In uk.d-i-y newshound wrote:
On 11/11/2018 11:59, Chris Green wrote:
For many years we've used a venerable Kubota T1600H to both mow our
lawns and to cut large areas of rough paddock (brambles, stinging
nettles and, hopefully, grass). The T1600H is now beginning to show
signs of its age.

We have bought a Stiga 'out front' mower for the lawns so I'm
wondering what to get for the rougher paddock areas. We have a
compact tractor (Iseki 18Hp) as well so the choice probably lies
between:-

Add on flail mower for the tractor, OK but not so manoeuverable as
the Kubota we have now for edges, corners, etc.

A new[er] ride on rotary mower, there are some that advertise
themselves as specifically for rough mowing (though I've not seen
a diesel powered one which we'd prefer)

Sonmething else? E.g. a 'walk behind' mower of some sort, but it
needs to be powered (i.e. driven wheels) and to have an easy
forward/reverse to get along edges of fences, into corners, etc.


Since you already have the tractor, why not a topper? Mine came with a
PTO topper but that didn't cope so well with our very rough paddocks, I
now have a cheap Chinese one with its own honda clone motor. About £1200
iirc for a four footer. Key start. I've given away the tractor but tow
this behind an ATV (which actually copes with slopes better). The only
thing I slightly miss is the ability to pick up the topper with the
three bar linkage for backing right into corners.

Yes, that's a possibility, as per my first option. However the
tractor is nowhere near as manoeuverable as the Kubota so it's much
harder work (or at least takes much longer) going along edges by
fences and getting into corners. I do have a topping mower and tend
to use it for the 'bulk' mowing of the paddocks, what I'm after is
something to mow patches of nettles/thistles/etc. and to wiggle around
all the trees in the orchard.

--
Chris Green
·