandri because the bloke in the shop said 'you need the semi-professional model sir' and I thought 'Oh yes, semi-professional, that's me alright'...
|
|
I just bought an old Norlett ride on with a 8hp tecumseh. But being American in origin, it had a number of safety features. So I've now disabled the switches that cut the engine if you get off the seat, or if reverse is engaged with the blade still running. Much better now - I can get off and move the plant pots around, and mow in both directions.
|
|
Ever considered turning professional Dave: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2fRPh_rEqE
|
>> Ever considered turning professional Dave: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2fRPh_rEqE
Never seen one before like the mower the girl is sitting on - sort of converted kart?
Last edited by: Focus on Tue 29 May 12 at 09:09
|
|
Missed the edit: just read the description 'Wolf Kart petrol (single-cylinder 8hp)'
|
|
I don't think the Wolf Kart is available anymore Focus, my mate 'one legged Alan' had one when we lived in Gorran Haven - triffic little lawn buggy it was, t'would be ideal for where I am now as it apppens.
|
Looks interesting - 'Engine Power: 5.1 hp, Power Source: Electric' :)
'the last time i used it it made a big bang and stopped and will not start again' :(
Last edited by: Focus on Tue 29 May 12 at 10:00
|
>>Engine Power: 5.1 hp, Power Source: Electric<<
Nah.
>>the last time i used it it made a big bang and stopped and will not start again<<
Probably just requires a new spark plug.
:-D
|
I was up at the local Husqvarna dealer the other day, and the guy said they'd sold over 1000 of the robot mowers last year. Considering it's a small town, and they cost around £2k for a medium sized one, that's a lot of mowers and a lot of money.
When I asked him who on earth would pay that sort of money for a plastic thing with a battery and a few electronic components, he said never underestimate how lazy people are. There must be some huge profit in them, considering for the same money you can buy something made of metal, with an engine, wheels/tyres, gearbox, steering etc.
|
>> I was up at the local Husqvarna dealer the other day, and the guy said
>> they'd sold over 1000 of the robot mowers last year.
Didn't know they existed - here's a link for anyone else interested:
www.husqvarna.com/uk/products/robotic-mowers/husqvarna-robotic-mowers-for-homeowners/
|
>> Didn't know they existed - here's a link for anyone else interested:
>> www.husqvarna.com/uk/products/robotic-mowers/husqvarna-robotic-mowers-for-homeowners/
Well the video shows it cutting what looks like a putting green; wonder what it's like on a 'real' lawn?
|
|
Fred The Shed reviews Robot mowers here: www.fredshed.co.uk/robotmowers.htm
|
>> Fred The Shed reviews Robot mowers here: www.fredshed.co.uk/robotmowers.htm
'Apart from these little drawbacks the machines are amazing and are reliable and timesaving machines that will one day be as common as washing machines.'
!
|
>> www.husqvarna.com/uk/products/robotic-mowers/husqvarna-robotic-mowers-for-homeowners/
>>
I'd consider one if they collected the grass cuttings and didn't just distribute the cuttings and the weed seeds.
|
I've stopped 'collecting' my grass cuttings this year as I have a large lawn/small paddock and so its twice the blimmin work to collect them.
I 'collected' the first cuttings and as long as I cut the grass once a week I should be OK, its no bowling green BTW!
|
Lawn mower engines: what should I buy? - swiss tony
