The Great Big Lawnmower Thread

Discodog

I don't want to drag this thread off topic. I don't see a customer as a leech :eek: If I refereed to my customers as such then I wouldn't have any.

As for giving bad advice. I would suggest that anyone buying a mower should go to their local dealer & ask if they honour manufacturers warranties.

I will email Honda & Stihl in the UK & ask them if their warranties will be honoured here. In any event the warranties are restrictive. For example the Honda warranty insists that you have an annual dealer service which will cost way more than changing the oil, filters etc yourself.

In reality the chances of a customer needing to return a machine under warranty is unlikely. I haven't ever had one but I only use Etesia, Honda & Stihl. The joke is that you criticise non dealers but lidl & aldi give the best warranties. Even B&Q will take back the machine if you are unhappy with it.

PS I will enquire about your "grey market" comments. I would suggest that this might be an illegal cartel & restriction of trade. Imagine if you could only have warranty work done at the dealer where you bought your car.

737max

Discodog wrote: »

I don't want to drag this thread off topic. I don't see a customer as a leech :eek: If I refereed to my customers as such then I wouldn't have any.

As for giving bad advice. I would suggest that anyone buying a mower should go to their local dealer & ask if they honour manufacturers warranties.

I will email Honda & Stihl in the UK & ask them if their warranties will be honoured here. In any event the warranties are restrictive. For example the Honda warranty insists that you have an annual dealer service which will cost way more than changing the oil, filters etc yourself.

In reality the chances of a customer needing to return a machine under warranty is unlikely. I haven't ever had one but I only use Etesia, Honda & Stihl. The joke is that you criticise non dealers but lidl & aldi give the best warranties. Even B&Q will take back the machine if you are unhappy with it.

PS I will enquire about your "grey market" comments. I would suggest that this might be an illegal cartel & restriction of trade. Imagine if you could only have warranty work done at the dealer where you bought your car.

A Customer gives custom to a shop. You ain't a Customer of your local shop.
custom = the regular buying of goods and service in a shop.http://b-static.net/vbulletin/images/icons/icon1.png

Are you actually advising people on this thread to go in to the local dealer and ask them if they will provisionally honour the warranty which they may need to claim on a machine which they haven't yet bought but intend to purchase in another shop. That would be an interesting conversation to observe.
I'd guess other family members of yours go in to the local clothes shops to get sizing right before placing orders online for the same brands of clothes.
Maybe you've even done it yourself for lawnmowers and justified buying elsewhere by telling the world that the local dealer is a rip-off merchant and you bought the same machine outside the State for 300 euro less.

You won't buy a high-end quality mower from a respected manufacturer in your local B&Q, LIDL or ALDI as a purchaser of one of these products would expect to have their machines repaired or replaced promptly with genuine replacement parts rather than having to wait weeks in high season while the grass grows up to the Customers waist for a repaired machine or replacement to arrive. failing that at least they'd have "loaners" available to get the Customer out of a bind while waiting for repair.
With B&Q, LIDL and ALDI they get a few pallets of loss-leader lawnmowers to sell early in the season and when they are gone, they're gone.

Discodog

737max wrote: »

With B&Q, LIDL and ALDI they get a few pallets of loss-leader lawnmowers to sell early in the season and when they are gone, they're gone.

B&Q sell Mountfields & have mowers in stock all year round.

I don't see why the Irish consumer should pay substantially more just because his local dealer has a bad arrangement with his wholesaler. If you buy a Honda in the UK the wholesaler is Honda. If you buy one here the wholesaler is a middle man who buys from Honda & then sells to the dealer who sells to you. There is an additional cost. I don't feel the need to pay a middle man.

It's up to the dealers to negotiate better deals with their suppliers. For example I have heard that dealers near the border are offered better terms in order to compete with the North. I support my local dealer. I recently paid 20% more for a hedgecutter. But I won't pay almost double. I also buy consumables etc locally.

By the way I have been told that one of the major issues with warranty work is the lack of manufacturer approved qualified repairers.

737max

Discodog wrote: »

B&Q sell Mountfields

It is a good three decades since Mountfield were a quality brand.

Discodog wrote: »

I recently paid 20% more for a hedgecutter. But I won't pay almost double. I also buy consumables etc locally.

I sincerely doubt you have ever been quoted 100% more for any piece of garden equipment in any dealer showroom so we'll put this down to hyperbole.

Discodog wrote: »

By the way I have been told that one of the major issues with warranty work is the lack of manufacturer approved qualified repairers.

