Rover Challenger Mulch N Catch

Heavy and cumbersome – Very heavy machine, great effort needed to lift over the retaining wall into the rear yard. cutting mainly santa anna and kikuyu. Catcher is the main area of dissent, takes a lot of effort to put on. the front axle retainers broke and repairs are needed. Show details

The best mower – Still has a snorkel twin air filter, this is perfect for the Aust Dry dusty conditions. Dust is extremely harmful to engines. Easy start one pull, no choke, 173cc motor, handles long grass no troubles, my 9yo son starts and mows the lawn. Easy to empty clam shell catcher with fill indicator and does not clog. The catcher hangs off the back rather… Read more

than slots into shute, such a simple well thought out design for easy removal and re attachment. Self propelled makes it easier to mow, I wont got back to a push mower. The self propelled makes mowing a lazy task, so when your not using the self propelled option the mower feels heavy, its not heavy, its just that your used to the self propelled option. Great 5 year warranty. I love mowing.

Look at other makes – I have had this mower for 2 years and the only praise I would give it, is it"s motor. The rear catcher is a waste of time, grass cuttings clog the rear opening to the catcher so it never fills. Have to keep hold of throttle all the time otherwise it stops, a safety feature which is good, but not when you have to constantly stop your mower to clear… Read more

the blockages. The Mulcher attachment is not as simple to install, once you do it works okay. Even with the catcher off, the mower will stall after the guttings clog the undercarriage of the mower, the rear guard is heavy plastic which then holds everything inside. The self cleaning hose attachment is great if you have kids hands. The price is not an issue, made in China, motor is the only good thing.

Good value – I had the push model 800 and found that it cut and mulched well but too heavy to push up hill. Traded up to the 880 self propelled and couldn't be happier. The 5 year warranty is a big plus. Use catcher seldom as it mulshers soo fine. So far so good  Show details

Powerful and Affordable – I bought this from a local hardware chain at a cheap price. For the price is does a really good job. It has been flawless in the past 12 months. Starts first time generally. My major gripe is that its only one speed and that you have to hold the throttle down at all times otherwise it stalls. This gets tiresome on the hand after a while. The muncher is hard to get in and out as well. Overall not a bad machine.  Show details

Excellent for the price – I've had this mower for 1 year, and regularly cut a 1/2 acre block over varying ground with it . I have not had one single issue with it thus far, and consider it great value for money. For those few who continually winge about what flaws there are, I would ask you to consider that nothing is perfect, especially for the asking price. My suggestion… Read more

is :- sit down for 5 minutes, have a strong cup of "Harden the crap up, and learn to use what you paid good money for.

After more than 60 years you would think they'd get it right? Not this crowd! – Cutting results - ordinary. Manouvering - Heavy - as you would expect from a larger machine. Operation - where do I start? Don't even try to mow damp grass. The mower clogs within a few metres. The catcher is an absolute pig to attach - turns me into a raving lunatic within a few minutes. Mower will not fill the catcher. Clam shell catcher is… Read more

OK if you just want to dump the mowings on your feet! Engine primer button has never worked properly. Large engine is hard to pull to start and never starts first pull. Plastic throttle lever broke within the first couple of months. Plastic handle height adjusters are too weak to hold position. All in all the worst purchasing decision I have ever made. I've just bought a Masport -perfect - should have done this in the first place. I can't believe that such bad design got to the market place

Do not buy this mower – Wheels fall off and needed to be put back on back area metal weld fell apart only use mower every 3 weeks 19 months old poor quality warranty what does that mean don't buy a rover I have had mowers for 10 years and this is a lemon poor Quality  Show details

love this mower – Mower works the way a mower should. mulches like a dream and is easy to clean using the hose attachment. the mower is a little bit heavy due to the steel deck and large engine but I would rather the weight than having to restart the mower when It bogs down on the long spring grass.  Show details

Crap – This model was purchased new and I have become ever increasingly dissatisfied with it. The catcher is hard to refit after emptying. There is a build up of grass clippings in the catcher Shute when grass it green and the mower does not throw the clipping into the catcher properly resulting in a mess emptying the catcher and necessitating the… Read more

Shute to be cleared. The mower is heavy and very hard to manoeuvre in tight situations. It is difficult to pull backwards when necessary because of clearance. The catcher full indicated clogs up with clippings and does not work accurately. The handle bars and location of the throttle and drive levers put hands at risk of injury when manoeuvre ring in tight spots. The hose connection to wash out the baseplate is a gimmick. Would never buy one again

Not a bad mower – I did have a few issues with the belt coming off but seems to be going ok now. Cuts well and excellent motor. I would recommend the mower, especially for a large fairly flat lawn. The catcher is a good size but a little difficult to get on. Mulches well.  Show details

A horrific experience with this "machine" – I returned to this review again as I have had this mower for 3 months now, but it only gets worse! It is by far the worst I have ever owned or operated and I am a farm boy who grew up with a 1 acre lawn to maintain around our homestead. I usually pride myself on making major purchases, from houses to cars to household items. I read not just the… Read more

specs but both the pro and consumer reviews as well, then make a nuanced decision.

Stupidly I ignored my own process in buying this and made the worst major purchase decision of my life.

I had an MTD yardmaster for 17 years whose Briggs and Stratton motor started first time, every time... until it finally didn't. We had had a lot of rain and there were many snakes around so I felt I had to urgently get a new mower, no MTDs to be found in town but I had heard that MTD had bought Rover in Australia so I figured "I can't go wrong", well....yes I could, very, very wrong. Where to start? I know!.. starting.

First time? Nope. Try 4 or 5 times with pulls that will hurt your shoulder. Once you do start it vibration levels in the handle are simply unacceptable, in fact I suspect anything more than an hour on this would risk nerve damage. Of course with Rover's brilliant idea of not being able to vary the revs you can't do anything about it. Does it mow at least? Not really, it leaves uneven ridges right out of the box.

But the worst thing by FAR is the duststorm it creates with the extraordinary (and totally unnecessary ) downward wind pressure it creates as it mows, catcher on or off makes no difference. I really wish Product Review allowed posting of videos or photos and nobody would ever consider buying this mower. It creates so much dust that I am literally lost in it and have to wear a respirator to mow! It covers my veranda and windows, gets into the house aircon filters and of course clogs the air filter on the mower itself. Rover offered a $50 cashback on this when I bought it, well here's fair notice...I'm going for a further $600 cash back for this appalling piece of engineering, and I only use "engineering" as the many other words I had in mind wouldn't be published on Product Review.

Hand throttle difficult to maintain even revs – The catcher has to be so precisely fitted that after being emptied a few times grass clippings build up in edges so catcher does not fit properly. Debris has to be brushed off before catcher fits without any gaps. In previous mowers the motor would be left idling while catcher emptied would have blown debris off edges where catcher fitted. Warranty Heavy, uses more fuel with uneven revs and having to restart motor when catcher emptied.

Fantastic – Have owned for 2 months so its a little early for writing a review, This OHV 880 Mulch n Catch Self propelled mower with the Japanese engine is a treat, Starts First pull after priming, Mulches really well, When using catcher all clippings are picked up. Easy Empty, Good on Fuel, But I Only Use Premium.. Rear opening catcher is really user friendly, Easy start, Comfortable pace in self propelled mode.  Show 2 replies