The Great Big Lawnmower Thread

need to find out the model number of my mccullough self propelled lawn mower , the only id on it is this ,it starts and cuts out straight away , it probably needs a new gasket but I need to know what to look for first .

thanks for that , the boss(wife) bought it a couple of years ago and she went for that one despite the fact that they had one with a honda engine for more or less the same money , anyway its probably the carb all right , I cleaned out the bowl , it was full of muck , but it probably need a full strip down and clean out , i might chance it now that i have the exploded diagram , thanks for the quick help .

Hey folks,

Ive a large garden, about 2/3rds of an acre to mow. Relatively flat, just a slight incline on one side. My current ride on is a husqvarna cth172 which I bought if the old owner of the house when we bought it. I've replaced belts, blades, carb, full bag switch, repaired deck and replaced some pulleys and done a full service but it's still a bit contrary from time to time but overall a good mower. It has a kohler courage engine which I believe is 17hp

Anyways I'm thinking of buying a new mower, don't want an automower so was looking in particular at the stiga range. Either a 2084h or 3084h - don't want a geared tractor it has to be hydrostatic that's my main thing

Has anyone any info on the mowers or any recommendations? Even better anyone sell them and take trade ins lol

Thanks,

Yeah its a good mower in fairness, the only reason I want to go for a new one is simply because it'll be mine from the word go and I can be sure all maintenance will be done properly and on time. But since getting the Husqvarna I've done alot with it, the old owner had it wrecked. Nothing wrong with it now other than a small hole on the lid of the rear collector

The woodies is a generic Hyundai mower afaik, similar to this blue Hyundai HYM510SPE which used to be in a few hardware stores like goodwins, though I've not seen it for a while.

The woodies one won't break the bank, and as long as you keep the battery charged it should function without issue, but if the electrics give issues your stuck if there's no pull cord. It's quite a heavy mower also so quite a bit of effort required when lugging it around corners and obstacles.

This aluminium deck electric start Cobra uses the Briggs and Stratton Instant electric starter with the detachable power tool type battery. https://www.lawnmowerworld.ie/product/premium-grade-cobra-mx515spbi-20-aluminium-deck-with-briggs-stratton-instart-engine/

It's much more dependable than older fixed battery systems, bring the battery in and stick it on the charger. A bit over your budget though, as is this Stiga electric start with the same B&S engine. https://www.stiga.ie/products/stiga-twinclip-55-seqb-instant-battery-start-twinclip-55seqb.html

These mowers are all too much for a small garden, the ideal solution is surely one of the better cordless mowers on the market, there are some robust models here starting at €399 for 16" cut.

https://www.lawnmowerworld.ie/product-category/battery-lawnmowers/

I see a few people using agrieuro.co.uk or .com preferrably in this thread. Is there a general consensus that these are ok to use? i.e. goods undamaged, delivered relatively quickly, easy to deal with if problems etc.

Poor pickup is most likely down to cutting too low when the lawn is overgrown. This is likely to happen if you have to borrow, as you will wait till it's quite high. When you have your own mower, you will be able to mow more frequently, but if it gets overgrown due to bad weather, away on holidays etc, you'll need to mow once at a higher setting to take it down, then go around it again at your preferred height. Tedious enough if your 2000m2/ half acre is all grass. In that respect I'd suggest a wider cut than the 19" 650v, you need a 655c model, or any larger 21 " cut self propelled. The shaft drive Weibang sounds attractive, as some mower self propelled mechanisms, especially with variable speed, are not particularly long lived. This is less an issue on a plain flat unobstructed site. I've had to repair/rebuild replace even the power drive of every mower I've ever owned, usually after only 3 + years of ownership, due to lots if start stop, slopes, trees, beds etc. Shaft drive sounds like a lifetime job.

Consider the models you've viewed, plus the top Stiga 55 svh and mid range Honda models also.

