What ride on mower should I buy?

breadbin

I have a big garden about half an acre in the front and acre in the back. I am using a Husqvarna petrol push mower to do the front which takes about an hour. I haven't done the back garden in years though and is now overgrown. I need to strim it and cut it to get it back to something manageable. I used to cut it with the push mower!! It took about 3 hours to do the back as far as I can remember.



I was thinking of finally splurging out on a ride on mower and I suppose a good one is worth its weight in gold over a couple of years. I was thinking of this Honda HF2315 for about 3600euro.


http://www.honda.co.uk/lawn-and-garden/products/ride-on-mowers/lawn-tractors/specifications.html#hf2315hme


Would anybody have any other recommendations?

TomOnBoard

breadbin wrote: »

I have a big garden about half an acre in the front and acre in the back. I am using a Husqvarna petrol push mower to do the front which takes about an hour. I haven't done the back garden in years though and is now overgrown. I need to strim it and cut it to get it back to something manageable. I used to cut it with the push mower!! It took about 3 hours to do the back as far as I can remember.



I was thinking of finally splurging out on a ride on mower and I suppose a good one is worth its weight in gold over a couple of years. I was thinking of this Honda HF2315 for about 3600euro.


http://www.honda.co.uk/lawn-and-garden/products/ride-on-mowers/lawn-tractors/specifications.html#hf2315hme


Would anybody have any other recommendations?

Hondas are nice machines. However the one you've posted would be on the small size for a ride on cutting 1.5 acres. For that sized lawns, I'd be looking at 42inch minimum with an engine that's 20hp or more. Also, you will need to regularly mow the back lawn to keep it low if you intend to collect the grass, or it may clog up the collection system if the grass is wet or long. If you're going to mulch it, that's less of an issue.

Take a look at the Countax and Westwood mowers with the brush collection and rolling system..

breadbin

TomOnBoard wrote: »

Hondas are nice machines. However the one you've posted would be on the small size for a ride on cutting 1.5 acres. For that sized lawns, I'd be looking at 42inch minimum with an engine that's 20hp or more. Also, you will need to regularly mow the back lawn to keep it low if you intend to collect the grass, or it may clog up the collection system if the grass is wet or long. If you're going to mulch it, that's less of an issue.

Take a look at the Countax and Westwood mowers with the brush collection and rolling system..

Thanks for the reply. There is a 40" on the same website which is another 700 euro. I'm kind of pushing it a bit already with the 3600 euro. The extra width would mean it would be quicker to cut right?



I checked out the Countax and Westwood.They seem to be the same tractors just a rebadge. The Westwood T50, rebadged Countax C50 is 1000 euro cheaper? But are they made in England? Wow.

_Brian

Castle garden are great mowers.

Have a castlegarden rideon 16 years and it’s been great. No trouble at all.

42” cut would be good. 17-20hp B&S engine.

You could hire a wheeled strimmer to do back lawn first time. Like a lawnmower with a heavy strimmer head on the front. Carrying a strimmer to do an Acre will wreck your back.

Water John

Just a suggestion to consider all possibilities. Would you look at a Robotic mower.
Sales of these are really taking off. suggested option;
https://www.husqvarna.com/ie/products/robotic-mowers/automower-450x/967673403/

TomOnBoard

breadbin wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. There is a 40" on the same website which is another 700 euro. I'm kind of pushing it a bit already with the 3600 euro. The extra width would mean it would be quicker to cut right?



I checked out the Countax and Westwood.They seem to be the same tractors just a rebadge. The Westwood T50, rebadged Countax C50 is 1000 euro cheaper? But are they made in England? Wow.

AFAIK, they'reboth made in the same factory in Oxfordshire in England.

Don't know why there would be a grand in the difference, like for like. I understood they are the same apart from bonnet and badge. Are they both including the Powered Grass Collector?

I'd be looking at the C60 rather than the C50, unless price was very different.

As for the width, yes, the wider the cut the more lawn area it will be covering. Grand if you keep it short but irrelevant if you're cutting and collecting when its longer, as the same area of lawn will fill the collector regardless of cutter width.

Oh, and a big benefit of the Countax/westwood is the extra accessories you can fit on the tractor using the PTO

breadbin

_Brian wrote: »

Castle garden are great mowers.

Have a castlegarden rideon 16 years and it’s been great. No trouble at all.

42” cut would be good. 17-20hp B&S engine.

You could hire a wheeled strimmer to do back lawn first time. Like a lawnmower with a heavy strimmer head on the front. Carrying a strimmer to do an Acre will wreck your back.

I never heard of a wheeled strimmer! I must look into that. Thanks for the tip:) I have heard good things about the Castlegarden mowers. For some reason I like the idea of Honda.

breadbin

Water John wrote: »

Just a suggestion to consider all possibilities. Would you look at a Robotic mower.
Sales of these are really taking off. suggested option;
https://www.husqvarna.com/ie/products/robotic-mowers/automower-450x/967673403/

I would love one of these things but the max cutting height is 60mm. I don't think my grass has ever been that short! Maybe down the road though.

my3cents

breadbin wrote: »

I have a big garden about half an acre in the front and acre in the back. I am using a Husqvarna petrol push mower to do the front which takes about an hour. I haven't done the back garden in years though and is now overgrown. I need to strim it and cut it to get it back to something manageable. I used to cut it with the push mower!! It took about 3 hours to do the back as far as I can remember.



I was thinking of finally splurging out on a ride on mower and I suppose a good one is worth its weight in gold over a couple of years. I was thinking of this Honda HF2315 for about 3600euro.


http://www.honda.co.uk/lawn-and-garden/products/ride-on-mowers/lawn-tractors/specifications.html#hf2315hme


Would anybody have any other recommendations?

I have a 13 year old one and its still going well despite some major abuse. Not me but the previous owner must off dropped it off a wall as the subframe is a bit damaged (something the crap local stealer didn't mention) but a bit of welding and its fine.

You can get a rear discharge chute for those if you don't want to box off which makes the job quicker, it goes on in place of the grass box.

Deck is identical to the castlegarden 36 inch you can swap them between the machines.

Probably a little small for an acre and a half but fine if you aren't picking the grass up but still cutting fairly regularly.

whippet

breadbin wrote: »

I would love one of these things but the max cutting height is 60mm. I don't think my grass has ever been that short! Maybe down the road though.

you would cut the current grass down to nothing initially .. give it a decent feed and then install the robotic mower .. and in a couple of months it would end up with a decent covering of grass at a steady height