New roller mower needed

[GardenKit]

This Harrier is actually from a domestic lawn. The funny thing is that the machine came in for service looking like new, not a spot of dirt be seen. The owner was very proud of the way he looks after it. Then we looked underneath..........

 

Regarding the threads, I know what you mean but to be honest although we service hundreds of Harriers each year we seldom strip a thread or even break a bolt. But I think this is due to us spanner men having a special sense for threads and their strengths or weaknesses. I remember stripping threads and breaking bolts more often as a youngster before developing 'the feel'. (heck, that was a long, long time ago!)

[Vespasian]

Really? Do you just post crap everywhere trying to ruffle people up? why does anyone do anything for aesthetics? Want that wall blue? just wear blue tinted glasses everytime you look at it.

 

I see my attempt at light hearted comedy went right over your head...

[Burgess]

Every time you post a load of bull and someone calls you out on it it's always 'light hearted comedy'

 

The Kaaz mowers (inc lawnflite pro, cobra,sarp etc, as the are all built by Kaaz) are in my opinion the best quality mower available on the UK market, but as has been said, they are heavy and come in well over the £1000 so don't suit all.

 

However, for those wanting to save a couple of hundred there is now a new kid on the block. Mountfield have now introduced a serious roller mower for the first time in the last 15 years. Utilising their new 'twinclip' chassis this mower has a heavy duty galvanised steel deck giving excellent resistance to impact damage, but as steel decks are always weak around the stress points of axle and handlebar mounting these mowers have tough aluminium inserts front and back carrying the axles and the handlebars. The handlebars are easily foldable and the pivots are about the toughest I have ever seen, without the flex that many have.

Roller mowers are notorious for transmission failure so to combat this Mountfield have fitted an extremely tough cone clutch box coupled with a two pulley variator, so no idlers to sieze. This drives a large diameter fluted steel roller so traction will not be a problem.

Power is supplied by a 190cc Honda GCV190 motor

The 'twinclip' blade has 4 cutting edges so each blade of grass is cut twice, which means shorter bits being blown into the box, resulting in a better fill.

I saw, and used this mower at a dealer conference last week and was very impressed. Its not at present aimed at the Pro market (although carrying a 5yr domestic warranty and a 90 day commercial warranty) but the general feeling is that at the selling price of around £850 this mower, the SP555R V is going to take some beating. I will certainly be including it in my range and adding it to the website.

It will be worth a visit to your local Stiga Mountfield dealer.

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Would you still rate the kaaz gearbox above the mountfield?

[GardenKit]

Every time you post a load of bull and someone calls you out on it it's always 'light hearted comedy'

 

 

 

 

 

Would you still rate the kaaz gearbox above the mountfield?

To be honest, we wont really know until its been out their a while. The Kaaz is a chunky all metal box but this biggest problem is that it is down there in the wet so the lower seals and bearings can fail in time, and the clutch is a 'dog' clutch which can wear in time. Most commercial users factor in a gearbox replacement every year or two as the rest of the mower is tough enough to warranty spending out.

 

The new Mountfield was specifically chosen to combat the transmission problems that all other rear rollers suffer from. The unit is half alloy, half plastic with 'low wear' cone clutches. It is rated to carry nearly twice the torque that any other Mountfield boxes have, and is situated high, driving the roller via a chain, so it sounds like it will be on top of the job. Only time will tell.

[Vespasian]

Burgess

 

Every time you post a load of bull and someone calls you out on it it's always 'light hearted comedy'

 

 

A load of bull?....what you on about....

 

I don't like Roller mowers and said so, I explained why, very heavy, and injected some comedy relief at the end about the stripes...

 

How is that bull?....

[GardenKit]

Burgess

 

Every time you post a load of bull and someone calls you out on it it's always 'light hearted comedy'

 

 

A load of bull?....what you on about....

 

I don't like Roller mowers and said so, I explained why, very heavy, and injected some comedy relief at the end about the stripes...

 

How is that bull?....

