Buying Ride on Lawnmower

charlesodowd

Hi,

I'm looking to purchase a ride on Lawn Mower.

It must collect the grass but need not be that wide, maybe 28" or 30". The lawn is perfectly flat and well maintained.

Does anyone have suggestions of what or where to buy?

I can go up North if there is value to be had.

Are there any technical issues I need to look out for i.e. hydrostatic drive (no idea what that is but seen it mentioned in an old post).

Thanks in advance.

celticmicky

charlesodowd wrote: »

Hi,

I'm looking to purchase a ride on Lawn Mower.

It must collect the grass but need not be that wide, maybe 28" or 30". The lawn is perfectly flat and well maintained.

Does anyone have suggestions of what or where to buy?

I can go up North if there is value to be had.

Are there any technical issues I need to look out for i.e. hydrostatic drive (no idea what that is but seen it mentioned in an old post).

Thanks in advance.

Hydrostatic drive is like an automatic car - the more you press the pedal the faster you go. Advantages of hydrostatic are it is easier to control the lawnmower, no clutching and you rarely need to use the brake. Disadvantage of hydrostatic is they are a little more expensive than geared machines.

www.esaleslocal.com deliver ride ons to any county - the XDC140 Castelgarden or the Husqvarna CT126 are the smaller lawnmowers.

charlesodowd

celticmicky wrote: »

Hydrostatic drive is like an automatic car - the more you press the pedal the faster you go. Advantages of hydrostatic are it is easier to control the lawnmower, no clutching and you rarely need to use the brake. Disadvantage of hydrostatic is they are a little more expensive than geared machines.

www.esaleslocal.com deliver ride ons to any county - the XDC140 Castelgarden or the Husqvarna CT126 are the smaller lawnmowers.

Thanks for that info. I'll ring them tomorrow and see. Would you reckon theres money to be saved buying north of the border?

Audioslaven

Hi,

I bought a John Deere LR135 (think its the same as a castlegarden) but its fine for the job. I have it four years now and no issues. Easy to service as well. I got it from Murphy's John Deere garage in headford galway

MidlandsM

buy local if you can, a you'll have local back up for warranty. haggle hard on price and extended warranty. They should match any northern price.

Only buy with Briggs and Stratton or Honda engine.

CastleGarden is what you want or a Castel. Don't bother buying a john deere petrol machine, it a rebranded repackaged castlegarden unit made unit licence and you'll be charged an extra 1k just to own a john deere.....

Audioslaven

MidlandsM wrote: »

buy local if you can, a you'll have local back up for warranty. haggle hard on price and extended warranty. They should match any northern price.

Only buy with Briggs and Stratton or Honda engine.

CastleGarden is what you want or a Castel. Don't bother buying a john deere petrol machine, it a rebranded repackaged castlegarden unit made unit licence and you'll be charged an extra 1k just to own a john deere.....

TBH i got my deere for the price of the castlegarden. He did a good deal to be fair, but I don't think there is 1K in the difference..

whitelightrider

Was looking at buying this one myself. Have a .5 acre site and its all flat. Too big for the ordinary mower so want to get a ride on. Would it be a good mower?

http://www.esaleslocal.com/Castelgarden-XDC140HD.htm

celticmicky

whitelightrider wrote: »

Was looking at buying this one myself. Have a .5 acre site and its all flat. Too big for the ordinary mower so want to get a ride on. Would it be a good mower?

http://www.esaleslocal.com/Castelgarden-XDC140HD.htm

Yes the above mower is ideal for your size of lawn. It is a solid made lawnmower on a full sized chassis (with the larger wheels) and Briggs and Stratton engine.

The same lawnmower under the Stiga brand (GGP owns Stiga,Castelgarden, Alpina, Mountfield and a few other brands) will cost the same money except you get the mulching kit with it.

These mowers are also availablein various colours - red, white and black under the Alpina and Mountfield brands however as far as I am aware the Alpina and Mountfield mowers have the GGP engine, which would not be as good an engine as a Briggs and Stratton.

whitelightrider

celticmicky wrote: »

Yes the above mower is ideal for your size of lawn. It is a solid made lawnmower on a full sized chassis (with the larger wheels) and Briggs and Stratton engine.

The same lawnmower under the Stiga brand (GGP owns Stiga,Castelgarden, Alpina, Mountfield and a few other brands) will cost the same money except you get the mulching kit with it.

These mowers are also availablein various colours - red, white and black under the Alpina and Mountfield brands however as far as I am aware the Alpina and Mountfield mowers have the GGP engine, which would not be as good an engine as a Briggs and Stratton.

Thanks very much for that. Now just have to see what these guys charge for delivery to Galway!

whitelightrider

celticmicky wrote: »

Yes the above mower is ideal for your size of lawn. It is a solid made lawnmower on a full sized chassis (with the larger wheels) and Briggs and Stratton engine.

The same lawnmower under the Stiga brand (GGP owns Stiga,Castelgarden, Alpina, Mountfield and a few other brands) will cost the same money except you get the mulching kit with it.

These mowers are also availablein various colours - red, white and black under the Alpina and Mountfield brands however as far as I am aware the Alpina and Mountfield mowers have the GGP engine, which would not be as good an engine as a Briggs and Stratton.

