Ride on mower for 1.6 acre paddock - any recommendations?

[Stan79]

Hi all,

I'm on the look out on eBay for a ride on mower for our 1.6 acre field. Does anyone have any recommendations of specific makes or models or any advice on what features are useful?

Many thanks,

Stan

[Nicos]

Things to look out for are seat/ general suspension if you don't want to rattle your teeth loose,
Is there an option for side ejection( good when grass is long/ wet and would otherwise block, as well as collection option,
How low/ high can you cut? Does it scalp it in hot weather or not go high enough to cut long wet grass.

Those are my initial thoughts.

Oh, and how much are you prepared to pay will open up a whole field of choice.

[mothhawk]

I've seen a ride-on mower that's very reliable. Has a twenty year working life, runs on bio-fuel, doesn't need much maintenance, grass-cutting blades never need resharpening or replacing, has a manure spreading attachment for fertilizing the ground as it works, and runs in all weathers. And it's fairly child-proof too.

It's called a Pony.

[Stan79]

Thanks both.

The field is rented out to a guy who puts three Shetlands on it but they just don't keep it grazed close enough hence the need for something mechanical!

We're actually thinking about getting some alpacas instead but I still think we'll need some sort of cutter to keep it looking neat and tidy.

[Scarlet]

We've had a couple of ride on mowers. The worst problem for me was the race track my collie had made. Every time I hit it, my bum jumped out of the seat and the bl@@dy thing cut out as a safety feature. I can't remember what make the old one was but it does pretty much the same as our new model. I think they are all pretty much the same. The important feature for me is the width of the cutting 'bits' go for the widest you can afford.

[scarey55]

We have a field rather than a flat garden and we have "killed" at least two mowers since we've been here. If your land is flat then, as Scarlet has said, they are all pretty much of a muchness but, for our VERY uneven, mole hill ridden/dog dug field we have a Snapper (remember Forest Gump, he had one) Quite expensive but worth it for us.





In the first picture, you can see what it has to cope with if you look to the right of the pond (I use that term loosely) how it falls away and goes uphill at the same time

And the second one shows the slope it has to climb back to the house. Difficult to show the real problem because we usually take pictures of the garden when it is looking nice, after the Snapper has worked its magic.

[Martin H]

I have no idea about mowers, but your garden is lovely, scarey!

[scarey55]

Thank you Martin, hard work though You should have seen it when we first came here!

[Stan79]

Thanks all. I'm picking up a cheap non-runner ride on mower off ebay tomorrow evening. No grass collector, not sure about suspension but my wife seems to collect cushions so I'm sure I could 'borrow' one of them to smooth out the bumps!

Will see how long it takes to get it running!!! And how long it takes me to kill it!

[Snadger]

How long do you want to spend cutting grass will dictate what you get?

A five gang mower would be quickest, a triple mower slightly slower and a sit on jobbie with a 3 to 4 foot wide underslung deck, slower again.I can cut a football pitch with a triple cylinder mower in about an hour. A triple rotary would be better for your area I feel. Toro is my make of preference but Ransomes are good also.

[scarey55]

Our small garden mower is a Toro Snadge, It's a great, sturdy little mower which has lasted us for years.

Famous last words, watch it pack up now!

[bearded bloke]

but your garden is lovely, scarey!

You wait until Scarey posts a winter view Martin

[bearded bloke]

Our small garden mower is a Toro Snadge, It's a great, sturdy little mower which has lasted us for years.

A friend & I "modded" a Toro for mower racing some years back, was that thing good in the corners

[scarey55]

You wait until Scarey posts a winter view Martin

Never mind winter BB, how about summer with 30 mins rain in the past month or so

I did say that we mostly take pictures when the garden is looking good. I had to go out and take this one especially to show how bad it gets Still, at least it doesn't need mowing as much

[Scarlet]

It still looks gorgeous Scarey. Wanna lodger?