Rover Mini Rider Hydro

Used about 30hrs of mowing. TWO idle arms have broken in half. Dealer is making it impossible to get the second one under warranty. When idle arm breaks, belt falls off all the time. Time lost investigating, way way too much. The idle arm is pathetically designed, so thin around the bolt hole that it just fatigues & breaks easily. No I am not… Read more

rough on the machine. Machine shudders like sh-it. Machine goes thru belts at an incredible rate. It is very fickle, gutless & will only cut 2-4ins of grass "on a bowling green surface". FAIL. Two months later, used 3 times, the crankshaft seal has failed so machine can no longer hold oil.

Little beast of a machine – Ok so… I’ve had a few ride on mowers over the years. The last one was a McCulloch and a pile of rubbish, that ended up costing me more in repairs than the actual machine did. So my boss had overheard me talking to one of our subbies about buying his old one and a few days later this turned up. I would never have brought this machine myself. But… Read more

it seems heaps better than the other rubbish I’ve had prior.

I will need to get use to the no mowing in reverse, but that by all appearances seems to be its only fault.

Our lawns were quite long and thick as the other one had died a fortnight ago. ‘she’ had to be lifted and grass cleared of the deck several times but this was not the mowers fault but how long our grass was.

It has a very good turning circle which surprised me. I had to mow on the highest setting due to the length of the grass and it still cut very neatly.

We are on half an acre and by all appearances it will be more than adequate for the job at hand!

EDITED: April 23 purchase Nov now. Ok so the grass if not kept short does get stuck a lot, when the blades require replacing I will just go an inch shorter which should alleviate this. Fuel economy on this thing is an absolute beast - not sure how many litres it takes but a full tank will do 3 whole mows. And the way it cuts is by far the neatest cutting mower I have EVER had. Still the main issue I have with how our summer is progressing here in Aust is that humidity, sun rain repeat I am having to mow every 5 days to keep it short (and make it easier to use the mower) this week I was unable to do that and I have had to whipper snip a large portion of the land all because I stretched out to about 8 days and still unsure how I’m going to get the grass down for a portion of our land. In case you can’t tell this would be my biggest frustration with this mower!

A Joy to use – Having just used my new Mini Hydro for the first time I have found it to be a real pleaasure to use . It is going to take time to get familiar with the controls , but it's ease of use so far is great . I have not found any faults ,but I've only just used it , maybe in time , nothing is perfect. With 5 years Warranty and a great product I can't go wrong I hope. Show details

A surprising versatile little mower! – Mower was purchased by my father for me 3 months ago to mow his and my lawns. I was very sceptical at first thinking what a waste of money and believing it to be not suitable for tight mowing situations. After 7 hours of use I can say I was wrong! First once you get used to the top heavy feeling, you can take it anywhere within reason. Around… Read more

plants, trees and right up to tight edges. It’s controls ( hydro model) are easy to master, it’s got plenty of power and a turning cycle that is surprising tight. It fits through nearly all gateways ( with mulch plug) and starts every time. Fuel usage is not bad and the quantity of cut excellent. So there must be drawbacks right…… well yes there are. No LSD in the drive means that in reverse on a steepish downhill slope it will spin the driven wheel. I’ve not encountered the problem in forward drive. The seat is rubber mounted and tends to “ move” around underneath you on slopes which can be a little disconcerting until you get used to it. I have read in other reviews that reverse is a little slow, but on my two tighter blocks I don’t find this an issue. Overall really it’s a 4.5 out of 5 and after using a set propelled Honda for 4 years I would have trouble going back!

YEAR 4 OWNERSHIP UPDATE: After 4 years I still stand by what I wrote above! My current thoughts are: - Fuel usage is higher than I expected. - no mechanical issues whatsoever. - front steering links wear quickly and need replacing every 2 years. - Batteries last about two years. - regular servicing a must! Overall I’m still happy with the mower. Note: in my opinion it’s not built for commercial purposes, but for the large home block, it’s ideal!

