OV9

Mito Man wrote: Sun Aug 11, 2024 11:31 pm No, the deck isn’t flush with the axle.

Now I see your point. Yeah that’s a bit silly (although the blade never cuts to the outer edge of the deck obvs)

Will need to check mine.

Mito Man wrote: Sun Aug 11, 2024 11:31 pm No, the deck isn’t flush with the axle, so cutting alongside walls/raised borders would necessitate strimming whereas with the Honda you can just about get away without it.

Also the axles on the Honda are in line with each other, so you get a skinny line in the lawn to place your wheels on to get perfect straight lines on each return run. Not sure how it would work with the Mountfield, plus the issue with my first point would also not help.

I agree with this - you want both front and rear wheels to be in line so you flatten as little grass as possible, and you want the wheels to be about level with or slightly inboard of the edge of the deck.

I have just checked my SP53H and it looks similar, so I'm going to say it's same-same. You do av to bare in mind that it makes the stance more wikkid tho.

I do have a couple of walls that I mow upto where it annoys me a bit - but more 'cos the front to rear track width difference means it's hard to run straight and not accidentally steer into the wall slightly. As rotary mower blades can't reach out as far as the deck, I accept that to do a "proper job" I need to strim also. (For me this is the walls above, but multiple other areas, around trees also) but I tend to do so only every 2nd or 3rd mow out of laziness.

mik wrote: Mon Aug 12, 2024 8:47 am I accept that to do a "proper job" I need to strim also. (For me this is the walls above, but multiple other areas, around trees also) but I tend to do so only every 2nd or 3rd mow out of laziness.

Same, and I get away with not doing it every other mow. I'm now thinking I need a better strimmer - I tend to find my cheap Worx one gets through line very quickly.

Jobbo wrote: Mon Aug 12, 2024 9:32 am I'm now thinking I need a better strimmer

I have been using a 56cc SGS strimmer for the last few years, but whilst it performed well it needed lots of fiddling to keep it running well.

Just updated to a Stihl FS55. It's far more fuel efficient, and although in theory it's slightly less powerful at 1bhp, that seems to be more than enough for my needs. It'll cut weeds / brambles / bushes much thicker than grass without issue. The biggest positive though is that it is only 4.9kg (roughly half the weight of the SGS machine) and with the bike-handlebar design it is extremely easy to use.

I've now got a couple of Stihl hedge trimmers (a standard and a long-reach) which use the AK batteries, so I plan to get a Stihl battery strimmer. Was thinking FSA60R but it doesn't come with the handlebars, just a loop handle. I see you can buy an official harness which also works with the long-reach hedge trimmer so I may try one of those.

I generally find it quite difficult to locate motor power outputs for a lot of electric garden power tools.

Stihl quote 0.5hrs run time on an AK20 battery for the FSA60R. An AK20 battery has a 4Ah capacity. If you were drawing 8A you'd use this capacity in 0.5hrs (assuming 100% battery to 0%).

8A at 36V = 288w at best (ie around 0.38 bhp).

Not suggesting that makes it a bad tool - just trying assess it's likely ability vs 2-stroke comparators. In saying that I've previously tried to use a 275W 240V Black & Decker strimmer on some long grass .... it required quite some considerable patience.

The thing is I have a couple of AK batteries already. You can also fit an AK30 which has 50% more capacity than an AK20.

But I do have my concerns; it is string-only so it's never going to be good for proper brush cutting. But I don't need it for that. And after using a 2-stroke brushcutter 7 years ago, I don't want to again. The noise and exhaust fumes put me right off.

My Stilh strimmer has arrived. Any concern that it is barely different to the Worx one are dispelled and I haven’t even used it yet.

First go with the new strimmer today. I need to get used to the auto-feed head; it feeds by bumping it on the ground but many, many times I ran the exposed line out so the reel was still full but nothing poked out of the holes. I had to take the head off and re-wind it each time. There must be a way to avoid that.

It chomped through most stuff; definitely found the limits of the power on thick clumps of thistles when you could hear it slowing down, but back out and go in again. The 2.4mm square line I bought seems pretty hardy and I wouldn’t want to strim my boots with it.

Overall, the balance is nice and I was far less achey after using it than the lightweight Worx one. Lack of handlebars not a problem with the (optional) harness. But it is definitely domestic in its capabilities. Will be interesting to see if it is a bit cumbersome just doing lawn edges.

4yrs since I got my SP53H and I completed its 1st oil change today. Oops.

I sent the old oil away to the lab, where it came back confirmed as fucking manky.

The longest part of the process was running the mower for about 5mins to get everything nice and hot. I then used wood to tip the whole thing up towards the dipstick side and used the Pela Vacuum Pump to remove the old lube before refilling. Sometimes the Pela is just the perfect tool for the job.

mowers are supposed to be serviced??!

I know!

This may or may not be the first time I have ever changed the oil on a mower…..

Using a pump sounds far too sensible. Standard operating procedure here is get a baking tray beside lawn mower. Tip lawnmower and get half the oil in the tray, some on the floor and some down the side of the deck. At some point forget about baking tray on the floor, accidentally kick it and launch oil everywhere.
Good thing the shed floor usually is covered an inch deep in sawdust.

Rich B wrote: Sat Mar 22, 2025 2:46 pm mowers are supposed to be serviced??!

+1

Servicing two of my mowers cost more than the Macan service this year They did both come back looking like new though.

For those looking for an excuse to sit, drink beer and not mow their lawn..

https://news.sky.com/story/dont-mow-you ... d-13340331