How to choose a lawn mower? 9 tips from a Stiga specialist
Before you decide to buy a mower, start by looking at the key factors that affect its efficiency and durability. The advice from the Stiga specialist can help you get the best lawn mower for you. What do I have to look out for?
The housing is the first of many mechanical elements that are responsible for the proper operation of your lawnmower. It’s worth taking a closer look. The stiga twinclip lawnmower housing is hybrid, that is made of several types of materials. Among others, it consists of high-quality galvanized steel, which protects the device from mechanical damage (such as scratches or cracks from cutting stones in the lawn by the cutting blades) and thus ensures trouble-free operation even with guaranteed intensive use. The second material of which the body is made is aluminum. The entire ejection channel and the rear of the machine are made of a piece of cast aluminum. Another advantage of using aluminum is the increased rigidity of the housing. This makes the mower “comfortable” – it remains stable even when the basket is fully loaded, when the load on the housing is greatest.
Strongman
The mower shouldn’t cause any problems when starting up. In some models of the Twinclip series, the traditional cable drive has been replaced by an innovative electric starter; to start the mower, simply press the “Start Engine” button on the steering wheel (a solution borrowed from the car industry). In this way, you can get the machine up and running quickly, efficiently and easily, without having to fuss with a pesky fishing line.
The Stiga Twinclip is powered by a powerful battery. With just 2 hours of battery power, it has enough juice for about 100 mowing jobs.
Cutterbar
Responsible for mowing quality and efficiency, i.e. the final look of your lawn. The Twinclip is the first mower in the Stiga mower family to feature new rotating blades of different heights. Thanks to the two-stage section, the grass is not torn, resulting in not only a prettier, but also a healthier lawn. In addition, the cut grass is shredded harder, which means that more grass can be collected in the basket (20% more). The whole system is based on shredding the grass as much as possible, which we can “better” put in the basket. Thanks to this solution, we collect 20% more grass in the basket for the same volume as conventional machines, which in turn means fewer stops to empty the basket, i.e. faster mowing.
Patented cutting blade technology makes our mower versatile. With Twinclip you not only mow efficiently but also mulch your lawn and keep it in good condition throughout the garden season.
Wheels
The type of wheels used in the mower also affects the ease of mowing – the wider they are, the less pressure the net exerts on the lawn. The cut grass is not “pushed” under the mower and it is mowed even more efficiently. In addition, wide bikes provide a stable ride over rough terrain. In addition, the wheel spacing consists of a special dryflex material that gently spreads and does not damage the profile, for example when driving.
Kosh
The tedious mounting and dismounting of an overflowing basket, with clumps of grass clippings flying out, is a thing of the past. The Stiga Twinclip basket is fitted with one hand, in a flash. And the basket itself slides out over the handle, which makes working with the basket much easier. An additional aid to working with the mower is the intuitive information system for filling the basket. With it, you won’t have to stop work to check if the amount of grass you’ve cut is too high, thereby adding a new responsibility in the form of a race of grass falling out of an overflowing basket.
Manually adjust the handlebar height and mowing height.
Pain in the hands or back are well known consequences of hours of mowing the lawn. With a Stiga Twinclip, you can quickly forget the discomfort of mowing with a lawnmower. You can manually adjust the height of the steering wheel to suit your height, so you don’t have to work too hard and you don’t have to worry about putting your hands in the air when you’re working. On the other hand, you can select the mowing height function according to your individual settings.
Anti-vibration system
The Vibe control system effectively eliminates the risk of vibration being transmitted to the entire unit (including the handlebar) from the mower. The twinclip retains its soundproofing despite its high speed.
Practical device cleaning system
Not only using but also cleaning the mower after it is finished shouldn’t be a problem. Cleaning the underside of the housing through the cutting blades is usually the most difficult task, requiring patience, time and care. With Twinclip mowers, the solution to this problem is a helpful wash system that automatically cleans grass, dirt, debris or sand from hard-to-reach parts of the mower.
Mowing the mower in an upright position
The aluminum stock on the steering wheel not only increases the rigidity of the body, but also serves to lift the mower comfortably. This makes it easy to check the condition of the blade after finishing work and, in winter, you can easily put it in an upright position after removing the working fluids such as oil and fuel and then put it away in the garage. . In this position, the mower takes up much less space; you can use the free space to store seasonal equipment, such as bicycles.
When considering the problem of buying a mower, it is worth spending a lot of time analyzing all the most important elements that are responsible for its safe, smooth and efficient operation. Equally important is the standard of equipment, on which the convenience of mowing depends. Remember the tips that our expert gave you, and no lawn mower will have no secrets from you!
