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If I were in the market for one, probably the Ego Z6, as I like that it runs off their readily available battery packs, whereas on a model with a full sized battery just one cell going bad could be an expensive fix. I am biased admittedly as have several Ego batteries already, some I purchased second hand at very good prices
Thanks that look good, it is probably top end of budget to get an E-Steer model, but the reviews look good thanks :)
My thoughts with mulching with a battery powered machine is you'll drain batteries very quickly.
Why the difference in budget?
Bit of a dinosaur but I'd go petrol, not sure whether a used battery machine would be very saleable if you are going to swap in a few years? There's been a new battery powered ride on on ebay for months
Im probably going to keep until I run into the ground, the difference in price, is due to me factoring in the cost of fuel (battery will run off solar) and servicing.
That said I am not againt a petrol mower, just trying to figure if the price jump to battery is worth it, and wether there is anythign good in that price range.
I'm steering away from used, as I just dont have the experience to tell if i'm looking at a decent machine or not!
No idea on the battery ride on's, not sure they would be upto the job really, guess it depends if you can mow at your own leisure, I've had a Mountfield tracker type mower that I bought for £500, not bad to be fair, would cope with domestic mowing, then a Estesia hydro 80, better than the Mountfield but only an 80cm cutting deck rather than 100cm, used a few old Honda mowers in between that where horrendous, back end of last year I bought a stiga park pro 25 front deck mower 125cm deck, fantastic machine, in a different league to anything else I've used, cost me £3750, plus fixing a few niggles, so about 4K all in. I'd seriously consider one of these, plenty on eBay and Facebook within budget,
I have two ride on machines that I use commercially. A John Deere Z535M [48 inch deck-zero turn] and a Stiga Parks 740 pwx with Combi 100 deck [39 inch deck – four wheel drive]
Both machines mulch or rear [Stiga] or side [JD] discharge - I always mulch. Both machine mulch perfectly. This would be especially the case if as you said, you would mow weekly.
It depends on how many obstacles you have etc. but I can double cut [twice over for a perfect finish] about ¾ acre [with some trees and other work arounds in] with the Z535m in about one hour [4 litres per hour]
The Stiga is 3 litres per hour.
The above machines [or new equivalents] are between £7500 and £8000 new. However, for just domestic/personal use, I would buy a cheaper model Stiga 2wd, if that is that your ground is not hilly.
The higher spec engines are a little more refined being V-twins as opposed to single cylinder types. But they are still good engines.
I would not recommend buying second hand. These used machines have often had a hard life, have had the hour meters replaced to show lower hours and are very pricey.
The thing is that no dealer will ask for list prices. Most will give you 20% on new machines. Then there is the odd dealer demonstrator. I would have a look on the Stiga UK website. The Stiga Experience 500 plus combi 100 deck is about £5000 list. The Combi 100 deck is a much better option over the Combi 95 because the 100 has three blades which do not overlap, whereas the 95 has timed blades with toothed belts. These can jump if you hit something and then the blades collide.
My Stiga 740 [the third one I have owned] has done about 650 commercial hours and is still going strong.
There is a three year warranty for domestic customers.
I do have all battery [Stihl pro] hand held gear, hedge cutters, chain saw and strimmer etc. But for me a battery ride on mower would not be viable/up to the job.
Thank you for your assistance. I've visited several dealers and noticed that the Ego Z6 appears to be notably less powerful compared to its counterparts. While most other battery-powered mowers boast a range of 35-40 Amps, the Ego Z6 only offers 15 Amps initially, with the possibility to increase this through an additional investment (£429 for another 10 Amps!). Interestingly, in the American market, it's sold with 4 x 10 Amp batteries as the standard configuration.
Another top contender for me is the Husqvarna R 112iC Rider Battery Ride-On. It holds the advantage of being more affordable and featuring a front-mounted deck.
I'm leaning towards a battery-powered option with mulching capabilities or the option to attach a plug. If anyone has experience with either the battery or petrol equivalents of the following models, I would greatly appreciate your insights:
Your first-hand experiences and any feedback would be really helpful in whats to be a quite expensive purchase!
Thanks
hi Shaun I think those figures may refer to battery capacity (Amp hours) rather than the actual power delivered, although from my experience with the higher powered Ego blowers, when used with the bigger packs (7.5Ah upwards) they have more oommph due to the greater quantity of cells in the larger packs