Ride on mower - need some recommendations

For those that are not aware, Stiga and Mountfield are part of the same concern. I'm lead to believe that even if Stiga is a Swedish concern, their garden machinery is made in Italy. Despite swedes being generally patriotic, Mountfield are not easily available hare, and even Stiga are considered "amateur use only" and sold by low price outlets not renowned for selling quality products.

 

That doesn't sound promising!

 

I mow my 4 acre site with a Countax ride on. Mine is a K series - an older model with a Kawasaki engine, and they don`t actually make this model any more - I think the A model is now the biggest. It is good in the wet, as the tractor has wide tyres and I had a mulching deck fitted from day one. The machine is heavy enough to sort out any irregularities in the grass, and the mulched clippings feed as they fall. The deck lifts and falls electronically and of course with this deck there is no need to collect - so no cumbersome collecting box to deal with.
I just bought a new deck for my machine rather than trade it in for a new tractor - it is doing a cracking job - the new deck cost about £850.

Before this machine I had a Countax C60. This is the model I would recommend for your lawn area - I wish I had kept that machine instead of trading it in, as it was efficient and nippy too - it was a bit smaller and good for those little corners. That had a mulching deck too.

I haven`t had any trouble getting parts for these mowers, and it`s a much happier chore when you are sat sitting.

 

Thanks for the advice.

Regarding the Countax C60 that you recommended for my lawn - presumably then it's very adept at dealing with very bumping ground (due to mole hills)?

Did the one that you had ever clog up when dealing with long wet grass?

Did you find the machine to be particularly rugged and robust?

 

mine is called a Cub Cadet. its good, I have lots of grass. it handles some bumps also . good turn radius.

 

I always rake out the grass after a mole infestation, and after trapping the blighters. After that the Countax deals with flattening and firming the resulting mess until the grass regrows.
Neither of my Countax mowers clogged up when dealing with wet grass. When using a mulching deck you need to keep the blades up high enough for the grass to mulch successfully. It`s common sense really, and best not to allow the grass to get too long.
I mow regularly, and according to the weather conditions... even during the winter months.
Autumn time brings leaves down all over the grass, and I find the mulcher is superb at chopping up the leaves as well as the grass.

I mow sometimes in light rain - and have on occasions needed to mow after dark - possible because the mower has adequate lights! I look after my camping site - it`s work

 

BTW we call them Riding Mowers. not Ride on Mowers. Mine has good baskets in the back and good at sucking up leaves into the basket.

 

How about AL-KO mowers - specifically this one:

AL-KO SOLO T20-105 HDE V2 Garden Tractor

 

Husqvarna make a good ride-on mulching mower ; if you're not bothered about grass-collection , this may be the one ! Rear wheel steering too , so amazing turning circle . Robust and good quality , albeit a bit expensive . Cleverly designed so the front cutting deck can be lifted easily and pressure washed if required . Reminds me of driving a 'dodgem' at the fair

 

Thanks, another one for me to look at.

 

I had a ''test drive'' of one of these Husqvarna - out front jobs a few years ago. Tried it on very wet grass, and the wheels were too narrow and dug into the ground leaving deep furrows.....a no no for me - a good mower though if you need to cut a graveyard - in the sunshine

 

The Husqvarna mowers I use have these 'Turf-Trak' (or something like that) dumpy tyres on them ; good traction and very fast , but can easily 'wheel-spin' on dampish slopes .

 

Very interesting Paul, it was a fair few years ago when I tried one out. They have obviously been updated somewhat