Largest walk behind lawn mowers

[reb78]

id go down a merry tiller and attach a trailer then use a sickle bar with a conveyor belt for the slopes

sickle bar tech has changed its now dual cut

Goodness me. I want less hassle not more!

 

[gaz1]

if you want to do it faster and you dont want to pay the money for the smaller machine its build it

that merry tiller has loads of options available to it from cutting trees to trimming the lawns even fitting a long sickle bar to it is an advantage without the expensive costs

a sickle bar can be made but you can buy them as well or even buy hedge trimmer long bars but they can fasten up to the merry tiller rather easily

 

[Agrismith]

@reb78 what is the width limit to get through. I presume width is the deciding factor when you say access. Can you demo one before committing. Scag, toro, ferris, bobcat and many others do commercial machines marginally wider but considerably more powerful. Although these would be mulch only they will do a better job of the mulching. They would all be available second hand for a similar price to the toro. They also have steering brakes so if in the future you decide you don't want to walk them you can buy or make a trolley to sit on.
They would also be powerful enough that if you wanted to run a tow behind collector once a year it would be doable. Although probably not convenient.
My observation of that toro is also that the collector bag does not look very big and the emptying is the biggest time factor. So would it speed you up greatly more than you current mower.
Are there was that you could speed up emptying? Maybe more places to empty it or a cart you can drag into each area to decrease travel time.

 

[addjunkie]

A friend of ours has bought a husquvana robot, bit of remodelling and it does 2 lawns and under a fence to another. Probably just over an acre. Basically does first cut the hard way, then off it goes.

Basically levels altered so it has a route, bottom of fence lifted…not so good if you need dog safe.

I never pick up grass, mulch everything, just first cut is on max setting, then gradually drop down over first couple of cuts. Too tight to buy Husquvana.

Aldi had little auto mowers at 199 the other day.

 

[premmington]

I am now reaping the reward for doing just this, most of my lawn is now moss and I have a whole new different problem to deal with. The "lawn" at the rear of my mothers house is going to need attacking though and I am not sure how to begin, probably by making a phone call to a local gardening company. The grass is knee high and the hedges way over ten feet :-(

All due to ex-sisters maintenance program.

Dad's lawn - cuttings always left down - it looks OK - I done my job.

Dad will never have the pleasure of seeing his garden again (my hard work) - but I can sleep at night knowing - I done what needed to be done!

 

[Turbo]

You will find if you buy a commercial grade mower that they pack the grass box very well.

And to get a newer mower running well you need to adjust the carb.

Due to regulations the engines are limited to keep the blade speed below a certain number. Depending on the engine you can raise that speed quite a lot and gain a significant amount of performance.

 

[chrismac]

if you want to do it faster and you dont want to pay the money for the smaller machine its build it

that merry tiller has loads of options available to it from cutting trees to trimming the lawns even fitting a long sickle bar to it is an advantage without the expensive costs

a sickle bar can be made but you can buy them as well or even buy hedge trimmer long bars but they can fasten up to the merry tiller rather easily

I am pretty sure a sickle mower is not suited to cutting nice lush lawn grass, or at least in my experience of finger bar mowers this was the case, a waste of time the grass never cut between the knifes just bent over, they are more suited to shot longer grass.

 

[Brad93]

Nice machines.

they're built like tanks.
USA made or they used to be.

the engine of his one in the valve box has a little aluminium cast part with a steel dowel that likes to snap off. I've welded it twice and it keeps breaking.

 

[m_c]

I am pretty sure a sickle mower is not suited to cutting nice lush lawn grass, or at least in my experience of finger bar mowers this was the case, a waste of time the grass never cut between the knifes just bent over, they are more suited to shot longer grass.

They could do it, but it's not what they excel at, as they'd need to be well adjusted, and travel speed would have to be low to ensure they cut cleanly.
What they are good at is longer grass, where you just want to cleanly cut it, and no high speed blades throwing debris around.

