Tractor Mowers
 

Spring is coming as is the advent of the grass needing cutting every week :rolleyes:

Got about a half acre which takes me approx 90-120 mins using our trusty Honda 18" motor mower. That includes grass collection, emptying etc.

This is too much time on this particular exercise as weekends are precious, so want to cut (boom boom) down the time taken.

So, can SN help me on a good choice of tractor mower suitable for 1 acre, with grass collector. Looking at reliability, economy, ability and I guess cost.

Looking at a Lawnflight MTD 603 at the moment. Best Price so far is £1200.

Any other recommendations? Experiences? Comments? Helpful advice?

Cheers

Puff

I have used a Lawnflite for several years and funnily enough have just used it to collect some leaves and take the top off the grass. Started 2nd go after about 3 months as well. Couldn't recommend enough. Our previous house had about 2 acres including some rough stuff and the old girl coped wonderfully.
Note as above you can put it on a high cut setting and it will tidy up all the leaves and winter bric-a-brac. You won't get stripey lawn though. Servicing can be relatively expensive what with new belts and blade sharpening.
Dealers often have some reasonable 2nd hand ones at about 1/2 price so might be worth considering? dl

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LAWNFLITE-GARD...QQcmdZViewItem

I think above is same model as mine. Note some damage to front.

Tractor mowers: fun, time consuming, need refilling, need servicing, etc.

You want a robot: http://www.friendlyrobotics.co.uk/robomow/

Someone I know has got one. It's out every day, for about an hour or two. Frankly, bloody amazing. Buy the one with the program, and you just switch it on at the start of the season and forget about it. Apart from purchase and maintenance, I think he calculated charging costs as making it about 4p a day. It mulches, so you don't need a grass collector.

Disadvantages - you spend a bit of time setting it up at first (you have to peg a cable round the edge of your lawn
- you need to run it more often than normal as it doesn't know where it's been, so no guarantee it won't just go over the same place again.
- you don't get a stripey lawn (but you probably won't with a tractor)
- the lawn edge all leans one way, as it goes "home" (to the charger) by hitting the boundary and turning left. Always.

If your time is valuable, it's worth a look. He loves it. And he's retired! :lol1:

Is the land flat and generally an easy mow? If so a Lawnflite will be OK.

Personally I would always go for a hydrostatic rather than a gearbox. Once you've ridden a hydrostatic you won't change.

I'd always go for a bigger engine too than 12.5hp for an acre of land that isn't a flat easy mow.

I've had an Iseki for the last 13 years from brand new, regularly serviced it was faultless. However it was time to change it last year.

I looked at quite a lot but just new the majority of the 'pretty' looking models would last a month, tops.

My Iseki was £3,500 when new but like everything, prices have come down.

After much consideration I plumped for the Husqvarna YTH 150XP with a 15hp Kawasaki engine and a much better cutting width than the cheaper models. (Which makes a big difference). It has a collection box too.

Picture half way down here but I never bought from here.
http://www.abbeygardensales.co.uk/su...s-0001139.aspx

Retail they are £1900 but can come a little cheaper.

I get stripes every mow.

Not worried about stripey lawn lol - too many rabbits and moles have access for that :rolleyes: Its never going to make chamspionship bowls but ok for coarse croquet.

Some flat but the rest is a gentle slope west to east but I generally cut north to south. So what is this hydrostatic transmission? And will 2.5hp make all the difference? I know we're not talking scoob power here!!

Two sheep:D

Just defending my Lawnflite (12 hp) to say it certainly coped with slopes. And molehills although take the top off them so mower blades don't get blunted by churning through earth. Ant hills were the big problem if they were hidden by long grass as they could get rock hard.

I would say the Husqvarna is a much classier machine though but at a price. dl

Hydrostatic is like a stepmatic auto for want of a better explanation. Plant your foot and mow.

As David says his 12hp works for him. I have just over an acre of garden with 2 large ponds at the top on a steep incline. For me the extra horsepower does make a difference if I don't want to go swimming, plus just like a car, the engine's under less strain so it should last longer.

My guess is 12hp will be fine for you on a relatively flat surface with just a gentle slope.

Get the widest cutting deck for your money though.

As long as the engine is a Honda you wont go far wrong.

Stay away from "Rigged & Scrap em"



Andy

James, are you going to mod it & fit a dv when you get it :D

No sir!

To need a dv it would need to have a turbo. Thought you of all people would know that :rolleyes:

:p ;)




































Hmm - there's an idea....

LOL :D I did not think that you would even consider an non turbo model.

But which to get? A classic or a newage. Wonder which is faster? ;)

I was already thinking about replacing the headlights with HIDs :D

James don't be so tight "pay someone else to do it" ;)


There must some old duffer that can do it for you?

thats why HE is doing it ;)

HID's :thumb: carry your shot gun & you can lamp the rabbits @ the same time :D

Cheap fix: Remove governor from engine so it'll rev above 3200rpm :D:D

6000rpm = lawn mowed in almost half the time :thumb:

OK - time to visit this thread again...

I've been offered a non-geared model but its not hydro-whatnot either - an automatic?

Downsides/upsides?

i have a petrol jobbie to sort the grass out at work and after a fiddle with the carb it now revs its clappers of :D :D

it also has a touch of piston slap by the sounds of it :lol1: :luxhello:

12hp, pah! I think this is what you need :cool:

http://www.fronthitch.com/v3/pages/p...2%20rotary.jpg

He said he wanted stripes on his lawn, not chevrons.

Uncle Bobs useful advice number 213:
Once you've cut the lawn sprinkle whiskey on the grass.
When it grows again it comes up half cut!:o

We got the Lawnflite 703 last year (£1700 - got a local dealer to match the web price) and a trailer for it too. It's great and very handy for towing rubble and stuff down the garden (trailer takes 4-5 wheelbarrow loads).

It's pretty bomb-proof as well - it's 'made friends' with a number of tree stumps etc and I regularly reverse it up the compost heap at speed :)

Gordo

Is that an auto? I think the term is "transmatic"?

How much a trailer? I love the sound of this idea - I've been barrowing tons of stuff around the garden over the last 2 years :rolleyes:

Sounds like one of the X-Men...

Ah, big boys toys thread :cool: :D

My ride?
Honda HF2417HME
40" cut
17.5hp
Hydrostatic drive

The purpose of hydrostatic drive is that the blades move at a constant speed irrespective of the ground speed of the mower.

Puff, as said get the biggest deck you can and Honda engines are best :D

I haggled £325 off at Newmarket Garden Machinery.

Trailer? £230 from Easybarrow.

As you are only 2 miles away, why don't you come and have a nose at the weekend :)

Dave

Cheapest thing would be to get a trailer to fit yours on and borrow it when I need mine cutting :D

Have got trailer if you are interested. Would go in back of Transit. I am located South Downs, Sussex. PM me if of interest. :)