Hi Mike,
On Thu, 24 Oct 2013 15:30:17 +0100, Muddymike wrote:
Emery Davis wrote in news:bcsajcFlho9U1
:
On Thu, 24 Oct 2013 09:02:31 +0100, Derek wrote:
I have now got my very large garden, its mainly down to grass, not a
lawn, more of managed meadow, previous owner had a 'ride on'
Recommendations please, (and do any of them collect the grass
clippings?)
Have a look at this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXf0oQ-AYqY
I agree that looks like a nice machine but so it should at that price!
The price is exaggerated. My neighbour just bought one with 500 hours for
about 3500 pounds. That's comparable with new Hondas and Westwoods, but
much more machine for the money.
I mow about half an acre with a 36 inch cut Mountfield machine I bought
I wouldn't buy an Iseki for half an acre either. I may be wrong but I
read "very large meadow" as being larger than that!
At your rate, it
would take me around 6+ hours to mow the lawn, and I've got lots of trees
to go around... (Yes, I do often wonder why I did this to myself... )
With the Iseki I'm done in under 3.
The main difference apart from the width is the way they pick up the
cuttings. The Hayter towed a sweeper, powered from a PTO on the mower.
The Mountfield discharges via a chute direct from the cutting deck with
the blades providing the thrust. I did find the sweeper left a better
looking lawn, but there is not much in it.
I like the way the sweeper left the lawn too, (stripes). It looks very
good even without stripes, though.
Both machines can be set to mulch. When the grass is cut regularly the
cuttings soon disappear, but let it get too long and mulching leaves it
looking a mess after cutting.with
If you have a large lawn, mulching simply is not an option. You'd never
get off the mower during high season.
And it feels that way already
sometimes.
I agree that a diesel machine is cheaper to run but it would take me a
hell of a long time to save the difference in the machine cost!
A used Iseki (or Kubota) is competitive with many new machines, so
there's no question of amortisation. Anyway, you can't buy time.
As for composting the cuttings it has never been a problem.
No problem composting cuttings here, either.
-E
--
Gardening in Lower Normandy