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Replies

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  Peter Davis August 21, 2010 at 3:54pm

  Mine has just cut my lawn beautifully. An extra 1mph makes a big time difference over a week. I also find that the extra revs improve the collection especially with wet grass - no hydro drive.
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  Dan Frazer Gardening August 21, 2010 at 4:45pm

  Lawns are simpler than borders though - you can see instantly if it's been cut properly or not, and generally, if growth is not excessive, I have not found a fast mower to produce a poor cut due to the speed.
  
  If Peter does this for a living he probably knows how to do a good job.
  
  Peter - I hear people talking about increasing revs but no idea how to do this... is it easy? I could do with trying something to improve the masport but this would also need the drive belt tightened up as the roller is a reluctant piece of s**t!
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  Peter Davis August 21, 2010 at 7:01pm

  Of course I vary my speed. It is easy to slow down a fast mower but it can be harder to speed up a slow one. I am a bit disappointed. I was expecting you lot to be a bunch of mower modders !. When I was doing a lot of commercial cutting we would count down the days to the end of the Honda warranty & then de-govern to ramp up the revs. My little Izy has just had the treatment & is now even quicker.
  
  A mate of mine who makes go karts used to modify my Honda's. He fitted different jets to my existing Pro Roller & I only use good quality oil. It has been running at higher revs for many years & my expert says that it puts less strain on the engine than throttling it back. The old Honda OHV produced maximum power at higher revs that they were set at in the factory. The engine was only set lower for noise regs. He did a dyno test on one of my Honda's. The engine had improved from 5.5 to over 7.
  
  Personally I would find the normal, factory speeds to be to boring as well as unproductive. Also it's fun to let people, who don't know, try your mower !.
  
  By the way I have never experienced compaction problems with a rear roller. I personally doubt that the Honda's 68 kilos spread along a 21 inch roller would cause compaction.
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  Peter Davis August 21, 2010 at 7:58pm

  All that I know how to do is take of the plastic shroud on the throttle adjustment & then turn the screw. Honda designed the screw head to be tamper proof but a small slotted screwdriver usually works. I unscrew the throttle screw, remove the plastic & replace the screw. Then adjust it to the preferred revs. I have only done this on OHV's & the only restriction is the choke lever. In other words you can only increase the throttle to the point where the choke starts to engage. I know people who have literally filed the choke actuator to allow the throttle to open further.
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  Peter Davis August 21, 2010 at 9:19pm

  Even if you change the cutting direction each sq metre will still get the same load from the roller. If anything heavy wheeled mowers have the potential to compact more but over a much smaller area. This would be especially so given the practice of running the front wheel in the track made by the previous pass which wouldn't happen with a direction change.
  
  All year I have been cutting my own small lawn with my small Izy & I have been very pleased with the results. However it looks way better having been cut today with the Pro Roller which flattens out those almost imperceptible lump & bumps. The lawn just looks more even.
  
  Ace Garden Services - John said:

  Hi Peter,
  By the way I have never experienced compaction problems with a rear roller. I personally doubt that the Honda's 68 kilos spread along a 21 inch roller would cause compaction.
  
  I agree, as long as you keep altering the cutting direction across the lawn. - In case there are any people new to business.
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  Graeme @ BGS August 22, 2010 at 12:31pm

  Totally agree - A roller has no negative effect as far as compaction - this is supported by the IOG and also a lot of research in the USA. Mowing is just one part of lawn care - it is a science and one that far too many people think they can get a mower and start a business :-)
  
  Personally I prefer cutting at a higher speed but will make adjustments for ground and weather conditions, also change to different mowers as required. Intresting that the new Hayter Pro range have a pre-set speed which personally I think is too slow but cranking up the revs will speed it up.
  
  Peter Davis said:

  Even if you change the cutting direction each sq metre will still get the same load from the roller. If anything heavy wheeled mowers have the potential to compact more but over a much smaller area. This would be especially so given the practice of running the front wheel in the track made by the previous pass which wouldn't happen with a direction change.
  
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  Graeme @ BGS August 22, 2010 at 12:36pm

  And boy isn't it a joy to mow afterwards - no fighting against the thatch and a quicker cut regardless of what speed you run your mower at.
  
  Pro Gard said:

  Bi annual scarification and proper care will negate any compaction issues from the roller.