When it works it's great – Bought our Rover mini rider in December 2017 for our corner residential block. Went like a charm until December 2020 when the belt broke. Put it in for a service, got it back, mowed twice before the blades were not engaging and it wouldn't mow. Took it to a local mower repair place and paid $149 for replacement belt. It mowed a few times… Read more

before blades stopped engaging. Called the place we bought it from asking for it to be serviced as it wasn't cutting. Took 6 weeks before they picked it up. 2 weeks later got it back and it cos us $260. Mowed once and blades not engaging again. Called them and put it back in and paid another $240 for them to pick it up and fix. Got it back and it mowed twice before the same thing happened again. Same thing happened again. Could not find any information on the Rover Mini Rider Hydro and the manual is useless. Any way, finally found that they are almost identical to the Troybilt Mini Rider mower (possibly rebadged in Australia) and found a YouTube clip that solved our problem. There is a part called the belt keeper next to a pulley and the gap is just big enough for the belt to slip out. That was our problems. My son slightly bent the keeper towards the pulley and now no problems. If you have issues search YouTube for Troybilt Mini Rider as there are heaps of helpful videos and information. I now realise that we kept on getting charged by the Rover Dealer just to put the belt back behind the keeper.

2 years later and still very happy – I have a large sloped lawn with tough buffalo grass, and many curved garden edges. The Rover handles it with ease and with the mulcher attachment leaves it looking good. Starts first time and have had no issues with it at all. Just regular oil changes and a clean up now and again. You need to charge the battery over winter and the oil change is a… Read more

bit messy bur for the price I highly recommend this little machine.(mine is the manual with option to cut while in reverse- a definite must) Rob 10 Jan 2022

I love mowing again – Good mower, just what my 1.5 acre yard needed. Surprised at how well it handled even the worst grass (long and thick) that hadn’t been mowed in years. Some talk about not being able to mow over undulating areas, it will, but you have to position the mower correctly, you will get wheel spin if turning over bumps or hitting them at the wrong… Read more

angle. I see mention of not being able to cut in reverse, my Mini Rider Hydro 382/30 allows you to turn off that safety feature. Pros: Turning circle Ease of use Safety features Being able to turn some of those features off 5 year warranty

Cons: Wheel spin Full lock turns require a bit of force on the steering wheel to straighten up. Long wet grass will clog up side discharge chute.

Great Mini Ride on But – I purchased my Rover auto model mini ride on to cut grass around our home about 2 months ago. I live on about 1.5 acres in a rural setting with some moderate slopes. I only have two problems with it and that is you cant wash the mower after mowing and cooled down...it won't start again..and, being suto, you can't push them even using the by-pass… Read more

lever..I dare you to push it any distance..lol. Anyway, it goes well, cuts well, and mine is fitted with the rear catcher which works surprisingly well, as long as the grass is not wet. Then, it just clogs the shute and you have to manually remove the grass to unclog. But good mower for the price. Hope this helps make your choice..happy hunting..price $3k in Brisbane southside.

Down on power especially in reverse, otherwise a good product – My Rover Mini Rider Hydro is now around 3 years old - purchased from KC Machinery Co in Lismore NSW 2480. I mow a 780m2 mixed grass block, which is mainly on the level - but also have a 20degree tilted council nature-strip to the road that cannot be mowed by the MIni for safety reasons - [well over 11 degrees.] Have to use my self-propelled Rover… Read more

'Personal Pace' for that task. Cuts in reverse and this is a bonus. The M/Rider is quite able to "jump" a 5" path with cutter off/highest deck setting for the front lawn . It will also just fit through our front gate! Power in reverse is poor even on gentle slopes/paving stone edges. Turning circle is good. I can mow this block x3 times on one fill of 95octane fuel and a bit to spare. Fuel tank "window" is handy. First servicing was relatively expensive at around $340, including $50 for transport around 2km back/forward to this dealer in South Lismore. Overall a good product and not over-priced. The foot-brake is difficult to use as it is too high - needs to be on before being able to start. Reverse/Forward pedal better designed. Recommended for light duty/back-yard use. [Note: I weigh 100Kg - this mover definitely needs a V-twin engine for more power on reverse operation.]