Their traditional use was hay making, and I've seen them still being used for low volume hay, which is what most of the currently sold walk behind ones will likely be getting used, but drum mowers have replaced them on farms.

 

[Turbo]

They could do it, but it's not what they excel at, as they'd need to be well adjusted, and travel speed would have to be low to ensure they cut cleanly.
What they are good at is longer grass, where you just want to cleanly cut it, and no high speed blades throwing debris around.

Their traditional use was hay making, and I've seen them still being used for low volume hay, which is what most of the currently sold walk behind ones will likely be getting used, but drum mowers have replaced them on farms.

As you say finger bar mowers have to be very sharp and running at close tolerances to cut well and even then they don't cut short soft green grass very well.
Since I was fit to reach the tractor pedals my summer job as a kid was topping the many acres of grazing land on our farm with a finger bar mower. It would cut the long coarse grass and rushes perfectly and leave the soft green grass for the cattle to eat.

The top and bottom skids on them will also mark the ground so not too suitable for a lawn.

The 2 options for lawns are either a rotary or a cylinder mower.
If your lawn is not flat and even you are left with a rotary.

 

[Smallfry]

We have got two Hayter Condors. Both have 36 inch rotary decks (also came with 30") and they are used to do the edges of the field and around trees. They dont pick up, but could be had with a cylinder deck and optional grassbox. If you can find one, making a grassbox would be no great problem. I paid £150 each for them.

Got two pre enjoyed (don't ask) Honda Izy mowers with grassbags that I use for the front garden. Hate mulching personally. Always looks messy and get trodden into the house and vehicles

I have an aversion to paying lots of money for mowers.

 

[oldbikedavey]

We have got two Hayter Condors. Both have 36 inch rotary decks (also came with 30") and they are used to do the edges of the field and around trees. They dont pick up, but could be had with a cylinder deck and optional grassbox. If you can find one, making a grassbox would be no great problem. I paid £150 each for them.

Got two pre enjoyed (don't ask) Honda Izy mowers with grassbags that I use for the front garden. Hate mulching personally. Always looks messy and get trodden into the house and vehicles

I have an aversion to paying lots of money for mowers.

Back in the day, the Hayter Condor was pretty much the go - to bruiser of industrial mowers.
Grass hasn't changed much , so they'll still do the same job nowadays.
Solidly, reliably, and economically.

 

[rtcosic]

You know you want one!

 

[oldbikedavey]

You know you want one!

Only runs on specially developed snake oil, though...

 

[reb78]

There's a couple of Yardforce Robot mowers on faceache locally. Could get two for 380 but have never heard of them. Anyone used them? I could devote one to each of the main areas.

 

[Bravheart]

There's a couple of Yardforce Robot mowers on faceache locally. Could get two for 380 but have never heard of them. Anyone used them? I could devote one to each of the main areas.

Just googled it and they sound generic Chinese. Might not be a bad thing of course but a couple of aldi/lidl robot mowers new for similar money with a warranty.

 

[daedalusminos]

I would seriously look at the robot option.

I've got a boundary wire one - bit of a pain to set up and more so if you want to re-configure. Up side is they're relatively cheap.

The GPS one's are great- drive it round to teach it boundaries and no go areas. The Lymow Kickstarter looks nice!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lymowone/lymow-one-boundary-free-robot-mower-for-any-terrain-and-size/description

Not sure how they cope with edges though - on my boundary one I run round with the old petrol every 1-2 weeks.

 

[addjunkie]

I would seriously look at the robot option.

I've got a boundary wire one - bit of a pain to set up and more so if you want to re-configure. Up side is they're relatively cheap.

The GPS one's are great- drive it round to teach it boundaries and no go areas. The Lymow Kickstarter looks nice!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lymowone/lymow-one-boundary-free-robot-mower-for-any-terrain-and-size/description

Not sure how they cope with edges though - on my boundary one I run round with the old petrol every 1-2 weeks.

Two wire edge ones is the conclusion I have come too, but the need to still strim the edges seems a tad pointless….If I need-to strim I might as well just mow too.