Time for a new mower?

[ronnyd]

............
Would a Honda lump prove more reliable and last longer?

Anyway.....I also need a new mower.
.........
£200-£450.
.......

You'll need to throw another couple of hundred more than your maximum to get a Honda Izy 18" cut, or another grand more than your maximum for the Honda HRX series 20" cut, or another twelve hundred for a Toro (Kawasaki engine). Some of the bigger cut Toro's are over two and a half grand. 
Now can you see why B & S are so popular. 

I've mentioned on here before that I had a Honda Izy sat under my bench for around four years. The petrol had long since evaporated so I put some fresh petrol in it. It started first pull.    I believe TB had one but mistreated it by subjecting it to volcanic temperatures and melting it.      The decks eventually rot out on the earlier Izy though.

My Qualcast finally wet tits up today. Clouds of white smoke before finally deciding to seize solid. It lasted 6 years  but never seemed to have the torque to cut grass more than an  inch or two long. Good riddance to the pile of shit.

Anyway, for now, I've decided to take a risk on just about the cheapest 53CM/ 21inch SP mower available. It comes with a 2 year warranty. If it lasts that long I'll be happy. Not sure about the engine other than being a 173cc 4 stroke lump ......probably from the land of the slitty eye.

Perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised.

https://www.parkerbrand.co.uk/petrol-lawnmower-21-inch

Was it the huge discount that persuaded you to buy it? 

[Sir Tigger KC]

That looks like a good deal on the face of it. 

I like the beer can holders and I bet you'd easily knock back a couple of cans while mowing the tennis courts! 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

............
Would a Honda lump prove more reliable and last longer?

Anyway.....I also need a new mower.
.........
£200-£450.
.......

You'll need to throw another couple of hundred more than your maximum to get a Honda Izy 18" cut, or another grand more than your maximum for the Honda HRX series 20" cut, or another twelve hundred for a Toro (Kawasaki engine). Some of the bigger cut Toro's are over two and a half grand. 
Now can you see why B & S are so popular. 

I've mentioned on here before that I had a Honda Izy sat under my bench for around four years. The petrol had long since evaporated so I put some fresh petrol in it. It started first pull.    I believe TB had one but mistreated it by subjecting it to volcanic temperatures and melting it.      The decks eventually rot out on the earlier Izy though.

My Qualcast finally wet tits up today. Clouds of white smoke before finally deciding to seize solid. It lasted 6 years  but never seemed to have the torque to cut grass more than an  inch or two long. Good riddance to the pile of shit.

Anyway, for now, I've decided to take a risk on just about the cheapest 53CM/ 21inch SP mower available. It comes with a 2 year warranty. If it lasts that long I'll be happy. Not sure about the engine other than being a 173cc 4 stroke lump ......probably from the land of the slitty eye.

Perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised.

https://www.parkerbrand.co.uk/petrol-lawnmower-21-inch

Was it the huge discount that persuaded you to buy it? 

£350 on Amazon......and a couple of places on Ebay.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

That looks like a good deal on the face of it. 

I like the beer can holders and I bet you'd easily knock back a couple of cans while mowing the tennis courts! 

It does. What's the worst that can happen.

Can't be any more crap than the Qualcast.

[TheBoy]

I recently bought a second hand Mac Allister (B&Q own brand) petrol lawnmower which has a 125cc Briggs and Stratton engine, after my trusty old Bosch Rotak electric mower fell apart. 

I've only used it once so far, but once I got going after faffing about filling it with petrol and getting it started, it mowed my lawn nicely and quicker with the wider deck. 

Much heavier than the leccy mower though, and as it's not self propelled, mowing the lawn will be good exercise in future! 

Briggs and Stratton sounds like posh shortbread given the royal seal of approval by the Queen.

When it comes to mower motors B and S leave much to be desired.

Really?    I thought they were good. 

Being a B&Q own brand I tought it would have a Chinese motor and when I picked it up was pleased when I saw it was a B&S. 

Would a Honda lump prove more reliable and last longer?

The Honda engines are great.  The decks on Honda Izzy's are shockingly shite, and rust faster than a PFL Omega parked in the sea.