You have a consistent inability to link your purchasing behaviour(action) to the outcome of said action.
Dealer looks at his potential territory i.e. a town or county. how many thousand houses stand on sites of 1/2 acre or more? 1000, 2000, ????Do I INVEST in this brand with a potential annual sales figure of a hundred machines? Do I INVEST in this brand with a potential annual sales figure of a few dozen machines due to tight-arsed consumers buying same product from another country? Should I INVEST in slow moving stock and seldom used brand specific consumables? Do I entertain a leach who presents himself on my shopfloor telling me that I should be carrying parts for his machine and have total familiaritty with his machine on account of being the designated dealer even though he didn't buy the product from me or should I cut the conversation short and tell him to "stick his machine where the sun doesn't shine".
Decisions, Decisions.

Discodog

737max wrote: »

It is a good three decades since Mountfield were a quality brand.

I sincerely doubt you have ever been quoted 100% more for any piece of garden equipment in any dealer showroom so we'll put this down to hyperbole.


You have a consistent inability to link your purchasing behaviour(action) to the outcome of said action.
Dealer looks at his potential territory i.e. a town or county. how many thousand houses stand on sites of 1/2 acre or more? 1000, 2000, ????Do I INVEST in this brand with a potential annual sales figure of a hundred machines? Do I INVEST in this brand with a potential annual sales figure of a few dozen machines due to tight-arsed consumers buying same product from another country? Should I INVEST in slow moving stock and seldom used brand specific consumables? Do I entertain a leach who presents himself on my shopfloor telling me that I should be carrying parts for his machine and have total familiaritty with his machine on account of being the designated dealer even though he didn't buy the product from me or should I cut the conversation short and tell him to "stick his machine where the sun doesn't shine".
Decisions, Decisions.

For a "shed" supplied mower there is nothing wrong with a Mountfield. It's certainly no worse that the Castelgardens that seem to be the dealer favourite. The Mountfield rear roller is surprisingly good, so much so that I am considering one. There is a lot of snobbery regarding the so called quality of mowers. Many are the same machine rebranded.

When I paid 300 for that Honda, the same machine at my local dealer was 585. The current exchange rate doesn't favour imports.

Whether or not a business person invests or not is a commercial decision for them. The consumer shouldn't have to pay a premium in prices or service just to give the investor a living. We have been ripped off for too long.

fox0512

.......and that is exactly why I would'nt or advise anyone to buy a mower from a dealer (Small)...they come and go in terms of business and their relationship with suppliers...risky!!... mountfield, john deere, honda... means ****e nowadays, parts go to the lowest bidder, sure parts a plentiful but you will pay top dollar and then your warranty stands only if you return or have returned it to your dealer for services etc.... "ripped off for to long" indeed..

I was wondering was there any tips contractors have for selling lawnmowers. I have 2 push mowers a season old and was thinking of just replacing both of them.

737max

fox0512 wrote: »

.......and that is exactly why I would'nt or advise anyone to buy a mower from a dealer (Small)...they come and go in terms of business and their relationship with suppliers...risky!!... mountfield, john deere, honda... means ****e nowadays, parts go to the lowest bidder, sure parts a plentiful but you will pay top dollar and then your warranty stands only if you return or have returned it to your dealer for services etc.... "ripped off for to long" indeed..

A franchise for a quality brand won't become available too regularly. the distributors look for established dealers and the franchise doesn't usually fall in to the hands of a fly by night.
This doesn't apply to Castel Garden; experience has shown that they'll give their machines to anyone to sell and it isn't worth your while trying to develop a relationship with the distributor as you'll have somebody who doesn't know the difference between an auger and an edger selling the same product as you for less than cost.

737max

Deleted User wrote: »

I was wondering was there any tips contractors have for selling lawnmowers. I have 2 push mowers a season old and was thinking of just replacing both of them.

keep one for backup, online classified for the other and buy proper appropriate commercial machinery which you can depreciate in your accounts over their lifetime to replace them. Commercial machinery exists for a reason.

fox0512

737max wrote: »

A franchise for a quality brand won't become available too regularly. the distributors look for established dealers and the franchise doesn't usually fall in to the hands of a fly by night.
This doesn't apply to Castel Garden; experience has shown that they'll give their machines to anyone to sell and it isn't worth your while trying to develop a relationship with the distributor as you'll have somebody who doesn't know the difference between an auger and an edger selling the same product as you for less than cost.

True true..I am currently with no mower..got rid of the new fancy stuff and im restoring this 1983 Yardking....its in a gazillion pieces at the mo :eek:...nice old briggs flat head engine that needed a vale job and head gasket...old one but a good un

Discodog

737max wrote: »

keep one for backup, online classified for the other and buy proper appropriate commercial machinery which you can depreciate in your accounts over their lifetime to replace them. Commercial machinery exists for a reason.

True with reservations. A lot of manufacturers got on to the "commercial" bandwagon. Manufacturers like Honda & Hayter added extras like a front bumper & enclosed cables to justify a much higher price.

