mowers

Cleaning, fixing, using, repairing, best and worst of your mechanical aids in the garden...

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robo
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Hi all, I am looking for something to control the field we have in spain, I am fed up strimming twice a year 10 days at a time as well as the aching bones after each session, the locals use tractors with a pickadore on the back but it seems a very expensive option , ive heard of a couple of ride on mowers for sale locally but I have never seen one working to decide whether they would be strong enough for the job, the grass and weeds can get to waiste height could a ride on mower tackle this, I know its a wide question as I think every mower would be different in the cutting system, has anyone used one to this extent , there is nothing on the field like nettles or brambles and a strimmer with 4mm plastic on the cutting end copes well
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peter
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Robo, I think that the modern equivalent of an "Allen Scythe" would suit.

Be warned these are at the dangerous end of the powered machinery options, the AS had no brake and was 2stroke, also a bit of a lurch start.

So look at modern items with a dead mans handle.

No recommendation, just an example, http://www.mowdirect.co.uk/lawnflite-pr ... 89cc14862c.
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robo
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Peter, thank you for the reply, a guy lower down from me brought one over from france, I went down to see it in use but I was not impressed I think the strimmer is quicker, my field is around 200 meters long and part of it is uphill or down hill coming the other way so to speak I think it would take the same amount of work with one of them as it would with the strimmer
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Geoff
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Again no experience but if you Google "scrub clearing machines" you again end up at Mow Direct with a top ten list http://www.mowdirect.co.uk/blog/2013/06 ... -brambles/
Quite a price range, I haven't read them in detail but the cheaper ones seem to be push along which might not reduce the workload that much.
Richard
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I used to use a brush cutter for my orchard and round the vegetable plot but having a “sickle mower attachment” for a Merry Tiller Titan in stock when the primer bulb for the brush cutter failed, I decided to try the sickle mower. I would not go back to the brush cutter. The sickle mower is a lot faster, despite having to mow round trees. It is not easy, the vibration on the handles is quite tiring but as you wrote, brush cutting is hard on the back. I suspect you would have to mow more often with a ride on mower. Quad bikes with paddock mower attachments are an alternative, but they are expensive as well.
robo
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Thanks again for the answers, I have a small quad and a small trailer that I use for logging we had 108 almond trees when we bought the casita a lot of them are dead but they burn well on the log burner, if I had a ride on it would not be a problem to mow on a regular basis I just dont want to buy one then find out its not up to it, I am supposed to be looking at one tomorrow but this is spain so I am not holding my breath
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oldherbaceous
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Afternoon Robo, many years ago, i used to cut some grass that had always grown very long, with an old Hayter ride on. I can't remember what model it was, but what does stick in my mind is, it had a very wide side-discharge opening, and this aloowed the grass to exit very freely, so hardly ever blocked.

I think you will need one with a good solid deck though.
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Richard
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If you already have a quad, get a mower for it, they don't make as much as a used ride on second hand and are made for mowing paddocks. If you want something that will go through anything, a flail mower will chew up rush bobs.
robo
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A friend of ours came over with his flail mower pulled by his quad he managed about 30 yards before the drive belts started melting, but he did try to go to fast at it if you watch the local farmers with the tractors and the pickadora on the back they go at a snails pace we are coming home on wednesday so I will probably leave it till our next visit sometime in september we have been busy spreading 20 tons of gravel making footpaths but its getting very hot hear now not the best time for hard work
robo
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Firstly thank you to all those who replied , I believe when you ask for advice its always maners to give an update, after a lot of searching I have put a deposit on a ride on mower it should be delivered before the week end it's a 3cylinder Kubota diesel with a 5 feet wide 3 blade cutting deck no belts all hydraulic I've seen it working and seems that it will be up to the job but it might struggle a bit on the first cut as the weeds and grass in the field are around 6 feet tall I would have liked a tractor with a flail mower or pickadora as they are called here but even a battered old tractor with half the engine missing is worth around a 1000 euros which puts tractors out of the equation
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oldherbaceous
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Morning Robo, how are you getting on with the mower?
What model is it by the way?

I had thoughts of you cutting everthing down insight.... :)
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

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robo
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Hi oldherbaceouse, im back in england now the episodes went from bad to worse, the first one was a mower with a 3 cylinder kobota diesel on it more than capable of doing what i want on delivery day he decided i would be better off with his other one as it was totally hydraulic no drive belts to worry about on top of this he has made a hoist out of the first one to help trim the tops of his olives,on the delivery day of this one he could not get it onto his trailer as there was no ground clearance on the machine he said it had been designed to cut level fields, next he suggested that i bought a 20 h.p. tractor off him and he would put the cutting deck of the first machine on it this seemed a good idea so we agreed a price and around a week for delivery in the mean time i had an injury to my chest and was not in the best of health or moods, on delivery he decided the cutting deck was running the wrong way he then suggested i buy the tractor at the original price and he would sort a cutting deck out for next time i am over but this would be an extra as i was not in the best off moods he got told where to stick it, the tractor was a small one when i googled the make and model it was 3 cylinder but the one he was trying to off load on me was only 2 cylinder that started me thinking it was a bitsa thats why i pulled out
pity really he was a very interesting guy unfortunately he is dying of asbestosis thats why he has to sell his fruit farm and all his machines and he has a lot
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oldherbaceous
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Evening Robo, sorry to read you still haven't got your mower yet. Also hope your chest is now on the mend. I'm sure the right mower will turn up in the end.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

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robo
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Just to update a thread from last year, my chest problem turned out to be a heart attack but that's old hat, last night I bought a used mitsubishi mt 185 compact tractor that has a rotavator on the back all I need now is a flail mower or a topper then a trailer to get it all on then off we go to Spain, there is a certain person I live with who thinks I'm crackers but this field with its big weeds will not beat me, the price of this type of machinery in Spain is ridiculously high
Last edited by robo on Fri Apr 29, 2016 6:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Gerry
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Hi Robo,

Would the "motivator on the back" be your wife? :wink: I have the same trouble.

Regards,
Gerry.
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