Bonefishblues

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 ?

By coincidence I was at a local dealer this morning looking at Viking and Mountfield. I think that it's one of those two, but undecided as to which one, and the price doesn't help either as they are within a few quid of each other...

Not sure exactly what that means tbh So few around that they are like rocking horse manure, or maybe they are just the most reliable mowers in the world!

Thanks, that's helpful. Any love for a Viking, which looks the lightest of a weighty bunch?

Just a bump to see if there are other opinions to share?

Their 47cm machines don't include a rear roller model, unfortunately. I also can't see unit weights anywhere on their site? Weibang just too heavy for me going forward in my garden.

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?