Compact tractors

[KierDurrant16]

The commercial mower kubota ones are inhouse and much more robust. I dont think a peerless or tecuseh would stand up to the beating a 20hp diesel would give it...
A whole replacement unit is 4 grand though, but I think when the day comes its fairly rebuildable but it hasnt come yet, and its 30+ years old. Even the pto joints are over a hundred quid apiece, but I rebuilt the originals being a cheapskate, I buy very little oem for it anyway. The motor is just a generic kubota, you can get engine kits with liners etc for 500e or so. I rebuilt the diesel pump myself with a 70e kit when I first got it.

To the thread, any front mounted mower or a triple mower with batwing decks has the advantage over a tractor with a belly deck in that you can see what the deck is cutting easy, and can mow right up to edges and tree's without having to pass over the section with your front wheels first. Batwing decks are spindle decks that raise to the sides independently of the main front deck. usually hydraulically.
I would give ransome's triple's with spool mowers a miss unless you have pretty flat area to mow, a deck mower can cope much better with undulations or things hiding in the grass (have dogs, so usually abandoned stout sticks) and spools dig in and get bent. Yeah one of my relatives drove one for a living for a council doing general cutting for 20 years, but it was forever needing new spools and blade fettling every week after some incident.
I would also give anything designed for a homeowner to use or even remotely modern a miss in favour of a battered old industrial mower.
Scag have a great rep for robustness, provided its not on its last legs it's the one I'd go for out your options so far...
And looking at it, its designed to carry all its weight as low as possible so it can work on banks safer etc.
Compact tractors are a compromise and industrial mowers are better if you already have tractors and want it to do just this one job.

Scag is pretty near top of the list, have messaged them to arrange a viewing.

those baby tractors are nice , very useable , very nickable, give me a grey fergie or 135 anyday.both will fetch more than you paid when you ,if ever that is, sell. parts are dirt cheap and plentifull , steer clear of "restored" which often means just a flash paint job.

“Flash paint job” is my concern with the 4k Kubota. Looks very much like a 5 gallon restoration.
Have considered older vintage tractors but SWMBO would prefer something a bit “lighter” to operate unfortunately

 

[anto44]

I bought this kubota a while back.

 

[octo0072000]

Scag is pretty near top of the list, have messaged them to arrange a viewing.

“Flash paint job” is my concern with the 4k Kubota. Looks very much like a 5 gallon restoration.
Have considered older vintage tractors but SWMBO would prefer something a bit “lighter” to operate unfortunately

sure someone did power steering kit for the fergie

 

[Turbo]

Scag is pretty near top of the list, have messaged them to arrange a viewing.

“Flash paint job” is my concern with the 4k Kubota. Looks very much like a 5 gallon restoration.
Have considered older vintage tractors but SWMBO would prefer something a bit “lighter” to operate unfortunately

To be honest I don't think she would find those mini tractors light to operate.
A lot of them are a scaled down big tractor and the normal tractor functions and controls can be in weird locations.
Even though they are small they are not always easy to manoeuvre, 4wd will greatly increase the turning circle.
You already have 2 tractors to do tractor type stuff. You need a large lawn mower.
Don't be obsessed too much about hours on a machine. It's how the machine was treated and looked after during those hours that you should watch out for.
Ex golf course machinery tends to be well looked after.

 

[Turbo]

Another make to consider is John Deere. Their commercial stuff is top notch.
One thing to watch out for is rotten mowing decks. It can look great from above but you really need to get under the deck with a torch and a screwdriver or small hammer and start tapping.

 

[oldbikedavey]

BAAAAAA !!!!

 

[Bornfree]

Check parts availability before buying a yanmar.

 

[Red'n'Black]

Can't speak for mini tractors but for ride on lawnmowers avoid a hydrostatic gearbox. Sure they are lovely to use but when they go wrong they are megabucks to replace and normally write off the lawnmower.
I worked for a lawnmower service place and nearly all the parts mowers in the scrap yard were hydrostatic. Doesn't matter what make the mower is they all use 1 of the 2 makes of hydrostatic transaxles. Peerless/tecumseh and I can't remember the other.

Internal gearbox parts are impossible to get and very expensive.

For your job I would suggest a Kubota with a front mounted deck. The local council use them for the parks and they are bulletproof and you can mow a lot of grass with them.
The front deck is great for mowing around trees and into corners, minimising strimming.

Another make to consider is Toro. They make a lot of groundskeeping equipment for parks and golf courses.

Parts for the Peerless manual transmissions are not exactly cheap either. I did one up for a mate a few years back, the shafts run in needle roller bearings so when there's been no lube for the last 20 years the end of the shaft gets completely mullered and a new shaft is £300+, more than he paid for the whole machine.

 

[arther dailey]

sure someone did power steering kit for the fergie

a 135 industrial has power steering as standard , ex council ones are normally a good buy ..with the benefit of a cab

 

[Turbo]

Parts for the Peerless manual transmissions are not exactly cheap either. I did one up for a mate a few years back, the shafts run in needle roller bearings so when there's been no lube for the last 20 years the end of the shaft gets completely mullered and a new shaft is £300+, more than he paid for the whole machine.

I know that only too well but they are fairly reliable and last for many years. The early ones were filled with bentonite and suffered from lack of lubrication. If you strip them and fill them with gear oil like the later transmissions they will last for years.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Just to throw another option in the ring, I have a Siromer 20hp and it just…..works. It’s cheap, noisy but it just carries on carrying on. The Chinese and Indians beat the life out of them and they still work so can’t be bad

 

[premmington]

My neighbour has an old quad bike with a towable mowing deck with honda petrol engine on it.

48" flail mower - makes a nice job of it - without a mine tractor.

