Lawnmowers?

Not sure if this is the right place for the topic... but I have an electric  mower now.  It's provided by the owner, so it's probably the cheapest available... but it just doesn't work that well.  I have a few questions:


It cuts only on the 'push', not the 'pull'.  Are they all like this?

It has no height adjustments.  Mostly OK, but it doesn't cut long pieces of grass at all.  Normal?  I'm spending a lot of time with scissors...

If I want to buy something that actually cuts grass, any suggestions? 

(I'd like it to be heavy enough to break glass when we move out and I fulfil my fantasy of tossing it through the owner's window.)

LOL!

With all the rain we've had, the garden has been a nightmare - and DH waited until it was a foot high, then tried to attack it with his dad's hover mower.... 

Once he'd managed to dispose of the remains, I convinced him to rent a real (read: petrol-fueled) push mower from a local DIY shop (I think it cost something like £13 for 24 hours) and that did the job nicely.  Too bad it's been raining ever since...I see another rental in our (near) future!

From what I understand, electric mowers aren't as powerful as gas-powered.  I've been told by former users that they actually had to mow more for that reason (couldn't let the grass get too high or thick).

I'm in the States, and just went through some lawnmower drama.  I had to return 2 Sears Crapman (not a typo) mowers because they were defective. #1 mowed 4 times and ran out of oil--no drips, just gone.  I filled it up with oil and let it sit for 24 hours.  When I tried to start it, it smoked like a BBQ pit.  #2 mowed for 10-15 minutes, then stopped.  I thought it might be clogged with grass, so I tipped it up slightly to have a look.  When I set it back down, after removing the small amount of grass near the tip of one blade, I saw oil dripping near the gas tank. 

I now have a Troy-Built, and treated myself to an electric starter.  It's gas-powered, and also has the option of pull starting.  So far, so good.  With all the rain we've had in Texas, I'll be mowing like mad for a while!

I wasn't going to bring my mower from the US when we move in march, but now I'm thinking that I will!  Paid too much to just get rid of it when we move!  I'm assuming it would work in the UK, it is gas (petrol) fueled. 

From what I understand, electric mowers aren't as powerful as gas-powered. 

Definitely true. 

All I knew was that DH was borrowing FIL's mower.  I just assumed it was a regular mower, until I saw him fiddling with a reaaallly long extension cord! 

we just got an electric, wheeled box mower from b&q for about £50. it cuts just fine, but i attack the garden with the weedwhacker (also electric) first to get the edging done right. can't stand those stupid long blades left over after the proper mowing's done.

We had an electric hover mower when we first bought our house.  I hated it from day one.  Last year we bought a gas powered one and it is amazing.  It is so fast, no headache of power cords, etc.  I highly recommend one of those.

It would be quite possible to build an electric mower which is as powerful as a gasoline-powered model, but the practicalities are the limiting factor.  Big motors would necessitate heavy cords and special connections.

The electric hover mowers are really only suited to light trimming on flat lawns -- Great for running over a bowling green every day to keep it in trim, but much less useful for attacking tall grass on uneven ground.