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I have been mowing churchyards and cemeteries [along with many other types of mowing] for decades.
I too have a John Deere with a 48inch deck. My John Deere is a zero turn mower. I don’t know whether yours is or not, but they are very good in some churchyards/cemeteries.
I do though have a Stiga 740 Pwx with a 100 combi deck [one metre wide]. These are perfect machines for old churchyards. Four wheel drive and very manoeuvrable. I use it on other work of course and it is small enough to be used on what many would think of as hand mowing work.
If you are using hand mowers on your churchyards then I would say that a machine like a Stiga would save much more time than just half. Most of my churchyards and cemeteries take two hours to mow with one or other of my machines.
So one of these.
And one of these.
The issue I have is that they would like the grass collected. Further, I need a machine that will go through a standard gate entrance and can pick up leaves.
Mulching is the key. Look at the pictures. No grass collection but no visible clippings. The Stiga picture was taken well into November and yet the mulching is still perfect.
Click on the pictures to enlarge and see.
In autumn the leaves are also chopped very finely, not always invisible, but much reduced.
The Stiga itself with no deck would go through a personnel gate. Stiga do an 85cm deck.
I wouldnt disagree with you regarding mulching. However, the customer would like it collected as would a number with smaller gardens that a small deck could access. Having said that, new customers may like the idea of mulching. I do like the John Deere rather than the Stiga. Is one better than the other?
I do some work for Chatsworth Estate and they specified collection. The previous contractor collected, but was not very good. I said I would mulch instead and it’s only since I have been doing the work that they have received comments as to how good the mowing now is. Both of the pictures above are of Chatsworth work. No visible grass clippings whatsoever. That’s the point really. There is no difference in finish between collection and mulching. It’s just that mulching is far easier. The customer would never tell the difference.
At the end of the day the client only specifies collection because they don’t want to see any clippings left behind. They don’t specify collection due to any ideology, but rather just because they thinks it’s the only way to achieve that finish. But that’s a false assumption due to a lack of knowledge on their part.
I would imagine that trying to manoeuvre a ride on with a large collection box hanging on the back around a churchyard would be a nightmare.
The John Deere Z535m is very good. 48 inch deck. It is more powerful and faster over the ground than the Stiga. It will mow at 8.5 mph, in good conditions that is. But zero turns are not as good on slopes as they lose traction. The Stiga though is like a mountain goat, it will climb anything. This is ideal in old churchyards because as you know, they are like a maze with tight corners and dips and slopes. The Stiga will never get stuck.
Having said that, I do use the John Deere on a council cemetery that has some sloped areas. But the slopes are straight up and down along straight grave runs. Driving the zero turn is more of an art form. An acquired skill.
To contrast the two, I have a job where either machine can be used. The Stiga takes about 70 minutes where the John Deere will do it in 40 minutes. But with other work there are places and gaps where only the Stiga will go. Here you couldn’t use the JD as you would not get into every corner of the churchyard.
This is why I have two machines. It’s horses for courses.
Thanks, Vic. A really detailed helpful response. The large estate I work at has a number of different grass sections. The house is on top of a hill and one of the large grass sections is actually a hill. It sounds as though the Z535 would cope with that. Only issue could be the rabbit holes. If I could cut the time down mowing this estate, it could be a winner and worth investing in anoth John Deere. I am interested in your comments about the Stiga and will look further into this.
Hi Vic, have I asked you before how much it costs to run either machine? I'm ready to change my ride on and the price of running some petrol maxhines is scary compared to the red juice for a diesel, though I really like the look and finish of your stiga
The Stiga Pwx740 with the 18hp V twin engine – a solid 3 litres per hour.
John Deere Z535m with the 23hp V twin engine – usually 4 litres [occasionally up to 4.5 litres maximum] per hour.
Yes the JD is thirstier, but a fair bit faster under certain conditions.
Do you mow weekly to get this finish ? The council mulch monthly and it looks awful
I quote to collect snd remove but mow fortnightly
whether you can munch mow is very much down to visits/locality/environment and type of grass etc.we've some sites in Hants where we can do it, but others have such thick verdant grass that we can't without making a mess ( that's with a Stiga o/f mulching deck). when you can it does look good 👍
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