 

[Robotstar5]

My neighbour has an old quad bike with a towable mowing deck with honda petrol engine on it.

48" flail mower - makes a nice job of it - without a mine tractor.

I used to do that, but holding the thumb operated throttle gave me a numb hand so I sold the quad and bought a tractor which was just set the hand throttle and off we go

 

[KierDurrant16]

Well, went to look at the scag. Lovely mower, owned by a retired couple of serviced every year. Thought perfect!

Now the problems start, is 7ft wide and 3 wheeled. Too wide for my trailer and most car trailers. Went to hire a tilt bed, none available.
Anyone have any ideas?
Thought maybe flat bed transit and long ramps, long way down if alll goes wrong.
Local transport company want £600.

I think it might be back to the drawing board (or Facebook marketplace)

Can never be easy!

 

[Bornfree]

Well, went to look at the scag. Lovely mower, owned by a retired couple of serviced every year. Thought perfect!

Now the problems start, is 7ft wide and 3 wheeled. Too wide for my trailer and most car trailers. Went to hire a tilt bed, none available.
Anyone have any ideas?
Thought maybe flat bed transit and long ramps, long way down if alll goes wrong.
Local transport company want £600.

I think it might be back to the drawing board (or Facebook marketplace)

Can never be easy!

Most flat bed car trailers are 6ft 6" wide so you should get 7ft on it. But you will need 3 ramps

 

[knighty]

we do about 4 acres of grass with one of these...

Husqvarna R 214TC Rider

Efficient, versatile and easy to operate, this ride-on lawn mower takes care of larger lawns with ease. Husqvarna R 214 TC features a twin cylinder engine and

www.husqvarna.com

bought it new because it was hardly an extra vs used prices

it does 4 acres no bother at all,, round lots of trees, over bits of patch etc.. should have got the 4x4 version, would have been better in the mud - previous owners had horses which have ruined the ground

piece of cake to use, my gf mows the grass most of the time

I've rammed it though some pretty heavy brambles and bushes and it's never missed a beat

comfortable and easy to control, goes slow when you want it to and then fast when you want it to too

 

[sako243]

I'd second @Bornfree's suggesting of a flat-bed, pretty much any Ifor williams flatbed would do. Ramps, scaffolding boards, sheet of ply would all succeed in getting it on I'd have thought. Use the two ramps supplied with a trailer (if available) and a piece of scaffolding board cut down in the middle with a sheet of ply laid sideways across if needbe and I'd think it'd be enough to get it up and on.

 

[addjunkie]

I used to do that, but holding the thumb operated throttle gave me a numb hand so I sold the quad and bought a tractor which was just set the hand throttle and off we go

View attachment 536522

View attachment 536523

Any excuse to buy a tractor. But Id tend to agree on the numb thumb, I only tend to use our towable flail, in the rougher stuff where the ground is wet most of the year as it has ATV type tyres on, use the tractor where ever I can, cheaper to run, quicker and more comfortable. Our new neighbour has just bought a Chinese tractor, with flail for her fields, doesnt seem to bad, they've come along way since the early Siromers.

we do about 4 acres of grass with one of these...

Husqvarna R 214TC Rider

Efficient, versatile and easy to operate, this ride-on lawn mower takes care of larger lawns with ease. Husqvarna R 214 TC features a twin cylinder engine and

www.husqvarna.com

bought it new because it was hardly an extra vs used prices

it does 4 acres no bother at all,, round lots of trees, over bits of patch etc.. should have got the 4x4 version, would have been better in the mud - previous owners had horses which have ruined the ground

piece of cake to use, my gf mows the grass most of the time

I've rammed it though some pretty heavy brambles and bushes and it's never missed a beat

comfortable and easy to control, goes slow when you want it to and then fast when you want it to too

I think for flattish ground, if mowing is all you want to do, would be far less hassle than an old compact tractor and pto mowers.

 

[GRW]

This is my lawn mower. New Holland 1220 with 4ft Winton flail.
View attachment 536387
19hp engine, 17 at the PTO. 2 and 4 wheel drive, independent rear brakes, hydrostatic with two ranges, diff lock. Lifts about 300kg on the 3 point before wheel start going light and it's got a midmount PTO, hydraulic spool, and cruise control.

We've got about 4 acres of lawns to mow and normally takes about an afternoon if I do the bank as well (1 in 3 and can only be mown downhill). Flail is neater than the old John Deere ride on that we used to have.

@8ob runs one but on ag tyres.

Good example of a tractor I fetched from Durham area and paid £4250 I think for it and about another £800 for the mower if I remember.

Personally I'd always have a hydrostatic or shuttle transmission as your not often changing ranges but shunting a lot. Highly recommend the 1220 as its been faultless and packs a punch above it's weight.

Those 1220's are good little tractors. I've driven one / used one quite a bit (hydrostatic one). Work has struggled to find engine parts for the motor though - and they seem to fetch strong money.

 

[jmp49]

I'd second @Bornfree's suggesting of a flat-bed, pretty much any Ifor williams flatbed would do. Ramps, scaffolding boards, sheet of ply would all succeed in getting it on I'd have thought. Use the two ramps supplied with a trailer (if available) and a piece of scaffolding board cut down in the middle with a sheet of ply laid sideways across if needbe and I'd think it'd be enough to get it up and on.

Thats exactly how I load my kubota mower, normal car ramps and a scaff board for the inner wheels (it has 4 wheels, but two are almost touching each other at the rear so it can do zero turn). I hardly ever need to trailer it anywhere though. The last thing I want to get into is cutting grass for other people too!

Also is it only the deck that's 7ft wide? you can drop the deck off the arms and mount it fore and aft on the trailer, usually you pull some pins and slide the pto shaft out to detach it for servicing anyway.