[TheBoy]

YZ - I read the destructions for my mower, and it says to tip mower on side to drain oil out of filler.  I will check if there is a plug underneath next time its out, but guessing from that that probably not.

Neighbour's identical mower keeps stopping again, so he says I can have it for spares.  Ordered a new diaphram/gasket for the carb, see how that goes.  If it fixes it, he can have it back, as I would have had my £5.29 of fun pissing around with it .

DTM - B&S do actually say all their engines are good for E10, which surprised me, so I bought genuine B&S gaskets.  I suspect I'll still use the Tesco 99 E5 stuff, as an extra 30p every 2-3 years isn't going to be noticed

[Sir Tigger KC]

My new (to me) petrol mower has a mulching thingie.

When is the best time of year to use it? 

And also, don't they just scatter the clippings everywhere, where it just becomes sludge in wet weather and hay in dry weather? 

[Marks DTM Calib]

Neighbour's identical mower keeps stopping again, so he says I can have it for spares.  Ordered a new diaphram/gasket for the carb, see how that goes.  If it fixes it, he can have it back, as I would have had my £5.29 of fun pissing around with it .

Change the plug also, these smaller engines have a common trait whereby the plug goes OC as they get hot

[Viral_Jim]

Ordered a genuine B&S carb overhaul kit plus spark plug and air filter. Up to £46 spent now.

A couple of other minor repairs required (crack in the grass box plus front wheels seem out of alignment and don't raise and lower quite evenly) but nothing a quiet afternoon in the garage won't cure   

Also sucked out all the petrol and dumped it in the Zaf. I don't want to add to my woes by letting it sit over winter.

[dave the builder]

Ordered a genuine B&S carb overhaul kit plus spark plug and air filter. Up to £46 spent now.

A couple of other minor repairs required (crack in the grass box plus front wheels seem out of alignment and don't raise and lower quite evenly) but nothing a quiet afternoon in the garage won't cure   

Also sucked out all the petrol and dumped it in the Zaf. I don't want to add to my woes by letting it sit over winter.

By the time you've fitted winter tyres (to cope with the snow) and an alignment to the mower ,you'll ne nearer £100 

[Sir Tigger KC]

Ordered a genuine B&S carb overhaul kit plus spark plug and air filter. Up to £46 spent now.

A couple of other minor repairs required (crack in the grass box plus front wheels seem out of alignment and don't raise and lower quite evenly) but nothing a quiet afternoon in the garage won't cure   

Also sucked out all the petrol and dumped it in the Zaf. I don't want to add to my woes by letting it sit over winter.

By the time you've fitted winter tyres (to cope with the snow) and an alignment to the mower ,you'll ne nearer £100 

I'm guessing it's RWD, so it'll need proper four wheel laser alignment, non of this front wheel tracking nonsense! 

[YZ250]

YZ - I read the destructions for my mower, and it says to tip mower on side to drain oil out of filler.  I will check if there is a plug underneath next time its out, but guessing from that that probably not.
.........

Most of the B & S mowers I've worked on have been the older series 35 and Quantum's with the drain plug but I did come across an article mentioning the lack of drain plug on later mowers. As B & S are now mostly owned by KPS Capital Partners, I daresay removing the drain plug thread from the casting was a cost cutting exercise. 

[Viral_Jim]

If you put the full model and type number into Google, exploded diagrams and part numbers are readily available from a number of websites.

Mine has a replacement oil drain plug available to buy, so it must be there somewhere 

[Marks DTM Calib]

YZ - I read the destructions for my mower, and it says to tip mower on side to drain oil out of filler.  I will check if there is a plug underneath next time its out, but guessing from that that probably not.
.........

Most of the B & S mowers I've worked on have been the older series 35 and Quantum's with the drain plug but I did come across an article mentioning the lack of drain plug on later mowers. As B & S are now mostly owned by KPS Capital Partners, I daresay removing the drain plug thread from the casting was a cost cutting exercise. 

They were the proper B&S engines, now they are just box and badge it so not up to the same quality

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

My new mower has a  DUCAR engine, and metal carb also  DUCAR.

No doubt it is of chinky manufacture and churned out in the millions.