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Etesia Pro 46 PHCT problems

After reading loads of positive reviews on here about the Etesias I bought one in March this year. Absolutely loved it at first - feels solid yet light, great pick up in wet, powerful, upped the revs a bit as agreed with the dealer tho box a bit small. The height adjustment broke after a couple of months and then twice more over the 9 months we had it. Then a week ago one of my guys hit a one inch bit of flint and went straight through the side. My regular supplier doesn’t do Etesia so I’d gone to nearest one that does and now he doesn't want to know - it’s a write off. Almost all its use is on regular’s lawns so hitting stones is rare but surely it does happen to us all? A highly recommended £1k professional mower lasting 8 months doesn’t seem right. Getting another seems way too big a risk now so the lighter ‘semi pro’ Weibang Virtue 53 SSD is looking promising with its proper gear box and shaft. Any comments on either machine guys?

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  • PRO
    Surely if the mower is less than a year old it's still covered under warranty? Regardless of what your dealer says? Or have I misread your post? Many thanks Harry
    • PRO
      Your Etesia comes with a pro 2 year warranty according to Etesia's website, surely the deck is covered?
  • I thought Etesia warranted the deck for three years or some such?

    My Etesia didn't last 8 months either. The recoil broke twice (six week wait for parts from Italy, had to go through a Kohler engine specialist in the end even though it was in warranty), the drive belt was forever slipping, every single wheel bearing failed, the blade plastic fan bit kept melting, the height adjustment snapped off (only pressed steel, total rubbish for a 'pro' mower), the engine studs snapped and every drive cable also snapped. I replaced them all with bike brake cables rather than face a two week wait for parts. The dealers were a bunch of clowns too.

    It was only used two days a week and kept in a container. Etesia are all nice on the phone, and Neil from Etesia seems helpful on here but that doesn't change the fact that my particular model was the worst mower for the money I've ever owned. I'd never buy another personally, but maybe I got a Friday afternoon machine? Etesia could possibly have retained a customer if basic spare parts were held in stock and their dealer who actually gave a damn, but I'm sworn off them for life.

    It's only strong point was a good mulch. Pickup was nothing to write home about. And when the recoil wasn't broken, the Kohler engine was very reliable. Shame about the rest of the mower.

  • I would guess that this is one of the risks of having a "plastic" deck........... it's lighter but not as strong as steel/aluminium. Unfortunately I can see why a warranty wouldn't cover this............ there was no fault with the machine/parts/workmanship and Etesia would argue that you shouldn't have been going over stones anyway so they're not responsible.  You're quite right.... we all hit stones and the machine should be able to withstand some light abuse.....the alloy deck on my mower is peppered with pockmarks but being alloy, it's survived and still going strong after 10 years. .

    Is there any way it can be repaired?. Plastic can sometimes be "welded"..... there are specialist firms that can do this..... I've used them to repair motorcycle panels.  Alternatively, could some metal sheet be cut, bent to shape and riveted to make a repair? Seems an awful shame to scrap the machine.  

    • I'm sure when I bought mine the salesman said that Etesia were so confident in the deck that they offered more warranty on it than the rest of the machine.

      The reminds me- due to having only one bar linking the front to the rear machine, every time you lifted the deck by pushing down on the handles the whole deck flexed sideways. Sometimes whilst mowing this caused the grass to cut shorter one side than the other. Bad design.

  • PRO
    I've hit countless stones and other things people left hidden in their lawns with my two etesia so maybe just bad luck? They've been very sturdy and reliable in all respects actually. I hope you get something sorted maybe write an email to customer services pushing for warranty?
    • Yes think I need to not let this go so easily and contact Etesia direct. It’s just the constant height lever replacement is such a pain too - and will start costing me more than just time once the warranty expires.
      • PRO Supplier
        Hi Nick, I think you need to contact Neal at Etesia. I cannot say on your particular case but I have been authorised to replace decks under warranty in the past. The beauty of a small manufacturer is you can talk to someone who is empowered to make the call on warranty. Height adjusters breaking so frequently is unusual, and I have known this where machines have badly balanced blade or slight crank shaft bend that causes excess vibration?

        At the risk of scrapping a £1000 mower you have nothing to lose
        • Thanks Derek and nice to hear a dealers perspective too. I’m surprised to hear your comments about the height adjuster as we’ve been through four (including the original) in 8 months. The dealer gave me two spare adjusters after he replaced the first one which made me think that this was a common problem. I really don’t believe we treat them roughly.<br/>
          <br/>
          Out of interest who covers the labour charges - does the manufacturer reimburse the supplier? I imagine it’s quite a lengthy job to replace the deck!
          • It's been a while since I looked at the adjuster, but I remember holding the broken one and thinking 'What a rubbish design, all it needed was a bit of weld there and that wouldn't have happened'

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