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Winnie
7th February 2017, 08:02 PM
G'day guys,

I'm in the market for a brand new push mower. Must be 4 stroke.
I have a budget of around 600-700. My last mower was a Victa from Bunnings and it was a heap of shit. I had a look at the local hardware store today who sell Honda mowers and I like the look of them. Anybody had any experience with them or could recommend another brand?

Clunk
7th February 2017, 08:04 PM
Is it a Vtec?

MB
7th February 2017, 08:24 PM
IMO, you can't beat a genuine Honda for small motor applications mate. Pumps, wackers, Kanga's all still going strong.

Winnie
7th February 2017, 08:29 PM
IMO, you can't beat a genuine Honda for small motor applications mate. Pumps, wackers, Kanga's all still going strong.
Just been reading reviews on the Honda mowers and apparently the engines are good, but undersized and their mowers are no good nowadays. There is a masport dealer in my town too so might go have a look at those tomorrow, they have a much bigger range.

Clunk
7th February 2017, 08:31 PM
Flymo?????????

Plasnart
7th February 2017, 08:45 PM
Got a honda mower. Bloody ripper. Had it 7 years, never serviced and still goes strong and no rust. Whatever you buy get alloy deck not powdercoated steel, so spend the coin, cheaper in the long run.

mudnut
7th February 2017, 09:00 PM
A few of the good name brands are making cheaper stuff to stay competitive. I will talk to a mate who services small motors for a living, about which brands are still making quality gear.

Clunk
7th February 2017, 09:06 PM
Got given a Scott Bonner 13 years ago, no idea how old it is but apart from a new pull cord, done nothing to it......

PeeBee
7th February 2017, 09:10 PM
I have had 3 victa 2 strokes, strong reliable and could eat bricks.......might be why I went thru 3 of them??? The old Victas were very reliable. The old hondas were magnificent, loved the wide cut.

GQtdauto
7th February 2017, 10:03 PM
Looks like I wasn't the only one to buy a piece of crap Victa from Bunnings .

firm351
7th February 2017, 11:06 PM
I've got a masport 490 from bunnings. Its a kick arse mower, best push mower I've ever had. Its got the 190cc briggs quantum engine, mulching plug, side discharge chute, catcher and chipper chute. Chipper chute is useless but the rest is brilliant. Starts first go every go and never bogs down even through the thickest kikuyu. I think it cost about $550.

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jay see
8th February 2017, 12:56 AM
My 4 stroke bunnings victa is now in the hands of my brother in law, service it once and put in a new set of blades in the 16 years that I used it. Did everything from clearing empty blocks of land to fortnightly grass cutting.

MudRunnerTD
8th February 2017, 07:25 AM
Your budget is good but bunnings is over priced. I bought a Honda motored with Alloy chassis and hose out connection late last year. I got a great price and saved $200 off the price for the same unit at Bunnings.

I did a fair bit of research and conversation as I was also replacing a Victa I'd had nothing but trouble with. Stoked with the new mower.

MudRunnerTD
8th February 2017, 07:29 AM
The best thin I did though was go and have a conversation with the sales guys at 3 different Mower Specialist shops to sort out the chaff from the hey. It was enlightening. I am stoked with my choice and the deal I got done.

threedogs
8th February 2017, 07:51 AM
I brought a Kmart Gardener Choice mower with a china honda copy motor.
the Motor shite itself so I brought a bigger 6.5HP motor on ebay this motor
will cut anything at Idle.
Honda do a great mower but get one with a wide cut and multi function such as a mower/mulcher

MudRunnerTD
8th February 2017, 07:55 AM
Just went and found pics I took of my mower when I bought it. I got it from my local Mower store in August.

It's a Victa with a Honda engine and Alloy deck. Even the other stores were telling me the Honda engine was a Beast and at the price I was being offered it was a No Brainer. Stoked with it mate

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2017/02/61.jpg

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2017/02/1.png

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2017/02/2.png

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2017/02/3.png


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mudnut
8th February 2017, 12:46 PM
Asked my mate today and his reply was: "If you want a basic lawn mower then get Bushranger with a Kolher engine." He said that there is a golden wheel barrow mentality in the industry. IE a lot of the components are throw away and some cheap mowers are designed to last two seasons and then turf them, (pardon the pun).

4bye4
8th February 2017, 01:08 PM
Asked my mate today and his reply was: "If you want a basic lawn mower then get Bushranger with a Kolher engine." He said that there is a golden wheel barrow mentality in the industry. IE a lot of the components are throw away and some cheap mowers are designed to last two seasons and then turf them, (pardon the pun).

