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which ride on mower is the best value for money


pete&hilary
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Hi we bought a Predator II (16.5HP) from Castorama when they were on offer, made under the Electrolux label, in 2002 and it is still going well. We have about 8000 square metres to mow and it does the job reasonably well. We have had to replace the drive belt to the twin cutters three times and the blades once, now need changing again.

It is amazing that it and I have survived running into the odd tree and charging through bushes. The first cut of our field was quite an effort as the grass had been left long for at least a year so I try to keep it fairly short to avoid overloading the machine. One note of caution however and that is that stones tend to emerge from the cutter deck like guided missiles. We have lost a side window in the car due to this and I always take care now to see that the cuttings exit chute is pointing away from any glass when I mow. I would be careful on a steep slope as there is always the risk of the thing falling over but the manufacturer will give information about the maximum recommended angle of inclination in the destruction book. 

With a large area to do I would not want to use a grass box type as you would be having to empty it every few minutes!....Happy mowing.......John not Jackie

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I prefer the sit on mower that collects the cut grass in a huge bin at the back. I take this to the tip (4 round trips in Spring) because otherwise the pile of grass cuttings would be the size of a mountain. I paid less than 2000 euros from Weldom when they were on offer. Get the best you can afford.
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We have been using a 16 hp Craftsman on 6000 square metres bought from Herriberry (branches in Angouleme and Barbezieux)in 2001. It has performed faultlessly since then, only needing an oil change and blade resharpening once a year.

It has an optional grass box on the back which could be a problem on steep ground as it would throw the centre of gravity towards the back, but can be used without it although tne grass would be left on the ground.

I would go for hydrostatic transmission whatever mower you buy, it avoids having to change gear.
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  • 3 months later...
I never bought a ride on last year as I chose to persist with my autotractee pro mower.

 SO if any-one else has some opinions on these machines I am all ears asthis year I may find clients with large enough gardens to warrant the investment.

Also, has any-one any experience of the Kiva autotractee debrousaillouse/tondeuse range...?

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We bought a Toro last year (I have no idea how big it is sorry model numbers are never my thing) and we also have a large field that is on a steep slope. It seems to manage okay but we have to make sure that the ground is very, very dry before we mow otherwise we have to push it out. Also it takes a bit of getting used to mowing in large figures of eight rather than the more traditional up and down. Have no idea about maintenance as it hadn't done that much work.
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We inherited a ride-on, or rather, it cost us 800€, when we bought the house. It's a Bricomarche brand "BestGreen". Under the skin it's made by Electrolux, and you'll find that a lot of the mowers sold in DIY stores are basically the same chassis/engine with different bodywork. From the manufacturers label I can see that ours is about 4 or 5 years old, and cuts our 6000 sq metres without trouble. The engine is Briggs and Stratton, again the majority of popular mowers will have this engine. Little maintenance; change the oil, clean the air filter, sharpen the blades, replace the belts when necessary. Common parts, like blades and belts are readily available, and you can get obscure parts direct from the States (I needed a particular spring at one point).

For a large area go for a bigger mower rather than trying to cope with a smaller one, ours is 14hp from memory, otherwise you'll get fed up with the time it takes and the mower will be overworked.

We didn't have the option of a grassbox, but I use mulching blades and just let all the cuttings get deposited back onto the ground. The busiest time seems to be the spring when the grass in rowing strongly and needs cutting at least once a week. As soon as the hot weather arrives the grass stops gowing vigorously, and in the drought I was only cutting every 4 weeks.

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