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Old 04-05-2005, 12:07 PM
 
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Sally Thompson wrote:
On Tue, 3 May 2005 19:08:40 +0100, "Sumgod"
wrote:

And yes Rod, I think it will have to be the real McCoy, i.e. an old Allen.
I've been keeping an eye out on e-bay but the folks getting rid seem to be
mainly in the south of the UK. Bet an Allen won't fit in VW Passat estate!
Any ideas on where else I might look?


We cut about an acre of rough grass twice a year with a DR
Trimmer/Mower, which I think is absolutely marvellous. It's like a
huge strimmer on wheels, and I see from their website that they now do
a self-propelled model (ours isn't). We can both use it, even though
I have a bad back - it's a bit like pushing a pram. It is incredibly
quiet and although it was expensive you can possibly find a
second-hand one, or a similar machine but cheaper make. The website
is American but you can see a picture on the
http://www.drpower.com//navhome.aspx
Ours has a Briggs & Stratton engine - probably they all do. Our land
is extremely uneven and it copes fine. We think it was well worth the
money. I certainly wouldn't use a hand-held strimmer on that size
area.

I looked at one of those "strimmer on wheels" but decided that a
modern version of an Allen scythe would do better. My Viking "sickle
bar" mower has done much of what I expected.

It's much less hard work than a big strimmer or brush cutter.

It can manage much heavier cutting than even a big strimmer,
brambles are no problem. (A brush cutter can do these, but it's
hassle converting from strimmer to brush-cutter and back).

It's much quieter than a strimmer, has a nice ordinary B&S
4-stroke motor, no 2-stroke oil to mix.

I suppose that's not much different from a "strimmer on wheels" but it
does have the plus of being able to cope with brambles, small
saplings, etc. I find the sickle-bar mower plus a very cheap, light,
electric strimmer do all that I need.

For topping big areas (we have 7 acres) we have a ride on mower by the
way.

--
Chris Green