How to choose a lawn mower?
The first thing to decide is the size of the lawn. The larger the area, the more powerful and productive should be the mower, so that the mowing of the lawn does not take too much time. The calculation is quite simple: the width of the coverage is usually known, this is the main working parameter of the mower. The speed of the lawnmower is clearly not faster than a pedestrian, much less about 3.5 km/h. However, some self-proven lawnmowers can move at a speed of just under 5 km / h, but you need to understand that such a mode – it is no longer a slow walk, and a full fitness. If there is a desire, but in fact, people usually prefer to mow lawns in a more relaxed environment.
And if you know the speed and width of the strip cut from the aisle, you can roughly estimate how long it takes to pump the sod of a given area and see if you’re willing to spend that much time on the job? Or maybe you should get a more powerful machine to go faster? By the way, there is an argument in favor of choosing a more powerful mower: it will not work at its maximum capacity, but in a more gentle mode, and therefore will last longer.
Another important caveat – the above recommendations apply to the choice of lawn mowers for mowing your own lawn. If you need to choose a machine for professional use, then the algorithm is somewhat different.
Now it is clear that the most useful lesson is not to give any rigid recommendations on the size of cultivated areas, depending not on the power or breadth of grip, but on the user, how much he is willing to spend on the work. However, some conventional guidelines should still be established for the convenience of management. For lawn mowers without a seat, blown or self-propelled, a small lawn can be considered an area of up to 300 m². What has an area between 300 and 600 m² should be considered medium range lawns, and between 600 and 1,000 should be considered large lawns. “Custom” large area lawns are not as common.
Let’s look at the different types of lawn mowers and try to sketch in which situations and for whom they might be preferable.
Spindle mower. Quite exotic variety of lawnmowers – does not have an engine, the cutting system works on the principle of scissors, rotates due to the wheels. Such mowers mow the grass much more accurately than conventional rotary, but they can not cope with overgrowth of grass. And the cutting speed is not fast. Hence, the conclusion: such mowers are suitable for those who constantly live outside the city and can afford to mow the lawn every two or three days, so that the grass has no time to develop. But as a “bonus” – the complete absence of noise of the engine, during the work you can hear only the light click of the knives. And yet it is obvious that for large lawns such mowers are not very convenient, their performance is low. Two or three “hundred” – this is probably the maximum.
Electric rotary mower.
Usually these are structurally simple machines with a minimum of functions and a relatively small working width, designed for mowing small and medium-sized lawns. However, there are exceptions, including powerful, self-propelled ones. A nice feature of the electric motor can be considered a relatively low noise level and expectations. All care for such a mower is reduced to cleaning the deck after work. There is also nothing complicated in operation: you switch it on and off, no need to worry about fuel, filters and other tricks. The light weight is an additional advantage if the mower has to be loaded into the trunk of a car. True, if you buy such a technique, you should be quiet about the quality of wiring – a powerful electric motor heavily loads the network. Yes, and the “quality of electricity” must be normal, in villages and villages in the socket instead of the promised 220V, only 180. You may need an extension cord of sufficient length and a suitable transition section, it is necessary, you must constantly ensure that you do not have to move it with the mower. If one of these conditions is not met, you should weigh it all up again and perhaps turn your attention to gasoline-powered machines.
Gasoline-powered rotary mower.
The largest class of lawn mowers with the greatest distribution of working parameters and functions. They are mainly designed for medium to large lawns. Often there are even workers, including speed control – increased or smooth.
Simple models usually work in individual mode, cut the grass and collect it in the grass box. In advanced models, it is possible to cut from the back or side, there is often a mode of mulching, when the grass is chopped and evenly scattered on the surface of the lawn, becoming a fertilizer. When choosing should be guided by the number of functions. Collection and mulching are the most necessary of them, side and rear discharge are usually used for mowing tall overgrown grass. If you buy a mower with a large working width and a capacious grass catcher, weighs several tens of kilograms. If you suddenly have to push such a load uphill, you will quickly get tired. So, there is a direct reason to think about buying a self-propelled machine.
Other technical refinements mainly affect the convenience of work. For example, the height adjustment can be centralized or individual. Centralized – if all the wheels are reorganized into a lever and everything is more complicated, you may have to reorganize all the wheels one by one into a separate lever. The control handle can be adjustable in height and is usually p-shaped or ergonomically shaped. This is also an element related to ergonomics.
