Grass cutting dilemma.

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Ricard with an H
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I just had a big change-around of my pedestrian grass cutting machines, what I had for picking up was a 22 inch cut Harry with a 6 horse B&S engine. I couldn't fault that machine for picking up even wet grass but it was too heavy for me at 47 kilos. I also used a Klippo side eject which I also couldn't fault other than I didn't always want the grass cuttings to go where they went.

The Harry has been replaced by a smaller lighter machine which means twice as much mileage though at least I can handle it.

The side eject has also gone and here is where I need help, I have been advised not to buy a multi purpose machine and to buy specific machines to either mulch or pick-up. My question is, is the effectiveness of the mulching machine down to particular machines with a particular blade design or is mulching generally a compromise.

I'm also told that unless you keep the grass very-very short a mulched still leaves clumps of grass so it it worth spending another £400 for a mulching machine ?

I have a lot of grass, just the domestic lawns are on four different areas, only two of these need to have the grass picked up and even those could do with having the cuttings left on occasionally.

I'm not precious about my grass, I just enjoy having lots around me and I like it to be kept short rather than allowed to grow into a meadow then when you do cut it, it looks horrible. All yellow and course.

Any mulches amongst you ? Give me direction please. Shall I mulch or not bother ?
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Cider Boys
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You pose an interesting question Richard and one I can not answer myself and hopefully members with experience with horticultural machines and lawn cutting will advise you. All I do know is when using tractor powered topping machines in paddocks etc, flail toppers mulch and of course all the cut grass is left behind in clumps, it is just that the mulching helps break down the grass so it decomposes more quickly. Regarding lawn mowing, I loathe having to keep stopping to empty the grass box when mowing large areas and expect that I would prefer mowing more often with a mulching mower than mowing less often with a pickup mower having to repeatedly stop to empty the grass box.

Barney
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Ricard with an H
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Cider Boys wrote: I loathe having to keep stopping to empty the grass box when mowing large areas and expect that I would prefer mowing more often with a mulching mower than mowing less often with a pickup mower having to repeatedly stop to empty the grass box.

Barney


That is why I had a side-eject mower, all the paddock area has the grass cut and left to decompose. At times it looks a mess because the grass is growing faster than the cuttings are decomposing.

The domestic grassed areas which include one of my kitchen gardens that has grass growing between the raised beds have to have the grass picked up at least 50% of the time because we walk on it and even more pertinent, the dog runs around and ends up covered in cuttings if I don't pick up.

Like you I find it a chore to keep emptying the grass box and is why I want to change to a mulcher. The side eject like my ride-on mower left rows of cuttings similar to those rows the farmer makes for picking up the silage. The only way I found to spread it was with a blower but its all more work.

Im assuming the very best mulching machine will rely on keeping on top of the cutting.

For years now I tried to get hold of an old chain harrow where the hooks had all worn down so I could drag it behind the ride-on and scatter the grasses, no such animal ever showed itself for sale. There is one locally but they wont part with it.

I suppose I have the equivelent of two tennis courts of grass that need cutting with either a pick up machine or a mulcher, if I don't pick up where she went to hang the washing out then the mats at the door-threshholds just get covered in cuttings and they stick to the soles of your boots.
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oldherbaceous
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Afternoon Richard, a proper mulch mower has a different type of deck and blade to other mowers. This allows the grass cuttings to be cut many times before they are blown down into the lawn. This is why the multi cutting mowers, tend to leave clumps of grass on the lawn after cutting, unless the lawn is very dry and also fairly short. I think even with a proper mulch mower, you shouldn't be cutting much over a third off it's length, though.

Huqvarna do a very nice Mulch mower, but these are about the £700 mark, the model i have heard very good reports on is the, LB553S.
Stiga do some cheaper models of mulchers, but i have only used their ride on mowers, "what are excellent", so can't really give an opinion on the hand mowers.

I think some makes are now bringing out a dual mower, mulch and side discharge, this must be quite handy if the grass does get a little long, as you could just do one side discharge cut, then return to mulching. This would probably be handy for the first and last cuts of the year too, as the grass is always longer and wetter then through most of the year. I'm sure this duel cut was on a honda mower, that i was reading about, but i'm not sure on that.

