Largest walk behind lawn mowers

[reb78]

My lawns aren't small but they don't lend themselves to any sort of ride on or tow behind flail mower with the way they are broken up. They are also part of our holiday cottages so need the clippings picked up etc to make it tidy (esp early in the season when I cant keep on top of it).

I have a Hayter Harrier 56 - which is about the largest 'normal' mower i can find but the process still takes me ages.

What are the largest walk behind mowers that you know of - preferably ones that will either pick up, OR mulch so that you don't know anything was there (mulching mowers don't do this well in my experience). I have found the Toro timemaster and turfmaster but are there more like this? Added reason for wanting a walk behind is to get me some exercise so i am really not after a ride on, or solutions that involve completely remodelling my house and garden so i can drive a combine harvester through the garden ....

 

[Agrismith]

My lawns aren't small but they don't lend themselves to any sort of ride on or tow behind flail mower with the way they are broken up. They are also part of our holiday cottages so need the clippings picked up etc to make it tidy (esp early in the season when I cant keep on top of it).

I have a Hayter Harrier 56 - which is about the largest 'normal' mower i can find but the process still takes me ages.

What are the largest walk behind mowers that you know of - preferably ones that will either pick up, OR mulch so that you don't know anything was there (mulching mowers don't do this well in my experience). I have found the Toro timemaster and turfmaster but are there more like this? Added reason for wanting a walk behind is to get me some exercise so i am really not after a ride on, or solutions that involve completely remodelling my house and garden so i can drive a combine harvester through the garden ....

Scag and toro mowers go up to 48in if you got a flail version and kept it sharp then it would mulch everything very well. Even the rotary's will do a better job mulching than domestic machines

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Smaller options available too

 

[gaz1]

there no good as they dont pick up as well

i use the briggs petrol mower with auto drive as well its alot better than the electric mower

but sometimes a grass catcher on a trailer would be better

just incase you dont know but you can side discharge on them

 

[Erie Fred]

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[knighty]

disclaimer that I don;t have loads of experience

but our ride on mulching mower... does a great job mulching as long as the grass isn't too long, but it's a bit naff if the grass is longer, idk if there's too much going through it to mulch or some other reason but it looks like it hasn't mulched at all


now quite sure how often to cut it... it's just our garden, too many other things to do to be cutting grass every week :-o

 

[Turbo]

Mulching only works well on dry grass that is relatively short.

 

[Agrismith]

Mulching only works well on dry grass that is relatively short.

It's more that it requires more energy the longer and wetter it is. Whilst also requiring a slower speed to stop it bunching up.
Commercial mowers therefore do a better job as they usually have more power. Flails also do better than rotary. There are also a few big reel verge mowers about that will essentially mulch it.

Beaver Cylinder Mower

Beaver M30 cylinder Mower Suzuki petrol engine. Good machine for its age.

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You could also look at two wheel tractors like bcs and spec a big engine with smaller mower width

https://bcsagri.com/en-001/products/attachments/

Although that's probably taking things a little to far

 

[Turbo]

It's more that it requires more energy the longer and wetter it is. Whilst also requiring a slower speed to stop it bunching up.
Commercial mowers therefore do a better job as they usually have more power. Flails also do better than rotary. There are also a few big reel verge mowers about that will essentially mulch it.

Beaver Cylinder Mower

Beaver M30 cylinder Mower Suzuki petrol engine. Good machine for its age.

www.facebook.com

You could also look at two wheel tractors like bcs and spec a big engine with smaller mower width

https://bcsagri.com/en-001/products/attachments/

Although that's probably taking things a little to far

I have used a Jonn Deere walk behind mulcher and it was very good at mulching.
But it was designed as a mulcher with a special deck and blade design and nowhere for a grass box.

Also gave you a good workout. It had a 4 speed gearbox and in 4th gear you were jogging behind it!

 

[Agrismith]

I have used a Jonn Deere walk behind mulcher and it was very good at mulching.
But it was designed as a mulcher with a special deck and blade design and nowhere for a grass box.

Also gave you a good workout. It had a 4 speed gearbox and in 4th gear you were jogging behind it!

