Check it out, finally found myself a proper lawn mower here:
It's a Husqvarna, very good brand for garden equipment (and dirt bikes!) Cost me 21900 B which is a lot and twice the amount I paid for the piece of shit in the background but I soon found out it is twice the mower!
Self propelled by the front wheels you can walk behind it with one hand to guide it (needs a cup holder then!) and easy to maneuver by pushing the front up and turning. It is variable speed as well, controlled by a lever on the handle.
Briggs and Stratton (a real one unlike the Chinese copy on the one in the background) and a massive 190 cc! No speed adjustment all controlled by the engines governor and it has some grunt!
Easy starting (unlike the one in the background which has an addiction to contact cleaner before it will even think about starting)
All seems very well put together and I bought it off an amiable Aussie in Chiang Rai who is a dealer. The clincher for me was being able to call or email him and get proper after sales service and parts. He even dropped it off at my place here in Phetchabun as he was passing through to deliver another! he has a full range of gear, even ride on's that I was lusting after but resigned myself to walking. Good exercise.
One thing I noticed is that it used a fair amount of oil ( most likely from running in) and was below the add mark after 2 or 3 hours running so you need to check it! I just use the straight 40 from Honda same as everything else and hasn't used any since but that could have got nasty!
Just have to convince the worker to use it instead of the brush cutter which takes him 3 days to do what I can now do in a day or less. (He then gets 3 days wages.....) It is nice to use that for what it was designed for - trimming the edges.
One problem is stones, I have already put a nice chip in the blade hitting one. It has 3 ways to get rid of the cuttings. A catcher, side ejection, or mulching. I just mulch and the blade is designed to throw the stuff up and get recut on the way down as I saw when I picked up a tennis sized boulder and heard it thrashing around inside for ages. Luckily nothing seems to get thrown outside, I haven't seen anything leave the deck yet (unlike the piece of crap in the background which threw a rock out the back and opened up my shin nicely). I have now fitted a cord cutter on the trimmer so stones don't worry it. This dry I will have to get a stone removal program going.
Just have to try and get rid of the piece of Chinese crap somehow now, a complete waste of money and probably only has 10 hours on it before it got thrown in the corner of the shed in disgust
Here's a link where I got it:
Husky North, Husqvarna Lawn and Garden Products in Northern Thailand including Lawn Tractors, Lawn Mowers, Cutters and Chain Saws
And no, you can't borrow it.