After using it for a week or so I am still not impressed. I also think it was a mistake to buy it.
In grass that is just over ankle deep, some times after emptying the box the blade jams when re-engaging the blade drive. A small amount of grass (fist full) jams between the blade and body. The engine stalls. I thought this machine was a brilliant collector. I don't think so.
Difficult to pull up and down steps ,as the rear wheel is small and is mounted in from the edge of the body.
Slow. I an hoping this is an adjustment problem on my new machine. I can hardly notice a difference between slow and fast. I was hoping it would be a brisk walk behind it, but no.
£1000 ish
My last mower was a Mccullock with a 198cc Briggs motor for £380. I used it for 2 full summers although the first I was just starting so not that busy. But last year i used it a lot. Hardly any problems. and a great mulcher, not bad collector. A large wheel on the back and a side shoot for very long grass.
So is a £1000 Etesia 46 Phtb 3 times better than a Mccullock ?
Not in my opinion. I am missing the old one! I hope Etesia and I will grow to love each other soon.
Kevin
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Replies
I have two PRO46 PHTS's. I can't fault them except for the lack of stripes.
Sorry to hear you aren't having a great timesnwith yours.
Any mower will jam up on wet grass that's over ankle-deep, I guess?
Speed is an issue but this can be resolved by the "pulley fix". To be honest the push Etesia is a better option as its lighter and allows you to push as your required speed without any real effort.
I haven't found one mower that will do all the jobs that I encounter. The Etesia's are great machines and ticks most of the boxes.
Without seeing what the cutting conditions were like for you its hard to say where the problem could be, and without teaching you to suck eggs if the grass was very wet and long I would either mow without the box and of course set the wheels to high and then rake / blow the worst of the cuttings before remowing. Alternatively strim the long wet grass first and then mow to collect.
Honestly, once you have sorted or got use to the speed issue, you will love your new machine.
if your emptying the grass box and there is grass in the channle then your leaving it to long before emptying, on the grass box there is a flap which opens when the box is full to say stop.
as soon as this happens it means the box is full and from this point continuing to cut will start to fill the channel and would mean you need to clear this aswell or yes the blade will jam and stall out the engine but this is not a fault with the machine.
moveing the machine around aswell as pulling up and down steps is best done with all wheels on there highest setting aswell, this will give you the best clearence on the machine.
also the wheels being fixed inline with the deck prevents you catching them on posts and obsticles which is the biggest cause for this part on any mower needing to be replaced it also is better for getting our machines into tighter areas and preventing tramlines left in the grass.
as for the speed of this machine it should be set to a top speed of 4.1Km/h and bottom end of 2.9Km/h. if this is not the case then the cable on the variable speed lever needs adjusting by about 5mm as on new machines after a few days of use can have the cable settle / stretch being brand new and so would need the slack adjusting once before setting off for the full season of cutting(this could also be the case on the blade brake cable aswell)
last point which you may already know,
when cutting in very wet conditions lift the 2 rear wheals up to one notch higher than the front,
this will still give the same hight of cut but would also increase the airflow into the deck keeping our machine collecting as an etesia should,this also works on other machines aswell (except out front mowers which are a little differnt and most of the time the front is lifted to grade the cut down to the finished hight.
if you need any help or advise feel free to get intouch on here or by calling the office
i hope the above helps you get the most out of your machine
regards
Neal barker
Thanks for the input guys. I will follow your tips. I did buy it on your collective advice. Im sure I just have to get used to its ways. Ill ask my dealer to check out the speed. Does the larger pully make much of a difference?
I did not buy a push mower because many of my gardens are large and I think get that extra work would kill me. I need some energy for my out of work life as well.
Thanks again
you cant fit a speed up kit to this as its variable speed any way, the speed up mod only makes a single speed machine faster, the speed on your machine sounds more like a cable needing a tweek now its bedded in a little after some use