not sure what to do here, I currently have a Mountfield 1538h-sd, ( 100cm mulcher )
i have 2 ride on jobs, one takes about 1 hour 15 minutes, the other takes about 2 hours, both jobs are every 2 weeks, the finish on one is fine, it’s a field, and I’ve managed to get it down gradually, so it doesn’t leave to much grass on top, the other job ( the 2 hour job ) looks a right mess, I’ve cut it the last 3 weeks on the trot in hope to tidy it up, but it just looks terrible, looks like the council have cut it after months of growth.
so I need to get ride that collects and mulches, seen a Bahia Briggs and Stratton for around £1300, don’t have any more money as I’ve just forked out £1200 on mower, so a few questions.
The Etesia Has a 20cm smaller cutting width, so not so I’m doing the right thing, my Mountfield does 6mph, I guess if the Etesia is quicker it would make up for the smaller deck, anyone know what speed they run at?
are they easy to change from collection to mulch? How long does it take?
does the grass box remove easily, ( to fit it in my trailer )
any advice appreciated, cheers
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just to add, the mowing calculator says my mountfield is cutting 2.18 acres per hour, so i guess im cutting around 4 acres on the larger job, is a bahia upto this?
looking at the bahia due to being good and mulching and collecting wet grass.
just been to look at a used hydro 80 from a dealers, a bit more than I'd like to spend £2300, still cant decide if its the right mower for the job or if i need so.ething bigger.
Andrew - just to add into the mix, does the customer of job number two care/is actually bothered about the finish?
Absolutely no way would I entertain collecting grass off a one acre field, let alone 4 acres!
Hi Adam, I’m not actually sure how bothered the customer is, whenever I speak to her she is very nice to me, ( even got a bacon butty ) but I just feel like I’m leaving it very untidy for the money, I’m not talking a little trial of clippings, it looked a right mess.
when I first started cutting her field, I only took a bit off and then mulched it every 2 weeks and even then it didn’t look to bad, but recently she asked if I could cut it shorter, so I did, and it left a lot of grass on top, I then decided to cut it the folllowing week ( for free ) as it looked a mess, and then the week after which was paid for in order to get it short and mulch all the clippings leaving it pretty tidy. Unfortunately after the 3 weekly cuts it looked even worse, grass clippings everywhere!
ive just got back from mowing it again ( only did it yesterday ) this time I borrowed the mother in-laws Honda 2417 mower, it collects as well as mulches, so I collected all the excess grass.
so it’s now nice and short with no clippings on top, so I’m hoping I can continue to use my Mountfield mulcher and keep on top of it every 2 weeks..
I totally get what your saying about collecting the grass on such a large area, was a pain in the ass! Honda mower was shite also.
this is my 3rd year in the business so still learning, and my 1st year on such a large ride on job, presume most large ride on jobs just get mulched?
after using the Honda tonight, I think the Etesia would be more than capable for the job, honda was very slow and clogged up, took 1.5 hours to mow the main area, the Mountfield will do it in less now it’s nice and short.
I would echo Adam's query re whether the customer minds.
However, trying not to be disrespectful to the mountfield its an average to low end domestic ride-on, with mulch / side / collect product options. So, there are compromises on performance and finish vs purchase price. For someone starting out it's realisable price point to get things going - so no qualms there.
However, with mowers, it does tend to be you get what you pay for. I've used Countax/Westfields with collectors and can get good results, but my latest Countax, with a mulching deck and collector gives a poor finish when mulching only - lots of clumps of clippings. However, go over with a dedicated high end domestic Toro Zero Turn mulcher, and it's a lovely finish. Both machines cost around £3 to £4k new.
Even better was a Kubota GR-1600 II, but they are £3-£4k used.
I would seriously look at the economics of ugrading the mountfield; for only 2 jobs, seems hard to justify. Perhaps try and get a few more large ones and then upgrade to a much better machine rather than an interim step now and go for a dedicated mulcher rather than hybrid.
Hi Andrew, no offence taken regarding the Mountfield, I bought it for £500 had to spend £300 on it, it’s a 2016 model, mulch and side discharge, no collection. I only bought it as I got offered it off a mate who knew someone that was selling it “cheap”.
To be fair it’s been decent enough, and I’m now hopeful that now I have the grass down nice and short and free of clippings, the Mountfield will do a good enough job, I think the issue was I let the grass get to long and then cut a fair amount off it, and could never clear the clippings, just added to it every cut.
i was a bit stressed out when I posted this thread up, as I was not happy with how I had left the grass, given there paying good money and it’s a good job which I do not want to loose, so I wanted it looking right. ( which it does now )
and after sleeping it, I think the Bahia 80 would be to small for the job, so I’m going to continue with the Mountfield every 2 weeks and see how it looks.
i get what your saying about it being a low end domestic mower and you get what you pay for, after doing some reading up, and taking advice off yourself, I think when the time comes, when I have more work for a ride on, I will spend the money on a good second hand iseki/Kubota or similar and be done.