Domestic lawn mower

[MESmith]

Recently bought a briggs & Stratton 4.5hp mower from one of the shops at Chotana / Superhwy intersection for 9000 baht. Same mower at the time 13,500 in the big DIY stores. Same chassis as much more expensive Honda. B&S easy to maintain - youtube tells all. Our 14yr old B&S still working on new 4000bt chassis bought in CM. Use one for lawns, one for orchard so as to keep weed seeds off the lawn.

OP how small is your lawn? If really small, get electric.

Do you do your own repairs? I tried a shop down by the Muang Mai market repeatedly without luck. They have parts but .....fouled plug within 4 hours, loping, and and and

Age has reduced my repair effectiveness so if you know a shop that can really fix it please let me/us know. Or is there a day that the ME Smith shop is open for business?

Basic servicing is easy. Search youtube. eg change diaphragm, clean carburettor. Not much else to do. The old engine fouls the spark plug, & plug needs cleaning after each mowing session, but that's a really small job. Takes a minute or 2. But it runs & cuts the grass. Suffered a lot of abuse mowing 50cm weeds around orchard, & edge of pond. Hence the new one that was a bargain, but is reserved for flt lawn duty.

Tried the same shop as you, gave up & decided to DIY. Get parts on ebay, mailed from UK, much cheaper than here.

Main problem with the mowers sold here is the chassis rust easily. Engines last for everish.

[cooked]

Bloody hell guys, this is about 100M2 of lawn!

Strimmers in Thailand are crap. I used a head with 4mm thread and went through most stuff without EVER using a blade. Professional landscape gardener, 40 years. The thread was about 40 cm long and I would unscrew the head every hour or so and replace the 4 threads that were in there. No good for TH of course as guys would forget/lose tool for removing the head.

[MESmith]

My lawn would be approx 100sqm.

Electric.

[MESmith]

Beware many Honda engines are Chinese knock offs, especially at shops on the superhighway in CM. Original Honda will cost 20k/24k for manual/self propelled - Briggs and Straton machines widely available for between 10k and 17k.

That's exactly right and the reason why it's best to buy a 100% Honda mower from a Honda dealer. A friend bought a bastardized mower -- not Honda brand, but with Honda engine, only it turned out to be a Honda Knock-off engine and the engine shaft broke after about six months. Some of the knock-offs have skins that make it almost impossible to tell.

are you sure they're Honda copies? Or just Honda engines bolted onto cheap chassis? The cheaper ones in CM are on the same rust prone chassis as my B&S . Or Chinese made Honda engines? I read online that Aussie Rover mowers are now made in China, & quality not the same as old Aussie made ones.

[CMKiwi]

I agree that Honda is the best way to go (engine wise) Briggs & Stratton come a close second.

In regards the bump and go line feed for the weed wacker / strimmer / line cutter, I found a supply in Chiang Mai that has a good inexpensive auto head. Its at Home Mart on Sridonchi Road. Thats the road that goes from the South East corner of the moat up to Pantip Plaza, Gecko garden etc. Last time I brought a head there it was just 160 baht, the identical item was selling in HomePro for 680 baht!!!

But I will add there is one down side to this head. If youre not careful the head may come apart if you `bump`it on the ground too hard. When that happens you can lose the internal spring which is not good. Easy to fix though. A couple of self tapping phillips head screws keeps the unit all together. I did that to mine and never had a problem since. Still works out cheaper than HomePro`s prices.

Oh forgot to add, if you want a blade for one of these beasties go to Global House. Ive found the 3 tooth blade to be the best, the straight or 2 tooth blade is ok but can be a handful if you accidently hit something hard. The 4 tooth blade doesnt seem to cut as well. But if you have some pretty big weeds or thick scrub you can get the tungsten tipped blades that are designed for these machines. Ive got 2 such blades and they are like a hot knife thru butter. However make sure the user is wearing safety foot wear when using these blades.... toes are easier to cut through than trees and crocs (footware) are not good protection. Very good prices for these at Global.

I bought one of those heads. It was terrible. String kept breaking off at the eyelet and I would have to stop working, take the thing apart and pull the string back out. I used the thing twice, then went online and paid $40 for a Speed Feed and then paid for the shipping (which a friend handled). It was worth every baht/penny.

I just got in from doing my edging, borders and a little weed whacking. What a dream after that cheap Chinese POS they sell here. One of the great things about the speed feed is that you can reload it in about 2 minutes. You don't even take it apart. I have never yet had the string break off at the eyelet. Sometimes if you buy cheap, it will make you crazy. But to each his own.

Here's a demo of reloading the Honda branded unit:

Strange I've never had that happen to any of the line heads I bought. Must have either been some sharp edges in the eyelets or crappy line you were using.

Good to hear that the model you imported didn't need to be disassembled in order to replace the line. Sounds great. Oh and I don't normally buy cheap but just decided to give this unit a go when I saw it advertised elsewhere for a hell of a lot more. It's still working ok and I'll be out tomorrow tackling some big weeds that grew after a few downpours of rain in Mae Rim.

