Weibang Legacy 56 VR Pro

[Pigglet]

I'd been looking at a Weibang mowers for a while but couldn't find much in the way of info and reviews on T'interweb so thought I'd post this for other folks.

 

My old Hayter 56 died last week so I took the plunge and bought a WB567SK V-R (56 Legacy Pro Roller). My local machinery dealer stocks them and assured me parts are no problem. Time will tell.....

 

A bit about me, ie what qualifies me to comment on a mower?

I've worked in garden maintenance off and on for 20 years, helped a friend set up his own landscaping business and currently work in property maintenance and management so use a mower regularly.

Over the years I've used Honda, Lawnflite and hayter mowers. Hayter have been the mainstay being relatively cheap and reliable until recently........

My own machines include a Hayter 56, Etesia 46, an old bobcat 48 zero turn mower and a Ransomes Maquis.

 

Back to the Weibang....... (no it doesn't have a woohoo engine:001_tongue:)

Info I read on forums had people comparing them to a hayter with comments such as "It's a cheap copy of a hayter" etc.....

 

Let me dispel that misconception straight away, it bears no resemblance to a hayter in any way, particularly build quality. The Weibang is in another league compared to a new Hayter 56 which in my opinion is very poor. It bears more resemblance to my Etesia than the Hayter. It's very solid and seems well specc'd and put together. Little touches like proper ally wheels running on proper bearings add to that feeling.

 

It's got a FJ 180 Kawasaki motor. I really rate these engines, my Etesia is 10 years old and an ex council machine and the KAWA engine on it is still really sweet. The briggs on the younger Hayter is smoking and rattling despite having done less work.

 

It's heavy! You would not want to be lifting it in and out of a van on your own regularly, the handle at the front makes lifting it easier but it's too heavy to make it a regular thing.

 

The handlebars are height adjustable so you can set them pretty much where you want and they are well damped to reduce vibes, if I had any criticism of this mower it's that the bars are a little long so overall the machine is bit longer than the hayter so it's less nimble.

 

In use it's great. I've only used it for a couple of hours in the dry so far but I'm impressed and much prefer it to the Hayter. It's fast, in fact in 3rd gear it's probably the fastest comparable ped rotary I've used, noticeably quicker than the Hayter which had new drive belts fitted only a couple of months ago. Drive take up is very direct, more so than the Hayter or the Etesia, it feels more like a chain driven cylinder mower in that respect.

Grass collection is very good,way better than the Hayter. The bag is big at 72 ltrs and it completely fills it. I ran it until the bag was full and chute blocked, emptied the bag and left the chute full, fired it up and it blew the chute clear straight away just like the Etesia, not at all like the Hayter! It'll be interesting to see how it copes with wet grass, as in the past I've relied on the Etesia when the Hayter stopped collecting. The lugs the bag sits in are nice and deep so it locates positively and the bag itself has a bit of rubber pipe over the locating pins which is easily replaced and prevents wear.

 

It gives a better finish than the hayter, My own lawn is quite bumpy and the hayter used to bounce over some of the bumps creating rings in the lawn. The Weibang doesn't do this as much, I'm assuming it's the extra weight???

 

Overall opinion- I'm very pleased with it and for under £1K I think it is extremely good value ( I got it cheaper than a Hayter 56 Pro). It's early days as I've just got it but on my own lawn it's left a better finish than the Hayter and cut it noticeably quicker due to being both faster and requiring significantly fewer grass bag stops.

The only criticism I have is that it's a bit less nimble than the Hayter being slightly longer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2015 by Pigglet
added pics

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

 

It's got a FJ 180 Kawasaki motor. I really rate these engines

 

Second that

[Burgess]

Interesting, is that a split roller as well? The blade lifters don't look enourmous so maybe not so good in the wet, but then again its a roller mower and they're all a bit pants when its wet.

[IVECOKID]

Sourcing parts is diabolical and quicker using pigeon post from Japan ,had them tried them and gave up with Weibang long time ago ,took my dealer 3 weeks for a blade .

Even the dealer packed in selling them .

 

Ste

[IVECOKID]

I am intrigued....has a Lawn mower GEEK (sad yes I am ) there are many parts off the Hayter or I should say COPIED..example the rear roller carrier/roller ,the blade mounting system (crank protection) the chain guard , front vents but the gearbox is different apart from the gearbox support bearings and mountings are Hayter .

I like Hayters but they are no good for fortnightly cutting and are good fine cut lawn mowers .

 

Ste

Edited August 9, 2015 by IVECOKID

[GardenKit]

To clarify.

Weibang is now commencing its third year under the wing of Rochfords, who are a very responsible company and who have a second to none spares backup for every brand they handle. So don't pay heed to rumours of bad spares availability.

 

True, it seems the 2013 and early 2014 models were pretty much a disaster, with high failure rates of handlebars, gearboxes and rear rollers. But to be fair, after many air miles and many hours of visits to the factory by UK staff, the issues have been addressed and new machines now benefit from upgraded handlebars, new gearboxes and new rear roller assemblies with much improved welding and ratchet drives for the split roller differential.

All older machines qualify for a complete rework to be fitted with all the new components.

 

But I have to admit that I do not sell the Weibang, preferring the time proven Japanese Kaaz machines which are actually cheaper than the Weibang Pro, although only having a single speed transmission.

[IVECOKID]

Hi Garden kit , do you think that Weibang have sourced parts from other mower manufacture's to help with the Once spares crisis ?

 

Ste

[GardenKit]

Hi Garden kit , do you think that Weibang have sourced parts from other mower manufacture's to help with the Once spares crisis ?

 

Ste

No. Its true that just a few parts do look like Hayter, and may well have been copied from Hayter (the Chinese are good at copying) but they are not the same.

 

But as I said, Weibang parts should be no trouble now that the brand is in the care of a very professional company.

[woodwoozles]

To clarify.

Weibang is now commencing its third year under the wing of Rochfords, who are a very responsible company and who have a second to none spares backup for every brand they handle. So don't pay heed to rumours of bad spares availability.

 

True, it seems the 2013 and early 2014 models were pretty much a disaster, with high failure rates of handlebars, gearboxes and rear rollers. But to be fair, after many air miles and many hours of visits to the factory by UK staff, the issues have been addressed and new machines now benefit from upgraded handlebars, new gearboxes and new rear roller assemblies with much improved welding and ratchet drives for the split roller differential.

All older machines qualify for a complete rework to be fitted with all the new components.

 

But I have to admit that I do not sell the Weibang, preferring the time proven Japanese Kaaz machines which are actually cheaper than the Weibang Pro, although only having a single speed transmission.

Would they have to be 2015 and onwards to be without the earlier problems...im looking at a 2014 model at the shop

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Sawchip]

To clarify.

Weibang is now commencing its third year under the wing of Rochfords, who are a very responsible company and who have a second to none spares backup for every brand they handle. So don't pay heed to rumours of bad spares availability.

 

True, it seems the 2013 and early 2014 models were pretty much a disaster, with high failure rates of handlebars, gearboxes and rear rollers. But to be fair, after many air miles and many hours of visits to the factory by UK staff, the issues have been addressed and new machines now benefit from upgraded handlebars, new gearboxes and new rear roller assemblies with much improved welding and ratchet drives for the split roller differential.

All older machines qualify for a complete rework to be fitted with all the new components.

 

But I have to admit that I do not sell the Weibang, preferring the time proven Japanese Kaaz machines which are actually cheaper than the Weibang Pro, although only having a single speed transmission.

Eeeear ..my Kaaz Pro has 2 speeds ...I want me money back