Lawnmower Maintenance and Repair Article

In this article I hope to offer a little help in the choice, maintenance and use of lawnmowers. This is a lot like buying a car, or any other consumer durable for that matter, as you are presented with a bewildering choice of makes, models and prices. A wrong choice will leave you saddled with something which, while it may be adequate for the job in hand, is wrong enough to be damned annoying. Let us see if we can shed a little light on this little problem.

Firstly, as I am sure you know, there are two main types of lawnmower available to the home user: cylinder or rotary. There are other types, such as flails, but their use is mostly confined to verge cutting and similar heavy work. Let us begin with a look at rotary machines. Whilst not normally associated with the maintenance of fine turf, such machines do have their advantages. Firstly, they are very simple. What could be simpler than a huge great blade, firmly attached to the crank of an engine, hammering round at a rate of knots, completely mangling anything in its path? No setting up required, just gas and go, as they say. Rotaries are also very versatile. If you have, for arguments sake, a reasonable lawn plus an orchard to look after and your budget doesn't stretch to a mower for each job, then a rotary is what you need. If you buy one with a rear roller and a grass bag, you can take off the bag; raise the cutting height and blast round the orchard to your heart's content. Then, you can re-fit the bag, lower the cutting height and make a reasonable job of the better quality grass areas. Turf experts, tend to be a little ‘off’ about rotary mowers, but they have their place and fill it very well. When buying one, the most important criteria, apart from price, is tip speed. What, I hear you ask, is that? Simply put, tip speed is the speed at which the tip of the blade rotates in relation to its speed over the ground. This simple relationship determines how good a finish the machine gives. Obviously, if the machine is pushed by the operator (not a nice thought) then he or she can walk at different speeds to obtain a different affect. However, a self propelled machine moves at a set pace and therefore tip speed becomes important. Baffle your local lawnmower vendor next time you go mower shopping by asking the question "Oi mate, what's the tip speed on this model then", or words to that effect. They should be able to answer this question and if they can't then the manufacturer should be able to. This is the sort of question a professional mower buyer would ask, so why should you not let people know what you are talking about. It helps prevent the age old problem of cutting through salesmen's hype. All other things being equal then, let tip speed decide which model you buy.

However, what if a rotary mower does not slake your lust for a better quality lawn, what then? Well we move on to cylinder mowers. What is the attraction of the cylinder mower? Simple enough: it gives a superior cut. That's everything. Some golf courses are using rotary mowers on the fairways now, but in my opinion it will be a cold day in hell before a green keeper will let a rotary on to the greens or tees. Why is this I hear you ask? Again, the answer is simple: a properly set up cylinder mower cuts, a rotary bashes its way through the grass. If you want a really outstanding lawn, you must invest in a decent cylinder mower. Now comes the bad news: cost. In my local mower shop, you can pick up a decent rotary mower for about £500 and that gets you a good one. In contrast, a bottom of the range cylinder mower will set you back at least a grand [£1000], not cheap. However all is not lost, as you can get a dam good cylinder mower second-hand, if you know where to look and what to look for. So, get out there and sort yourself a bargain. Study the Yellow Pages and find a supplier of machinery to the professional trade. They won't care that you are not a professional; all they are interested in is your money. If you talk nicely to them and they are not too busy, you may even persuade them to bring the mower to your house so that you can see it in action and ask any questions you may have about its operation. Take the usual precautions and you will get good quality at the right price.

Now, maintenance. Thankfully, mowers are, generally speaking, dead simple. They are not encumbered with catalytic converters, computerised engine management systems, nor are their engines hidden under artfully designed plastic covers to keep interfering fingers at bay. Being simple, they also respond to simple maintenance schedules, which can be carried out by any sensible person. First, and most importantly, keep the thing clean, especially at the beginning of the season when the grass is usually pretty soggy. I have lost count of the times people have complained that their collecting rotary is not collecting. A quick glance under the deck will doubtless reveal enough stuck on crap to sink a battleship. (A word off caution here: never turn your mower on its side to look under the deck without first removing the spark plug lead. I don't care how many blade brakes or safety devices there are, new fingers are not available on the NHS (from hospital)! The removal of this collected rubbish will cure your problem. While we are on the subject, if you’re collecting rotary has a cloth bag and is not collecting efficiently, hold the bag up to the light. Can you see anything? No. I guessed not. The answer to your dilemma is to clean that bag. Now, you are no doubt aware that grass is tough to get out of cloth. Grass which has been applied by a hundred mile an hour gale is going to be really tough. If you can't shift it with the regular hose, there are two courses of action. Either soak it for a couple of days in a vat of water containing some washing powder and then hose it, or cart it down to the nearest garage which has a coin operated jet wash and give it major stick. People may think you are mad, but they will get over it. Whatever course of action you decide upon, your machine will be transformed, believe me. If you keep your bag clean in future, you will have no more trouble with naff collection.

Cylinder mowers respond similarly to a good clean. If you look at the path the grass clippings take from blade to box and clean the areas this grass passes, or contacts, you will have a sweeter running, happier machine. Obviously, jet washing the grass box is totally unnecessary, which is another reason to feel smug about being a cylinder mower owner.

