Hi Naz, I would say near impossible to find a catcher for it. All I do is cut the back out and fit a Victa rear flap and catcher to it. Bit of messing around but I have done plenty of them because I ended up with so many mowers without catchers and I had a mountain of Victa catchers
Hi Max, another option is to cut one side of the catcher down to fit in the narrow chute, I have done that once before but I had to rivet a piece of metal on the underside of the catcher to strengthen it up It was a fairly simple conversion and the mower hasn't come back so I guess it is catching ok. With the new Honda motor, I did suggest to him that we could pick up a Honda with a blown gearbox for probably $200/250 but he said he didn't want to chase around after something second hand. His mower is 3 years old and as he is mowing lawns he needs a reliable mower and what would he do with the base which he had recently put a new gearbox in. Sometimes you just have to bight the bullet.
I usually put the Victa catcher on instead of the bag catchers when all you need to do is swap the rear flap but usually don't spend a lot of time modifying them these days as I'd only get $80. for a serviced self drive mower.
There isn't much of a problem around my way finding bag catchers as they are mostly thrown out with the mowers, I must have thrown out 50 bag catchers recently.
The Makita ,Ryobi ,Baumr-AG ,Shogun ,Ferrex ,etc have similar catchers that can easily be fitted ,but not worth buying a new catcher as you would easily buy a good mower with catcher cheaper than a new catcher.
Sometimes the catcher frame needs a slight hammering to widen the opening 3mm and the angle of the catcher can be wrong when fitted but if you bend the catcher frame down a little it solves that problem and takes less time than changing the rear flap if you used the Victa catcher.
Had a few self drive mowers where I just sold them without a catcher as I used a mulch plug with the mower instead.
Max, I have about 10 mowers up in a back shed that have been there since covid, I will pull them out over winter and go through them and that will be the end of me fixing mowers, then I will just work on rideons and heavy slashers. I still have probably 40 2 stroke Victa motors so I might build a few of those up. I have 10 bases out the back that have been repaired and painted so I can put those together as well
I have about 10 mowers up in a back shed that have been there since covid, I will pull them out over winter and go through them and that will be the end of me fixing mowers, then I will just work on rideons and heavy slashers. I still have probably 40 2 stroke Victa motors so I might build a few of those up. I have 10 bases out the back that have been repaired and painted so I can put those together as well
10 mowers at $80 each would take me 20 years to sell Norm ,I will probably get rid of my mowers for $50. each and that will only take 5 years to sell 5 mowers.or just scrap them.
Hopefully you can still turn a profit with the slashers and ride on mowers in the future. Not sure if there will be any mower shops left in 20 years . I see a lot of people now mowing their yard with an electric mower ,it must be hurting mower shops now that there are no filters to replace and no oil to change.
I think mower shops pretty much rely on contractors for their work and spares sales and the occasional domestic customer and I don't think too many contractors will be switching to electric mowers. Maybe hedgers and blowers and maybe the odd snipper.
Yes I don't know statistically how many contractors have switched to electric mowers now .I would think it's the minority of them.
I had a mower shop guy tell me years ago about a few mower contractors that were already using electric mowers Norm ,I guess if it saves them money with no servicing and not buying fuel they end up with more profit but obviously they must be cutting the smaller yards, also I know the local council switched to electric ride on mowers and some robotic electric mowers some time ago.
I see Chinese electric ride on mowers for about $1000. now ,most people I see doing gardening jobs have battery powered tools.
Regulatory Policies: Some regions are implementing stricter emissions regulations to combat climate change, which could accelerate the shift to electric mowers.
Technological Advancements: Electric mower technology is continually improving, making them more efficient, affordable, and capable of handling larger areas of grass.
Consumer Preferences: Increasing awareness about environmental issues may lead to more consumers opting for electric options, particularly as battery technology improves and electric mowers become more widely available.
Landscaping and Golf Course Equipment: Certain professional landscaping services and golf courses are already making the switch to electric mowers, which may influence broader adoption.
While it's difficult to predict a specific timeline, a gradual transition over the next couple of decades seems likely. Some industry analysts suggest that by 2040, electric mowers may become the dominant choice for residential and commercial use, but petrol mowers will likely still be in use for specific applications and by certain demographics for years following that.
