Lets talk lawn mowers.

[artie]

I have a paddock <> a half acre. I have been cutting it with a iseki 323 48 inch cut.

I have decided to reduce the area of grass and have some wild flower and veg areas.

I got a good offer for the Iseki today so I let it go.

I'm wondering what would be best to replace it with.

I'm not worried about having a bowling green, just reasonably presentable grass areas between the wild flowers etc.

Would I be better served with a cutter which mulches rather than picking the grass up?

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Sheep.

 

[akirk]

I have a mulching mower on c. 1/4 acre and it works very well I can mow front and back in c. 1/2 hr with a petrol self propelled mower...

 

[doctor Bob]

I'd have kept the Iseki, I had a small JD and it was pretty rubbish from new. I now have a Kubota and the build difference is chalk and cheese.
Some of the countax mowers look quite good.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

One of these:
https://www.stihl.co.uk/STIHL-Produ...cutters/249093-1582/FSA-90-R-Brushcutter.aspxAnd some of these:

And Bob's that man...

 

[Cabinetman]

Now apart from the one at the back they were all goose-stepping in perfect time

 

[D_W]

I have a paddock <> a half acre. I have been cutting it with a iseki 323 48 inch cut.

I have decided to reduce the area of grass and have some wild flower and veg areas.

I got a good offer for the Iseki today so I let it go.

I'm wondering what would be best to replace it with.

I'm not worried about having a bowling green, just reasonably presentable grass areas between the wild flowers etc.

Would I be better served with a cutter which mulches rather than picking the grass up?

honda self propelled push mower with a deep deck for mulching. Mulching mowers are almost 100% good or trash based on the design of the deck - if they're reasonably deep and rounded, then the mower doesn't beat itself to death mulching a compacted wet cake like it does with cheesy mulch mowers.

self propelled.

Such a mower would do a quarter acre in about 40 minutes or so.

No comment on thatch as it isn't an issue here, but i understand the reason that it isn't to be high heat and humidity. In the western US, they have heat but not enough humidity and thatching is an issue. You can mulch mow where I live in dense grass for 20 years and never dethatch and still see bare ground between the blades if you look closely.

 

[TRITON]

while my Dad was at uni (Cranfield) some of his group decided to mow a meadow area, i think probably to play footie on. They'd got a number of scythes and dad got one to use. He remembered it was the hardest work he had ever done and fully regretted agreeing to do it

 

[D_W]

With the scythe, that shouldn't be the case if it's set up right - it should be like a moderate walk exertion. They don't arrive sharp here - they do arrive with an edge, but it needs to be peined thin.

 

[Adam W.]

Honda Professional mowers are bombproof and have metal rimmed wheels with proper bearings, which was why I bought one 12 years ago. Still starts first time and cuts a 3/4 acre lawn without an issue.

 

[Roland]

My Honda is more than 15 years old. I can’t remember how many.

 

[Ollie78]

Atco royal with a seat roller. Awesome things, same design for decades.
I have a 20 inch model with a 160cc Honda engine, massive overkill for my garden and I don't have the roller.
It would pull a car and it makes stripes so your garden looks fancy !

Ollie

 

[D_W]

Honda Professional mowers are bombproof and have metal rimmed wheels with proper bearings, which was why I bought one 12 years ago. Still starts first time and cuts a 3/4 acre lawn without an issue.

at the time that I got mine, they were one of the few motors that had some kind of timing setup, which drastically improves starting. Mine's 17 years old, and just the common GCV160 engine (the residential cheapie). If there is gas in the line, it starts, and it's never been serviced other than two air cleaner changes and about 8 oil changes. My neighbors on both sides have been through three mowers each in the same time, and both have hondas now and have for several years. I never proselytized the honda thing to them, and have since gone to mowing with a reel most of the summer for sport (but it requires mowing more often and some wouldn't like that - I like it because i don't feel the need to delay mowing if the neighbors are eating or entertaining company in their back yards.)

 

[Adam W.]

That's considerate of you.

 

[Jameshow]

I have a Bosch 43cm mover and it's probably the best power tool I own!!

Cheers James

 

[Lons]

I have a 23 year old honda 20" for the main garden it's never missed a beat and a 16 hp Honda 40" ride on for the paddock which is about 3/4 acre. I never collect the grass on the paddock these days just mulch it and every few cuts I stick a roller on the back, I'd have bought a Kubota if I could have justified paying twice the price of the Honda which does everything I ask of it. The paddock is a bit bumpy but kept fairly short as like you I don't need it to be a lawn.

 

[D_W]

That's considerate of you.

growing up rural, mowers were a distant thing. Saturday and sunday on 1/3rd to 1/4 acre lots, it just seems like half of the time you want to eat outside, all you hear is mowers. I guess there are about 12 lawns where a mower could be loud enough to seem loud in the back yard. My parents' property had a 1 acre yard with 21 acres of woods to the back, and a hill - nobody seems interested in using my mower type, but the other benefit to it is that you can mow in the rain. It doesn't care. If the neighbors are mowing, they first say "an antique!!" (no, four years old), then "we love your mower!!".

you become aware here who has "the old sears" bagger or something that sounds like an intentional noise maker with a pill can sized muffler and a chute that amplifies the blade noise rather than muffle it.

(the other nice thing about the honda mowers is that while they're not noise free, they're definitely quieter than the typical american "briggs and stratton" side valve type motors. I think the muffler design last changed around 1925 on those).

 

[marcros]

I have a Bosch electric rotary mower. it does a good job and is all I need but is boring!

what I want to do is to spend this year sorting out the lawn (flattening out the bumps and reseeding) then getting a petrol vintage cylinder mower.

 

[Fergie 307]

Atco royal with a seat roller. Awesome things, same design for decades.
I have a 20 inch model with a 160cc Honda engine, massive overkill for my garden and I don't have the roller.
It would pull a car and it makes stripes so your garden looks fancy !

Ollie

I have an old 24 inch Webb, with the sit on roller. Get it out several times a year to roll the lawn, great fun and does a good job of keeping it reasonably flat. My not inconsiderable weight probably being quite useful ! Day to day I use a 1960's Hayter Harriet 18 inch and push it rather than use the self propel, works up a sweat but good exercise. I've had the Hayter for over twenty years and the only thing I've had to do to it, apart from routine stuff, was to change the bearings on the front wheels about three years ago.

 

[Just4Fun]

I have 2 mowers, a ride-on Jonsered and a push-along petrol-powered Flymo(?). Last summer both failed at the same time and as a stand-in whilst I got parts to repair them I bought the cheapest petrol-powered push-along I could find locally. That was a mistake. It is crap. If the grass is slightly wet or slightly longer than would be acceptable at Wimbledon the mower is unable to cope and simply stops. Lesson learnt: don't skimp on quality when buying mowers.

I used to collect the cuttings but I gave up on that 2 or 3 years ago. Nowadays I just leave the cuttings lie and to be honest I don't even notice them.