Hi everyone!
I'm a relatively new gardener with a large lawn - 90x45ft, which is pretty
uneven. I have a Webb petrol cylinder mower which is power driven, and cuts
the grass OK, but I have to empty the grass box about ten times.... I'm sure
I would be better off with a rotary mower, esp. due to the up and down
nature of my lawn, but can only really afford one which isn't driven. What
would you recommend I do - keep my driven 18'' cylinder mower and put up
with all the empying, buy a non-driven rotary one or save up for a driven
rotary mower? What is the experience of each different type?
Thanks - David.

"David King" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone!
I'm a relatively new gardener with a large lawn - 90x45ft, which is pretty
uneven. I have a Webb petrol cylinder mower which is power driven, and
cuts
the grass OK, but I have to empty the grass box about ten times.... I'm
sure
I would be better off with a rotary mower, esp. due to the up and down
nature of my lawn, but can only really afford one which isn't driven. What
would you recommend I do - keep my driven 18'' cylinder mower and put up
with all the empying, buy a non-driven rotary one or save up for a driven
rotary mower? What is the experience of each different type?
Thanks - David.

Form the Rolawn Turf site:

Should you collect the grass clippings?

It is not necessary to collect your clippings unless they cover the grass
and block the sunlight from reaching the lawn. Grass clippings are rich in
nutrients, and by returning them to the turf in small amounts you actually
are creating a healthier turf. Grass clippings do not contribute to making
thatch. In fact, by adding them back to the turf your thatch will form
slower. On the other hand, you can collect the clippings if you want to.
Clipping removal causes no significant loss of nutrients. Clippings are only
a problem if you mow your grass improperly



you can leave the clippings from a cylinder mower, if you are cutting
frequently enough to avoid clumps of cut grass.

pk

"David King" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone!
I'm a relatively new gardener with a large lawn - 90x45ft, which is pretty
uneven. I have a Webb petrol cylinder mower which is power driven, and
cuts
the grass OK, but I have to empty the grass box about ten times.... I'm
sure
I would be better off with a rotary mower, esp. due to the up and down
nature of my lawn, but can only really afford one which isn't driven. What
would you recommend I do - keep my driven 18'' cylinder mower and put up
with all the empying, buy a non-driven rotary one or save up for a driven
rotary mower? What is the experience of each different type?
Thanks - David.
try adjusting the height of your mower

"Paul Kelly" wrote in message
...

snip Grass clippings are rich in nutrients snip
snip Clipping removal causes no significant loss of nutrients snip

I'm sure these can't both be right. I'm pretty sure removing the clippings
does weaken the lawn which is why you have to feed it after a while.

Martin

In article , Martin Sykes
writes
"Paul Kelly" wrote in message
...

snip Grass clippings are rich in nutrients snip
snip Clipping removal causes no significant loss of nutrients snip

I'm sure these can't both be right. I'm pretty sure removing the clippings
does weaken the lawn which is why you have to feed it after a while.

The Plantlife charity advocate mowing and removal of clippings as a way
of reducing nutrients and restoring wildflowers to a meadow.

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

David King scribbled:

Hi everyone!
I'm a relatively new gardener with a large lawn - 90x45ft, which is
pretty uneven. I have a Webb petrol cylinder mower which is power
driven, and cuts the grass OK, but I have to empty the grass box
about ten times.... I'm sure I would be better off with a rotary
mower, esp. due to the up and down nature of my lawn, but can only
really afford one which isn't driven. What would you recommend I do -
keep my driven 18'' cylinder mower and put up with all the empying,
buy a non-driven rotary one or save up for a driven rotary mower?
What is the experience of each different type? Thanks - David.

Maybe you could your grass more often

On Sun, 20 Apr 2003 23:52:34 +0100, David King wrote:

I'm a relatively new gardener with a large lawn - 90x45ft, which is pretty
uneven. I have a Webb petrol cylinder mower which is power driven, and cuts
the grass OK, but I have to empty the grass box about ten times.... I'm sure
I would be better off with a rotary mower, esp. due to the up and down
nature of my lawn, but can only really afford one which isn't driven.

Well David,

I have to say the volume of grass cut off will be about the same whichever
lawn mower you use! So no gain there. A cylinder gives a better finish
than a rotary - so I'm told - I've never used a cylinder. One thing to
look out for if you are changing your mower is a bigger grass box - that
makes an appreciable difference! I upgraded my lawn mower last year - went
from electric to petrol, from 15" to 18" on the blade size (rotary) and
the grass box was bigger coz the lawn mower was bigger - result is I'm
only emptying 2 - 3 times per mowing session and I'm mowing in 20 mins
instead of an hour.

One recommendation that I would make, is that if you do change, is to NOT
get a hover mower - they don't seem to cope as well with uneveness in the
lawn, and if you have a hill, they are (IMO) dangerous).

One other suggestion to reduce grass box emptying - when it gets full the
first time, stop the mower (waiting for the blades to stop as well), and
make sure the grass is pushed in, compacted, and filling every spare inch
of the grass box (ie. away from the chute as much as possible. - doing
this can produce some more space in the grass box, so you can mow further
before emptying. A bit of a pain, but it does work if your mower doesn't
throw the grass back into the box properly.

HTH,

Sarah

I now cut with a 1.1m reciprocating blade cutter, instead of 20inch rotary
with grass box, My cutting time is down from 4 hours to around 1 hour, and
am also cutting about 20% more.
If I could cut once or twice a week then would have no need to pick up the
grass.
The good thing is, if I cant cut for 3 or 4 weeks, it still takes the same
time to cut

--
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

"bnd777" wrote in message
...
Do it all have Champion rotary Mowers that are really Mountfields with the
same Briggs and Stratton Engines plus adjustable cutting heights
........they
are pretty inexpensive and often on offer at around £120
I had a Mountfield for 20 yrs and a Champion one for last 10 ........no
problem with it whatever

The Champion mowers are not Mountfields. Mountfield as a company no longer
exists. If you have had a Mountfield for 20 years it will bear no
resemblance to the brand of today. You also cannot compare a Champion mower
as this is the Focus own brand which is put out to tender every year, last
year it was Electrolux (owner of Flymo & Husqvanna amongst other brands)
this year it is Castel Garden of Italy, as is the machines in B&Q &
Homebase. The Mountfield machine is also made in the same factory.

The are also more expensive Mountfields made at the Stiga factory in
Scandinavia (I think?) But these are still not the same as machines of 10 -
20 years ago.