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There's a number of different articles and discussions relating to these mowers across this site and the internet, spread across 5 or so years, but nothing recent or together.

I'm on the lookout for a new mower and these 2 fitted the bill of what I was requiring, lightweight and easily transportable, professional finish, reliable machines for everyday usage.

Firstly I'd like to thank both Etesia and John Deere for their prompt replies to the location of my nearest dealers, and for arranging a demo machine. The demo machines were provided by Allans of Gillock Ltd (Etesia) and Double A (John Deere).

Both machines are of the 46/47 cm (old 18 Inch) size. I've found these to be a lot easier to load and unload on a daily basis compared to the 54cm (21 Inch) models, and to be honest you dont really notice much difference in the width of cut.

Ok, so the Etesia to start with.

This one comes with the Honda GCV 160 engine with recoil start.

Looks quite similar to older style models though a few noticeable differences.

Firstly the grass box, Grass capacity is 56 litres. Etesia seem to have done away with the reliable metal bar that clipped onto the handle stem for securing the grass collection box, and now employ 2 x plastic looking clips that are screwed onto the collector box, these clip onto the mower when attaching but look quite easy to damage. The grass box entrance chute has also been changed from a metal lip to a plastic one.

The height adjustment is all 4 wheels from one setting, individual heights cannot be set. Again where this setting is done the lever is metal, but the indents it clips into are of plastic construction again so I'm not to sure on the wear and tear element of these.

Now the John Deere mower

The John Deere is powered by a Subaru engine with Recoil start.

I've not used the John Deere mowers previously so I'm not too sure on older models.

The grass box on the John Deere is of metal frame construction, with a net style bag. Grass capacity is 65 litres. The big noticable difference to the Etesia is the addition of handy lifting handles at the front and rear of the mower, these could also be used as securing points if being carried on a trailer etc.

The big point on the John Deere is the addition of an Anti-Vibration device fitted to the uprights of the handle, however there was no noticeable difference between mowers, and on a quick vibration test actually appears to have more vibration that the Etesia.

My less than scientific experiment on the vibration involved placing a plank across the handles and balancing a glass of water on it. Hopefully from the images below you can see the amount of vibration. The glass on the left is the John Deere, and on the right is the Etesia. From this test it appears the Etesia, although not fitted with anti vibration devices actually has less vibration than the John Deere.

Both mowers have the ability to fold down if your needing to conserve space in a smaller van. Both fold down quickly without any snagging of control cables.

Both mowers fit nicely inside my Vauxhall Vivaro van without having to fold down the handles, however the John Deere does have quite a larger handle than the Etesia.

On the mower wheels the John Deere wheels are larger and seem more substantial than those fitted on the Etesia. The rear wheels on the John Deere are of the same grip pattern to the larger model Etesia's, however Etesia have fitted the smoother wheels used on the front of the mower at the rear too.

Both mowers have the dreaded "Operator Present" handle to hold to get the mower started, and keep it going. The Etesia have used a rubber coated metal bar with quite a strong spring, after a few minutes this becomes quite uncomfortable and due to its shape its quite difficult to adjust your grip to a more comfortable one. The John Deere handle however is a plastic shaped bar that's easy to grip, and is extremely comfortable to use. The clutch handle (to make the mower move) is a metal handle on both mowers thats lifted and gripped underneath the handle. (John Deere handle is on the left in the image)

Both mowers were put through their tests on my small area of lawn and both completed the task of a dry cut and a wet cut to a satisfactory result. It was quite hard to distinguish between the cut of both mowers. (Etesia cut on the left, Watering can provided my rain for a wet cut)

Today was a big day for both mowers, one of my busiest days for pedestrian mower cutting that involve a huge variation of small areas, large expanses, slopes, fences, bollards and cars to navigate.

I started off on a small area with the John Deere, the cut was great though the grass wasn't too long, but was damp from the evening mist and drizzle. It coped quite well in smaller areas although the biggest problem was the length of the handle. I had a feeling of being quite far away from the mower and turning in tight confines was quite awkward and tricky. The adjustable speed control was very useful for changing from larger run areas to the smaller more intricate areas around expensive cars giving better control. On the slopes however the John Deere hit its first problem, the slope was wet and when engaging the clutch handle the mower wheels spun and marked the grass with long streaks, I eventually managed to overcome this by manually pushing the mower to gain speed before engaging the mower's own drive power.  

The Etesia set off across the slope without the same problem and with the shorter handle was much easier to control. I'm 6 foot 4 Inches tall and expected the John Deere to suit my height much better, though I felt more like Tommy Cooper standing with my hands about chest height, the Etesia was a more relaxed lower grip for myself. Neither mower seemed to have height adjustment as far as I could see. 

The mowers were then taken to an area of longer very fine grass, which was still damp. The Etesia set off across the grass with no problem, packing the collected grass tightly into the grass box and leaving a beautiful cut. Here is where the John Deere struggled, initially it seemed to be competing well with the Etesia cut but I soon noticed cut grass forming out the right hand side of the mower, getting worse as I completed the same number of strips as the Etesia. On removing the John Deere grass box the problem became more apparent, the chute was clogged with the longer wet grass, while the grass collection box was hardly filled. Without emptying the Etesia I used it to clear up the cuttings left by the John Deere.

My Summary

John Deere 

Plus + - Well built mower with a metal reinforced deck, comfortable control handles, large wheels, Subaru engine with variable speed & no choke, metal hooks for grass box, independently adjustable wheel heights.

Negatives - - Long handle at an uncomfortable height quite a distance from mower, Net bag, Poor cut dropping grass when bag not full.

Etesia

Plus + - Plastic Grass collection box, shorter more controllable handle, reliable industry tested Honda GCV160 engine, Fantastic cut and grass compaction into the box without dropping any or leaving a cut grass trail.

Negatives - - Xenoy Plastic cutting deck, plastic grass box hooks, plastic grass chute on grass box, uncomfortable operator and control handle's, single speed, 

Conclusion

Despite the John Deere looking the better built quality mower it was greatly let down by it grass collection ability when needed, the Etesia outperformed on the grass collection stakes and compacted more grass into its collector meaning less stops to empty. The Etesia has suffered from an obvious cost cutting exercise by the accountants to try and keep the price competitive, but I'd rather pay a bit more for a better built mower than buy one with an uncertain reliable future. My last mower was better built and lasted 10 years, so the only conclusion to the loss of its better sturdier setup has to be cost savings on Etesia's part. Despite this I've decided that my next mower will be the Etesia Pro46 PHCT Mower. I just hope both manufacturers can go back to the drawing boards and improve on the negative points for future releases.

I hope you found this review useful. Don't be afraid to ask your dealers for the use of a demo machine, its better to take one out onto your patch and give them a run.