The recession made a lot of contractors adopt the buy cheap & throw it away option. Now domestic mowers like Honda Izys & Vikings are proving popular with contractors.

The perfect mower for Ireland is the Etesia because it will collect every blade of long grass in the rain but they are very expensive. However I know lots of contractors who buy 5 year or older ex Council Etesias from Harry the Cat (yes really ) on ebay & they are very pleased with them.

Discodog

Discodog wrote: »

True with reservations. A lot of manufacturers got on to the "commercial" bandwagon. Manufacturers like Honda & Hayter added extras like a front bumper & enclosed cables to justify a much higher price.

The recession made a lot of contractors adopt the buy cheap & throw it away option. Now domestic mowers like Honda Izys & Vikings are proving popular with contractors.

The perfect mower for Ireland is the Etesia because it will collect every blade of long grass in the rain but they are very expensive. However I know lots of contractors who buy 5 year or older ex Council Etesias from Harry the Cat (yes really ) on ebay & they are very pleased with them.

I used to use a rover at home with Briggs 650 engine Had lots of trouble with that engine. I started some contract work last year and it's expanded this year I bought a rover with the Briggs 850 engine. The open back deals with wet grass well. It was €1000. Can't see anyone paying 6 or 7 hundred for it. But then maybe I should keep it for 5 years but I worry the self drive will pack in

Discodog

Deleted User wrote: »

I used to use a rover at home with Briggs 650 engine Had lots of trouble with that engine. I started some contract work last year and it's expanded this year I bought a rover with the Briggs 850 engine. The open back deals with wet grass well. It was €1000. Can't see anyone paying 6 or 7 hundred for it. But then maybe I should keep it for 5 years but I worry the self drive will pack in

I have to confess that I know little about the Rover mechanically. Does it have an, expensive to replace, gearbox ? The only person who will pay good money is someone who knows about Rovers. To anyone else it's an ordinary second hand mower.

Have a look here & try to estimate what a drive failure might cost:

http://www.gardenhirespares.co.uk/c/rover_parts

I recently replaced the gearbox on a Honda 21 Pro Roller. I luckily found a new one on ebay for £200. Compared to the 1500 machine price it was worth doing

davidk1394

Hi all. First time posting on this. Im thinking of buying a ride on lawnmower to cut lawns on hire. I have good experience machinery as we have an agri contracting business. Im looking for recommendations for a good strong reliable mower preferably diesel. The hustler lawnmowers look like a fair beast. Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks

sheelbee

The Hustler is a very good machine with excellent back up, Steer clear of Ferris or Kubota [No after sales service]

davidk1394

What about john deere or any other brand ? What dealership would you recommend?

monkeynuz

If I was contracting with a ride on I would go for Kubota or Etesia.

Discodog

The number one requirement is flexibility. Riders are great until you get a client who wants collection. Collection mowers also do a good job on leaves. It would be an Etesia for me.

http://www.etesia.co.uk/etesia/ride-on-mowers/etesia-hydro-124p-hvhp.html

davidk1394

Discodog wrote: »

The number one requirement is flexibility. Riders are great until you get a client who wants collection. Collection mowers also do a good job on leaves. It would be an Etesia for me.

http://www.etesia.co.uk/etesia/ride-on-mowers/etesia-hydro-124p-hvhp.html

What sort of price would they be ? And who'd be a dealer in ireland ?

sheelbee

Try Shanley Mowers in Newcastle, Co Dublin ask for Darren or David. Good guys

davidk1394

Is there anyone down around the south east ?

Discodog

davidk1394 wrote: »

Is there anyone down around the south east ?

Why don't you give them a call in England & find out their stockists here ?

sheelbee

Try Ivor Bailey in New Ross

davidk1394

Would you want to be cutting a big amount of lawns to make it a worth while enterprise?

sheelbee

I think you are putting the cart before the horse. You will have to do market research and have a business plan before you even consider this.

davidk1394

This was only an idea that popped into my head. I was talking to different people about cutting lawns. They were saying if i had a push lawnmower and was cutting the grass in housing estates and brought away the clippings

sheelbee

Best of luck.

Discodog

sheelbee wrote: »

I think you are putting the cart before the horse. You will have to do market research and have a business plan before you even consider this.

Your not kidding :rolleyes: It's a highly competitive, seasonal business.

You would want to be cutting a lot of lawns to justify a machine like a Hustler or Etesia.

sheelbee

It was only an idea that popped into his head [Why do I keep thinking "Dougal"] ??

davidk1394

We have an areins mower ourselves like the 1 below. Im still in college so it would be something to keep me going. I was thinking of charging €15 with the mower we have and take away the clippings and mix it in with the dung off the farm