lawn tractor - anyone know any independant reviews.

[freddy]

I definitely need a lawn tractor /mower to cover the amount of grass I have on the proerty - I have done some reseaech but there is a huge choice and price range - has anyone come across any comparitive reviews of the various makes and models?

[terry1956]

Hi there, well two years ago I went out and spend over a £1000 pounds on a mac alaistair ride on, The clutch went just after a year, and no one wants to know about getting parts, It has a briggs and straton engine, but the tractor parts are mac alistair, No joy at all and it,s been in the shed for a year, I use my old stolid metal with its bad gearbox, but due to its weight it cuts so much better then the lighter newer tractor ever did, I am going to sell the mac and buy another old metal ride on with better gearbox when I return to the UK.

I think that the newer plastic ones look the part, but when it comes to dealing with anything over a two inch cut are total rubbish, My old metal tractor just rides on like an old battleship at sea.    

[Patf]

There is a french gardening magazine called Rustica which did a review of lawn tractors a couple of months ago. Sorry I didn't keep the copy, but you might be able to source the article if you email them. There has been a discussion recently on Total France forum about different types of mowers, including tractor mowers, which you might find helpful. Pat.

[oliveau]

Basiclly yer gets what yer pays for! If you have a lot of grass, go for a Honda or a John Deere, and the biggest you can afford. Talking to people in the UK, the Deere is rated the best [and it comes in a nice restful green colour].

Peter

 

 

[Llwyncelyn]

I drive a Honda car and have been so pleased that I bought a Honda sit on for our grass here in the Manche.

Slight mistake driven by cash considerations and not those important ones of cutting area.  Go for the biggest cutting area you can afford for otherwise you spend so much time sat on the thing.

Then link it with compost bins mix the grass with weeds nettles (with roots) bracken peelings from the kitchen and a hefty spade of earth from your garden and in nine months time you have compost.

Good obviously for the environment but of course the dechetterie also takes grass cuttings but that needs a trailer and a car and a carbon footprint.

[oliveau]

Just keep the nasties out of the compost heap, like the bindweed & couch roots, and I beg to differ, but I'd avoid the nettle roots as well. unless they are baby plants. Then add all the leaves that you'll collect in the autumn - the green machine picks those up and mulches them a treat.

Peter

'Nothing runs like a Deere'