So i hope this helps a little, Richard....it might also pay to have a look at some reviews on the internet, once you have seen some models that you think might be appropriate for your needs.

Good luck old bean.... :)
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

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Ricard with an H
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Thanks OH, I have been doing a lot of research reading buyers reports and retailers descriptions. One retailer reports that the multifunctioning machines work reasobaly well as long as you have two blades. The mulching blade does a poor job of filling the grass catcher and vise-versa.

I also had advise about not letting the grass grow too long when you cut with a mulcher though that advise is like preaching to the converted. if I pick up in long grass or wet grass I only ever do half the blade-width cut and always use a sharp blade.

I was looking at the Husqvarna machines as the Klippo I just traded in is now also Husqvarna and I do like quality.

I just made a decision to buy a Stihl (Viking MB4RT) on the basis of the weight saving and the machines I already have though the grass box on the Viking pickup mower feels flimsy and won't cope with clumsy operators.

So, rather than have one machine to do both jobs ok I'm hoping having two dedicated machines will do the job properly.

I don't enjoy cutting grass but I do enjoy being surrounded by tidy grass and having the right tools is important. I never do the lot in one day because it's too much work for me and the various areas grow at differing rates, it's interesting to me that our paddock never had the grass picked up and it's always a very healthy green providing I cut it when it needs it. Every four days in the growing season, every seven days during normal autumns and I'm still cutting grass after new year because we are warmer on the coast than inland during winter.

The decision to buy the Viking was based mostly on the mulching blade design, I haven't taken one too masny risks.

I'll report in due-course, of-course.
How are you supposed to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle if it completely removes a wine lover’s reason to live?
Richard.
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John
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Hello R
I have a big Honda HRX. Its an all singing, all dancing dual purpose machine with a double blade - the larger lower one is 21in.
It is a superb machine. It has a lever at the rear that you can pull across the machine to switch from mulching to normal cutting with bag pick up. The strong polymer deck means that it is not too heavy. There is hydraulic drive so you can vary the power to the wheels - in tough grass you can drive slowly through long grass with the blades running fast. The drive control acts like a throttle. There is also roto-stop - excellent safety feature as blade stops immediately when disengaged. The engine has bags of power and is an excellent starter.
The big downer on all this of course is the high cost of the machine. Its a pleasure to use - absolutely well worth the money - just close you eyes when you write the cheque.
This might sound like its come from Honda publicity HQ but it hasn't - just one very satisfied customer. Is also has 7 year guarantee as well.

John
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Ricard with an H
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Thanks for sharing that John, even though I have now chosen my tools.

I wonder how heavy your machine is ? The multi purpose machines I looked at were £700 to £900 and all started to get heavy, too heavy for me to move about over our propert.

Using two dedicated machines was the route I took on the basis of available advise and the cost was about the same.

I have yet to use the mulching machine which is the bigger of the two and will do most of the work. It's still only 30 kilos and a 53 cm cut.

I wanted to do my buying at this time of year, the assumption being that most dealers are struggling to sell machines compared to spring/summer.
How are you supposed to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle if it completely removes a wine lover’s reason to live?
Richard.
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Ricard with an H
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Finally I got to play serious with my new toys, admit it girls. Someone must have been itching to come up with the one about, "Boys toys".

We had blue sky, strong wind, the grass dried so I thought, playtime before the kicks in.

I made a good move, the heaviest of the two machines is 30 kilos. This is the mulcher, it was easyer to push around the gravel drives and very easy to cut grass compared to my old machines.

I had to pick up on the back lawn because that is Beti's main toilet zone. If I don't keep the grass short she hides her poo-poo's in the grass.

I had to take extra drugs yesterday after wrestling with my ride-on mower deck which needed taking off for cleaning, rust prevention, grease all grease points and sharpen blades. 3 blades to sharpen. The job was spread over two days but I still ended up with a very sore back.

Grass cutting is serious business at this farmette
How are you supposed to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle if it completely removes a wine lover’s reason to live?
Richard.
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