Non-motoring > Scarifier. Lawn mower.	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Armel Coussine	Replies: 35

New Thu 4 Apr 13 15:44   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Armel Coussine

There's a petrol-powered lawn scarifier in the back of the car. I think it's a thing to comb out the dead leaves and crud from the winter's downpours, flatten the molehills and so on. It cost more than 500 quid but has a nice four-stroke engine. The mower, a rotary Honda with a roller, will cost twice that and had to be ordered. It will have a two-stroke engine. Not so keen on those. But happy that I didn't have to pay for these machines. The ones I fancy most have steering wheels and are huge, but those are a bit too grand for us and cost several thousand pounds. If it ever stops raining and snowing and freezing your balls off I will get some gentle exercise following these devices up and down and keeping the grass short. But it hasn't grown at all for months it seems. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 4 Apr 13 15:53   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Fenlander

>>>a rotary Honda with a roller, will cost twice that and had to be ordered. It will have a two-stroke engine A 2-stroke Honda mower... really? Be sure before mixing fuel. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 4 Apr 13 16:03   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Armel Coussine

Thanks Fenlander, but I always RTFM before firing up. If it's a four-stroke I will be pleased. I haven't been deeply involved in choosing these things because I'm not paying, so perhaps I haven't got all the details right. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 4 Apr 13 16:22   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Fenlander

I don't know the Honda range in full but thought making a good 4-stroke was their thing. When buying each of my four Honda mowers over the past 15yrs it has been 4-stroke or nothing. Even my Honda hedgecutter is a 4-stroke. So are you going into competition with Hawkeye in contract gardening? Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 4 Apr 13 16:34   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Armel Coussine

I couldn't begin to compete with anyone in any kind of gardening I'm afraid. But there are some largish areas of grass and scrub that will have to be kept down and trimmed, or the ladies will be embarrassed when people visit. My SiL has it in for some rhododendrons beside the drive. I quite like them when they are in bloom but people say they are invasive and poison everything else by exuding nasty brown stuff (clearly visible in this very wet, flooded winter). She's got an evil bottle of poison to do them in but I think she's too scared to try using it. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 4 Apr 13 16:34   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - zookeeper

stick abit of 50:1 two stroke in any way...if its been standing a while Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 4 Apr 13 16:37   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Armel Coussine

Yup... no harm in a bit of UCL short of oiling up the plug... Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 4 Apr 13 17:02   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - zookeeper

have a spare plug ...a bit of prep ...not rocket science Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 4 Apr 13 17:05   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - zookeeper

turn it over with plug out a few revs Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 4 Apr 13 22:58   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Ted

Flog it and get one of the staff to do it with shears. Ted Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 4 Apr 13 23:10   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Armel Coussine

>> get one of the staff to do it with shears. Sounds a good idea Edouardo. But there are certain fundamental problems. No staff just for a start. I have to say too that the older I get the less the idea of having 'staff' appeals to me. It's the thought of their daily baleful scrutiny that puts me off. 'Wash your gonads sir?' The very thought makes one's heart sink. So it's just as well one is a pauper without a police pension, knowImean? Obviously you are on the mend. But don't get sprauncy with me. Save it for that geek round the corner. :o} Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 4 Apr 13 23:24   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Ted

:-) Ted Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 5 Apr 13 08:25   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Crankcase

>> 'Wash your gonads sir?' An offer made, I imagine, by a wrinkled retainer. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 4 Apr 13 23:12   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Gromit

Honda's selling point in the marine outboard market is that they've never made two-stroke engines, so do check carefully before you fill up on 50:1 mix! Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 5 Apr 13 08:59   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Haywain

Honda produced the NSR series of motorcycles - they were 2-strokes. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 5 Apr 13 09:10   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Ambo

I hired a scarifier once to clear my lawn of moss. It did, and of grass too. The grass came back after year but the moss took two years. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 5 Apr 13 09:18   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - CGNorwich

Really need to scarify or rake every year (using a hand rake is really hard work). Moss indicates poor drainage. Lawn needs aerating with a fork to improve drainage. Don't forget to apply lawn fertiliser and mow regularly. A flower bed is easier than a lawn. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 5 Apr 13 10:27   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - No FM2R

>>A flower bed is easier than a lawn. Depends on your point of view; I don;t really care how good the grass is, just so's the lawn is green, good to walk on or sit on, and covers the area, I'm never that bothered on the purity of the grass. Moss is green, as is clover. Works for me. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 5 Apr 13 11:05   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - CGNorwich

I agree. I'm not really into lawns. Too much work if you want the the sort shown on the seed packets!. Flowers and shrubs are so much more interesting and pleasing and involve a lot less time to keep in good order. The little bit of grass I have is nothing special. Never sure why people go for a bit patch of grass and a narrow little flower borders round the edge. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 5 Apr 13 19:40   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - corax

>> Really need to scarify or rake every year (using a hand rake is really hard >> work). Moss indicates poor drainage. It's a good idea to apply lawn sand (moss killer) around two weeks before scarifying. It will weaken the moss and makes it easier to remove with the scarifier. I like a bit of clover and other weeds in the lawn - it attracts the bees. A perfect lawn is so sterile. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 5 Apr 13 17:18   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - hawkeye

If you've never used a scarifier before, prepare yourself for the simply vast quantities of waste they generate. Gentle exercise with a rake? I think you'll be changing your views on the desirability of employing staff before long. Is it really a scarifier, or a power rake? A scarifier penetrates the surface of the soil with knife-bearing horizontal cylinder; a good domestic one is a two-man lift or it would bounce over the surface. A power rake has bendy tines to comb the rubbish out of the grass and isn't supposed to go digging. I'll be astonished if your new Honda mower is a two-stroke; I can't find one listed. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 5 Apr 13 17:35   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Armel Coussine

Seems to be a scarifier and power rake (there's another cylinder with flexible tines but the one on the machine has blades). Motor runs at a set speed, no throttle control. But I can't run it until the lawn has dried out a bit. I am very happy to learn that Honda mowers are four-stroke. Quieter and harder-wearing. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 5 Apr 13 22:52   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Roger.

