Domestic lawn mower

[connda]

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.

During the cool season, not much grows; during the hot season, not much grows; during the rainy season, I pay a local villager to mow the yard maybe five times during the season and I hire another woman who uses a hoe to literally remove all the weeds and grass from the gardens. Total cost: maybe 800 baht a year. If I buy a 10K THB mower - do the math. Let's just say, 10 years to recoup my investment. I've got a 1.5K THB fixed metal blade trimmer (the type that is probably illegal in the US or other nanny-states), and on occasion I'll just do it myself if the weather is cool enough.

Same with my car's A/C. I have a very slow freon leak. The A/C mechanic said 18K THB for a new unit. The conversation when like this:

Mechanic: "You A/C broke. Have big holes. Must fix soon. 18K new 15K used. You make appointment, come back."

Me: "Fill it with freon and I'll think about it."

I filled it with freon at the beginning of the hot season last February. It still is blowing cold air. This up-coming February, I'll top off the freon for 250 THB - from someone other then this lying SoS. It would take me 72 years to recoup the cost of a new A/C unit at the 250 THB/year I spend on a yearly freon refill - or more likely - the mechanic was lying through his teeth and attempted to get me to buy an A/C unit that I didn't need. I'm not going to knock Thais specifically, I had equal SoS do the same thing in the US, actually more often in the States. The trouble is, it was my regular Toyota 'used and old' Toyota mechanic that referred me. Now I have to question his ethics, which is too bad: up to now, he's be an excellent mechanic. The mechanic has a 24 year old Toyota Corolla exactly like mine, which is why I trusted him in the first place. The guy knows old Toyotas. But then he refers me to a guy that attempted to 'take me for a ride' on an expensive A/C unit I didn't need. What to think?

Labor is cheap; equipment is expensive. I'll go for labor everytime. Plus, I help put food on someone's table who is at the low-end of the socio-economic spectrum and has more of a moral compass that the jackass that attempted to get me to buy and A/C that I didn't need.

Back to lawn mowers. I tuned my 3 year old 1.5K THB fixed blade trimmer that will mow my entire 3/4 rai of land if I easily put a couple of hours of leisurely work into it. The tune up cost: 200 THB. A friend of mine and I were discussing the differences between Thailand and the US. Here in Thailand, you get the 1.5 THB mower fixed for 15% of the cost of the entire trimmer. In the US, the service charge to fix that trimmer would cost more than the original price of the trimmer, so it's a throw-a-way. There is something sadly FBARed about that.

[connda]

Honda powered are preferred.

Shop on the SE corner of Mae Rim Road and Super Hwy in CM has a good selection.

Probably get or order from Faang Honda Dealer.

I purchase mine from Homepro CM. Why? I get a receipt and a warranty. At the Somchai dealerships on the street, maybe you get a receipt, maybe you don't. Warranty??? If you actually know Somchai personally, then my level of trust goes up about 100%. If they know you and you're a regular customer, I've generally have been well taken care of.

[connda]

lazada

Honda 16,500bht COD

http://www.lazada.co.th/honda-4-960010.html

Lifan 9,500bht COD

http://www.lazada.co.th/lifan-xss46-blue-960012.html

Using my local villagers, it would take me 16.5 years to recoup my cost of the Honda and 9.5 year to recoup my cost of the Lifan, and that's using my high-end cost of 1000 THB per year for someone to mow my 3/4 rai of land during the 'growing season'.

Sometimes purchasing cheap labor is better than buying expensive equipment. I'd rather support the locals than Honda or Lifan.

[connda]

For 100m2, an electric might be fine. I have 1,000m2. I did a lot of research and talked to a lot of people about mowers before I bought. I finally determined that there was only one decent petrol mower available in this country and that's the Honda HRJ216-K2. I have never seen one in a shop, nor spoken with anyone who has seen one in a shop. You have to find a Honda dealer and order it. The regular price is 25,000 baht, but you can get it for 23,000 baht, and that mower is worth every satang.

It is self propelled, starts every time on the first pull and I can mow the 1,000m2 of hills and curves in 2 hours flat. It is a rear bagger with a large 76 liter capacity. It is three speed and never bogs down. It's all Honda (not a one of the bastardized mowers sold here) and should last 20 years or more with home use.

English Brochure.pdf

As for a weed whacker (American for whipper snipper), I assume you mean the line trimmer model. Problem is, I have never found a decent string trimmer head here. I imported a Speed Feed (many brands, all made under license from Shindaiwa, including Honda brand). You can import from the US or Australia. It is a bump feed type head and is fabulous. I use it for edging and clean-up work.

The problem is the machine sold here. Unlike in the US and Australia, you cannot get one with a string cutter on the grass guard, because most Thais use only the steel blades on these machines. If you get the single string type, you may find yourself screwing around with it every five to ten minutes. If you have a bump feed type head, you need the little grass guard cutter blade to keep the trimmer line the right length. Without the cutter, you will have to screw with the line manually all the time. So if you import a decent bump feed head, what you will need to do is to fabricate a little cutter to attach to the grass guard (you can't buy it here). That's what I did and it works like a dream.

I have a lot of work to do and can run through a whole tank of fuel, never having to service the cutter head. I have the backpack model, and I do not want to stop the engine and take it off every five minutes, which is what I was doing before I imported the "golden" string trimmer head.

