Grow Your Own Magazine

Sorry, didn't really know where to put this one, so opted for flowers, given that you often find those in gardens, where you often find lawns...

OH asked me to post and ask about ride-on lawn mowers. We have a garden approximately half an acre big, and he wants to know what would be an appropriate lazy-boy machine to cut the grass with! The lawned areas are in 3 different sections and there's a 'hill' aswell, so it would need to be easy to manoevre. He apparently can't decide whether to buy a cheapish one and replace in due course, or whether to buy a blow the budget jobbie.

Any advice gratefully received - especially if it means our lawns will be more manicured than they currently are!

We've got a second hand one from a local "lawn tractor" seller, who does new and used ones...

I'll have a look and see what make we've got tonight for you.

I remember it was about £600, and that model new is about £1500.

We've got about 1/3 of an acre, but part of it is paddock area that's currently pot-hole central, so our "tractor" is great for it. Plus, it takes ages to do with a petrol normal mower...

Watch this space!

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"Its not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you" - Bruce Wayne

The chap who does our school playing fields rides a green John Deere jobby...very nippy, and collects a large amount of clippings, which he delivers to our allotments next door.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

We got rid of our ride on one and bought a robotic mower that cuts the lawn for you....good fun watching it from the hammock with a glass of wine in hand!!

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May all our seeds germinate and grow

Helen

http://www.kubota.co.uk/groundcare_1...801&id=0:13797
This is what Im getting soon at work . .Its expensive (£9000 )but will last a lifetime if your only cutting a third of an acre .Also the collector bag can be taken off and a hood which deflects the clippings back to the ground put on if you dont need to collect the clippings. Had one of these on demo last year and they are the dogs bo^@+ks.
Thats the blow the budget one.
Take a look in B+Q etc (other DIY stores are available) and you will see ride-ons for about £1500 which will do the job but probably wont last as long.
As with everything you pay the money and take your chance.

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Don't take away the SNC

Handy little tool! Kubota are a good make which last well. It is basically a mini tractor with an underslung cutting deck. It can pull a small trailer if need be and also lutes, chain harrows, dragmats etc!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Also very usefull for pulling the big trade bins out once a week.

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Don't take away the SNC

I'd love one, just for the fun of it. However, by the time I'd got it started and running I'd be straight through the fence at the end of the garden

Hydrostaically driven I think! No brakes, press down forward to go forward and back to go back, take foot off and it stops! Couldn't be simpler!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Even I can drive one -so it must be easy .

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Don't take away the SNC

We've got a Lawnflite 604

http://www.lawnflite.co.uk/garden_tractors.html#prod4

It doesn't look quite the same, so must have had a bit of a facelift...

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"Its not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you" - Bruce Wayne

petrol lawn mowers will soon need emissions tests like cars!

Our neighbour offered to lend OH his ride on, until we realised that without re-landscaping the garden, we couldn't actually get it on to the back lawn, so I think we'll scrap the idea!

Yes i heard this news atory break as well.. It was Sunday 1st April, and I fell for it as well, did 10 mins of ranting then realised the date.

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I wish i could make a yo-yo work.
http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

no way! i always fall for april fools. i heard it on gardeners question time on sunday! they even interviewed an MP and urged people to write to them i'd believe a person if they told me that the word gullible had been taken out of the dictionary