Lawn mower for long, lush grass?

[Nicos]

Gosh...I love the look/performance of the Eteasia ( never heard of them!)...but, cor blimey!!!...look at the price

You gets what you pays for I suppose!

good info though...thanks!

[roitelet]

Bought a Viking and so long as you don't try to cut the grass too short it seems to cope with long lush grass.

[Nicos]

Come on Nicos you know you really want sheep or goats, unless you want to be really cosmopolitan and get an Alpaca

Ha!

For the small field I would love to have alpaca ! ( this IS a tourist area after all! )
...but, as we are trying to be self sufficient we would go for sheep...and probably will in a couple of years.
OH already has a client who has offered him some suffolk sheep

Goats?....nope ...they are escape artists and eat everything in site!...we have friends whose goat loves nothing better than to scramble on top of their cars and seeing as they are still badly scratched from the year we had Albert...our resident peacock....that's a definite nonstarter!

As for the 'garden'...well, we're still trying to convert some of that lush cowpasture into potagers,allotment and fruit and flower and lawned areas to be able to enjoy....and we're slowly getting there after 6 years...
Part of the field is fenced off for the hens and geese ....and the rest of it sits there looking pretty ...and for that bit we borrow our neighbours sit on mower!

For the lawns it's really to big and bulky...hence me wondering about the best hand mower....but also at the same time a potential sit on mower to share when his conks out ( or until we get sheep!)

Some fantastic suggestions peeps! Thanks!

[veggiechicken]

What about...............

[Nicos]

Ha!
poor mite needs more space and a sun shelter....but I like that idea!

[Bill HH]

I remember a play on BBC radio where a farmer with 500 lambs agreed to supply one lamb to any household free to nibble their lawns and then take it back in the Autumn (when it was fat and ready for market) He got free grazing, they got free lawn mowing. The problem came in the autumn when no one wanted to return their lambs having fallen in love with them. He sold them to the people for a ridiculous price and became a millionaire.

[brownfingers]

I've just got me a "new" mower. I used to use a big flymo, but it was unwieldy and didn't give a really good finish. In the garage, I had an old qualcast panther cylinder pushmepullyoo in really good nick, so gave that a whirl. Nice and light, superb finish, but a bit of a pig to push when you're past your best. So, I dec ided to invest in an electric cylinder mower. The cheaper offerings didn't get good reviews, so I decided to go upmarket, but seggy hand, 'cos I is tight. I got a qualcast suffolk punch classic 30 for 25 squid off ebay. It was very close by, so I could nip and have a look before buying. It was cosmetically challenged, but seemed to work ok. It had 2 new belts fitted too! I stripped it all down and refinished it with smoothrite. Sharpened the the bottom blade and the cylinder blade, cleaned and lubed all the approprite bits and bobs. Put it all back together this morning.

So, time to use it for the first time today. TBH, I don't see how they justify the price of these new (�350). The motor seemed to run slower than expected and struggle quite a bit at times. Ok, the lawn was a bit longer than I normally let it get, and it was probably a bit damper than I would have liked. I had the mower set quite high, and it still gave what I would class as a close cut. I imagine taking the hight adjustment to its lowest setting would absolutely scalp the lawn. On the plus side, the cut was very, very neat and the big rear roller left well defined stripes. Now that I have the grass to the height I want it, it will no doubt be easier to keep like that given more regular mowing in drier conditions.

[Glutton4...]

I bought an old H4yt�rette on the 'Bay a number of years ago, and a friend of my Father-in-Law serviced the engine for me. Lovely old chugger it is, and will happily munch through anything, even brambles and the like. Well worth the money - and it doesn't leave poo everywhere!!

[dim]

this is on my wish list:

Husqvarna MZT Zero-Turn Mower

I frequent a USA lawn forum, and many say it's very good for a cheap price .... they turn on a ticky, and can do large areas in quick time ... they cost approx $2200+ in USA (approx �1300) ....as far as I am aware, the cheap models are not yet available in the UK

[brownfingers]

Back to the post I made about the suffolk punch classic 30 which I've just refurbed if I may.

I said the motor sometimes struggles a bit with the bits of longer stuff. Could it be that the drive belts are too tight/slack?

[dim]

Back to the post I made about the suffolk punch classic 30 which I've just refurbed if I may.

I said the motor sometimes struggles a bit with the bits of longer stuff. Could it be that the drive belts are too tight/slack?

a cylinder mower is not designed to handle long grass ...

[Martin H]

a cylinder mower is not designed to handle long grass ...

True, they tend to leave "soldiers" sticking up. The suffolk punch should be able to push through without struggling though.

I had a friend who used a rotary to give his lawn a rough cut then followed up with a cylinder mower to finish off and put the stripes in.

Too much faff for me, when I had a lawn I had a Hayter Harrier, which is a rotary mower with a roller. That coped with anything and was a joy to use.

[ButternutSquash]

I had a Flymo 300, okay for small lawns I guess. The bin is too small. I replaced it with a Bosch rotak, one of the larger ones, far better than the Flymo. The problem with long grass is that the bin fills very quickly so you'll be forever emptying it. But if you cut once a fortnight, it'll do a medium sized lawn (60 foot by 60 foot say) okay. But the electric cord is a real pain, there is a knack to using it, have it on the cut side, so it does not get in the way. Still, I sliced it once. Oops. Repaired easily enough. It is still a pain, as the house and flower beds get in the way and I need a long extension cord.

In my view get the mower with the biggest bin you can realistically push about. I was tempted by a Bosch battery mower, but the batteries wear out and cost a fortune to replace.

I've heard others say etesia are the dogs.

[dim]

I had a Flymo 300, okay for small lawns I guess. The bin is too small. I replaced it with a Bosch rotak, one of the larger ones, far better than the Flymo. The problem with long grass is that the bin fills very quickly so you'll be forever emptying it. But if you cut once a fortnight, it'll do a medium sized lawn (60 foot by 60 foot say) okay. But the electric cord is a real pain, there is a knack to using it, have it on the cut side, so it does not get in the way. Still, I sliced it once. Oops. Repaired easily enough. It is still a pain, as the house and flower beds get in the way and I need a long extension cord.

In my view get the mower with the biggest bin you can realistically push about. I was tempted by a Bosch battery mower, but the batteries wear out and cost a fortune to replace.

I've heard others say etesia are the dogs.

etesia are the best IMHO .... thats why many councils are buying them (you will spot them easily ... they are the green and white mowers)

but saying that, the Bosch Rotak is the bestest electric mower on the market IMHO .... and they are cheap

just mow more often .... if you have an average sized garden, mow once or twice a week .... it should take half an hour or so, and your lawn will always look neat

[Alison]

just mow more often .... if you have an average sized garden, mow once or twice a week .... it should take half an hour or so, and your lawn will always look neat

Easier said that done though unfortunately. When you're working long hours it can be pretty much impossible to mow in the week and then the grass gets longer so you can't get it when it's dry etc etc. Luckily we're not that fussed about it looking perfect and have quite a natural looking garden anyway (more cottage garden-y) or we'd spend a lot of out time very disappointed