OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Reel Lawn Mowers, Atco & Villiers etc. TPE or Protea

Looking at upgrading my reel mower. Need to decide between TPE 20 inch or Protea 20 inch both with the same 5.5 Honda motor. No worried about price difference more worried about which one is more reliable etc.

Hello Bass
Both appear to have good reputations.
Both would be super reliable. Both are Model 45 inspired.
There are more options with the Protea.

If money was less a consideration I would go for a true
dual-drive machine - that is where the landroll and cutter have
separate clutches - enabling the machine to be driven without
the cutter engaged. The Protea Prof offers that.

If the mower is stored close to the lawn, that's not so important.
So for me either machine in Standard 20 spec would be fine.

p.s. I wish the NZ Steelfort Lawnmaster was sold here.
It has a nice dual system too.

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Jack

Thanks mate appreciate it. Was thinking the protea. Wonder if they are easier to service then the tpe

Hello Bass
Again, I would think similar.
Both seem to have a centrifugal primary clutch.
Both have adapted un-45 bearing carriers.

I think Protea has a good reputation as a professional
lawnmower maker - and they do not disguise where they are made.
I'm not sure where the TPE is actually made.

Please let us know your thoughts - perhaps after purchase.
Maybe Mod BB or a member might have direct experience or
more relevant information. For me, both would be good machines.

Hope this helps.
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Jack

we had a 20inch tpe traded in it had a robin motor looked to be very well made solid machine it sold very quickly.
one good thing about this tpe mower was that rear roller is ribbed rubber much better to move on drvies paths

Thanks fellas. I took a look at both machines and they are very similar and as good as each other. They are both made in South Africa. The TPE has better system for the deflector shield - it's actually bolted on and looks stronger. Might be more time consuming to get off compared with the protea but it's better. The TPE had a noticeably thicker steel on the cutting reel itself so I think that's better. The protea has a stronger catcher with rubber mounts compared to the TPE which is just metal on metal. Both have the same Honda 5hp motor but I think the protea may have the model that is built in jthailand as compared to the TPE which is from Japan. TPE have a 3 year warranty for the motor and chassis compared with the protea which is 12 months chassis and 2 year motor warranty. I'm leaning towards the protea as there are more options with the motors etc, dual drive and there very similar in build to my Scott bonnar so I can some of the servicing myself. The protea is around $2095 for the Honda set and then goes up in price with a Subaru robins motor., dual drive etc. The TPE is around the $2250 to $2400 depending where you get it.

G'day Bass

Many thanks for the update.
That's valuable information for members.

I guess the TPE still uses the double helix reel?

I think this may go down to consumer preference -
both are clearly good machines. A difficult decision.

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Jack