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Light weight lawn mowers?

Kathy43Kathy43 Posts: 116
in Tools and techniques
Im starting my own garden services! So Im looking into investing into a new mower. I am 5 foot 2, and quite small build.
Can anyone recommend a long lasting, light weight mower, which will tolerate being put in and out of a car boot, and multi use? many thanks
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  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    I'm afraid, in my experience, light-weight and long-lasting don't go together. If you're running a business you'll need to focus on reliability, and that usually means heavy.

    What do you mean by multi-use? Most lawn mowers just mow the lawn :smile:
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I think it depends on what your client base is going to be. For fine lawns that are cut frequently, a cylinder mower is best, but a rotary mower is more suitable for coarser or overgrown grass. If you're expecting to have some clients with short fine lawns and others with rougher grass or utility lawns, you'll need to be able to adjust the height easily or it'll drive you nuts. Maybe get a heavy-duty strimmer as well if you're going to be taking on overgrown gardens.
    Another thing to consider is whether you'll always have access to electricity - if not it cuts the choice down - battery-powered mowers might not last long enough on a charge for professional use, but petrol mowers tend to be bigger and heavier.
    I'm 5'3" and on the puny side, and I use a push-along cylinder mower which I find light, manageable and reliable (no motor to go wrong), but it's just my own lawns and they're small so it might not suit what you have in mind.


    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Kathy43Kathy43 Posts: 116
    My own is a rotary, electric. But plastic so, I'm guessing not hard enough for transporting.
    Multi use, I mean uneven ground, wet grass, after all, it's England!
    I think petrol is the most reliable, incase I have no power at the property
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    You could investigate some kind of ramp arrangement for getting  mower in and out of the car (and it'll be easier if our car boot floor is level with the edge of the opening so you don't have to lift up and over).
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • ColinAColinA Posts: 392
    I am a retired Garden machinery dealer and during my time in the trade I saw many new starter gardeners try the cheap and cheerful type machines and fail to get even one seasons work out of them, cheap and light weight is the wrong road to go down. We always sold Honda or Hayter machines to landscape gardeners and providing they were serviced and maintained regularly years of work could be expected, Instead of lifting in and out of a car it is far better to use a small trailer with as ramp there is much less chance of injury to the operator and damage to the vehicle
  • Kathy43Kathy43 Posts: 116
    I didn't say cheap
  • Kathy43Kathy43 Posts: 116
    JennyJ said:
    You could investigate some kind of ramp arrangement for getting  mower in and out of the car (and it'll be easier if our car boot floor is level with the edge of the opening so you don't have to lift up and over).
    We are getting a new vehicle soon, so boot is an important  factor, too. We like the higher types, and hubby wants big enough for his golf clubs! 
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Fair enough  :) The most popular brand of lawnmower on this forum certainly seems to be Honda. Do you have a Garden Machinery place near you where you can test the weight as it were of various models?  Good luck with the business! 
  • Kathy43Kathy43 Posts: 116
    Yes we have, I don't know how much stock choice they have there, though! 
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Wouldn't hurt to take a look, at least you can discount the models that are no good. It might even be worth taking a trip a bit further afield to a bigger one if possible. It's an important investment after all  :)
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