Sit on mowers

[Mrbarry]

Anyone got one? 
Any tips or stories to share? 
Any recommendations?
I need a sit on for this year. I can’t spend over 2 hours every week doing the lawn with my Petrol push mower like last year. My push mower is self propelled and 21 inches wide, so I would line something twice as wide at least but £££

I did my first cut today on the lower lawn because it grows like meadow grass, it won’t need another cut until the season starts but if I don’t get an early cut on it’s unmanageable by that time. I’d like the next cut to be a lot easier. 

[brumster]

Watch for high hours if buying second hand. 1 year of mowing is probably about 25 to 50 hours depending on how much you're cutting.

I had two trains of thought given my budget - by a high-end brand 2nd hand (Honda, John Deere) or buy a cheaper brand new. In the end I took the latter and picked up a Cub Cadet at a good discount (they are basically MTD/Lawnflite).

Mulch versus Collect : think about what you need. If you're doing lawns you probably want a dedicated collector. If large amounts of fields, mulch. The downside with collectors is you need somewhere to dump it all! You can get mowers that'll do both - mine is primarily a collector but you can put a mulch plug in the back if you want. Very handy. And the collector can be used to vac up leaves in autumn too.

Westwood/Countax are expensive for that "roller" effect broom on the back, only really for formal gardens and lawns but if you've got uneven ground/fields/etc then don't bother.

Hydrostatic drive; don't touch anything less (belt/gear driven)

There are bells and whistles that you pay through the nose for - electric grass box emptying, electric deck height adjustment, cut-in-reverse, etc. They are largely all expensive fluff and doing without them is no hardship, it really is no time at all to reach behind and manually dump the cuttings, or reach down to the side and lift/lower the deck. And manual means less to go wrong and easy to fix yourself.

Otherwise obvious stuff - check comfort/seat, cutting width suits what you need to get around in your garden. If you're cutting thick stuff you probably want to go up to a larger V-twin/Briggs & Stratton engined option or you'll be doing multiple passes. Likewise, don't buy bigger than you need or you'll just be burning petrol for the sake of it.

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by brumster

[Kerry]

I had one of these at my previous house, Honda engine, electric start, with roller and grass collection, hydrostatic drive and turns in 360deg

Fantastic and 100% reliable, if you get the chance buy one.

There is one on Ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/113901832392 but the guy must have something wrong because mine worked faultless.  

[Mrbarry]

Your lawn looks nice and flat there tho. Mines quite lumpy underfoot. I’ve been looking around and trying to soak up info from numerous sources. So far I’m leaning towards a Toro 76cm twin blade walk behind. As wide as a small sit on and will half current mowing times. Easy to store and cheaper to buy. Better on fuel too. Hmmmmm. 
 

 

[Mrbarry]

It’s flood plane and floods about three or four times a year so it is far from a formal lawn. The higher lawn is more formal but the front yard is the one I stripe and keep nice.