Cutting grass

[Russell]

I like the idea of cutting grass. Ive been dooing a couple neighbours small gardens cutting grass and hedges. Ive seen stand on or walk behind 48" mowers can be had for not a lot and i might just have enough space to store it.
Do people with big lawns want the cuttings collected or can you get away with mulching it or shooting it out the side?

Bobcat 32 inch rear discharge rotary mower 15hp Kawasaki good working | eBay UK

Scotland and Northern Ireland will be more.

www.ebay.co.uk

Toro Grandstand zero turn stand on mower 48 inch deck | eBay UK

Toro Grandstand mower. Year 2009 with 1057 hours. Starts and runs well and in good working order. Electric start twin cylinder Kawasaki petrol engine, zero turn transmission, 48 inch cutting deck that is side discharge but currently has a mulch plate fitted. Can either stand on the back or that...

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Steve]

This is going to depend on individual circumstance, I try to cut & mulch but some of the local holiday let’s & campsites like the grass collected so that it doesn’t get dragged in doors.

 

[Splosh]

Domestic customers with flat lawns generally want cuttings collected and a roller finish. Bigger gardens, they'll often mulch.

Machine wise, a stand-on will cover the ground a lot quicker, but a walk-behind will be better for steeper slopes.

 

[Russell]

Ok thanks for the replys.
I have seen you can get a collector for the toro.

 

[V8Druid]

I like the idea of cutting grass. Ive been dooing a couple neighbours small gardens cutting grass and hedges. Ive seen stand on or walk behind 48" mowers can be had for not a lot and i might just have enough space to store it.
Do people with big lawns want the cuttings collected or can you get away with mulching it or shooting it out the side?

Bobcat 32 inch rear discharge rotary mower 15hp Kawasaki good working | eBay UK

Scotland and Northern Ireland will be more.

www.ebay.co.uk

Toro Grandstand zero turn stand on mower 48 inch deck | eBay UK

Toro Grandstand mower. Year 2009 with 1057 hours. Starts and runs well and in good working order. Electric start twin cylinder Kawasaki petrol engine, zero turn transmission, 48 inch cutting deck that is side discharge but currently has a mulch plate fitted. Can either stand on the back or that...

www.ebay.co.uk

two cheap mowers ....
as said the stand on'll cover some ground, compared to a walk behind ...
I replaced a Ransomes Bobcat with the Dane Super Surfer - the Bobcat'd go places the Dane's a handful in, but much harder work
as regards collection ..
the Dane leaves a LOT of grass behind it even mulched and even on a 5 day cut, as did the Bobcat ...
wouldn't entertain it on the lawn - the Countax's collector does a great job of leaving it looking the mutt's.

 

[Smiffy]

Just check as I think the Toro has different deck options depending on the quality of cut you want.
The Americans do neat manicured lawns with them but over here they tend to be used for commercial areas with less aesthetic requirements.
I think it doesn't help that British climate is just about the best you can get for growing grass. So would need very regular cuts to achieve what the Americans do.

Saying all this I think that standing mower doing commercial areas would be far preferable to domestic.

 

[Russell]

The grass collector doesnt look too massive or expensive. Could knock one up out of ply based on this one.

Toro Aluminum Grass Catcher

Light weight aluminum grass catcher designed specifically for Toro mowers. Direct fit (no bracket required) Patented shape packs more grass and is easy to dump 4.15 cubic ft capacity Comfortable easy grip handle Quick door removal for dumping Curved shape for maximum ground clearance and easy...

grasscatcher.com

 

[Smiffy]

The grass collector doesnt look too massive or expensive. Could knock one up out of ply based on this one.

Toro Aluminum Grass Catcher

Light weight aluminum grass catcher designed specifically for Toro mowers. Direct fit (no bracket required) Patented shape packs more grass and is easy to dump 4.15 cubic ft capacity Comfortable easy grip handle Quick door removal for dumping Curved shape for maximum ground clearance and easy...

grasscatcher.com

I would think that would take all of 30 seconds to fill. Kubota cut and collect boxes start at over 500l. That's just over 100l. And I bet it won't fill properly, especially in wet grass.
Plus dealing with large quantities of grass cuttings will be a pain if you can't leave it on site.

 

[Monkeybusiness]

The grass collector doesnt look too massive or expensive. Could knock one up out of ply based on this one.

Toro Aluminum Grass Catcher

Light weight aluminum grass catcher designed specifically for Toro mowers. Direct fit (no bracket required) Patented shape packs more grass and is easy to dump 4.15 cubic ft capacity Comfortable easy grip handle Quick door removal for dumping Curved shape for maximum ground clearance and easy...

grasscatcher.com

That is tiny, not worth bothering with on that size machine surely?!

 

[doobin]

Advice from Gardener's World....

None of the walk behind/stand on machines are suitable for collecting grass. That collector attachment would be full in five seconds. You may as well use a decent fan assisted 21" pedestrian model to collect that much grass (Kaaz/Honda design with the fan and blade brake is the best I've used.

Customers will call you up and say 'don't bother coming this week, it's not grown enough' and then complain like hell the next week when it's left big clumps of clippings all over the place.

