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I remember starting up with a very similar budget and simply went into a local dealer who stocked all brands and went by his recommendation .
The basic kit was a Stihl kombi engine and the most essential accessories ,strimmer , hedge trimmer ,blower attachment, extension shafts ( entry level ) kit suited to domestic work on paper but actually very robust and reliable.
Mower was ( and still going strong 10 years ) Toro recycler
All my kit apart from Toro mower got stolen Three separate times and replaced Three times and left me with just £100 to restock
If it was not for the dealer who gave me a farmers old trade in kombi efco with many attachments I would have packed in , He also serviced and repaired the kombi for free until I was able to get back on my feet .
Personally I recommend forming a good business relationship with a local dealer and I always liked kombi engines .
Add on brands include Echo which gives great value for money ( petrol ) .
Not sure how much battery kit 2k will buy but would probably still explore the Kombi option myself but it would come down to battery investment to get you through the day .
Good luck with your new venture
Thanks for the advice ....
need to work on marketing so I'll pop into my local dealer, they also do repairs and servicing etc saves struggling to get it done.
Tight budget, second the Stihl Kombi option but beware the very cheapest power unit has a drive shaft made of plasticine ! Go for the next one up, Honda Izy or something from mountfield ? In mowers. Assume its a hand held blower? Stihl or Echo. Avoid at all costs the multi tools where you get everything for £150, gearboxes are made of recycled baked bean tins ! No spares available and warranty not worth paper its written on. That goes for brands you've never heard of everything. Remember buy cheap and you'll buy many times over, there's a reason a chinese hedgecutter is £100 and Stihl etc £500 !
I will come back to the kit question in a bit BUT be aware, unless your farm is a licensed waste site, you cannot bring waste back from clients sites to compost or burn.
I will play devils advocate here - EVERYTHING I started with 15 years ago was second or third hand professional grade kit from my local dealer. They would give me the 'heads up' when something came in as trade in or customers didn't want repaired for whatever reason.
As time went on this was gradually traded back in against brand new kit.
Had a good working relationship with them for over 15 years till they ceased trading just after Christmas.
If I could only have one mower it would be a honda izy. Good value and bomb proof engines. The Toro recycler mowers are good for the price but in my experience pretty poor in damp/ wet conditions. Could be worth asking your local dealer if they've have any decent kit come in as part exchange.
Thanks for the replies chaps,
the kit I'm swinging toward is
hrn 536 vy (800-900 quid)
stihl km94 rc e (350 quid)
strimmer and blower attachments (170 each)
leaves roughly 4-500 quid of the machinery budget to play with.
as for my farm and licences as long as I have a carrier licence my step dad owns the farm he will have everything he needs etc
the other attachments will come out of the budget as and when needed
The 536 has so called smart drive forward speed controls on the handle bars, nothing smart about them, difficult to maintain a constant speed especially on bumpy lawns. You may get on ok with them, we couldn"t. I would try one out before committing, we run 537 HRX'S HY which also offer this in VY version the HY has a lever to alter and set forward speed which is a much better arrangement for operator comfort. Appreciate a 537 might be more than you want to spend but as you have cash to spare might be worth upgrading? The 537 is a much better mower and there are numerous posts on the forum praising it. Particularly it's mulching performance. It has 2 blades when I think your choice only has one. We run 2 commercially , both 5 years old with no issues, that's tempting fate!!
537HRX HY are around £1235 .
I just bought a new 476 hy as a local dealer had them at £954 inc. Used it on two lawns today, one had quite thick grass. Seems to be very good. Excellent mulching, nice to operate, (well balanced and not too heavy) with a good range of drive speeds. It's early days yet but first impressions are that there's nothing to not like! I would still recommend an izy if money is tight, but the hrx476 (and I presume 537) seem to be excellent.
Yes both identical apart from blade size.
Second the hrx 537 hy. Great machine.
Sthil Kombi system is good cost effective starting point for machines where you can just add bits as you make money. The blowers ok but a bit awkward to use.
Worke for me when I started with a Mountfield mower and a few hand tools, out the back of a Ford fiesta hatchback.
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