I am in the small motor industry, in fact I am a Kohler authorised repairer amongst others. I work on industrial motors, Kohler, Honda, Bang and Stop, sorry I mean Briggs and Stratton which are the big brothers of the lawnmower motors. Lawnmower motors are manufactured to last at least 70 to 100 hrs. When you equate this to say an hour a week in a domestic situation, you have a mower that is good for a minimum of 3 to 5 Years. Contractors can put those hours up in a matter of weeks, so that is why the majority of lawnmower contractors run Honda GXV series motors. The GX is the industrial motor built with 1000 hrs plus in mind. The one pictured in the previous post is a GC series which is not an industrial standard motor but being a Honda is still a quality motor. Most Chinese manufactured machines are either Briggs and Stratton or Honda clones, some of them quite well made, others, well no so good. the worst thing about Chinese clones is that they a virtually unrepairable with one use screws and bolts. In other words if you try to change a coil or carbi you will probably strip the threads just taking the covers off.

mudnut
8th February 2017, 01:30 PM
I am in the small motor industry, in fact I am a Kohler authorised repairer amongst others. I work on industrial motors, Kohler, Honda, Bang and Stop, sorry I mean Briggs and Stratton which are the big brothers of the lawnmower motors. Lawnmower motors are manufactured to last at least 70 to 100 hrs. When you equate this to say an hour a week in a domestic situation, you have a mower that is good for a minimum of 3 to 5 Years. Contractors can put those hours up in a matter of weeks, so that is why the majority of lawnmower contractors run Honda GXV series motors. The GX is the industrial motor built with 1000 hrs plus in mind. The one pictured in the previous post is a GC series which is not an industrial standard motor but being a Honda is still a quality motor. Most Chinese manufactured machines are either Briggs and Stratton or Honda clones, some of them quite well made, others, well no so good. the worst thing about Chinese clones is that they a virtually unrepairable with one use screws and bolts. In other words if you try to change a coil or carbi you will probably strip the threads just taking the covers off.

So he was on the money, then. He was very disappointed in the way B&S have decided to go. He spends a lot of time explaining to owners of the cheap crap that it will cost more than its worth to repair. I was there when a bloke brought in a whipper snipper that his dad had bought. It never ran from new. The Dad sadly passed away before getting the issue sorted. The bloke wanted to know why the thing wouldn't run. We found that the kill switch cable had been clamped to the shaft by a careless worker. This also indicated to us that the makers don't even test run their units before shipping them.

4bye4
8th February 2017, 01:47 PM
So he was on the money, then. He was very disappointed in the way B&S have decided to go. He spends a lot of time explaining to owners of the cheap crap that it will cost more than its worth to repair. I was there when a bloke brought in a whipper snipper that his dad had bought. It never ran from new. The Dad sadly passed away before getting the issue sorted. The bloke wanted to know why the thing wouldn't run. We found that the kill switch cable had been clamped to the shaft by a careless worker. This also indicated to us that the makers don't even test run their units before shipping them.

Mate I hate the way the world economy works. You can't blame B and S or any other manufacturer for building cheaper machinery. I am constantly asked, sometimes not too politely, why I charge say $3000 for a pressure cleaner when you can get it from Bunnings for $300. The manufacturers like Honda and B&S have to make a cheap line to compete. Not so much with Kohler as they pretty much stay in the commercial/industrial market and don't compete much with the domestic machines. A few years ago a container of chain saws from China, such as the ones Bunnings sell for $290, cost $12 each landed here. So no they weren't tested, if they didn't work you just gave the customer another one. Stupid thing is, I cannot sell any of the Bunnings, Supercheap type of machinery as they do not meet the emission standards for commercial/industrial use. The machinery world sucks big time and I am looking forward to the day I can retire and stop thinking about it.

mudnut
8th February 2017, 01:56 PM
Yeah, he is shying away from the small stuff and is concentrating on ride-ons. Even a lot of their makers are build cheap crap now.

Winnie
8th February 2017, 03:22 PM
I ended up going to the mower shop this morning and walking out with a masport 3000 with a 163cc B&S motor. I paid ticket price but got a couple of extra things thrown in and first service will be free. Good old fashioned service.
Looks to be pretty solid and has a good warranty.

Rossco
8th February 2017, 04:02 PM
Yeah ive got a masport something and it hadn't missed a beat. Probly only use it once or twice a year but . . . Should last a while. .

GQtdauto
8th February 2017, 06:36 PM
Victa with Honda motor or Kohler got it .

garett
8th February 2017, 06:45 PM
bah i got a cox crusider its got a briggs on it. when did they make the first ally deck? it weighs a tonne and it's something close to 30.. the damn thing wont die, i've even hit it with a stick

Bush Ranger
8th February 2017, 07:16 PM
I had a Honda World. The only problems I had with it, was a small catcher and the chute that directs the clipping in to the catcher is small, in which didn`t fill the catcher properly and clagged up the chute. We have a mower that has a Briggs and Stratton motor and has a chipper chute at the back of the motor for small branches / palm fronds.

Cyclone
8th February 2017, 09:23 PM
I decided to give a cordless batterie powered mower a go. I live on a corner block so a little bigger than the normal suburban block. I was a bit sceptical when I bought the mower at first. But now swear by it. It's a Ryobi 32V mower with a 5AH batterie. This is the second summer. I am very happy with the mower and will never buy petrol again.
Sid

mudski
8th February 2017, 09:37 PM
70863................

Bush Ranger
9th February 2017, 09:46 AM
70863................

You`ll have to put a guard / catcher of some sort on the mower, as if you ride the bike too fast, it`ll spray the clippings up in to your face.