I went into Bunnings this week to get my usual supply of Sifa Steel wood and it’s not on the shelf anymore. They just have some cheap chinese rubbish that is sold in much smaller amounts. I have been told that SIFA is no longer and has closed its doors. Just another Australian company that’s gone under I guess. It’s going to make my cabinet restorations difficult if I can’t find a new decent manufacturer. This new Bunnings stuff is unusable.

Their website is still up. I reckon give them a ring on Monday. Bunnings have dropped a lot of Australian products over the years. They still sell quite a few but I guess the $64 question is, how long for?

This is the problem when the ACCC permit one large hardware chain to rule the market. The bastards can lord it over everyone. It is a shame that Woolworths made a pig's ear of its Masters chain.

http://www.sifa.com.au/

UPDATE: Their front page is redirected to a holding page but the deep linked pages are still active.

Their phone number is 02 9457 8040.

Good luck to any Aussie company trying to get stocked by Bunnings.

If Chinese products were to be removed from Bunnings shelves, the place would be virtually empty.

The funny thing is, I've seen them take Chinese stock out of circulation and replace it with another Chinese brand of lesser quality. One was Fix-a-loo flushing washers for toilets. Fix-a-loo wasn't bad and you could get a good seal with a rub of Hydroseal around the hole so the washer would seat correctly on the valve. The junk they replaced them didn't work that well and would leak more often than not so I stopped buying those at Bunnings and bought better ones from Reece.

Heh, I've been using electric mowers for years. Because they are made in China they fail within the warranty period so I take it back and get a new one. So far I've got 2 replacements for free, and expect more in future.

Yes I did see that their website was still up Brad. I will give them a call Monday and see if they answer. Fingers cross.

I have a Victa 82V mower. The mower itself is fine. The batteries are garbage and the capacity of mine has reduced by about 50% in less than three years of ownership. On average I use it about once every three weeks over a year so it is not a good performance.

The problem from here is that a battery is 3/5ths the price of a new mower with a battery and a charger. The next mower I get will be a Dewalt, which is ultimately what I should have got in the first place.

And I thought Lithium batteries were supposed to last 10 years plus. You wouldn’t want to send $3000 - $4000 on cordless power tool bundles and skins for a 3 year life span. I’ve just bought a Stihl battery hedge trimmer. I hope to get a lot longer than 3 years out of it.

It should be okay, though a lot of German power tools are made in the other place these days. I've been a DeWalt buyer for about twenty years now. The thing I like about their gear is that the motors are gutsy and the tools generally go the distance. A lot of the DeWalt stuff is also made in China now but some is made in Taiwan and Mexico. It's still good stuff though and you will get ten years out of genuine batteries. The fakes are garbage and probably have less than half the Ah rating of genuine batteries.

Has anyone seen the new lawnmower being sold by Aldi?

From its picture on the store brochure it looks to be 50% made of plastic.
Hit one big stone and the base will shatter. Not warrantee.
It will not be too long before we see the mowers on the hard rubbish collection pile.

Wayne.

The only thing I've ever purchased at Aldi was their buffalo chicken pieces and since they stopped selling them a few years ago I've never had a reason to go in there.

I'd never buy a mower with a plastic base. It would last five seconds under my hand.

Yeh! If the going gets tough the weaknesses appear. I have a Honda Buffalo from I think around 1990 (will be recorded) it cops a hammering.
Keep the good oil in it and keep the air cleaner clean, haven't killed it yet one wheel & the wheel bearings replaced.

Simplicity front mount lawn tractor hydraulic drive, over 900hrs on the engine, has done an ignition, carburettor & fuel pump. and did manage to shear bolts on the diff. American GM type slop fit no problems since turning 30 thou of the housing to tighten it up & the addition of more and new grease, seems to have fixed that. Normal wear & rear items. Same deal with oil & air cleaner.

Cutter deck cops the punishment rotor bearings (3) at the bottom last about 250Hrs before destruction. Guides repaired recently "A" team style (Oxy torch) after taking on a lump of pipe instead of wood & leaf litter. Some other deck bearings replaced.

Tractor driven slasher (1977) was also recently taken out of service and the skids re metalled and it all repainted. Its power plant 1951 TE20_D was top overhauled & put back into service Feb 2020. Delayed by Christmas.

I have seen some of those pressed metal chassis Green & Yellow ones crack. So it is a case of buying for end use. Most city ones cut square metres whilst two of mine cut Hectares.

I don't visit Aldi either. There's none in my area, and the nearest ones are totally useless.

I had an orange Flymo years ago - the type with wheels, not the hovering kind. But the handles curve as they enter the plastic base, and eventually cracks form in the base and then that part of the plastic breaks off. It's unrepairable. So stay away from mowers with the curve in the handles.

QUOTE: sold by Aldi

Kein Wunder. Immerhin ist es deutsch