Hello all

After 17 years of faithful service in fairly hard conditions
my old Toro 2-stroke no-frills push mower is beginning
to wheeze and croak and will soon be no more.
I would be very grateful for recommendations for its successor.

Lawn is too fine a word to describe the job it will have to do.
It's a fairly bumpy, hardy orchard, about 1200 square meters.
And the grass is so mixed that while some areas stay short and tufty
others would provide welcome grazing for a few elephants.
I had considered a small bar-scythe machine but I want a tidier finish than
that.
And anyway that would be too expensive. I can go up to about GBP 600.

I am also thinking about a 4-stroke (to reduce noise) - but am still unsure;
I must admit, I prefer regular fuel mixing to yearly oil changes.

I would much prefer mulching - dedicated rather than an add-on
after-thought.
With the old Toro I have always sharpened the blade myself;
running into mole-hills made this necessary every few months.
can one still do this with mulching mowers.

I am also thinking about propelled
- but I need to manoeuvre a lot around the fruit trees etc.
The old Toro cutting width is 48cm, I think, and I wouldn't want much wider
- again for reasons of manoeuvrability.

Any suggestions ?

Best regards and thanks in advance from Ray

On 2008-05-13 14:29:55 +0100, "Raymond RUSSELL" said:


Hello all

After 17 years of faithful service in fairly hard conditions
my old Toro 2-stroke no-frills push mower is beginning
to wheeze and croak and will soon be no more.
I would be very grateful for recommendations for its successor.

Lawn is too fine a word to describe the job it will have to do.
It's a fairly bumpy, hardy orchard, about 1200 square meters.
And the grass is so mixed that while some areas stay short and tufty
others would provide welcome grazing for a few elephants.
I had considered a small bar-scythe machine but I want a tidier finish than
that.
And anyway that would be too expensive. I can go up to about GBP 600.

I am also thinking about a 4-stroke (to reduce noise) - but am still unsure;
I must admit, I prefer regular fuel mixing to yearly oil changes.

I would much prefer mulching - dedicated rather than an add-on
after-thought.
With the old Toro I have always sharpened the blade myself;
running into mole-hills made this necessary every few months.
can one still do this with mulching mowers.

I am also thinking about propelled
- but I need to manoeuvre a lot around the fruit trees etc.
The old Toro cutting width is 48cm, I think, and I wouldn't want much wider
- again for reasons of manoeuvrability.

Any suggestions ?

Best regards and thanks in advance from Ray

Your lawn sounds just like mine! Big, bumpy, fruit trees, pain in the
arse to cut.....

I just got an RL1000 Robomower (and lucky old me, I got it for free)
and although I was sceptical at first, it's doing an outstanding job of
mowing the lawn. The grass has never looked so good.

You set out a perimeter wire once, then just programme the thing what
days you want it to cut. It does it completeyl unattended and them goes
boack to it's charging station afterwards. Objects like trees, it just
bounces off them and goes around.

I thought it might be a bit "toylike" but it's built like a little
tank, is very powerful and hasn't got stuck in any of my potholes yet.

All in all, very impressive indeed. Pricey to buy though, but if you
factor in the time you don't spend cuting the grass (I was spending 6
hours a week) it's a bargain! There's nothing like sitting on the
patio with a cold beer watching it do it's job!