The Mower Bench

[Bonefishblues]

On 06/07/2017 at 08:12, Bonefishblues said:

Morning mower gurus, I wonder if I could trouble you for your recommendations?

 

Firstly where I am at the moment. I have an Ibea 550 21" rear roller machine - one of the models with the "twist to go" arrangement. One like these, albeit not the exact model:

http://www.flextrading.dk/userfiles/File/Brugsanvisninger/Ibea/ib55095b.pdf

 

The TT system, and in particular the traction cable seems to be a particular weakness, so at the moment I have a 44kg push mower, which needs a new cable & a drive belt. I expect I'll pick up both and have a go at replacing them myself now there is a new Ibea UK dealer. I mean, what could go wrong

 

I am however turning my mind to the autumn/Winter sales in terms of picking up a new mower (the front of the alloy deck is also the worse for wear, caused by contact with one of our several trees , although because the inner deck's intact, it doesn't affect the mowing performance.

 

My lawns are pretty irregular in shape, so the longest mowing run I do is about 10 metres or so, and I need to make frequent turns and work around trees. The Ibea's rather unwieldy, so I'm thinking of dropping back to 19" for its replacement.

 

Question is, what to get? My thoughts are below (must be a roller model by the way):

 

Kaaz? The "default" quality machine, for sure, but downsides are it's pretty weighty, and also the drive system, even if I "baby" it by pushing to start and then letting drive come in sharply, would be likely to suffer in my mowing environment, I'd have thought.

Lawnflite? See above, as also Cobra etc.

New Mountfield/Atco hybrid deck? Don't know much about them tbh. How are they fairing in use?

Viking? Super warranty, seems light enough, could live with the looks, reputed to be good on wet grass. Plasticky, Briggs engine though?

Weibang? Great warranty, soooo (too) heavy.

Hayter. Nah.

Honda. Nah.

 

Welcome the thoughts of the experts. Am I on the right track, do you think, and am I overlooking anything significant?

I thought I'd pop back on and update my own post.

 

Turned out on investigation that it wasn't a drive issue on the Ibea. What had happened was that one of the axles holding a drive cog had worn and become eccentric, eventually causing the teeth on an adjacent cog to wear and ultimately to bind so that drive was lost when it locked itself up.

 

Ho-hum, let's see if the axle unit is available, along with a new cog. That will be c£145 sir, please. Ah, I think I'll find a donor machine on eBay thanks very much.

 

Turned out that after a year of waiting and missing one to someone who wanted it more than me, there aren't many around, so there came a "stuff it, enough's enough" moment, and I went round the which new mower to get loop again.

 

After the usual chopping and changing my mind, I've gone for what I thought would be the longest-lived and best quality machine I could find for not entirely silly money. I'm therefore the proud owner of a Weibang Legacy Pro 48 roller machine. I've only done 3 cuts, but so far so good. My fears about its huge weight are unfounded, and the thing just oozes quality and solidity. I think it will serve me until I choose to pay someone to mow for me. Oh, and the trees are terrified of getting in its way, too ?

[Baldbloke]

Following on from Spuds hugely successful 'whats on my bench' thread, which is primarily for small 2 stroke kit, I wonder if a similar thread for mowers may be of interest?

 

It will include mowers, both walk behind and ride-on, and will cover common faults and repairs.

 

By reporting on strengths, and weaknesses of various machines it could also act as a kind of review to assist potential buyers of any models featured.

 

Is this going to be of interest to anyone, either techies, or users?

 

I bought an old Jacobsen 3 gang hydrostatic mower off eBay a few years ago. So far it has cost a couple of small belts, 3 or so oil changes a year and all the required filters. Also much greasing of the multitude of nipples. I’ve even managed to use the back lap option to keep the cylinders sharp. I’m hoping it outlasts me. A £400 chance and a trip to middle England so far seems to have been well worth it.[emoji1303]

 

[EricBradley]

My Hayter 41 gearbox mount has snapped, ive got the new part fitted to the drive but im having a nightmare trying to get the 2 lugs into place to bolt through the height adjuster due to the great amount of tension in the height adjuster spring, is there an easier way to get it into position or is it brute force?

Edited September 15, 2018 by EricBradley

[Vespasian]

Errrm..  Gearbox thingymigig on my honda has been playing up for a year or so, then the cable snapped..

 

New cable, mower in shed..  looked at problems of getting said cable back on got some tools to sort it out..  Angle grinder went to work and we both cut off the gear box mechanism..

 

Job done.. now the owner of a push mower thats lighter to heave into the back of the van..  

 

not only that but the bonus is I can pull the mower backwards as well as push it forwards..  ?