New lawnmower required - recommendations please.

[Slick]

Well if it's anything like my lurcher, give it a week and there won't be any grass. Zoomies see's great clods of turf flying around, we pretty much have a figure 8 in what's left of our grass...
The offender
View attachment 522762

I always found them very docile animals. We worked them back in the day and one family member still has one and walks the hind legs of it so has very little energy left to sport in the garden.

 

[nagden]

Honda without a doubt. We have had a Honda mower 16 years and a rotovator for 35 years and they have been excellent.

 

[Drago]

After damaging my Honda and rendering it uneconomical to repair I bought one of those hundred quid petrol jobs from B&Q. Very pleasantly surprised.

 

[Venod]

I don't have a petrol mower,our lawn isn't big enough, a hand or electric is used, but we have lived here 19 years with the same next door neighbours, who have a much bigger lawn, in all that time they have had the same Honda petrol lawnmower, if that's any recommendation.

 

[rogerzilla]

Honda Izy. Again.

 

[fossyant]

My dad swears by his Honda mower ! He was doing gardening for others for a while in his retirement.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Don't bother with electric start.
Definitely self propelled for something the size you mention.
Newer Hayters aren't quite as good as older ones, but still good. Honda are very good.
I have three mowers, a Hayter Harrier 48 which is at least 27 years old; a Honda GCV 160 and an old Suffolk Punch which gets brought out on special occasions. The Hayter is for my lawn, gives a good finish with stripes. The Honda I use on a paddock and it has a mulching facility (basically double blades and a plug to stop the cuttings coming out the back).
I also use both Honda Izy and a newer Hayter Harrier 41 at work. The Izy are good, but ours aren't self propelled and I don't know if you can get one which is. The Harrier 41 does feel a bit cheaper but works.

 

[Soltydog]

I've had a cheap petrol mower from B&Q lasted a couple of years at most & then burst into flames one day So spent the extra on a replacement & bought a Honda Izy. It's pull start & been great, even in spring when it's been stood a while it will start 2nd time at worst, & easy to service Probably had ours 14 years now & had to replace the pull cord a couple of times & that's it. We went for one with a mulching blade fitted to save collecting grass, I presume that option is still available? Think ours is 16" & the lawn is about 60' x 100' doesn't take too long to cut it

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

No love for Hayter? I have a Harrier that is at least 20 years old and starts first pull through the summer and maybe 2nd or 3rd after the winter break. It’s a B&S motor that is criminally abused and ignored and it still goes like a train. Self-propelled always.

I also have an old Hayter Harrier 41 and my experience is the same as yours.

Just checked the price of a new one though!

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Weibang. No messing, proper, will see you out. Will be the death of me! (as in, like-for-like against just about all their competitors, they're hugely overbuilt, and so rather heavy)

https://www.mowtastic.co.uk/all-products

 

[raleighnut]

I'd love a nice vintage mower.

View: https://youtu.be/52FK1v6lErQ

 

[Tail End Charlie]

I'd love a nice vintage mower.

View: https://youtu.be/52FK1v6lErQ

If you're near, I can recommend a visit to the lawnmower museum at Southport, very interesting.
I can also recommend getting an old Suffolk Punch, mine is 55 years old and I love to hear it burbling away on tickover. It's still cuts really well, much cleaner than my other two. It has some interesting features, centrifugal clutch, rear roller disengagement.
Ps don't go on eBay whilst drunk and buy a Suffolk Punch, you may end up with a horse!

 

[vickster]

If you're near, I can recommend a visit to the lawnmower museum at Southport, very interesting.
I can also recommend getting an old Suffolk Punch, mine is 55 years old and I love to hear it burbling away on tickover. It's still cuts really well, much cleaner than my other two. It has some interesting features, centrifugal clutch, rear roller disengagement.
Ps don't go on eBay whilst drunk and buy a Suffolk Punch, you may end up with a horse!

No need for a lawn mower if you’ve got a horse

 

[Drago]

I've had a cheap petrol mower from B&Q lasted a couple of years at most & then burst into flames one day So spent the extra on a replacement & bought a Honda Izy. It's pull start & been great, even in spring when it's been stood a while it will start 2nd time at worst, & easy to service Probably had ours 14 years now & had to replace the pull cord a couple of times & that's it. We went for one with a mulching blade fitted to save collecting grass, I presume that option is still available? Think ours is 16" & the lawn is about 60' x 100' doesn't take too long to cut it

I've had the opposite experience. My cheap B&Q job has greatly exceeded expectations, whereas my Honda needed a new crank to fix it, which would have cost nearly as much as a new Honda mower for just the part.

Our experiences clearly show that past experience is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

...
Our experiences clearly show that past experience is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

That’s what I keep telling the wife - but she’s not convinced.