Hello everyone. First time poster. I know I will probably get told to look at past posts....but I have... and my head is spinning.
We are a grounds and garden maintenance business. Been in business for 8 years. I've been reading this forum for 8 years but never joined until now.
We have just had the wettest June in Edinburgh since records began and July appears to be continuing in the same vein. I think the weather has been much the same in the rest of Scotland and the UK: weeks of drought then weeks of rain and sun. Edinburgh's rainfall is below average for the UK I believe. The west coast of Scotland is massively above the average. But the east coast isn't that wet. We've had 2 really wet years since I started my business and this is the worst. We're running about 1 week behind - but I've heard other businesses in edinburgh are running up to 3 weeks behind.
Currently we are running 2 x Etesia Pro-46 PHCT 18". They are like tanks. Best mowers we've had. They go and go and just need the blades sharpened now and then. We also have a Husqvarna flymo for bankings and a Honda HRX 426 PD which is ok (only ok) for not too long, dry grass. We also have a John Deere - large-domestic ride on. We only have a couple of sites where the Ride on is used just now - but the likelyhood is we will be taking more sites on over the next couple of years. I'm thinking of some kind of Zero Turn for that.
At the moment we are going to a garden/site, we're a week behind - so the grass has 3 weeks growth. It's 3-5 inches long. It's damp to wet. The mowers we have are not good enough. I do not need a roller. From what I can find out on this site:
- Etesias are good. Well not our Pro46's. So which ones should we go for? I love Etesia - I would buy more. But which ones? I had an Etesia Pro51X - but every time we folded it down in the van the cabling went out of alignment and it wouldn't work properly. The Pro-46's are ok. But not great in 3 to 5" damp to wet grass. They're also slow and the box needs emptied constantly
- I see people saying a Weibang 48 pro is good. I don't need a roller. Is a Weibang Virtue 53 Pro good? I'm happy to spend whatever is necessary to make this quicker. They are quite a bit heavier than Etesias. The grass bag is much bigger.
- I see people saying they wouldn't have anything else but a Honda - but all the posts I see are from Honda roller users. I don't need a roller. So what should I go for? I don't want the machine to be too heavy.
- I've never used Toros and John Deeres. But I've heard people swear by them. Anyone have any experience? Again no roller - ideally not too heavy.
I've even sat down and wondered if I could buy a zero turn and do most lawns with that. They seem to cut long, wet grass with no problem at all. But I still have to be able to get through gateways and door ways.
Is there such a mower that is professional, light, reliable, big bag, cuts long wet grass and is fast? It's like the Holy Grail for all of us.
Views: 1242
Replies
I have a Weibang and like it a lot, but its wet collection is definitely not as good as both the Etesia and the Viking that i've used. So if your Etesia's aren't good enough for collection in the wet then i'd be very surprised if the Weibang would be.
Weibang are newer to the market but offer great value, good collecting, well built machines. Heavy to handle but very solid.
Honda are well made, but collection not at the level of others, in particular Etesia.
Overall the beauty of the Pro 51 range is they are simple, collect only machines. Not compromised by trying to mulch as well. If the budget will stretch the Pro 53 is in a different league to any thing else out there but it is small Ride on mower money.
In our experience the Pro 46, pro 51 and Pro 53 will seriously out last the others in terms of years of use. They have some limitations (forward speed) but your main requirement is ultimate wet grass collection and I don't think you will find better.
The new pro46's seem to be similar to our older pro53 and we use them on the majority of our sites. They are also excellent mulching mowers and as for wet collection are way better than our Honda pros.
Advice? Weibang is the way forward but jet wash out the grass bag regularly, when the mesh is blocked grass collection is reduced.