Ride on lawnmowers

[marcros]

Sounds like you need a couple of goats !

Unfortunately, goats are not great grazers. They prefer the leaves and bark of your favourite shrubs and trees.

browsers not grazers

 

[Wildman]

I have a Morgan with a good Briggs and Stratton 12.5 HP engine the rest of it is crap if you need an engine make me an offer.

 

[bugbear]

As Bugbear says, you will spend a lot of the time turning when going around trees etc. The other option to getting a wider deck (which has it's own problems of manoeuvrability, access etc.) that I have is a Zero Turn. When you get the hang of them (about 15 minutes) you will find yourself flying along. I have a second-hand Toro Timecutter and wouldn't go back to a "normal" steering-wheeled mower.

Chris

The OP has slopes, so zero turn isn't a good option. Cool mowers though!

BugBear

 

[Mark A]

Thanks for the comments so far

I think I may have convinced the treasurer to increase the budget, meaning I can now skip the 30-year-old rust buckets and look for something a bit newer.

Wildman - thanks for the offer, but we've arranged to sell our old Snapper to someone on Friday. If I buy a replacement ideally I'd like it to come with a working engine already fitted!

Bugbear - I assumed with their lower center of gravity a zero turn would be better suited to slopes than a conventional ride on mower?


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[Robbo3]

I presume you're not worried about speed?

For those that are :

Honda Ride-On Mower
1000cc Honda VTR Firestorm engine
109 HP
Average : 116.57 MPH
Top speed : 130+ MPH

- http://hondanews.eu/gb/en/corporate/med ... nmower-mea
- http://youtu.be/DFo7ztlMlmg

Previous record - 87.83 MPH

 

[bugbear]

Bugbear - I assumed with their lower center of gravity a zero turn would be better suited to slopes than a conventional ride on mower?

Not according to my reading of a couple of articles yesterday.

EDIT: link

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/to ... -15480506/

BugBear

 

[clanger]

I'll have a check on my zero turn when I go up the yard/workshop later. I think it is rated 15 degrees uphill, downhill and side-slopes. I suspect that is for a standard 75kg person. It will be different if either Johnny Vegas (pre-diet) or Kylie Minogue were cutting my grass for me.
I find that cutting up and down hill is fine. Side-slopes are a bit more interesting as all the power is at the back end and there are shopping trolley wheels at the front - it is doable, but the art is keeping straight lines.

Chris

 

[Droogs]

Have a look on the BPI auction site, these sort of things come up fairly regularly and never seem to go for all that much

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

I think I may have convinced the treasurer to increase the budget, meaning I can now skip the 30-year-old rust buckets and look for something a bit newer.

Hi Mark, i've only just noticed that you are based in South Wales... not sure where in South Wales, but once a month BJP do an auction in Llandeilo which includes garden type machinery, and I've seen a few ride-on's there go quite cheap for what they are!
http://www.bjpmarts.com/
Think they do it the last saturday of every month! Worth a gander maybe?

 

[graduate_owner]

One point not yet mentioned is the issue of cutting on a slope. It isn't the problem of losing traction and skidding that is so important ( just annoying) but the loss of oil pressure in the engine. Many ride-ons and pedestrian mowers too have splash lubrication of the crank bearings etc and if the engine is tilted by more than about 15 degrees then you could lose your engine. Could be that is the reason yours went kaput. You need to ensure the machine has a suitable engine with forced lubrication. The HSE recommend specialist PEDESTRIAN mowers for slopes of more than 15 degrees. Might be worth getting a pedestrian mower for your steep areas, and a 2 stroke engine will avoid oil pressure problems.

For what it's worth, I bought a Kubota G1700 diesel mower about 10 years ago, cost me £2000 but does the job nicely. Before that I had a Husquvarna petrol ride-on but I thought it a bit expensive to run and a bit flimsy for my rough orchard. The Kubota is not ideal though. The mid mounted mower makes manoeuvring around trees a bit awkward. The deck has hydraulic lift which is nice, but to adjust cutting height is fiddly, removing bolts and pins. The G1900 has 4 wheel steer so more manoeuvrable but more expensive. Other than that my Kubota is a real work horse and will go all day, so a 1 acre lawn would be no problem. Also it has a strong chassis, unlike the pressed steel bodies of some cheaper types. Mine came with a three blade mower deck with side discharge, and a collection system that can be attached to fill three bags which fit on the rear. Again it is not ideal, the collector tube blocks if the grass is long or wet and is a pain to unblock, but as long as I cut regularly and in dry weather then it collects fine.

K

 

[Mark A]

Hi chaps, a

If I can find time over the weekend I'll view some mowers a local company has taken in as part exchange.

I picked up an Allen hover mower from Slough yesterday. Only a couple of years old, 50cm cut, Honda engine which starts first time, and all for £95! Apparently Honda four stroke engines are safe to use up to 45°, so our slopes shouldn't be an issue.

Mark

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[Mark A]

Hi chaps,

I always forget to conclude threads I start, and I'm sure you are all anxious to read the epilogue, so here it is.

Firstly, I did view mowers at a dealership in Carmarthen and the money they were asking for 20-year-old machines with punctured tyres and holes rusted right through the deck were frankly insulting. £900 to £1200 plus vat for something fit for a scrapyard.

I spent the next week or so trawling the internet and found a mower which looked promising, so arranged a viewing and bought it straight away.

It's a 13 month old MTD, with just under a year of warranty remaining. The 38in cut is ample, and in hindsight a larger machine may have been too wide anyway.

I paid the asking price of £600, which is cheap for what it is.

The mower isn't particularly substantial, so I may decide to sell it on next year and buy something better from auction, but for now it will do.

Thanks for the all the comments, they're much appreciated as always. If I do replace it next year I can refer back to this thread for what to look out for.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[graduate_owner]

Just wondering, where in South Wales are you?

I' m between Lampeter and Llandeilo.

K

 

[Mark A]

West of Swansea (near Three Crosses, if that means anything to you)

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[graduate_owner]

I know it vaguely. About an hour away so too far to pop in and compare kit etc. Never mind.

K

 

[llangatwgnedd]

.

Ive had my ride on mower for a few years.

Very cheap to run.

 

[monkeybiter]

Very cheap to run.

Don't you mean very sheep to run?

 

[Lons]

I think that's a bit baaa-baric

yeah I know (hammer)

 

[MrTeroo]

Ewe would, though, wouldn't ewe?

 

[graduate_owner]

Here's a long shot.
Does anyone have a lawn mower engine for sale? What I'm after is a Briggs and Stratton of about 6 HP. The reason is, I bought a wheeled strimmer because of the amount of cutting I need to do ( and my age) but it turns out the engine is just about finished. So I was wondering if anyone has a mower with a deck that has rusted away but an engine that is still good. A push mower is likely to be around 3.5 hp so too small, but a self propelled mower with a fairly wide cut could well be big enough.
I have tried our local freecycle group and have been offered a few engines by some kind people, but all too small. Ebay searches haven't been a success either, plus I am a bit wary of buying a used engine there.

So, can anyone help? I realize location may be a problem, but thought it worth asking.

K

PS - I could probably get a different make to fit, has to be vertical shaft though.