Feider - Thermal mower - Self-propelled 173 cm³ 51 cm - electric start and with launcher - FTDT5175ES

The battery doesn't hold enough charge to power start the engine unless it is used immediately after you restart a hot motor. It mows ok but the controls are vague. The halt function sometimes stops after releasing the handle. Most of the time it doesn't. However, the biggest problem is getting it started. It takes many pulls and it hard work. My old Briggs and Stratton was easy and first time every time. Now, just past its warranty date, it refuses to start at all. I will be going back to a Briggs and Stratton powered mower as soon as I get this non-starting problem solved and get it sold. UPDATE: I tried three times.to get in touch with Mow Direct, the UK importer, for help with the starting problem. I also enquired as to the price and availability of a new battery and a charger. No reply. The same response from the manufacturer in France. I have since sold it for Spares or Repairs for a fraction of its new cost in march 2020

Feider FTDT517ES I have used this mower on five occasions now, each time cutting a large area of lawn, around trees, borders along fences and up and down slight inclines and in tight spaces, about three hours work each time, so I'm pretty well qualified to give it a fair review. Firstly assembly. Throw the handbook away, if only they had put as much effort into actually describing how to assemble and use it as the amount of safety advice, that would have been a start. The photos look like they have come out of a 60's newspaper and the instructions are just as bad. There is a bottle of oil supplied, but strangely it is a different spec to the label on the oil filler cap! The left hand cables are routed through a plastic clip which you will need to drill out to the diameter of the cable or else it wont sit flush on the frame. Cable routing? that's a secret apparently, just make sure the power cable is cable tied onto the frame so it wont get caught on anything. Starting would have been better with a push button than a key and really you need three hands to do this, one to turn, two to hold starting handle in, and three to move throttle lever from start to run position. Even then its hit and miss whether it starts straight away, and often doesn't seem to engage with the motor it just clicks. I specifically bought this for electric start as I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and the last thing I need to do is pull on a cord. So the electric start is problematic and the battery seems to be very under-powered, fortunately the hand pull starts with a short pull first time. Now, the BIG ISSUE! self propulsion cannot be relied upon to stop when you release the lever EVERY time. This is bad, and can cause an injury to someone, something, or the mower itself. Five times out of six it stops straight away, the unexpected always happens when you come to a fence, wall or steep drop and it keeps on going for 4 or 5 feet. It takes quick reactions and quite a bit of strength to do this and could be dangerous, because when you release the drive handle it should stop...every time. I read a review with someone else mentioning this fault, and the seller wasn't interested. Well they should be, and these mowers need to have this fixed. Anyway, the drive is smooth on pick up but oh so leisurely, there needs to be a slightly higher rev speed as a factory setting, or at least instructions on how to do this. Design issues... touch any of the wheels on the side on an obstacle and the trim comes off, the pull cord guide handle on the r/h side sticks out too far and catches any fencing you are running parallel to, like wise the throttle control on the left hand side is the same and needs to be inset more. The cutting blade could be double sided to cut being pulled backwards. The drive mechanism needs more protection from cuttings accumulating around the gears and pulleys and should be cleaned with a blower after each use. To summarise. The good points: It cuts the grass well and throws the clippings to the back of the bag, it doesn't throw out clippings where you have cut, it is not as heavy or hard to manoeuvre as other mowers with this cutting width, the self propulsion is smooth, mower is quiet enough. Bad points: Major safety issue with drive not being disengaged immediately, poor electric starting, poor instructions, the power charging plug socket under the battery housing is very awkward to locate all nigglely design faults that are frustrating. This mower was a replacement for a Hyundai equivalent (problem being constant drive issues), both are not perfect, but the Feider is lighter easier to manoeuvre and cuts better, the only advantage the Hyundai has over this is that its electric start is much superior

After a few problems with the mower The problem was solved by the fieder team within a week great service 👍👍