Mowing ..

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

Your not too petty. Throw down some cow crap or other unpleasant fertiliser for that small section to make it grow like nuts.
Anyhow. After a few other maintenance things for my mower yesterday, i cleaned a lot of caked on grass crap from the underside of the deck of my mower. Thats something ive never done. That seriously made a world of difference towards the catcher.

Worthwhile doing as it improves the airflow and therefore catching efficiency

Best thing for the job is a paint scraper and a wire brush.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Ok, so I didn't do the roundup trick, but my point is slowing being made.

image

image

Pity the growth has started to taper off as the difference would be much greater by now.

I'm a petty man.............

We are making some progress, to the point it's pretty obvious now..........

[Citroënbender]

To cap it off, you need to pressure clean the kerb and footpath.

[FTE217]

and all it took for the guy is to get out say gday thanks so much doing my section even though you never had to.....
Yer will be a good lesson to him DFB.

I attacked my lawns yesterday and trimming.
As CB mentions we have finally had a few days of drying up here in Sydney.
I saved myself big time giving the lawns a high cut whilst there was a break in the rain week before last.
No trimming just a quick run barring where I had a few pools.
Still soft ground yesterday but a trim cut back down to my regular height was great to see but the damage is there due to alot of run off from above us dragging soil/small rocks and heaps of leaf mulch.
Its ok it will all recover but damn you hate the excess soil and rocks that unless I get anal and rake like mad.

CB, my word the council are weeks behind - there will be some grounds/parks they won't be able to do for sometime that are still wet as, any ride on will dig right in.

[Citroënbender]

Mine’s all cut and edged, about eight and a half hours all up at a casual pace. That includes time to shift cars and stuff, then put everything back again (think The Castle ) . It’s still sodden in many places, though.

[mad2]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Mine’s all cut and edged, about eight and a half hours all up at a casual pace. That includes time to shift cars and stuff, then put everything back again (think The Castle ) . It’s still sodden in many places, though.

time for me to do ours again...... thank goodness fork i 'murdered' the front lawn last time as it would half way up me calf otherwise!. back lawn has me worried tho as i havn't been able to fill just ONE green waste bin for about 3 weeks now .


awesome that the neighbour lets me use their green waste bin tho

[.:4:.]

Yesterday arvo my neighbor asked if my mate who lives in my granny flat and I could help her son (also a good mate) knock down her backyard. She wasnt asking for a good job, she pays for her lawn to get done however if its overgrown they charge extra. I thought my grass was long. Whats worse about her yard is that she had and got rid of a semi above ground pool, so theres a pool size ditch. So the slasher blade on the stupid heavy 51cc thing came in very useful. 2 yards slashed in 1 day. Then the lawn got run over with a mower obviously to make it even and pick up a bins worth of grass, which was maybe 10% of the yard. Rest done no catcher.
I have done some whipper snipping with the heavy one. It's a beast but my crappy old 25cc whipper snipper is the go to for whipper snippering edges. Its so much easier, even if it lacks power, its not heavy at all.
Having something that can take a slasher blade really did increase productivity.
Granted it wasnt an expensive thing, if i was just after a whipper snipper to do normal legnth grass id pass on it purely due the weight. But i did test out the pole chainsaw attachment to see if its any good. Being that yes i have a chainsaw, but for smaller branches setting up a ladder on uneven ground is sketchy. It works surprisingly well.

[DFB FGXR6]

More blower woes...........



The cord didn't break but wasn't far from it. The C-E part in BG 86C-E refers to the Easy2Start function, a sprung weighted mechanism that makes the engine easier to turn over. Those springs are a nightmare to deal with, so I left it to the pro's.

[.:4:.]

Had the pull start mechanism on my crappy 25cc whipper snipper let go last weekend. It wasnt the pull cord, it was the plastic gear thing. I did keep some parts off a 30cc whipper snipper i had that grenaded years ago. The pull cord mechanism did fit. It was a complete pain to do so because of the spring and the fact you need 3 hands to fit into a space where you can hardly fit 1 hand.
I did invent a few new swear words in the process, but after a number of slut cat monkey ****s, it was fixed.

[.:4:.]

So, its been a couple weeks since i slashed my knee high grass down, and a couple rounds of mowing high. Its back to where i like it.
So edges ive been using the heavy 51cc snipper. My opinion of it has really changed. Yes its heavy, yes the rip cord is the heaviest thing ive ever used to start anything. But i actually prefer it over my light 25cc snipper. The spool is bigger and has a much larger throw (dunno if thats the correct term), add that with extra power, the thing does more work in less time. Theres no making 2 passes over thicker edges like with the 25cc one, the big unit powers through. No its not due to different line, both use 2.4mm line and i have the same brand in both.

