Stihl RMA 510

Too much variance between lowest and second lowest height setting which means you either bottom out and scalp or not able to take enough off the lawn. Doesn’t like wet grass and really struggles to bag the clippings due to clogging the deck and chute. Bag material is extremely poor quality and doesn’t take much to rip/tear due to “normal” use… Read more

and the replacement cost is downright exhortation. Same goes for the replacement blade, you can purchase Greenworks blade (essentially the same mower) for half the price of the Stihl blade. All in all not worth the money IMO compared to alternatives available for similar or cheaper dollars.

Pro: Easy to start. Fairly quiet (still need earmuffs though). Con: From the Instruction Manual: " The STIHL RMA 510 lawnmower is used to mow and mulch dry grass." " Do not mow and mulch wet grass." -in AUCKLAND!!! Then how am I supposed to mow the lawn??? Difficult to clean underneath. … Read more

Very expensive. My Stihl chainsaw and scrub bar were expensive too but they've been going for years anytime anywhere.

Takes the hard out of hard work ! – Great mower, 50+ year old buffalo no problems. Large lawn areas front, rear & verge all level flat ground. Does the lot on one battery, recharged after use. Prefer to use as manual push with self drive as assist on long runs. By doing it this way mower remains light to turn, or push/pull in tight areas. I'm a fit active 84 yr recycled teenager. 10 out of 10. Show details

Total breakdown of mower – I bought mine in April 2022, it has had light use. I had it serviced each year. In January this year 2025 it would not start. I took it to the dealer and he found that the switch and the electronic module had to be replaced. It would have cost over $600. I wrote to Stihl but they would do nothing as it was eight months past the warranty date. I… Read more

did not really like it anyway, as I didn’t think the cutter did a good job and also the rear bar of the frame is too low and prevents the mowerfrom being lowered as much as I wanted. Overall, I am very disappointed with my purchase.

Does the good outweigh the bad? – There are some good and bad points with this mower. It has a nice wide cut and has reasonable charge life. I can (just) get my reasonably large urban lawn mowed front and back on a single charge in about 45 minutes. Charging is a fairly slow process so two batteries and some pre-planning is advisable. I have had little difficulty… Read more

installing/removing the battery. The grass catcher is quite large and fills well - in dry, broad leafed grass. I finer grained grass like couch or bent, or in damp grass, the mower leaves a windrow of cut grass which is surprisingly difficult to pick up with a second or third pass. In these conditions a thick layer of mulched grass quickly accumulates under the deck. The most exasperating thing with the mower is getting acceptable cutting height without undue pushing effort. There are a few contributing factors. First, there is too big a gap between the cutting height notches - I cut an extra one myself between the lowest and second lowest settings. Second, there is a useless rubber flap across the bottom rear of the mower which adds to pushing/reversing effort. Fortunately it is easily removed. The worst impediment is the height of the cutting disc relative to the ground clearance of the mower deck. Even on the second lowest height setting the base of the deck is almost at gound level so the mower requires undue effort to push, even in only moderately long grass. (This is a fault commont to a number of mowers. On some it can be satisfactorily and safely modified at home - but, unfortunately, not with the RMA 510). I cant imagine trying to mow anything at all on the lowest setting without completely bogging down. Despite it's good points I'd really hesitate to buy another one.

Don't buy this until you're convinced you can get the battery out – Had this for coming up 3 years It does give a good cut. But that's let down by the battery. □ Having 2 slots but only one works is ridiculous waste of space. □ But the biggest problem by far is the battery is impossible to remove. My wife has small hands with arthritis. I have large, capable hands. Wife can't remove at all. I can with a lot of… Read more

wriggling and pulling. It is such a poorly designed affair and coming from Stihl I find it rather bewildering. Talked to the supplier and he admitted the problem but couldn't offer a solution. Completely let's the name down.

If I could give this a score of zero I would.

Very poor experience with this mower – Very disappointed with this mower. Poor grass cutting, always leaves a strip not properly cut, doesn’t matter how much you overlap the cut. The self propel is a pain. It is very slow to release and cannot go be used around corners. The latest thing is the rear drive wheels are very noisy and one locks up. Returned to dealer for warranty but doesn’t look like they will honour it. They insist fault caused by owner. Show details

If you want to mow twice a week it might be on – Very excited when I bought this, high hopes didn’t take long to be disappointed. Bogs down and stops if your k look lawn is thick (I am not talking 3 weeks growth or anything, I need to mow every 5 days or it’s to hard on the mower). Worst decision buying this mower, this will be the last Stihl electric item I buy, they are just not up to the… Read more

job. I have multiple stihl petrol tools and they are great, but there battery stuff is not worth the money,

Doesn't like water – Bought a self propelled unit in Jan 2010 and used it to mow every week in the wet season, just over 1/8th acre grassed area plus nature strip in North Qld. Due to the grass always being wet I sprayed the underside where the cut grass accumulates with canola oil to make it easier to clean it up. Took a battery and a half to cut that grass. I use… Read more

the second from shortest cut setting.

Two months ago moved house to a 660m2 block (about 1/3 of it grass plus the big nature strip so about 500m2 to cut in total). The grass here is buffalo grass and uses one battery to cut all areas. Have been cutting the grass every 3 weeks in the dry season. Grass here needs cutting every week in the wet season.

Two weeks ago started making broken gear tooth type noises and then locked up the LHS wheel completely.

Took it to local dealer who said bearings rusted out and not a warranty repair.