Mulching mowers are a pretty good solution these days. They can make the clippings disappear on some pretty long grass, which also helps keep things green over dry periods. The caveat here is that it needs the right deck, you can't just fit mulching blades and expect it to leave a clean finish. I run a 4wd Husqvarna, the real basic model with no power steering and a little 94cm deck, as it fits everywhere around a churchyard. However it's not that heavy duty, you have to be realistic. It's terrible to transport, no way to tie it down. A mate locally runs the one with power steering and I'm forever welding it for him.

The main thing to watch out for on those walk behind types is that they all run a belt driven multi pump system. One pump per wheel motor. Brands like Hydro Gear. They run on ATF, are horrendous money to replace in the UK, and I can guarantee that on a second hand machine they will need replacing. Very poor quality, once the oil is overheated they score easily and then the machine will be weak on hills and constantly pulliung to one side. If you do go ahead (and I suggest you don't), then make sure you run any potential machine long enough to warm to oil up properly, and test in on a hill.

 

[Russell]

Ok thanks, So stand on zero turn are are best avoided.
Would the best type be a normal 4 wheel ride on or compact tractor?

 

[doobin]

Ok thanks, So stand on zero turn are are best avoided.
Would the best type be a normal 4 wheel ride on or compact tractor?

I really like the articulated Husqvarna/Stiga type having run one for a few years. It's much better than the standard JD165x ride on I used to use, and also the Wright Stander I tried for a season.

I have a Husqvarnna R216 AWD.

Husqvarna R 216T AWD Ride-On Mower

Husqvarna R 216T AWD Ride-On Mower is an efficient ride-on lawnmower with 2 optional combi grass cutting decks of 93 and 103cm. The rider also offers rear ejection grass cutting and BioClip fertilising. For use in the garden or in large areas.

www.sam-turner.co.uk

The 4wd option is super handy on the sloping churchyards, especially at the wet ends of the season. I reckon you'd get on with one. Smaller decks and outfront decks mean you can get a lot more of the edges just by shunting, and it's amazing the tight caps you can thread through. You can do a seriously tight loop around obstacles such as lamp posts and gravestones too, it saves a lot of strimming.

I think it's the cheapest 4WD mower you can get. Not very fast but it's agile. No power steering is a good arm workout. The only thing I might change mine for is a 320s model with the collector on it, to try to increase the wildflowers in the churchyards. If I do that I'd sell you mine.

I have a deck for the Kubota compact, but I never use it. Didn't end up chasing that kind of work, so it just sits on the mezzanine gathering dust.

 

[V8Druid]

have seen a few Stiga parks in action and must say it is remarkable just where they will go

 

[Lancs Lad]

have seen a few Stiga parks in action and must say it is remarkable just where they will go

Neighbours got one. Always gets a cut in before us

 

[Jimoz]

How far off are robot mowers away from being a solution for customers or even contractors? Years or decades?

 

[Lancs Lad]

How far off are robot mowers away from being a solution for customers or even contractors? Years or decades?

Robot as on GPS or wire guides? Loads about up here.

Or the walk behind bank ones that are the latest craze? Always looks pathetically slow and numb watching them cut acres of flat roadside stuff that would you'd fly along with a decent compact and flail

 

[Russell]

I really like the articulated Husqvarna/Stiga type having run one for a few years. It's much better than the standard JD165x ride on I used to use, and also the Wright Stander I tried for a season.

I have a Husqvarnna R216 AWD.

Husqvarna R 216T AWD Ride-On Mower

Husqvarna R 216T AWD Ride-On Mower is an efficient ride-on lawnmower with 2 optional combi grass cutting decks of 93 and 103cm. The rider also offers rear ejection grass cutting and BioClip fertilising. For use in the garden or in large areas.

www.sam-turner.co.uk

The 4wd option is super handy on the sloping churchyards, especially at the wet ends of the season. I reckon you'd get on with one. Smaller decks and outfront decks mean you can get a lot more of the edges just by shunting, and it's amazing the tight caps you can thread through. You can do a seriously tight loop around obstacles such as lamp posts and gravestones too, it saves a lot of strimming.

I think it's the cheapest 4WD mower you can get. Not very fast but it's agile. No power steering is a good arm workout. The only thing I might change mine for is a 320s model with the collector on it, to try to increase the wildflowers in the churchyards. If I do that I'd sell you mine.

I have a deck for the Kubota compact, but I never use it. Didn't end up chasing that kind of work, so it just sits on the mezzanine gathering dust.

Cheers, Let me know when you do and if ive got the cash.

 

[V8Druid]

Neighbours got one. Always gets a cut in before us

when Alex and I were doing that fishing lake job in '17 the groundsman used to have one and neither of us could believe where he'd take it ... this was pretty average slope on the one side of the lake - we just moved it back about 20' from the lake edge and 'improved' the surface a bit - all got turfed and/or seeded after and the Stiga took it in its stride ... remarkable tool, but a very low C of G

 

[Bri963]

Good operator there, and good pictures Gra.

 

[V8Druid]

Good operator there, and good pictures Gra.

fair play to Alex, Bri - he was the bollox in that Doosan ...
it looked like a predatory animal with him at the helm, not a machine. ..
he could make it sing / dance
was a pleasure to watch and I learnt a lot, sat watching him from my perch in the 9t Wacker dumper and/or got seat time on it if he was busy with the client/on other stuff. was a very nice weapon TBF to it

Got a lot of great pix of that job from day 1 ... search forwards/slide show from here .... https://photobucket.com/share/d6bac5c7-77e4-4ce3-a8d9-38514377654c