ATCO Avis 

This is a 3.5 score out of 5. I ordered and paid for an Atco Liner 19 SHV in June via the local dealer, Gunson of Sheffield, and Atco had promised delivery by the end of June. In the second week of July I asked Gunson's if it had arrived. He checked with Atco and the delivery date had been put back to September. With leaves falling by then, that was too late for a roller mower and I would be using a 4 wheeled rotary device by then as well as a wheeled leaf sucker so it would mean the new machine would be stored unused by me and not used until Spring 2022! I found a dealer 60 miles away in Harrogate with one in stock and drove to collect it.

So how is the mower? This is the first rotary roller mower I have had, previous ones (Atco/Qualcast), have been cylinder mowers. And with no local dealer with modern Atco products in stock, I had to rely on pictures and specifications. The mower is a decent machine but not of quite the same high quality of previous Atco products I have owned. There are some details which are not great - the start cable loop device lower on the right handle is poor and the plastic shroud around the three cables lower on the left handle will not clip together properly and I have had to secure with cable ties. In use the engine speed is slower than previous wheeled rotaries I have owned but otherwise, a good engine(Honda). The anti-scalp feature is not very effective and the blade still grabs where the surface is slightly uneven(does the low engine speed of 2,900 revs affect this?). The lines are good although I have noticed that the line edge is sharper on the left which is where the blade is rotating in the same direction as the mower/roller.

So quite good but not great hence the 3.5. Maybe I am expecting too much from a modern product and perhaps it is as good as the main competitors Hayter and Honda but at just under £1k is not cheap.

One final thought, the 2 year warranty is extended to 5 years if the machine is serviced annually by a registered Atco service agent. And yet, I live in the 5th largest City in England (Sheffield)and there is only one Atco authorised dealer (Gunson's) which is closing at the end of 2021. The nearest dealers will be 16 miles away and not in Sheffield. This mower is heavy and, although it will fit in my car, I am in my 70s and I cannot lift it without help. How do I get the mower serviced?

Update. I have spoken to ATCO and confirmed that I spoke to them on 9th June and was advised not to order with them online (as the mower was out of stock) but through a dealer, Gunson's of Sheffield, who could pre-order, which I did. The order was cancelled on 12th July when delivery was confirmed as mid-September. I ordered from an ATCO agent who had one in stock, Chaplin's of Harrogate, 60 miles away, and collected the machine myself. ATCO are sending a couple of replacement parts for the cable management on the handles but the issue with the anti-scalp device and scalping is down to the design. I have been advised that there are a number of authorised service agents around Sheffield in addition to the one authorised retailer and have been provided with the details. My overall assessment remains as 3.5, Good but not great.

My new Atco QUATTRO 19SH VSC 4in1 mower was delivery on time and works brilliantly, excellent service all round

Ordered by model number but blade was wrong length should of been 450 and not 410mm that was listed

The grass collector keeps unlatching. I've sent it back and had it restitched because apparently it was incorrecly stitched on. However this lasted for around 2 uses and now it unlatches again. The grass therefore spills out the sides and is useless without me reaching round and pushing it down. Any advice on how to fix it appreciated.

The delivery was quick but the belt was expensive. Could have saved £10 buying from an agent.

Excellent next day delivery of replacement blade but rather slow on issuing refund when it needed to be returned.

Very helpful in getting the correct part. All fitted and back mowing with no problems. Many thanks.

Bought new 3 years ago. beset with electrical problems and replaced F.O.C after ! year. Biggest problem is that the tunnel between the cutting head and the grass box is perpetually blocking. Only works OK on bone dry grass . The slightest moisture in the grass causes blockage. Absolutely useless in the British climate, Today during a hot spell and in the afternoon with the temp at 25 degrees and no rain for the last week plus it blocked every 2to 3 minutes. I really wish I had never seen this piece of badly designed equipment. If you want to spend a fun day try removing the battery .

I still have not received the switch I ordered for my Bosch router, and I have had to pay an extra £2.99 for it to be delivered, why did you not tell me about this ? Very poor service!

fantastic machine .
my previous machines have been sufolk flymo a nd 1960's wheelhorse garden tractor so as you can see i am not a new mower man but the atco is brilliant
although too big for my lawn it does the job beautifully thank you for a grea mower in the true atco tradition

Having written 6 reviews on Trust Pilot, leaving one for another company today, browsing through my previous reviews I am dismayed to see that after Atco stepped in to resolve an issue, this was some time ago now, I never updated my 1 star review to reflect the service received from them.

UPDATE: Atco GT36H Ride on Mower

Further to leaving a negative review on the above product on Trust Pilot, Atco responded to my review.

I then received a telephone call from them with regards to the issue I was having with the electro magnetic blade engagement on the GT36H ride on mower.

The chap I spoke to was a pleasure to deal with, recognised that there was indeed a problem, informed me he was sending an email to the dealer from whom I purchased their machine ( he had refuted our claim and assume he did not take it up with Atco) with instructions to arrange a suitable time to come to my home, inspect and replace the necessary parts required, at no cost to myself.
The dealer did just that, the work was completed promptly and the ride on mower is working perfectly.