[Tonz]

was using a 100 series JD ride on yesterday. in front of steering wheel is a gauge/ clock type thing that had 86.7 read out, what is it and what does it do?

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by Tonz

was using a 100 series JD ride on yesterday. in front of steering wheel is a gauge/ clock type thing that had 86.7 read out, what is it and what does it do?

I just did a quick google, apparently they have an hour meter. A digital thing on what would be the dash if it was a car.

[Tassie f100]

Maybe an hourmeter

[Tonz]

thank you I think its way past a service

[CFOUR]

today for me was new mower day
tldr first: I mow 1/2 acre front yard with push mower, back yard 2 acres with a ride on, I got this its great


So, 18 months ago my trusty Rover 18" 4 stroke was at the end of its life and I was considering a few choices to replace it, the front runner was the big honda alloy deck.
The local dealer had a 2 weeks until next shipment of honda mowers and in that gap my father spontaneously gifted me a new mower... an aldi mower ... It wasn't cheap at $350, it felt quality at first touch and worked well for a year.
Basically this without the self propelled


Its chassis fell apart in a year and after being cobbled back together it lasted the past 6 months as "functional".

I was again deciding Replacement options, Budget of about $1000 frontrunners where the 21"honda and the rover duracut but I was open minded and preferred non self-propelled.
Then came yesterday afternoon,
I was at a buddies place helping him do fork seals on his wr450f and spotted a shiny new mower beside its box


A victa hurricane limited edition 20" 144cc engine, large wheels
"new mower any good?" "yeah love it" 20 questions later I was pushing it around his yard (put 2 racing stripes in it about 1m wide lol).
He had checked reviews before buying and the only complaint was the large wheels stick out 2 inches past the deck so you cant mow right to edging or brickwork.
Not an issue for him or me as we both brushcut the edge before mowing. and surprisingly well under budget at $550 Sold

I popped into Bunnings this morning to get one and right beside the 144cc hurricane was the limited edition Victa fighter, same mower but the larger 170cc engine and red instead of yellow.
For the extra $50 I couldn't buy the little motor one,
home assembled and used,


Went that quick and easy I tossed it in the ute between the supercars qualy and race and went and mowed the lawn at my sisters house
(I do that she mops my house, easy trade)
better yet after going well under budget at $600 it was upgrade time.
My husqvarna 2 stroke blower died 12 months back and I'd been using the tiny dewalt blower I use to blow sawdust away at work, extra budget lead to upgrading that too

the mower, so far love it, its very big but still lighter than the rover or the Aldi and it only just fits where I like to park the mower beside a project car.
Not surprisingly I found The large wheels stick out 2 inches past the deck so you cant mow right to edging or brickwork
The 170cc motor doesn't/hasn't bogged, large catcher fills right to the top without the chute clogging,
The 170 is a bit louder the the 144 but I use blutooth earphones while doing the yardwork anyway. actually recommend both the hurricane and the fighter for the money.
The blower, it's good, not great, 2/3 as good as the husky and twice as good as the lil dewalt (which punches above its weight)
Happy days

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by CFOUR

today for me was new mower day
tldr first: I mow 1/2 acre front yard with push mower, back yard 2 acres with a ride on, I got this its great
image

So, 18 months ago my trusty Rover 18" 4 stroke was at the end of its life and I was considering a few choices to replace it, the front runner was the big honda alloy deck.
The local dealer had a 2 weeks until next shipment of honda mowers and in that gap my father spontaneously gifted me a new mower... an aldi mower ... It wasn't cheap at $350, it felt quality at first touch and worked well for a year.
Basically this without the self propelled
image

Its chassis fell apart in a year and after being cobbled back together it lasted the past 6 months as "functional".

I was again deciding Replacement options, Budget of about $1000 frontrunners where the 21"honda and the rover duracut but I was open minded and preferred non self-propelled.
Then came yesterday afternoon,
I was at a buddies place helping him do fork seals on his wr450f and spotted a shiny new mower beside its box
image

A victa hurricane limited edition 20" 144cc engine, large wheels
"new mower any good?" "yeah love it" 20 questions later I was pushing it around his yard (put 2 racing stripes in it about 1m wide lol).
He had checked reviews before buying and the only complaint was the large wheels stick out 2 inches past the deck so you cant mow right to edging or brickwork.
Not an issue for him or me as we both brushcut the edge before mowing. and surprisingly well under budget at $550 Sold

I popped into Bunnings this morning to get one and right beside the 144cc hurricane was the limited edition Victa fighter, same mower but the larger 170cc engine and red instead of yellow.
For the extra $50 I couldn't buy the little motor one,
home assembled and used,
image

