for those with a stuffed back - can anyone recommend a good self propelled lawn mower
well my back is cactus Jack, and the lawn is getting thicker and harder to mow. I currently have a 4 stroke B&S5.5 HP mower made by masport (about 10 years old now) with alloy chassis it was top of the line when I bought it. now I am faced with thicker grass and a stuffed back and was wondering if a self propelled mower would be better for me (no not a sheep or a goat).
Sounds like you have the same problem as myself, oh H0ughfster. I thought about buying a new lawnmower that was motor driven too, but by the time I paid good money for one, I figured that at $20 a week (front & back) I'd just get someone to do it. We use one of those franchise blokes, and they do the edges as well and cart it all away when they're done. THat way I've got far more room in the shed and don't have drums of volatile yukky stuff hanging around in drums....
Well there are alternatives.
The Dog is demonstrating the comfort of ride on models at an Agrodome.
Genuine answer too. If you have enough room for a ride on, one of these low consumption jobs should handle the load.
Houghy,
I used a Greenfields ride-on down on my block (around the farm house) -http://www.greenfield.com.au/rideon.php. Easy to use, belt driven making maintenance extremely easy, no gears. 22hp with a 24" cut deck. Not sure how large an area you need to mow...
Alternatively, buy some goats and tether them. You only have to move them now and then. Indeed a franchise contractor to do the lawns is also easy if you have the money.
Seriously, franchise lawn contractors are fine if you don't have a lawn. They mow in all sorts of places and carry a wide assortment of weed seeds to reseed your lawn with. If you have a lawn, insist on them using your mower, not theirs, or goodbye lawn, hello fields of weeds. Mum had a good Buffalo lawn until....
Sorry to hear about the back Houghy did you get it loading all your astro gear for a star party.
Seriously think about it this way your comfort must come first its time to give up stuff that your cant do so get a contractor notwithstanding Doug's excellent input use their gear but ask them how they control the spread of weeds.
The cost of buying and maintaining a mower will be gone from your life. The outgoing may be hard to take at first but like petrol prices you will adjust.
Most people can earn more by application to their own career and I expect that you may find such in your case. If averaged over a year the weekly cost may not be as high as you expect. If your lawns suffer so be it better the lawns go downhill than you my friend. When in real estate I saw a good idea and this guy was in the landscape business ..no lawn just ivy which sortta self regulated and could be cut with a machette once in a blue Moon..
alex
I've got the perfect one h0ughy. It's called "my wife"
that's just it Paul my wife did it just recently, and I do feel so guilty as she does everything else in the house. plus I need the exercise, badly!! but pushing the mower twists my back somehow aggravating the lower back, same with the whipper snipper, need a trolley to take the weight some how for that one, someone must have made a gadget for that?
being self propelled might make it easier for me, and having a key start so I don't rip my back starting it (like I did 3 weeks ago).
Houghy,
I used a Greenfields ride-on down on my block (around the farm house) -http://www.greenfield.com.au/rideon.php. Easy to use, belt driven making maintenance extremely easy, no gears. 22hp with a 24" cut deck. Not sure how large an area you need to mow...
Alternatively, buy some goats and tether them. You only have to move them now and then. Indeed a franchise contractor to do the lawns is also easy if you have the money.
bit bigger than a postage stamp but smaller , way smaller than your yard, probably 6m*18m and 5m * 18m out the front and 25m * 14m out the back, and the back is Sir walter. So a ridon is out of the question
Seriously, franchise lawn contractors are fine if you don't have a lawn. They mow in all sorts of places and carry a wide assortment of weed seeds to reseed your lawn with. If you have a lawn, insist on them using your mower, not theirs, or goodbye lawn, hello fields of weeds. Mum had a good Buffalo lawn until....
Sorry to hear about the back Houghy did you get it loading all your astro gear for a star party.
Seriously think about it this way your comfort must come first its time to give up stuff that your cant do so get a contractor notwithstanding Doug's excellent input use their gear but ask them how they control the spread of weeds.
The cost of buying and maintaining a mower will be gone from your life. The outgoing may be hard to take at first but like petrol prices you will adjust.
Most people can earn more by application to their own career and I expect that you may find such in your case. If averaged over a year the weekly cost may not be as high as you expect. If your lawns suffer so be it better the lawns go downhill than you my friend. When in real estate I saw a good idea and this guy was in the landscape business ..no lawn just ivy which sortta self regulated and could be cut with a machette once in a blue Moon..
alex
umm the tranist of Mercury didn't help, but it was worth the pain . however living with myself afterwards was a different matter
I hurt my back at work last year, and I have a protruding disk now that gets upset whenever i stand or get into bad positioning, never do that at the scope now as I have my wonder astro chair from wavelandscott
mmmm did it work eh? this is more serious than I thought ..pain and suffering, medicals, I will have to read some case law but I think we can go for a ride on mower and driver of course...sorry old habbits die hard.
alex
h0ughy, I have a mate who has quite a few acres, some of which he mows. He recently bought a self propelled mower and absolutely loves it, he claims it makes mowing the lawn effortless. His kids even get out and have a go, something they would never do before. Personally; I'm with Jase, I have a ride on, not practical for postage stamp lawns though.
I purchased a Toro 6.5hp for a similar reason as yours, it has 22 inch cut, is self propelled and has electric start, so no yanking on the cord, but if you have to it is right up high on the handles. The self propelled is controlled by a push bar on top, it will go from very slow to about 6 kmh, the more you push the faster it will go, stop pushing and it will stop also, even the wife can use it, one of the best inventions I have seen for a long time
I have never had a problem with a contracted Lawn mowing guy spreading weeds To be honest if I had my way I wouldn't have a lawn at all. too much maintenance particually considering the water shortages that many of us have to endure.
I purchased a Toro 6.5hp for a similar reason as yours, it has 22 inch cut, is self propelled and has electric start, so no yanking on the cord, but if you have to it is right up high on the handles. The self propelled is controlled by a push bar on top, it will go from very slow to about 6 kmh, the more you push the faster it will go, stop pushing and it will stop also, even the wife can use it, one of the best inventions I have seen for a long time
umm how much was it, got a picture? key start, so it has a battery? Thanks for the reply and welcome, were you a "guest" for a while or just become a member?
well, cheap, not nasty and practical, good quality and reliability and good warranty. so probably as much as it takes to complete the mission. my observatory is on hold because of this, so I am not happy, but SWMBO is happy with me for the minute, she landed that job, found out today.
I used to have cars that have less power than that.
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To be honest if I had my way I wouldn't have a lawn at all. too much maintenance particually considering the water shortages that many of us have to endure.