We use Green Thumb for lawn treatment of our postage stamp sized green bits. Four times a year, saves hassle and buying "stuff" and a spreader. No drainage problems here, which is both good & bad. Little or no moss = good. Dry soil =bad, lots of watering in summer. Good job we are not on a water meter. (Or will ever be if I have owt to do with it) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 7 Apr 13 00:32   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Armel Coussine

Mobilised the scarifier thing today. Using the soft-pronged rotor it still gouged up more old leaves and gunged-up last year's grass mowings than one would believe possible. Two stripes, about 60 or 70 yards in total, completely stuffed the garbage basket. We are going to have far too much compost and mulch for our needs. Always leads to trouble, does equipment. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 7 Apr 13 18:36   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Kevin

>..completely stuffed the garbage basket. When Mrs K uses the lawn rake she leaves the moss and stuff in a heap in the 'wildlife' corner of the garden. Good nesting material and stops the little blighters from nicking the coconut fibre from her hanging basket liners. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Apr 13 19:23   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Armel Coussine

The lawn mower arrived on Wednesday. I got it out of its box and stuffed it in the shed but didn't mobilize it because everything was a bit damp. Today the SiL got it out and ran it. It's decently quiet - makes less noise than the scarifier which isn't by Honda - and drives itself, so you just have to walk behind it and steer. It makes stripes too although it has a rotary cutter, because there's a roller at the back. It leaves no debris or cuttings behind. Even I should be able to manage that. Almost looking forward to it. Two dead man's handles ensure that the rotor stops and the clutch disengages if you die and let go. So that's all right then. No risk of a garden path ripping its random way into the Surrey commuter belt and getting in the way of the emergency services on their way to bring me back to life. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Apr 13 20:18   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Runfer D'Hills

Didn't Norman Wisdom do something like that to the chagrin of Mr Grimsdale? Why in God's name do I remember that? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Apr 13 20:55   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Armel Coussine

>> Why in God's name do I remember that? Norman WISDOM? FFS! You are trying to humiliate me Humph, just because my grass-related thread has temporarily gone above yours. Don't worry, your pooch's muddy paws will soon garner another 100 or so posts. Mine is a lone voice of very bad taste howling mournfully in the wilderness. Norman Wisdom indeed! Faugh! Fiddlesticks! Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Apr 13 21:29   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Runfer D'Hills

I met him ( Norman Wisdom ) once, in a bar in Douglas on the Isle of Man, and I met Les Dawson in a restaurant in Lytham St Annes too. Sandy Gall in Blackpool at some political event and got hissed with Errol Brown from Hot Chocolate after a gig in the then Hilton in Stratford Upon Avon once as well. Not sure where I'm going with this, might be slightly interesting to someone I suppose... Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Sat 27 Apr 13 at 21:30 Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Apr 13 21:35   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - No FM2R

Never met NW, but I did meet Les Dawson in the Holiday Inn in Langley (which I don't think is actually there anymore?). It must have been around 81/82. We hit the hotel bar and all was fun, he says with hesitation, but there was just something a bit uncomfortable about being with him. Mostly I've found the television great and good to be pretty much what you see is what you get, and by and large a decent set of folks, but every now and again one feels a little hesitant. Certainly I have been around with several of those types where it is popular to malign their behaviour or personality and have found them to be nothing other than pleasant and entertaining. Last edited by: No FM2R on Sat 27 Apr 13 at 21:36 Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Apr 13 21:39   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Armel Coussine

>> I met him ( Norman Wisdom ) once, in a bar in Douglas on the Isle of Man, and I met Les Dawson in a restaurant in Lytham St Annes Gloomy occasions I trust? I've never been hissed Humph even by mistake. Chapeau! Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 28 Apr 13 05:10   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - lancara

My lawn borders a terrace wall, and fences. Does anybody have experience with this type of mower with side cutters and inset front wheels - does it do what it says? www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Ergoflex-Electric-Lawnmower-Cutting/dp/B004GTMNXI/ref=pd_cp_diy_0 2nd image from left applies Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 28 Apr 13 08:13   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Zero

Yeah, I have the rotax 30. It does not have "side cutters" merely combs that guide the grass towards the main blade. Its better than most at mowing close to wall and fence edges, but its not 100% foolproof. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 28 Apr 13 10:10   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - Bromptonaut

Same model/experience as Z. Still need a strimmer for a neat and complete job. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 28 Apr 13 10:27   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - bathtub tom

I bought the 45cm model. Does what it says. One drawback I found was the handle isn't hinged. It can be a bit uncomfortable on uneven ground. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 28 Apr 13 10:52   Scarifier. Lawn mower. - lancara

Thanks for the replies - will stick to existing mower, and Bosch Isio edging shear which I find is more effective than the strimmer Reply to this message | Report message