I'm shocked that a lawnmower cannot handle wet grass - especially up here in Nth Qld so would not recommend it to anyone who needs to cut grass that is wet and, I'm surprised Stihl didn't fit sealed bearings to help overcome this problem.

Looks like I go back to a Kubota - the last one lasted over 30 years with nothing replaced except blades, a fuel filter and, an oil filler casting that I accidently broke about 12 years ago.

very poor design – very hard to use, the lowest setting lifts the wheels off the ground, setting 2 still scrapes the ground and gets stuck on every little bump and cuts the grass far too long over an inch high, the blade design is shocking, sits up to high in the deck and doesn't cut properly, it also leaves grass behind and doesn't mulch properly, self propel… Read more

doesn't release properly you have to push it forward to get it to release, the rubber flap at the back is stupid and gets stuck under mower, this mower needs to be redesigned and put some thought into its design, only way to fix the one i have is to put a better dropped blade on it preferably with swing back blades so the blade sits at the level of the base instead of an inch higher than the base, and blades with a better design for cutting and mulching, as the blade fitted to the mower is useless, sits far to high up in the base, has a small cutter section, and doesn't create the air movement to mulch properly, unless you have a manicured lawn that is like a bowling green do not buy this mower, also don't bother buying a Makita cordless mower either as they mow great but are not sealed and rust out in under a year.

one more level – i always mow grass the lowest it can go but with the stihl it needs one more lowering level so after i mow i have to go over it again with my honda petrol mowet again to cut it low so it defies the point other than that it is good but it really is a waste of money to me as i am just wasting my time using it

Black sheep of a Royal family – Purchased the mower RMA 510 self propelled in October 2021 and have struggled since. I have the nearly the complete family of Still electric garden care tools. This was the last item I purchased. Had no doubt it was going to be great but was the opposite Manoeuvring is impossible. Always need to stop and and stay for over a second to pull the… Read more

Lawn mover back until the wheels unlock. As mentioned on another review, the body sinks in to the ground and the wheels spin. Number 1 cutting height is impossible to use. I think it is only there for a decoration

It is a real struggle to get the laws mowed compared to the old Masport petrol mower which was a breeze.

If you have flat straight lawn it is great. Battery life is fantastic

Last week I did have a reply from the local dealer and it stated:

"most self-propelled lawnmowers cannot move backward under power. Most self-propelled, walk-behind lawnmowers have only one forward speed under propulsion. It can be moved backward manually by your hands."

Rubbish – I love Stihl products but this mower is way below their usual high standard. While it is very quiet and looks the part it bogs down and is very hard to push through even when the grass is short. The body drags and lifts the grass behind it. It is parked up in the shed and I am back to my old Honda. Show details

At last I can abandon petrol mowing! – I recently purchased this mower having gone into my local garden tool store to buy a newer Honda cordless mower. I had used a self-propelled Honda petrol mower for some years. It was an excellent mower but became far too heavy for me to manoeuvre. The Stihl MRA 510V has some of the features of the petrol Honda, such as variable speed self… Read more

propelled, transport mode without the blade rotating and adjustable handle heights. But it is half its weight and the height of the mower can be adjusted by just one lever (the Honda had 4 levers and for me, the rear wheels required a lot of effort to adjust). Therefore, the Stihl is far more manoeuvrable. Just pop in the battery and away you go. No fuel, oil, pollution, no yanking a rope starter, and loud engine noise. I purchased the AS300S battery (x2) and the L500 ultra high speed charger. It’s not a cheap package but I feel it will prove to be good value. It’s still early days, but I have thick couch grass that needs some extra power to get through. The Stihl does this exceptionally well and the self propulsion system is very strong and up to any challenge I can give it. The grass has a nice clean and even cut and the catcher collects to capacity even when the grass is wet. The only small gripe, which others have reported, is that when you release the power bar for the self propulsion it doesn’t stop instantly. If t you then pull back on the mower it feels heavy because the wheels are still turning. You simply need to push the mower forward or wait for a second or two until the wheel drive disconnects. It is then light and manoeuvrable. Overall a great start with this mower and I can highly recommend it!

Major disappointment – The most expensive mower I ever brought at $1495 but given my past experience with Sthil gear I thought it would be worth it. In Auckland with Kikuyu grass & lots of rain the mower is just not up to the task with clogging and poor finish and of course the drive that will not release. Wheels sink into the grass mat preventing a close cut. Local… Read more

Stihl Shop people great when selling but once you have a problem they are defensive, difficult and seem not to care about customer satisfaction. Latest event it is back at the dealer to have the height adjuster fixed & they say it will be 2 weeks before they can look at it. Expensive lesson learned!

This is not Typical Stihl – This is not a typical Stihl product. This must be designed and made in China. Nothing German about it. It chokes itself with cut grass and does not fill the grass catcher. It does the same without the grass catcher on and the side flap open. Need to water blast underside every time I use it. Sad Mr Stihl Show details

Poor design, blade to deck height and self drive just wrong – The drive doesn't disengage when trying to pull backwards, makes it very hard to use. Sthil retailer recommend releasing drive and cutter to release drive brake. For users cutting under trees and shrubs a very poor design. The blade to deck height means if you have kikuya or similar lawns the deck gets stuck at lower cutting settings, you will… Read more

need to cut lawn at a higher setting to avoid this. Drive actuator quite uncomfortable for me. Have been mowing with a Honda self propelled for 30 year this is a backward step for a self propelled mover. Battery life is excellent. I think the straight 510 would be a good mower but give the self propelled a miss.