Rover Mini Rider 382

Has its foibles – Bought the Micro Rider 6-speed 24 inch for my large yard. Grass had overgrown, about 30 cms tall. I didn't expect this mower to plough through it at walking pace but I was disappointed that it bogged down rather badly and had to be very slowly driven to cut a channel and then back and forth shaving about 15 cms along the edge of the channel using… Read more

one side of the cutting blades. It may cut straight through shorter grass but it would have to be about 10 cms high at most. I did have the blades set at the highest position. Auto throttle does not rev the engine very much for cutting, not really more than idle speed, so cutting power is moderate, and having to ride the brake pedal to control the forward speed for slow cutting was a real pain. The lowest speed setting (2) was still too fast in long grass. My left leg was quite fatigued after three hours cutting, riding the brake pedal as I needed to. A bit more than one litre in the tank is not much fuel - it doesn't last as long as I would like. The knob on the FWD/REV shift lever kept coming off - it's only a push fit. I needed to drill through the knob and lever to fit a split pin. Not being able to cut in reverse is annoying so there is constant shifting to disengage the cutter drive, shift into reverse, then into forward again and re-engage the cutter drive. The engagement of the cutter drive seems harsh and noisy, almost like something is wrong, and the blade disc does not seem very well balanced, although vibration is not too excessive. The cutter drive must be engaged over previously cut grass as the blades will not rotate in long grass and, as I found, trying to engage the cutter drive in even moderately long grass results in slipping of the drive belt - and even smoke! However, I'm sure that if I keep the grass down and use this mower when it isn't so long then I should be able to run it at a suitable speed without having the ride the brake pedal all the time because that is really tiring. But the speed control does apparently partly apply the brakes rather than any kind of throttle speed control which I guess means that the brakes will wear out fairly quickly since dragging brakes is the primary method of speed control. Also, rear wheels can lift on uneven ground and wheel slip occurs with loss of forward drive. And there is apparently no charging of the on-board starting battery so it will need to be charged with a suitable external charger when it gets weak, and for this reason the lack of a manual starting method (by pull cord or whatever) is a significant design omission. Overall, seems like a good little mower but somewhat in the toy category of ride-on mowers. If used on relatively short grass I expect it will perform adequately and it is comfortable to drive (expect for the leg fatigue from riding the brake pedal as I needed to). Turning circle is good (about 1½ metres) but manoeuvering can be tiring when needing to frequently shift into reverse as detailed above. I paid $2900 plus $120 for the optional mulch plug but a catcher attachment (not available) would surely be a bonus.

Over-regulated child's toy – Would be the biggest piece of rubbish I have ever bought. When I go to start it, I have a 50/50 chance of mowing the lawns with it. So many safety features that prevent the job getting done I just throw my hands up and grab the push mower. Just not worth the frustration and grief.  Show details

just purchased 30 inch mini ride on happy with it – just purchased 30 inch mini ride on happy with it lot of people say they have issues with not running after short time I haven't had that happen but I do know its the fuel solenoid when it gets hot shuts off fuel supply have that replaced and no drama after that and not happy with reverse cutting out when cutter ingaged but I put a cable tie around the switch at the lever solved that problem  Show details

Love the Canadian makes life easier – Fairly easy to manoeuvre but not so with forward and reverse in hindsight should have got the auto model so the cutter works in reverse and perhaps ease of forward and reverse. Slightly sloping block of Kikeau grass. The little engine works hard at times. Have to refill the mower after doing the front and back yards the block is a normal 1/4 acre block Fairly comfortable for what it is. Show details

Great for large blocks – I live on basically half an acre suburban Melbourne. Mowing was done with a mulcher which was OK when I was younger. It was a big job. Took over an hour. Now I'm 58 so I thought I'd get the Rover Mini ride on. I got the manual version, and maybe for the xtra $400, should have got the auto, but the manual is lighter and does the job very well. I… Read more

had to "tweak up" the mower a bit so I can cut backwards and get off without the engine stopping. Only real negative is that the oil plug and outlet is very, very badly located. Its in a very hard location to get to-absolutely NOT user friendly- very, very dumb place. I had to modify this outlet with an extension so I could easily run the oil out. Apart from that, the mower does a good job. I still have to use the hand mower to get into corners and tight spaces under trees etc. But overall, It was a good purchase for the price of $1800.