I have this Honda power unit:

Honda UMR435T L2TT owners manual cover.pdf

I have this Speed Head:

Oregon_speedfeedhead_55-265 (1).pdf

At 1000 THB / year for labor, I can get 23 years of work done for the price you your machine. But heck, let's factor in inflation of labor, and wear and tear on your unit. I'm thinking I'll either be dead or well into my eighties before I'd reach the break-even point on that unit.

[connda]

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.

Agreed. Unlike the Thais, I don't use my flip-flops with my steel blade 'trimmer'. Long pant, long-sleved shirt, steel toed boots, eye and face protection. Yep, I'm a throw-back from the US. Better safe then sorry. If a Thai gets cut: 30 THB. I get cut: Hopefully my insurance would cover it.

[connda]

Duplicate

Edited November 13, 2015 by connda

[connda]

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.

Agreed. Unlike the Thais, I don't use my flip-flops with my steel blade 'trimmer'. Long pant, long-sleved shirt, steel toed boots, eye and face protection. Yep, I'm a throw-back from the US. Better safe then sorry. If a Thai gets cut: 30 THB. I get cut: Hopefully my insurance would cover it.

Agreed. Unlike the Thais, I don't use my flip-flops with my steel blade 'trimmer'. Long pants, long-sleeved shirt, steel toed boots, eye and face protection: OSHA would be proud. Yep, I'm a throw-back from the US. Better safe then sorry. If a Thai gets cut: 30 THB. I get cut: Hopefully my insurance would cover it. With that said though, I'll never go back to a mono-filament cord based trimmer. I'd rather have the steel blade and knowing the danger, be careful. I file the blade after each use and look for obvious damage. Blades are cheap; my legs and feet are not. Of course, all this pales in comparison to working in a Shake Mill on the Olympic Peninsula sawing and splitting cedar shakes for a living. I knew enough people missing fingers, parts of hands, whole hands, parts of feet, whole feet, etc. I loved the job, but it was dangerous fun. Great work for someone in their 20s and 30s who was invincible. Between that and working slack line logging and 'cat skinning' behind a D8 Cat during the logging season, and using high-explosives to shoot old-growth stumps out of the middle of proposed logging road (my favorite job in the world without exception), my early life was far from boring. Too bad it was seasonal and highly unionize: I could have worked those jobs until I retired. I did enjoy them immensely regardless of the physical exertion. At the end of the day, you were tired in a wonderful way, and you felt as though you accomplished something good. Beat the hell out of the stress of running server farms for a company that considered their workers naught but cogs in the wheels of corporate profits, and problems we're nothing but a stack in a never-ending queue of issues, and upper-management we're 'professional mangers who either were hired from the outside, or technical rejects from within the company who had power-needs and the desired to FBAR everything they touched. Blue collar work was always honest and rewarding; white collar work always felt like I was pimping myself out to the highest bidder - the money was good, but I wanted to take two or three showers when I got home. Especially when you knew their was malfeasance within the managerial ranks, but the squeaky wheel was rewarded with early retirement.

Mowing a lawn with a fixed-blade trimmer is a relaxing walk-in-the-park nowaday with just enough danger to keep you attentive. And if I don't feel like it, I hire Somchai to do the work.

[stament]

Can you send Somchai round to my house in Nong Hoi please?

[chiang mai]

I enjoy cutting my grass, it's great exercise which lasts for about 90 minutes and afterwards there's a feeling of satisfaction. I'm loathe to let Somchai cut my lawn, not matter how good and reliable he is, Mrs Somchai might be another story however.

[billd766]

I enjoy cutting my grass, it's great exercise which lasts for about 90 minutes and afterwards there's a feeling of satisfaction. I'm loathe to let Somchai cut my lawn, not matter how good and reliable he is, Mrs Somchai might be another story however.

Like you it is exercise for me and I get job satisfaction by looking what I have done in a morning stint. At 71 there are times when I get lazy and skip a day but the grass will sometimes grow 5 or 10 cm in a couple of days.

For me it is a never ending job though as we are approaching the dry season it is much easier

I have a couple of rai to keep down and very little of is is flat and stone/rock free.

I am usually out most mornings around 06.30 when it is still cool and like you I try to get about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish which to me means that when I finish cutting, I sharpen the blade and take the nicks and lumps out with a small bench grinder, clean the strimmer and then wash/scrub it, refuel it and spray WD40 on it especially the blade to keep it clean and rust free. The it is ready to fire up on the first or second pull the next time I use it.

I also maintain and repair it myself which amazes the guy next door who has little or no idea of care and maintenance and whose idea of that is refuelling it sometimes and rarely checking the oil level. Then he wonders why it is a bitch to start.

I try to explain to my neighbour that it is much easier to cut short grass than long, and easier to cut dry grass than wet. Deaf ears is probably the answer.

Edited November 15, 2015 by billd766

[MESmith]

My first Briggs & Stratton had "Sprint" written on the top of the motor. Took me a few years before I realized that was the model name, not instructions

I mow at a slower pace, now

[billd766]

Slightly off topic but I spent some time yesterday and today tearing my neighbours chainsaw apart and rebuilding it.

I have never worked on one before but fortunate I have some trustworthy help at my fingertips.

Remember that Google is your friend and the expression "How to .............. when typed into the search box turns up some great fixit videos, and Ebay does wonders in locating parts, I need a fuel hose.

From the UK 1 costs £3.75 plus £15 in postage, from China about 80 baht post free, from the USA about $4 or 140 thb, postage costs 2950 thb.

Stupid prices.