[CMKiwi]

I just watched the video......very nice looking unit. I had a Stihl unit in the Philippines and it was similar. Great piece of kit!

[Dante99]

Main problem with the mowers sold here is the chassis rust easily.

Painted with Rustoleum primer and top coat, once 15 years ago, still good today.

[CMKiwi]

Seems like this one has done its dash...time to close moderators?

[djayz]

I purchased a BOSCH AHM 38C push lawn mower at HomePro (in Korat) for Baht 2,990 a few weeks back. It's a great little machine - I only have 24 square meters to mow so the push mower is just fine for that.

I looked around at a few different stores and HomePro seem to have the best selection.

[fang37]

I am leaning towards a manual push mower too.

Good memories as a kid - less to go wrong with it - quality finish - no noise pollution - easy storage - $$$.

Do I have 100sqm? A rough guess! I can always take 2-3 sessions to do the job.

[taotoo]

Can advise not to buy a flymo as they melt after 20 minute's use in the summer. On the bright side though, you then realise that paying burmese folk to do it for you is much easier all round.

[fang37]

No flymo - confirmed.

Burmese - have their own mower? (joke)

Most speak English though,

Edited July 9, 2015 by fang37

[PattayaClub]

Two pages of great advice and recommendations and you are going with a Burmese? Hmmm, not a bad idea, actually.

[Tonto21]

You may want to have a look at this place: 'Montre Machine Tools', Chiangmai (though its not written in English)...... They are a Honda Agent.

I got two mowers from there one a Honda mower a big beast, 4 stroke .......and a smaller electric one, (I have my reasons)

Where is it...... Its at the junction of 'Superhighway' and the 107,.... Its on the corner, left side, if you are driving from lotus Tesco. There are mowers and strimmers hanging up outside.

If your driving, you can park inside the shop area....As you cross the junction on the 107, (heading towards town) slow down there is a small turning into the premises, with a 'whistle wielding'..... Hand wave car guide stood there.

Good hunting!

[cchina184]

Stihl dealer in BKK sells strimmers that can be optioned with a bulletproof bump head. Their strimmer line is great stuff, very tough. I bought the 2 stroke as it is lighter. Backpack is very comfortable. Use it to mow about 2 rai with a lot of flowerbeds and trees, easier to use than a mower with so many rocks. Also bought an excellent Stihl chainsaw there and will purchase a gas hedge trimmer when the hedge gets a big bigger.

[chiang mai]

Be careful if buying EUROE products, replacement parts are almost impossible to find.

[JaseTheBass]

It seems that Honda win this race with ease!

Petrol=everlasting.

The lawn area is quite small!

But, FIL HAS OFFERED TO DO THE WORK. His preference is a whipper snipper.

What do members think of the whipper snipper?

Chiang Rai is 50km less drive than CNX so we will be heading that way.

Thais do seem to prefer using a strimmer to do lawns with. It complements their style of doing things half-arsed and making a mess.

[connda]

Recently bought a briggs & Stratton 4.5hp mower from one of the shops at Chotana / Superhwy intersection for 9000 baht. Same mower at the time 13,500 in the big DIY stores. Same chassis as much more expensive Honda. B&S easy to maintain - youtube tells all. Our 14yr old B&S still working on new 4000bt chassis bought in CM. Use one for lawns, one for orchard so as to keep weed seeds off the lawn.

OP how small is your lawn? If really small, get electric.

This is a version of a domestic Thai lawn mower that is good for medium sized lawns (But watch your shrubs, flowers, and other plants. Recommend staking it down with a rope).

Doesn't use petrol, but does produce methane. Call it a carbon emission offset. Tit for tat. And at over 1000 ft above sea level, I'm not worry about the polar ice caps melting. Lmao.

[Mapguy]

This has been an awesome collectively-written dissertation on lawnmowers in Chiang Mai! REALLY!

Edited November 1, 2015 by Mapguy

[fang37]

I went throug the research of buying a lawnmower.

In the end, we hired someone - mow & takeaway clippings.

Only problem - reliability of the contractor turning up as agreed.

[billd766]

Bloody hell guys, this is about 100M2 of lawn!

Strimmers in Thailand are crap. I used a head with 4mm thread and went through most stuff without EVER using a blade. Professional landscape gardener, 40 years. The thread was about 40 cm long and I would unscrew the head every hour or so and replace the 4 threads that were in there. No good for TH of course as guys would forget/lose tool for removing the head.

I have more than 1 rai to keep down and it is hard work at 71 years old.

I use the nylon cord around the edges , plants and barbed wire fences, a 16 inch blade for most of it and a big muncher where I can use it, ie fairly level with no big rocks. I can't get on with the bump and go things.

I have also used a circular saw 24 tooth blade for some of the thick stuff.

The big muncher is a Honda engine on a steel frame and belt driven blades.

My apologies as I cannont edit the photos to make them smaller.

big muncher

The nylon head for the Honda UMK 435T brush cutter

Edited November 6, 2015 by billd766

[cooked]

Bloody hell guys, this is about 100M2 of lawn!