Sorry guys, with respect to both of you this is not conducive to the thread:001_smile:

[Burgess]

To be honest, we wont really know until its been out their a while. The Kaaz is a chunky all metal box but this biggest problem is that it is down there in the wet so the lower seals and bearings can fail in time, and the clutch is a 'dog' clutch which can wear in time. Most commercial users factor in a gearbox replacement every year or two as the rest of the mower is tough enough to warranty spending out.

 

The new Mountfield was specifically chosen to combat the transmission problems that all other rear rollers suffer from. The unit is half alloy, half plastic with 'low wear' cone clutches. It is rated to carry nearly twice the torque that any other Mountfield boxes have, and is situated high, driving the roller via a chain, so it sounds like it will be on top of the job. Only time will tell.

 

Thanks for that. I had a problem with a (used) lawnflite roller that was the dog clutches so this mountfield did peak my interest with the cone clutch.

 

If Etesia made a rear roller attachment for their Duocut 53 I'd buy that one in a heartbeat but they dont seem interested in making it for anything bigger than the pro46.

 

Sorry guys, with respect to both of you this is not conducive to the thread:001_smile:

 

I agree.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Burgess

[Warners]

I had this Harrier 48 in today with the under deck damage typical of machines used on stoney ground. The parts needed to repair this come to around £100 making this a costly mower to operate, and thats without replacing belts that wear too quickly and weak gearboxes.

 

For these reasons I stopped selling Hayters several years ago in favour of John Deere and Kaaz. Both produce a better cut and a far better collection than the Hayter and have no silly brittle under decks to replace.

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Looks like the underdeck of ours, although the one in our picture is particularly bad. I appreciate what IVECOKID says but the silver mower is a pro and is more costly than the domestic version, so it should be up to the job. The fact it has to modded out of the box is poor. Gardenkit is right and the fact he doesn't sell Hayters any more says it all.

[IVECOKID]

I still have 2 Pto driven Hayters in very good condition but I need new engines , I would go back to using them if I can source new engines , cracking design and bullet proof in the wet .

 

Ste

[mowandgo]

I have used a pre 2000 hayter 56, a Honda HRH 536 QXE Honda 476 & Kubota 21 inch ( kazz ).

 

My faviort mower was the Hayter big full width chute, amazing quality of cut, big ribbed alloy roller with low ground presure, well balanced agile & easy to turn, fairly fast great in wet. Pretty realible three main issues was cast alloy deck cracking, output shaft breaks & briggs engine would use lots of fuel & oil after two or three seasons the chassis had alot more life left. Unfortunatly the newr ones are turds & older ones are all very tired.

 

Honda 536 it was ok but for the money pretty poor. GXV160 engine was lovely & stong deck & reasonable quality cut. other than that it was not great. In the wet it would struggle with collection & had a 4 inch tiny little roller so would mess most lawns. Very long heavy hard to turn around only suited to big lawns & not that fast. Gearbox a pain in the bum to engauge it would roughly clunck foward & eventally go click, click, click and if you were going up a steep hill it would diss engauge you would jab your gut on handle bars as you was still walking. I was pleased to sell it.

 

I bought a honda 476 new. It was ok in wet, fast for a 19" light easy to turn agile, powerfull for size smooth belt drive. Quality of cut was not a hayter but better than average mower. The bad bits was drive was built in a toy factory it would break pins, blow bearings rattle bits lose & constantly end up in shop under warranty. I worked it as hard as a hayter but it was not man enough ashame or i would have still run it now.

 

My current stripy Kubota. Simalar to 536 lovely engine still to dam heavy. Grass box much better than honda it picks up better in wet. Has a torque converter on gearbox which is much smoother I do like it. Nice big bumper on front its orange & black so looks better than honda. All metal constrution built very well. Not as agile or well balance as a Hayter quality of cut not quite as good as hayter but nearly there. Also I think its a few hundred £ cheaper than honda deffently kubota is the better mower.

 

There you have it my report on roller mowers I have owned