Anyhow, back to maintenance. After external cleanliness, take care of the inner mower and give it an oil change. If you only use the mower for a couple of hours a week then an annual oil change is a good idea. It isn't a complicated job; the person who sold you the machine should show you how to do these jobs when you hand over your hard earned money. Of course, you could let the dealer change the oil when you put in the mower for its annual service, but why should they get all the fun? Apart from these jobs, there isn't a lot to do to a modern mower, apart from oiling any pivot points on controls, cables, etc, and ensuring it is cutting nicely. With a rotary, this is fairly straight forward. Just check the cutting edge of the blade with eye and hand. If it is a little dull then either give it a rub with a file, attack it gently with an angle grinder if you have one, or remove it and get your dealer to grind it for you. A cautionary note here. Be careful to remove similar amounts of metal from both ends of the blade or you will destroy its balance and you know how nasty unbalanced things can be. Seriously though, if your mower is badly out of balance, it will shake itself to bits in a matter of minutes. Even a slight imbalance will make the machine unpleasant and tiring to use, so beware. If the blade looks like the dog's been at it, then splash out and buy a new one, you know it makes sense. You'll probably save the cost of the blade in petrol anyway, as the motor won't be working half as hard trying to push the blade through the grass.

Those of you who decide to take the cylinder mowing route will now come up against the issue which I believe puts most people off cylinder mowers: setting the damn things. If the salesman tells you this is easy it is time to get the old sceptical look out. Get said salesperson to give you a demonstration of the technique required and if you are met with inaction and a stony silence then I suggest you take your "flexible friend" elsewhere. Seriously though, setting a cylinder mower is hard but it can be learnt and like all skills can be improved with practice and imagine the glow of satisfaction from getting it right.
If your mower proves difficult to set then you may need to get it re-ground and in extremis, a new bottom blade fitted. This is not half as drastic as it sounds. All that is involved is the mounting of your mower onto a special machine which grinds your cylinder until it is perfectly round in relation to its centre and then grinding the bottom plate to match. If this sounds horribly technical, get the fitter at your mower shop to explain it to you. They should be more than prepared to do this, as they will soon be parting you from a chunk of your money and they should be prepared to show you what you are spending it on. If they ask you if you want the cylinder relief ground, politely refuse, as I have found this is a waste of time. However, it is worthwhile having it back lapped, as this really puts a good finish on the cylinder and ensures a great cut. I might even show you how to do it yourself one of these days. It's just another of those jobs that you can get done, but is much more satisfying to do yourself.
The use of mowers is nowhere near as complex as their buying and maintenance. It’s a piece of cake, really, isn't it? Just fire it up, walk up and down, stopping occasionally to empty the grass box. Well, yes and no. It is indeed that easy (or I wouldn't be able to do it). However, with a small change in style, you can make a good job into a beauty. Try varying the direction in which you mow. Try going up and down the lawn one week and across it the next. You will see a difference in the way the grass looks in no time. It will look much smoother because the grass which used to hide when you went over it the same way every week is now exposed and gets cut. For a really flash affect try cutting the lawn on the diagonal, This takes a bit of nerve, but give it a go, you will have to leave the comfort of a nice solid edge to guide you and fire the mower across the middle of the lawn for your starting cut, but fear not, you can do it. Next time you watch a cricket match (if you do watch cricket that is) or a football match for that matter, try to work out how many directions the pitch, outfield or whatever has been cut in. You will undoubtedly see that the grass has been cut in at least two, if not more, directions. This is how professional grounds keepers get such a smooth, velvety finish.

That's about it for my ramblings on the subject of mowers and mowing, so I will shoot off now and let you get on with it.

Strimmers

Flymo Multi Trim

As a customer advisor at a popular DIY store I try and collect as much information from customers experiences after they bought our products as possible so I know more for the next customer. On many occasions I have been told about how the Flymo Multi Trim strimmer was “the best strimmer I’ve used”. This piece of equipment is extremely useful, and well designed for its purpose.

To test the Flymo Multi Trim myself as part of a demonstration, I tackled an area of grass between six to nine inches high, which was also soaking wet, after three days' continuous rain. To my pleasant surprise the Multi Trim had no problems it chomping its way through this rather ambitious task.

If I had been using a professional standard strimmer, running on a small petrol engine, I would have expected my trouser bottoms to have been covered in grass and to have a mild backache, by the end of the session. These machines are fairly heavy and require the operator to move from side to side in a swinging movement, but with the Multi Trim, I have found that the balance was almost perfect and combined with its lack of weight it was a joy to use. The biggest surprise so far has been with the guard, which covers most of the cutting head. Although it blocked several times whilst I was using it (you must remember that this grass was long and wet) it prevented me from getting covered in grass cuttings. The guard is very efficient and well designed.

The final part of the test came on the lawn edging; it was very simple to change the angle of the cutting head in preparation for trimming a lawn edge. Normally I would cut the edges by hand, using long-handled shears. The Multi Trim, after a little practice, proved to be a highly efficient and labour saving method of cutting lawn edges, and saved a large amount of effort not to mention more backache.

Perhaps the only drawback with the Flymo Multi Trim is that the electric cable can sometimes restrict the distance that you can use the machine from a power source.

So, top marks for the Flymo Multi Trim - an excellent piece of equipment that is well-designed, safe and is able to do the job that it is designed for. For under £40 it’s a great bargain that can save you many hours and a good deal of backache.