Lawnmowing...

[A.Steve]

Par for the course with trades at the moment. Send out 10 invitations to quote, 3 might look and 1 might quote. Send out 30 and you might get your 3 quotes for comparison

It's wearying but there is so much work out there at the mo and people paying silly money for shoddy efforts that even the muppets are overflowing with jobs

It certainly seems that no-one wants more work... which is surprising. I'd prefer to pay more to get my jobs done and not do everything DIY... but it seems it takes longer to get someone else to do anything than doing it yourself would take. It is very disappointing - though, I suppose, if I ignore the value of my time, I can do decent jobs very cheaply if I do them myself.

 

[Burnerman]

Can we be of assistance with your broken down ride on machine?
John

 

[A.Steve]

Can we be of assistance with your broken down ride on machine?
John

Thanks for the offer - it probably doesn't make sense. I'm in Gloucestershire - and the parts for my (ultra-cheap, very low quality) ride-on mower are buried in at the back of a shed and a garage (parts split 50-50) with mountains of stuff I need to deal with first in the way... in both buildings - I'm at least 18 months away from getting access to the parts that need to be re-assembled. I've got all the bits I took appart - and... when (if) I can find the time - it'd be a 'fun' project to build. With working ride-on mowers coming in at under £500... and brand new ones at £1800-ish... given the extra-ordinarily large amount of time it will take to get it right... there's no economical argument to fixing it. I expect, eventually, to enjoy tinkering - but that's not what I need to be getting on with now. I bought it for peppercorns - when I envisaged having a lot more time on my hands than turned out to be the case. I'm 90% sure the correct move, for me, is to buy a petrol propelled 18-21" mower... and walk behind it. If I had been sensible - it'd have been what I'd have bought in the first place.

 

[StephenStephen]

The cheapest option would seem to be to pay someone competent to extract the buried parts and fix the ride on ..

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The cheapest option would seem to be to pay someone competent to extract the buried parts and fix the ride on ..

and by far the better/cheaper way to mow.

 

[A.Steve]

and by far the better/cheaper way to mow.

Really?

I bought my broken ride-on mower because I thought it would be easier to ride-on than walk... I also thought it would be funnier - because it was so obviously unnecessary. If the mower worked - I think it would be quicker - but I don't think the result would be better than a propelled mower and I don't think it could be cheaper - either... There's a lot of 'mechanic' stuff that'd need to be done - and the consumables/incidentals would cost as much as a basic propelled petrol mower.

I think you're amused at the idea of me fitting it with Knight-Rider lights and want to encourage me to do that. (I also thought about making it a self-driving lawnmower - using a Raspberry PI, camera and actuators... An entertaining and probably dangerous idea... so I do like it... but it isn't going to get my lawn cut over the next few years. At the moment, I expect to be forced to make a choice when my electric mower goes 'bang'... it hasn't happened yet... but I'm expecting it.

Incidentally - is August a bad time of year to buy a mower? Do the prices fall in winter when no-one needs to mow... or do they rise - because there's no competition to supply niche items. Is it the same for new-vs-reconditioned? Is reconditioned a silly idea for a propelled mower? (Would £350 spent on a reconditioned mower be more value than £350 spent on a new one?) Are there any recommended used specialists?

 

[Burnerman]

There's nothing wrong with a reconditioned mower.....often you'll find they are fitted with new decks and painted up.
Whatever you do, avoid local authority auctions.....the machines are there for a reason - they are knackered!
Go for a Honda power unit if you can, although the larger iron cylindered Briggs are good.
You may find end of season bargains, but don't hold your breath!
John

 

[andycollins]

I opted for the Hyundai HYM510SP earlier this year. My lawn in uneven in places and this one copes well. The main reasons I went with this one are for the mulching feature and decent cutting width.