ATCO Reviews 140

Prompt service from Atco and their local dealer

Fabulous service from ordering the mower to delivering efficient & friendly this my first atco mower hopefully be many more ...

Really great service from Dunn & Sons who delivered my mower and gave me a full explanation of how to use it.

This mower is very good excellent value for money.Exactly what I wanted!

Superb cut, very easy height adjustment, rear roller for stripes

We have had our petrol lawnmower awhile now, with no problems it arrived quickly

Bought an Atco Liner 19 something or other recently

Managed half the lawn and the engine blew up, warranty work was fab and new engine duly fitted. To be fair if cuts beautifully and the electric start is great but it really should be supplied with 2 batteries. Currently sitting on a bench in the garden waiting to get enough charge into the battery to finish the garden
Bit poor really. Should be fitted with either 2 batteries or a supplementary pull cord for moments like these. And yes I did start with a full charge.
So, a few months later I'm compelled to add to this review...
I've used this mower now for the full season. It's rubbish! Don't get me wrong, the cut is beautiful and it looks lovely but don't be deceived, it's rubbish. the battery isn't good enough, it continually slips slightly loose in its holder so that you cant restart it. its not powerful enough to start the mower if only the tiniest of grass cuttings are left near the blade when you restart it and all you get is this errr errr errr noise thats continually wearing out a battery thats insufficient for turning over the starter on the mower.
when I bought this mower I was considering the Hayter or this, I'd used Atco's all through my childhood and always thought it a strong brand, how wrong I was. This mower would have long dead Atco engineers turning in their graves it just isn't up to the job.
Do yourself a favour when your looking for a rear roller mower and considering a Hayter. Buy it, do not buy this one, I know it's prettier but it is simply not anywhere near good enough for the money. I promise you, you will regret it if you buy it.

Bought my Atco GT30H five years ago and it hasn't missed a beat. Fantastic machine and so good that I just bought another one exactly the same, except this one has now got anti-scalping wheels - which is good for my somewhat undulating lawn. Ernest Doe at Colchester is a brilliant dealer and Andy and John are first class. Rolls Royce machine from a Rolls Royce dealer!

I really regret buying this mower. The only reason I chose it mower was because of the attractive finance deal. I had my last mower for 20 years and decided to swap after it became unreliable. My Atco GTL46HR is now just as unreliable after just 18 months. It has never cut as well as my previous mower. The mulching is very poor and leaves a rough finish, even with brand new blades there is still a trail of grass left on the right side of the deck due to the directional rotation of the blades. The deck height adjustment handle is vague at best as the level markings are vague and meaningless. The 'cruise control' function works on an off-centre cam clamp that means the forward pedal has to be released slightly to engage, meaning it cruises at a very slow speed rendering it useless. It's also an incredibly thirsty machine despite seeming to struggle with power in slightly longer or damp grass. I will never buy Atco again

ATCO GT27H. The instruction manual really isn't helpful.
Although I could ride around the lawn, I could NOT get the machine to cut: this despite both myself and a neighbour reading the manual carefully.
Had to ask the dealer to come out and show me exactly how to bring the cutting mechanism into play. (Basically, you pull the tall handle, front left of the machine, VERY slowly towards you until the system shakes into action. Too quick, and the motor stalls.) Incidentally, that long handle is in 2 halves, which easily come unscrewed in operation.
The ride feels very unbalanced, either when turning, or on sloping ground. However the dealer suggested it is more stable than you might imagine. (Watch the official ATCO youtube video carefully, and you'll get an idea of how wobbly the ride is!)
The mower drinks petrol like there is no tomorrow.
The final straw, on my first day of use, was a snapped bearing = very high pitched screaming from the motor. (Poor/cheap/shoddy materials in manufacture?) Luckily this will be replaced under warranty.
Would I buy an ATCO in the future? That remains to be seen: if I'd known they also made Mountfield mowers, probably not.

I purchased an Atco SE19 lawn mower in April 2018

This machine malfunctioned within 9 to 10 months. We initially thought it was a fault of our making, not having the battery sufficiently charged, but came to the realisation it was a manufacturing fault. In May 19 we returned the machine and were advised it was problem with the wiring loom and that this was a defect known to ATCO. Many of these particular machines, an electric start model, that had the same problem.

We had had no official contact from ATCO about this known defect. The wiring loom we were informed was not available and had not been for some considerable time.

After complaining Atco reluctantly after several weeks located a loom from another supplier, which was replaced within a few days. So far so good.

In August 2019 the mower again gave us problems in starting and was returned to the supplier on 2nd September 2019. We were told that a new part needed this time, different to the initial part, again part of the starting mechanism. This part was also unavailable in the UK and had not been since March 2019.