Strimmers in Thailand are crap. I used a head with 4mm thread and went through most stuff without EVER using a blade. Professional landscape gardener, 40 years. The thread was about 40 cm long and I would unscrew the head every hour or so and replace the 4 threads that were in there. No good for TH of course as guys would forget/lose tool for removing the head.

I have more than 1 rai to keep down and it is hard work at 71 years old.

I use the nylon cord around the edges , plants and barbed wire fences, a 16 inch blade for most of it and a big muncher where I can use it, ie fairly level with no big rocks. I can't get on with the bump and go things.

I have also used a circular saw 24 tooth blade for some of the thick stuff.

The big muncher is a Honda engine on a steel frame and belt driven blades.

My apologies as I cannont edit the photos to make them smaller.

big muncher

The nylon head for the Honda UMK 435T brush cutter

DSCF4099 resized.jpg DSCF4100 resized.jpg

DSCF4101 resized.jpg

Looks good... what diameter / thickness is the thread?

[stament]

holy cow that mower is a donosaur and doesnt even look like a mower to me lol

interested in a manual push mower for a small patch of garden, also good exercise, are there any second hand mower shops around that might sell manual push mowers?

[chiang mai]

holy cow that mower is a donosaur and doesnt even look like a mower to me lol

interested in a manual push mower for a small patch of garden, also good exercise, are there any second hand mower shops around that might sell manual push mowers?

You can buy a brand new Bosch push mower from Home Pro for about 3,500baht.

[anto]

I have the Asgatec EM1004 ,rotery electric made in Germany.Bought from Homepro.Being going for 5 years now without a prob

Edited November 7, 2015 by anto

[billd766]

Bloody hell guys, this is about 100M2 of lawn!

Strimmers in Thailand are crap. I used a head with 4mm thread and went through most stuff without EVER using a blade. Professional landscape gardener, 40 years. The thread was about 40 cm long and I would unscrew the head every hour or so and replace the 4 threads that were in there. No good for TH of course as guys would forget/lose tool for removing the head.

I have more than 1 rai to keep down and it is hard work at 71 years old.

I use the nylon cord around the edges , plants and barbed wire fences, a 16 inch blade for most of it and a big muncher where I can use it, ie fairly level with no big rocks. I can't get on with the bump and go things.

I have also used a circular saw 24 tooth blade for some of the thick stuff.

The big muncher is a Honda engine on a steel frame and belt driven blades.

My apologies as I cannont edit the photos to make them smaller.

big muncher

The nylon head for the Honda UMK 435T brush cutter

DSCF4099 resized.jpg DSCF4100 resized.jpg

DSCF4101 resized.jpg

Looks good... what diameter / thickness is the thread?

I think it is 2mm square and it is a square section. It works quite well too

[billd766]

holy cow that mower is a donosaur and doesnt even look like a mower to me lol

interested in a manual push mower for a small patch of garden, also good exercise, are there any second hand mower shops around that might sell manual push mowers?

Trust me it is a mower and it will chomp through bushes and shrubs up to about 15 mm diameter and happily munch wet grass oner 50cm tall. Its disadvantage is that is heavy to push.

They are still for sale in rural areas brand new at about 13,000 thb a time.

It is no use on a small, smooth, even pretty lawn but if you have a large rough area in an orchard or a large open area it will hach the scrub down no problem.

[cooked]

Bloody hell guys, this is about 100M2 of lawn!

Strimmers in Thailand are crap. I used a head with 4mm thread and went through most stuff without EVER using a blade. Professional landscape gardener, 40 years. The thread was about 40 cm long and I would unscrew the head every hour or so and replace the 4 threads that were in there. No good for TH of course as guys would forget/lose tool for removing the head.

I have more than 1 rai to keep down and it is hard work at 71 years old.

I use the nylon cord around the edges , plants and barbed wire fences, a 16 inch blade for most of it and a big muncher where I can use it, ie fairly level with no big rocks. I can't get on with the bump and go things.

I have also used a circular saw 24 tooth blade for some of the thick stuff.

The big muncher is a Honda engine on a steel frame and belt driven blades.

My apologies as I cannont edit the photos to make them smaller.

big muncher

The nylon head for the Honda UMK 435T brush cutter

DSCF4099 resized.jpg DSCF4100 resized.jpg

DSCF4101 resized.jpg

Looks good... what diameter / thickness is the thread?

I think it is 2mm square and it is a square section. It works quite well too

That's what I've been looking for. Where/how did you buy please?

[billd766]

I think it is 2mm square and it is a square section. It works quite well too

That's what I've been looking for. Where/how did you buy please?

I bought it in the local hardware store in the village. It is quite expensive at perhaps 850 thb per 100 metres but it is stronger than the usual yellow thin stuff that is available.

If you get stuck send me a pm with your address and I will send you a sample.

[fang37]

I was going to buy a lawnmower.

Thankfully, I didn't.

I just get Somchai - he does it all.

Not a top job & unreliable so it is prudent to have a contractor in waiting.