Went that quick and easy I tossed it in the ute between the supercars qualy and race and went and mowed the lawn at my sisters house
(I do that she mops my house, easy trade)
better yet after going well under budget at $600 it was upgrade time.
My husqvarna 2 stroke blower died 12 months back and I'd been using the tiny dewalt blower I use to blow sawdust away at work, extra budget lead to upgrading that too image

the mower, so far love it, its very big but still lighter than the rover or the Aldi and it only just fits where I like to park the mower beside a project car.
Not surprisingly I found The large wheels stick out 2 inches past the deck so you cant mow right to edging or brickwork
The 170cc motor doesn't/hasn't bogged, large catcher fills right to the top without the chute clogging,
The 170 is a bit louder the the 144 but I use blutooth earphones while doing the yardwork anyway. actually recommend both the hurricane and the fighter for the money.
The blower, it's good, not great, 2/3 as good as the husky and twice as good as the lil dewalt (which punches above its weight)
Happy days
image

Happy mowing!

Would you mind posting a couple of pics of the blades and the shoot without the catcher fitted? I'm not familiar with this generation of Victa's.

[danzvtil]

Been enjoying my husqvarna hedgers, but today was working low in a tight spot and managed to take a chunk out of my left leg above the knee through my shorts!
9 stitches,a tetanus shot and antibiotics later, I’m home. Be careful with your tools guys!

[Citroënbender]

Could have been worse! Glad you were in a spot to get treated promptly.

[CFOUR]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Happy mowing!

Would you mind posting a couple of pics of the blades and the shoot without the catcher fitted? I'm not familiar with this generation of Victa's.

as requested. any questions just let me know.




2nd use today this time on damp grass, was a champ again, full catcher every time and wide cut made fast work.

[DFB FGXR6]

Looks like Stihl are branching out into the hair care industry......................

[.:4:.]

So the last time i ran my mower, mid mow it got very loud. So its a 2010 18' victa vantage with a 158cc briggsy. So not the quietest, but deffinately not the loudest. With the loud tinny noise my first guess was the muffler was shagged. The fix was simpler then that. A bolt backed out that holds a heat sheild to the motor.
For the domestic its been a very reliable mower. Maintenance wise its had a couple oil changes in its life and replacement blades. Still cold starts first pull every time.

[DaveD]

And Dyson are coming out with air-purifying headphones with active noise cancelling. Just what every lawnie needs!



https://www.dyson.co.uk/wearables/dy...s/announcement

[LG17]

My old man had a toecutter from brand new.
His toes were safe but his fingers werent.
I remember one day we were on either side of the mower which was running.I don't remember what he was doing but his fingers ended up getting sliced.
He turned the mower off, wrapped a hanky around his fingers and we got a tram to PA hospital where they stitched him up.

[Tonz]

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Tonz

image

Yikes! No thanks!!

Trivia -

How can you tell a Chinese made vs American made Briggs side valve engine?

The Chinese ones have vertical ribs cast into the back of the block like the one pictured above. The American ones, about pre-2005, have smooth outer castings.

[.:4:.]

Ive made my verdict towards the ozito 51cc whippersnipper/has other attachments thing.
I like it. Im past complaining about how heavy it is because it takes a quarter of the time to get the job done. How long till the thing craps out? I dunno, but its domestic use. So probably a raging peice of crap if used for comercial work. But i like it. Well so far....

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

Ive made my verdict towards the ozito 51cc whippersnipper/has other attachments thing.
I like it. Im past complaining about how heavy it is because it takes a quarter of the time to get the job done. How long till the thing craps out? I dunno, but its domestic use. So probably a raging piece of crap if used for commercial work. But i like it. Well so far....

This one?

https://ozito.com.au/products/51-7cc...-1-multi-tool/

It has a full crank engine so it should be last you a while.

[DFB FGXR6]

I got to pretend I was an arborist today. Best bit was playing with the chainsaws.........





I got most of it down with the MSA 120 and it did better than it had any right to. I had to get the petrol powered saw out to cut the last remaining meter of trunk level at the ground.



The chain fitted to the MSA 120 has pretty small teeth so it's ability to cut bigger material is limited. I got all the cutting I needed done with that machine on one charge.

The Stihl 009L may look small but it packs a 41cc engine so it's power to weight ratio is strong. It also has a more normal teeth size on it's chain.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Facebook Marketplace find:

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

This one?

https://ozito.com.au/products/51-7cc...-1-multi-tool/

It has a full crank engine so it should be last you a while.

Yeah, one of those.