This Honda is in range of your budget, an extremely robust and reliable mower. Probably it's only shortcoming is the individual wheel height adjustment instead of single lever, but this does have the advantage that the mower stays perfectly flat as the years go by, some single lever systems wear and introduce tilt as they get old. It has a mulch lever, allowing you to quickly change from bagging on light growth to get the benefit of self fertilisation on poorer growing patches.

https://monaghanhire.com/products/honda-izy-hrg-536c9-vkeh

On a PC;

To measure an area on Google Maps, right-click on the map at your starting point and choose the Measure distance option. Add points around the location's boundary. Once you close the shape by clicking on the starting point, the Google Maps area calculator will automatically process the area of your shape.

That's about .9 of an acre. If you want a collector mower rather than a commercial zero turn, you won't do better than this top sized Stihl 6127 zl , huge 49" cut, powerful and quiet V twin engine. This mower was formerly the Viking 6127, very robust build quality, large tyres, it used to sell at over €6k, so this price here, €4950 brand new, is a great deal.

Stihl RT 6127 ZL 49" Ride On Mower https://g.co/kgs/HFmzvv

or here in Cavan, €5k

https://donegan.ie/product/stihl-rt-6127-zl

Both engines are produced in China, there's a good chance that most of the parts are pattern or generic, so easily obtained. Loncin (aka LongXin) are a vast Chinese automotive manufacturer, (Is there any other kind?). Emac are a Chinese import export conglomerate, engines could be made anywhere, with any amount of clones. Read their website caption below without laughing. I plomise you won't contain yourself.

Like anything, it's the last stage manufacturer (Weibang etc,) who impose the quality control to their standards for their mowers. Same engine with less tolerance might appear on a cheapo mower in big box shops. Apple make some of their iPhones in India, in what looks little better than female refugee camps, country of origin doesn't dictate quality, only price and profit.

You can adjust the length of the steering rod that goes to the left hand kingpin crank lever, so that when both wheels are directly forward, the steering wheel is in the centre. However, if you have severe play, you also need to check for play in the 4 small ball joints, two each end of the steering rod and two more each end of the track rod between the wheel kingpins.

Another source of play is the kingpins themselves, especially if the mower has struck a solid surface occasionally. The front axle kingpin bushings and the pressed steel housing can crack and cause the bushings to move out and get loose.

Another source of severe play due to wear is the front axle pivot bolt pin under the engine. The axle steel rotates on this without the benefit of a solid bushing, eventually the axle holes enlarge and the pin gets heavily grooved.

Grab the axle either side and rock it left right. Also grab the front wheel axles and push and pull them fore and aft, see does the wheel move back and forward relative to the chassis. You may have to buy a complete front axle, bolt and spacer, and 4 track rod balljoints, to restore that new feeling. I had to do this a long time ago after the mower was 'joyridden' by a careless young operator, hit a few trees. I got fed up welding the cracks ,they just kept reappearing, and the centre pivot was very worn. This is the best price I can find, about €107 including delivery.

https://eurosmallengineparts.ie/castelgarden-mountfield-stiga-alpina-102-122-front-axle-382034001-3

This Honda engined Castelgarden variable speed on sale at €710 will eat the rough stuff,

https://www.toolfix.ie/p/castelgarden-xs55hvw4-21-cut-self-drive-lawnmower/xs55hvw4

then haggle with your remaining €800 for a good robotic machine for the inner circle. You'll never be stuck with both, and if you tame the outer area with the CG, you could let the robot loose on it when its short, light and dry.

It would be perfect, it's recommended area is 2000m2, roughly a half acre, so your grass area is what's left after house and drive of 320m2 are subtracted. It has three features that will help cope with rougher areas, a decent top cut height of 8.5 cm, variable speed to take it slower, and that Honda GCVx 170 engine. My previous gaff was a standard bungalow bliss on a half acre, the Stiga55, an early variant of this mower with a B&S engine was ideal size, good exercise. You'll walk over 3km to mow 1600m2 with a .53m cut. If you want a bigger cut, there are a few 55cm out there, and the huge twin bladed Toro timemaster, but you're better with more power and walking speed to get the job done quicker. You can easily spend 1000-1500 on some heavier semi commercial machines, or premium brand names such as Honda, Stihl, Husqvarna, Weibang etc.

Apologies, one last query are Weibang any good, only reason i ask is the local town has a place that specialize in them. They also sell the robotic mowers, so i was thinking i could get a deal if they were anyway decent.