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What Mower to buy

Hi all, i'm looking to buy a new mower for my small gardening business, i have £500 to spend. I want something light(around 30kg) if poss and i would like a mulch option as i have a couple of cuts were i have a lot of grass to take away(would a mulch reduce this significantly, i've never tried?), a blade stop option would be a nice bonus too and i would like self propelled. I do a mixture of small/med/large lawns and will be keeping my beat up mountfields for backup and for the smaller gardens and if i have to get a heavy machine will use these for gardens needing mower lifting. I have been looking at a 2nd hand estesia phg for £200 and a new rover, my friend recommended ariens but at 44kg they seem a bit weighty, also an efco  at £309. Any recomendations or advice would be much appreciated as i'm sick of using ones not for commercial purposes. Cheers

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  • PRO

    Gareth, what you are looking for is the 'Holy Grail' and unfortunately will almost certainly not be available for £500 or less new.

    I assume by the options you are currently looking at you want a wheeled machine?

    As regards mulching, it can (and does on many sites work) but ideally the lawn needs to be dry and cut weekly. Long wet, weedy grass doesn't mulch at all well.

    From experience, a machine fitted with a 3 in 1 blade (mulch, discharge and collect), will not collect as well in variable conditions as with a collecting blade fitted.

    Second hand is as always, a gamble - etesias were normally bought by councils or big contractors new as very expensive. By the time they get to the £200 figure, I would have thought they would be getting rather tired and battered for reliable, everyday use.

    What percentage of your day is spent mowing, what does your local dealer stock and recommend (and have on the shelf spares for, when it does inevitably break) - all things to consider...

    Honda Izy range has always been a decent, reliable machine with easily available parts and a good, reliable engine. Cutting widths from 16" to 21" An 18" model would be around £450 ish with a bit of a haggle from a local dealer. (No mulch option here though). 

    A regards a 44kg Rover being weighty, I'm guessing you wouldn't fancy a full eight hour day 'mower chasing' with one of our 65 odd KG Lawnflite Pro Rollers then :-).....

  • Indeed it is the holy grail of mowers! 

    I still haven't found one that does everything amazingly! 

    Harry the cat on eBay has some good etesia for sale.

    For my first two seasons I used a toro homeowner mower which was ok at mulch and collecting. Unfortunately it really wasn't up to much more than one season. Season two was very expensive for repairing. It was 21" cut but at 50kgs not light. 

    You might get a ok hayter pro on eBay for that money in a 18" but it won't mulch. 

    If its possible to try and up your budget you will probably get a much better machine that will last you longer. I reckon £750 will see you a fairly good machine

  • Harry the cat on eBay has a good toro for mulching and collecting at £425 might be worth a look!! probably want to be quick though

    • stay as far away from them as possible

      • from a toro? 

        • The toro with the mulching blade is horrific at collecting grass with any sort of moisture involved, for sites you need to collect stay away from these machines
          • Can't agree with that at all I am afraid. Never had any issues with the atomic mulching blades on any machines I have or have used. Wet or dry. I probably cut 40 acres of grass a month with them, across multiple sites in vary conditions and varying finishes.

            The Only thing they struggle with is really long wet grass and trying to collect. By really long I mean 6" or above
            • We have around 20 of these machines on various sites commercial and residential and it's the same complaint from everyone in the squad<br />
              <br />
              If you need to collect don't buy a mulcher it's totally against what it's designed for.<br />
              <br />
              This is only the toro I'm commenting on not across the board other makes may do a better job but the toro doesn't. <br />
              <br />
              If you could stretch to etesia then your onto a winner like everything else you get what you pay for
              • PRO

                Can you expand a bit on your experience and what Toro mower(s) in particluar to help put responses in context ?

                • http://www.toro.com/en-gb/Homeowner/Mowers/Walk-Power-Mowers/Pages/...

                  20 of these...19 complaints everyday

                  It's acceptable on one site

                  We've found these toro's too heavy for residential gardens leaving terrible wheel marks no matter the height of cut

                  Qualified greenkeeper, 9 years experiance in fine turf care, sports turf presentation and landscaping

                  I work with guys who have varying levels of experience from labourer to ex course managers and all say the same about these mowers, only for rough areas where presentation is not necessary
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