The service we received from Atco was excellent.

I"m really happy with the ride on mower, also purchased the trailer as well which is great for moving heavier items around the garden etc.





I bought an Atco GT36H ride on mower, there is a major problem with the electro magnet blade engagement. Every time you fill the grass box then disengage the cutting blades you have to stop the engine and wait up to half an hour until the blades will re-engage, we contacted the dealer but he rubbished our claim and told us that wouldn't happen. Due to this frustrating situation we intend to scrap this machine and buy another Countax as our previous one ran for 20 years with no problems.

The process of buying my new mower went smoothly and I received it when I needed it.

Reasonable delivery but the machine is far from the best.
Fragile handle that keeps flexing out of position, the drive cannot cope with inclines and the cutting height lever keeps popping out of position causing problems.
Doesn't feel very durable and I'm expecting problems with that.

Very efficient service, mower delivered on time, was shown how it all works, very good lawnmower

VERY POOR!! AVOID BUYING A ATCO (STIGA OR MOUNTFIELD)
MOWER SPECIFICATIONS ARE FALSE AND CUSTOMER SERVICES FAIL TO RESPOND APPROPRIATELY OR PROFESSIONALLY TO SIMPLE QUERY.
GRASS BAG IS upto 25% SMALLER THAN STATED I.E. 56 LITRES NOT 70 LITRES CLAIMED AND I HAVE WAITED NEARLY 4 WEEKS FOR A RESPONSE TO MY CONCERN OR REQUEST FOR DETAILS ON RETURNING THE MOWER.
PAID £800 FOR A MOWER THAT DOES NOT MEET THE STATED SPECIFICATIONS!!!
EXTREMELY DISSATISFIED.
****Update****:
Since posting my review, Atco have been in contact and are looking into the grass collector bag size issue.
*****UPDATE 2******
Atco eventually agreed to returning the QUATTRO 19SH VSC mower and refunded.
HOWEVER before returning the mower I did (as I proposed to customer/technical services) determine accurately the actual maximum cubic capacity of the grass collector bag by lining and filling with water (as opposed to calculating from the internal dimensions). The bag managed to hold only 63 Litres which is significantly less than the stated 70 Litres. Obviously the bag was extremely loaded and expanded to the max with circa 63 kg of water, (which is probably 3 times the weight of grass clippings by volume in nominally full bag).
In conclusion;
The stated 70 Litre volume of the grass collector bag is in fact false and extremely misleading. Unacceptable!
Taking all into consideration, including my initial approximate calculation of volume from physical measurements (56Litres), from calculating approximate volume from Atco Technical drawings supplied (58.5 Litres), and from the actual accurate practical determination of the absolute maximum cubic capacity (63 Litres) I would suggest that a more realistic and representative grass collector bag capacity should be stated and marketed at no more than 60 Litres.
A mower has basically two functions, to cut and collect the cut grass clippings. As such the collection capacity is a critical specification and should be honestly and accurately represented in the marketing and technical specifications.
Perhaps Trading Standards will be interested?

Update #3
To be open and fair I should add, against my initial better judgment I have since purchased a Mountfield sp555rv (which is effectively the same mower as the Atco Liner 22SH V) and has a larger stated bag capacity of 80 Litres.
I can report that this bag does look a lot bigger physically, does collect a lot more grass clippings and although I have not measured the actual capacity I feel it is probably close to the specified capacity, which I am happy with.
Other things notable;
1: The electric start on the original Atco's Honda GCVX170 engine was not great. It would take 3 or more attempts to start, (especially when hot) sometimes it would crank the engine and not start, sometimes it would crank initially and then disengage and spin freely, so I opted to get a mower without this feature (especially as there is no secondary means of starting the engine. (i.e. no pull start if the electric starter fails) in my opinion, not worth the extra cost if you can manage with a pull start.
2: The larger (pull Start only) Honda GCVX200 engine on the 22 inch mower (atco or Mountfield roller) is much better in terms of power (no noticeable bogging down/slowwing in longer grass) and starts first pull cold and hot. A great improvement, and does not appear to use any more fuel than the GCVX170??.
3: The rear steel roller version is worth the extra cost over 4 wheel versions. (Although not a two piece split type, without a differential, it works extremely well. No wheel lines on the lawn as with the 4 wheeled versions, easier to manage around borders and leaves nice stripes.
4: Although this has the same basic design and twin clip blade type (but with a different bag design) the larger Mountfield (Atco 22 Liner) seems to cut better and definitely appears to collect better. Not sure if this is due to the larger cutting bed size, the larger bag capacity, or the more powerful engine, but I am very happy with the Mountfield Sp555VR overall so far, (even if it is from the same manufacturing group as Atco and Stiga).

Mower deliver was faulty, but dealt with issue promptly and offered a free upgrade which was accepted

Goods arrived on time and as described and required.

I ordered my 100th centenary items comprising of the deck chair and memorabilia and they were all dispatched promptly and the quality was excellent and what you’d expect from a great company like ATCO

Prompt service from Atco and their local dealer