I contacted ATCO who did not want to know and stated that it was not their problem and referred me back to the people who we bought the machine from.

ATCO say the problem was with the engine , manufactured by Briggs and Stratton (B&S) and it is B&S responsibility to deal with the issue. They do not accept responsibility for any engine manufactured by B&S or any other manufacturer.

A situation I am unable to understand. I purchased an ATCO machine, their warranty makes no mention of Atco not accepting responsibility for an engine not made by them. If I purchased a car with an engine or part made by a sub contract supplier, I would not expect to have to go to the sub contractor for recompense.

Surely an ATCO machine is an ATCO machine not a machine of individually manufacturers parts.

When it works the machine cuts well but we have been without a working ATCO machine for a considerable part of the spring and summer.

What a joke, customer service!!!!!

Atco petrol lawnmower has been a disappointment. After just 18 months the belt broke and had to be replaced. It is poor on edges and on slopes and if you need to top up the petrol mid mow it seems you have to wait half an hour before the mower will start again. Would not recommend.

I own an Atco Lawn Rider 27H. It is a great little machine and cuts my lawn with no problem. The only drawback is that it loses its charge on the battery if you don't use it regularly. The problem is compounded by the fact of you cannot remove the battery to charge it. This then means a power lead is needed to the machine, for me quite a bit down the garden as there is no power in the shed where it is parked. A bit of a pain. I think this is a design fault, make the battery removeable! Bit late for me but think about for future machines.

The "customer service" department is a total misnomer. The after sales support is woeful. I bought a Rider 27H ride on mower and it makes a quite unbelievable rattling noise when engaging the actual cutter - that is, if doing so doesn't stall the engine! I eventually managed to cope with this with some help from the selling agent.
However, I decided that I would like to try mulching my grass rather than collecting it in dry weather. I purchased a mulching kit (or so I thought) online - progressing from the actual mower to attachments and purchased the kit. Next day (good delivery service I admit) the kit arrived but it was the wrong one.
Despite a few phone calls (including to a manager - Josh - I was told vehemently that this was MY fault and that I had to pay for the return of the wrong part/kit before I could get a refund. Then to get the right part I had to pay again before they could send it out.
So - I had to pay twice up front, then accept that a return charge would be deducted from their refund for wrong item.
In the course of my telephone conversation I was advised that they were one of the biggest companies in Europe. That may or may not be correct BUT what passes for customer service is pathetic.
Why not simply deliver the correct item and collect the wrong item at the same time? Apparently "not company policy/practice"
First and last dealing with Atco!

I brought a gt38hr May 2016 after 10 days the safety cut out with broke after using it twice so went in for repair, it arrived with a damaged bonnet this took 5 months to replace, the celanoid in the starter motor went and the ignition had to replaced all within 12 months, I had it serviced in may this year used once and now the reverse switch has broken, customer service is non existence I'm still waiting for a call back from 2 months a go, the dealer came out and put the tow bar bit bak on with the lever to put it into push mode behind so can't even push it manually if needed, waste of money. 10/08/2017 UPDATED After speaking to Gary and listening to my concerns ATCO have replaced my Ride on with a new one.

I wrote the original review below on 20 April 2016, this was over five years ago, they never bothered to respond but are now asking for further information! Unbelievable!!!

I purchased an Atco Rider 28H Lawn Rider, this is a ride-on mower costing £1899.00. The owners handbook is useless and emails to Atco customer service go unanswered. This is probably the worst company I have ever had to deal with.

The mower itself is very poor and fails on one of its two primary functions, it does not collect grass properly. I cut my lawn yesterday and despite my going over it a number of times to collect the cuttings it failed to do so and just left them, there were no grass cuttings at all in the grass box, I do have a mulching kit but it wasn't fitted. The lawn looks a right mess and I will have to use a rake to collect the cuttings.

It is extremely difficult/almost impossible to get to the engine, even simple tasks such as changing the oil are a mammoth task as the oil drain pipe is situated well inside the engine cover and you need to be a contortionist to get to it, this even after removing various parts of the cover. It is virtually impossible to collect the old oil and most of it ended up on the drive. The battery is also situated in a very awkward place under the steering column, why?! It seems as though no thought whatsoever has been given to the design of the mower and the very considerable access difficulties to carry out even very simple maintenance tasks. I have yet to find the spark plug!

I have the version with hydrostatic transmission, the handbook shows a lever at the rear on the outside to disengage the transmission to enable the mower to be moved without starting the engine; I couldn't find this lever and eventually after a number of emails to Atco and the local dealer I was advised they had moved the lever and it was now right underneath the engine, it is extremely difficult to see let alone get to! In any event this "automatic" transmission isn't that effective and I would have been better off saving money and bought the manual version but I would never buy Atco again nor would I recommend them. I understand Atco also own Mountfield.