I fought the lawn and the lawn won...

Yes, it's a bad pun but it's true, I tried to get a first cut in on the front lawn last week. We'd had a few dry days and the grass was getting a bit feral after a warm but wet autumn so , after a few weeks of nagging to have a look at it, I dragged the old mower out of the shed.
It was bought when Focus still traded in Weston, so that dates it, and is/was a small model as we have small lawns. A blue hover mower with plastic hook shaped blades. It had served us well with regular work throughout most of the year due to our mild climate but , alas, will serve no more.
It needed 'looking at' because the trip switch handle was a bit temperamental. As with most plastics, the handle had bent a bit and therefore wasn't tripping the safety device unless you really gripped it with grim determination until the blood stopped getting to your fingers!
I took the handle apart, adjusted a few things and reassembled it all successfully. Test drives proved it was capable of returning to service so I set off for the front garden.
I managed to cut the outer edge of my sort of circular lawn and all was going a treat until the blades hit some kind of stony projection. Now, over the years I've run over my share of small stones and chipping to no real concern. The benefit of replaceable plastic blades is precisely that, they are replaceable, and have been changed several times. This time however, I wasn't so fortunate.
There was an almighty bang, a whirring, squidgy sound as the broken rotor dug into the soft soil and a wisp of mist as the moist grass met the hot motor. After switching off the power supply, I took a closer look at the aftermath. The plastic blade had resisted parting from the mount and instead had taken a piece of the main plastic motor bed off with it, sending the combined lump through the cowling cover and across the garden some twenty feet before coming to a stop against the garden fencing.
As a result, I now have a semi cut lawn, shaped like a horseshoe with a long clump of green in the centre. Maybe that's a lucky sign?
All I know is I now need a new mower,but if I have to buy one I am going to look at buying a wheeled petrol driven model, so I can adjust the cut height and use it away from a power supply, such as at my plot, cutting the paths.
I say IF I have to buy one as I am a keen supporter of recycling sites such as free cycle but I have yet to find anyone offering a lawn mower, neither have I had any responses to my wanted request!
Ah well, maybe I should take a trip out to the local garden centres instead after all.