I presume due to the weight of the clippings, there isn't an awful lot of anything in the way of properly big walk behind collectors. There is however plenty in the way of mulching so would seem the logical way to go. I of course do consider a big walk behind to be upward of 750mm. The OP may well be happy with something smaller and a collector. Going to have the same problem that collectors don't like long wet grass.

 

[Turbo]

I presume due to the weight of the clippings, there isn't an awful lot of anything in the way of properly big walk behind collectors. There is however plenty in the way of mulching so would seem the logical way to go. I of course do consider a big walk behind to be upward of 750mm. The OP may well be happy with something smaller and a collector. Going to have the same problem that collectors don't like long wet grass.

You could mow a large lawn very quickly with that JD mulcher due to its speed, 48cm cutting deck and the fact that you don't have to stop to empty a grass box!

 

[JOEPRO]

 

[sako243]

@reb78 what sort of total lawn size are you looking after? Have you considered a robot mower to ease your workload? Particularly with the holiday lets from what I remember you could just let it go and it'll take care of things. I might be misremembering but some of them have rain meters etc., built into their sheds to know when to mow.

We're a bit too big I think for most of them and too many banks to deal with. Having said that it's all big areas so only takes an hour or two with the flail on the tractor.

 

[oldbikedavey]

Dennis used to do some seriously hefty cylinder mowers, but they weren't for the faint-hearted.....

 

[oldbikedavey]

Walker ride ons had a very good pickup and compaction system....

 

[reb78]

@reb78 what sort of total lawn size are you looking after? Have you considered a robot mower to ease your workload? Particularly with the holiday lets from what I remember you could just let it go and it'll take care of things. I might be misremembering but some of them have rain meters etc., built into their sheds to know when to mow.

We're a bit too big I think for most of them and too many banks to deal with. Having said that it's all big areas so only takes an hour or two with the flail on the tractor.

I'm not sure tbh Ed. I have thought about them but significant money. I can potentially get a big machine second hand for a lot less.

There's three large lawn areas on different levels. I can do the rough areas with the bigger machines but can't get them in the gardens.

 

[reb78]

Dennis used to do some seriously hefty cylinder mowers, but they weren't for the faint-hearted.....

I have a 36" ransome cylinder with a Jap engine. Lovely machine and lovely engine noise but not suited to most of these gardens.

 

[sako243]

I'm not sure tbh Ed. I have thought about them but significant money. I can potentially get a big machine second hand for a lot less.

True but think of the time saving.

Question is do you enjoy mowing the lawns? I enjoy the off hour or two being able to switch off and listen to some podcasts but then it's on the tractor. If it was a walk behind mower a) I'd be a lot fitter and b) I probably would consider a robot much more seriously. The thing is we have about 3.5 acres of lawn and I've never found out whether they can learn that and just not get around to it in a timely manner. That I wouldn't mind but if they simply can't learn that acreage then it's an issue.

 

[Erie Fred]

I have used a Jonn Deere walk behind mulcher and it was very good at mulching.
But it was designed as a mulcher with a special deck and blade design and nowhere for a grass box.

Also gave you a good workout. It had a 4 speed gearbox and in 4th gear you were jogging behind it!

They make a Leetle sulky that you stand on.....

 

[reb78]

True but think of the time saving.

Question is do you enjoy mowing the lawns? I enjoy the off hour or two being able to switch off and listen to some podcasts but then it's on the tractor. If it was a walk behind mower a) I'd be a lot fitter and b) I probably would consider a robot much more seriously. The thing is we have about 3.5 acres of lawn and I've never found out whether they can learn that and just not get around to it in a timely manner. That I wouldn't mind but if they simply can't learn that acreage then it's an issue.

Work had two covering a large area and once it was short enough they kept on top of it.

I don't mind mowing and need the exercise so not bothered about a robot to be honest, but just want to be able to do it faster.

 

[premmington]

I been using Honda side discharge 21" mowers at home.

I leave the cuttings down - whatever the length or weather.

I too don't mind mowing and also could well do with the exercise.