Might be a really stupid question but is that mower an electric mower? It says that it has a 12V battery and comes with a charger.

celticmicky

whitelightrider wrote: »

Might be a really stupid question but is that mower an electric mower? It says that it has a 12V battery and comes with a charger.

No the battery is for starting the mower. It has a Briggs and Stratton petrol engine.

whitelightrider

Just on to them there and the Stiga with the mulching kit is €1950 and delivery is €90. So thats €2040 for this mower delivered to the door - http://www.esaleslocal.com/Stiga-Estate-Master-Hydro.htm

T Dog

Hi, I'm also looking to get a ride on lawnmower. Don't know much about what I need. The site area is about 3/4 acre with slight incline. Only have about 1k to spend so am probably looking at second hand. Does anybody know if this is possible or do I need to increase my budget.
Thanks.

darrenheaphy

T Dog wrote: »

Hi, I'm also looking to get a ride on lawnmower. Don't know much about what I need. The site area is about 3/4 acre with slight incline. Only have about 1k to spend so am probably looking at second hand. Does anybody know if this is possible or do I need to increase my budget.
Thanks.

How much of an incline is it? You'll need more power you see to get up any slopes. I bought a John Deere X125, if you look around you could something like that second hand though if it's only a small incline it might be overpowered for what you'd need

T Dog

darrenheaphy wrote: »

How much of an incline is it? You'll need more power you see to get up any slopes. I bought a John Deere X125, if you look around you could something like that second hand though if it's only a small incline it might be overpowered for what you'd need

Front lawn hasn't much of an incline, however back lawn has a steep incline on one side. Do you know if 1k would be enough to pick up a decent used mower or do I need to increase my budget.

whitelightrider

Folks, has anyone bought from Esaleslocal.com? Just wondering what the warranty is like and what happens if the mower needs to be repaired? Do you have to send it to Newry?

celticmicky

whitelightrider wrote: »

Folks, has anyone bought from Esaleslocal.com? Just wondering what the warranty is like and what happens if the mower needs to be repaired? Do you have to send it to Newry?

There is a one year warranty and any warranty repairs are carried out at your location.

whitelightrider

celticmicky wrote: »

There is a one year warranty and any warranty repairs are carried out at your location.

Hey celticmicky, was talking to a local supplier and he has a mount field model coming in next week with a 5 year warranty. Kinda unsure as to what would be best

celticmicky

whitelightrider wrote: »

Hey celticmicky, was talking to a local supplier and he has a mount field model coming in next week with a 5 year warranty. Kinda unsure as to what would be best

Check in detail exactly what the warranty will cover, I have found that with extended warranties they won't cover anything that is likely to break. I know from the Honda 5 year warranties that you need to get it serviced each year and stamped by the authorised dealer, not sure if this is the case with Mountfield.

Also with the mountfield I would say it has the GGP/Mountfield chinese engine which is not as good an engine as a Briggs and Stratton.

whitelightrider

celticmicky wrote: »

Check in detail exactly what the warranty will cover, I have found that with extended warranties they won't cover anything that is likely to break. I know from the Honda 5 year warranties that you need to get it serviced each year and stamped by the authorised dealer, not sure if this is the case with Mountfield.

Also with the mountfield I would say it has the GGP/Mountfield chinese engine which is not as good an engine as a Briggs and Stratton.

Good point. No point in having a 5 year warranty if the engine isnt up to scratch. The Stiga has a B&S engine and comes with a mulcher where the mountfield doesnt.

darrenheaphy

T Dog wrote: »

Front lawn hasn't much of an incline, however back lawn has a steep incline on one side. Do you know if 1k would be enough to pick up a decent used mower or do I need to increase my budget.

Honestly, I'm no expert on these things but from my own experience with the brief research I did it sounds like you'd need to increase your budget to give it the power to get up a steep incline (my incline is in parts, I'm estimating, about 20 to 30 degrees which the John Deere X125 manages comfortably). I'd recommend going to shop and getting a sense of what you'd need and then go back and think about budget. Bring a photo of the lawn, on your phone will do, so the shop can you give some good advice. Hope that helps

T Dog

darrenheaphy wrote: »

Honestly, I'm no expert on these things but from my own experience with the brief research I did it sounds like you'd need to increase your budget to give it the power to get up a steep incline (my incline is in parts, I'm estimating, about 20 to 30 degrees which the John Deere X125 manages comfortably). I'd recommend going to shop and getting a sense of what you'd need and then go back and think about budget. Bring a photo of the lawn, on your phone will do, so the shop can you give some good advice. Hope that helps

Think I need to do bit of research to see what sort of power I need for managing the incline. Thanks for all the help, much appreciated.

jimmythemonk

Would there be much of a difference between the GGP standard engine and the Briggs & Statton engine.
Looking to buy an ALPINA BT84 HCS, which does not have the Briggs & Statton engine but instead a standard GGP engine.

I'm a first time buyer with just over 0.5 acre to cut, I looked at a few nice secondhand mowers from John Deere to Castlegarden, but I am more swayed now to buy new, affordable range mower.

The ALPINA seems to stand out for me now, but have had not many reviews on it.