Mountfield SP535

This mower is not recommended by me, unless you wish to mow a carpet.

Had this for 4 years, light domestic use only stored in a dry garage and seviced and mainained as per insructions, nwadvised one year ot of warranty and it is un-repairable, basically scrap. Never been happy with it, it doesn't cope at all with longer or damp grass (does the UK have any other kind?) and constantly blocks where grass comes off the blade so it never reaches the grass box, jams and causes the motor to cut out. Constant pull start operations will have you heading to the physio. Quality seems really poor and I think I have been duped into buying cheap froeign rubbish wiht a fake UK sounding name. Would have been better paying half the price and just admitting it was throw away, couldn't possibly recommend even to my worst enemy.

Only buy this mower if it is a present for somebody you really dislike. It is the mower that hates cutting grass. It is a pig to start even when hot. The grass collector only half fills and then it backs up and cuts out.

It takes me 3 times longer to cut my lawn than it used to with my old mower. You are constantly emptying a half full bag and then trying to restart it.

The engine is no where near as good as the Briggs and Stratton, it doesn't so much struggle with long grass, it simply refuses to try. Annoying, frustrating and disappointing are compliments for this piece of garbage and I am glad to get rid of it. Boxed up and sent back.

my neighbour who is now 82 yrs old, bought one these mowers in 2010 from b and q, paid almost 400 pounds, has been used 4 times in 4 yrs, struggles to start, wont run properly, every time it gets tried it has fresh fuel,new spark plug, still no joy, i feel this is not fit for purpose.so if you are looking for a good mower DONT BUY one of these.

Bought this as a demo from local dealer in east yorks Scrutons

Only had this 11 months and its build quality is awful

Air filter housing has dropped off!

Sheared bolts

Starting to rust on the frame

Really disappointed as it starts well

Unfortunately the dealers and Mountfield have been very unhelpful

Please don't buy this machine

I'm now writing it off and going for a Sanli

They look much better made

The Mountfields are made in Italy

Probably have the quality of a 1970 fiat!!

Plain awful

After six months it's now obvious: This mower is not up to the job. I upgraded from a small mountfield self-push, so why does it take nearly twice as long to mow the same lawn?

mountfield have attempted to create a mid-range mower but compromised ALL the features. Basically, it's a big car with a little engine. A Ford Focus trying to be a Range Rover and failing dismally. mountfield marketing call it 'high specification' but the SP535 is a spectacular fail. High specification maybe, but low performance.

The SP535 is essentially made to fit in a box for easy distribution, or it wouldn't be so awkward to use if someone had actually considered the end user. It has not been tested or they would understand how user-unfriendly the construction is: for example the metal hooked end of the self-propulsion handle is right in the path of the pull cord. Yes, you've got it, fingers and knuckles bashed against the metal sticking out.

Or how about the metal handle strut, placed right where the user wants to hook on the grass box. Result: the user has to bend down under the handle bar EVERY TIME to fit the grass box. It never used to be like this, but this bar allows mountfield to fold it and put it in a box. They aren't concerned what happens once you get it on your lawn, only how they get it to the lawnmower shop.

GRASS BOX: This model is larger than the smaller models - so why are mountfield supplying same small 60 litre grass box from their smaller models to use with the SP535 and other models? Result: stopping and emptying twice as often.

SELF PROPULSION: is feeble and may as well not be there. It has no power and can hardly move the mower empty, when the grass box is full, forget it. So hopeless and slow I no longer use it (after being overtaken by a snail reading a newspaper.)

VARIABLE SPEED, like the feeble self-propulsion, it is hardly there. It runs at one speed FULL speed. Set to 'idle' it stops, set to lower than full speed, it can't cut the grass.

CHOKE: There is none on this model, WHY? it's not electric start, or any more efficient at starting. So users have to yank the start cord about 15 times before the mower finally kicks over.

The claim that this is a self-propelled, variable speed mower is not true if either can only just cope (poorly) with the job they are expected to do. Much of the problem lies with the heavy steel body and steel height adjustment, another pointless feature which makes the mower too heavy to function adequately.

I have always been loyal to Mountfield, but as this is their idea of a 'high specification' mower they've lost a customer. I shouldn't be saying that the cheaper, smaller model is better, lighter and more efficient, but it absolutely is - and that's a damn shame. I won't buy from them again.

I have a uneven 2 acre lawn and the Mountfield sp535 does the work well and the lawn always looks brilliant when it is cut. I love the way it starts first time but it has an awkward grass collector so I just don't use it. I like the way 1 tank of fuel lasts about 2 hours of mowing. I am very happy with it.

Lawn mowers have chegnad a little bit. I think new ones tend to be more maneuverable and faster. But they're still basically the same. Except that I think new ones tend to break down just a little bit easier than the older ones. Some of our neighbors have brand new ones and seem to have troubles with them every other week. Now Lawn Boy seems to be a decent brand, but not quite up there with Craftsman and John Deer and a few others. But it's still good. So what it really depends on is what is wrong with the tractor and how hard and expensive will it be to get it fixed. If the problem isn't bad and you can fix the mower and keep it maintained properly then I say keep it. There is no need to go out and buy something expensive and flashy if what you already have is dependable and works well.*Just thinking about all the practically new lawn mowers that Dad brings home off the curb and is able to fix up and sell. lol

Bought this unit 4 years ago and used weekly during growing season on lawns covering 600 sq metres. The unit is totally reliable but initially had problems starting from cold. I realised fairly quickly that the choke was not fully actuating and could not be adjusted. This problem was overcome by jamming the sharp end of half of a wooden clothes peg (as a wedge)into the choke operating mechanism of the carburettor, opening the throttle as wide as the cable will allow and hey presto, this unit starts first or second pull EVERY TIME!

Entering it's second season now, this is giving us problems with the plastic bodyparts falling off and now we find these are not warranted. Poor after sales service. The engine is fine; the various bolt on components on the chassis are not robust to give a long service life. Very disappointed.