Replacement mower

Hello

My Champion 50cm petrol mower is working fine... for now. I did a little service on it when we moved in, and all has been well.

However, I'm going for the lawn this year, and although parts are available it's obvious it was built to a price. Plus, my partner struggles to carry it up the steps to our garden*.

I'd like to put some money aside for a new mower. The garden is 10m x 4m, and heavily sloping. I'd like something which is:

* good quality
* manouvreable - lighter than a petrol mower
* has decent spares availability
* doesn't take up too much room when it isn't being used

As our home is in the middle of the garden, access to electricity isn't an issue. Nor, within reason, is price. We're certainly not monied, but I'd rather spend more and have something that lasts. Also, do I want a hover mower or a rotary?

So, do you have any suggestions? I had a look at Homebase and just got a bit lost.

*I have to do it all when I'm not working

 

The only way to go lighter than petrol is either electric or battery.
It's not a large lawn but I've no idea about the degree of slope as petrol does have its limits, not just on the engine it's self but for safety.
Hover mowers don't collect grass where the more acceptable rotary will.
Up until a few weeks back I used a little Bosch 43li battery mower for hard to get too customer lawns. It was fine, lasted 8 years before it failed.
I've replaced it with the Viking MA 443 which is way better in all areas. It's not commercial quality but it's light, collects grass very well, very quiet, easy to store, no fuel, no servicing costs associated with petrol and easy to clean. Has a plastic grass box collector so is easy to clean out but it could do with being a tad stronger but it's cheap to replace if anything happens. It's also repairable and looks easy if parts are needed. Dead easy to adjust height as its spring loaded.
The cut is good, better than the Bosch and it's very easy to push, much easier than the Bosch.
No leads to trail around so it will be quicker to do the job.
Down side is you need to purchase the mower, then a battery like the AP300 and a charger and they do 3 chargers and each charger charges at different rates so it depends on how fast you want the battery to charge.
You can't mow in the rain, you can cut wet grass but no if it's raining, much like most electric mowers.
The mower is available through the Stihl network of dealerships, plenty about so spares if needed are readily available. The Bosch was awful for spares and I did have to bypass the safety feature as that failed on me early on.
Battery power tools are moving on quickly, with better batteries being introduced yearly so the run times are much better. I get a good 40 mins from my AP300 battery.
You can step up to the more commercial battery mowers but the price increase is huge and the machines weigh much more.
On about weight the Viking is around 18kg but it feels lighter in the hand if carrying and using.
Worth a look at.

 

Nearly forgot, that Bosch saved me nearly £700 on annual servicing and then there are break down costs and oil and fuel.
My Hayter 48pro has just had the drive changed again for the 3rd time at a nice price of £191 which did include a service of £65 plus VAT. All my petrol mowers get an annual service and all require repairs but that's commercial mowing. They do get hammered.