Do any of you use a ride on mower for your small paddocks ? Been looking at ads for some but wonder if they would cut long grass (about a foot at the mo) tractors too expensive !
Paddock mowing
- Thread starter Penny Less
- Start date
perfect11s
Well-Known Member
could you get some other horsey people to share with you and strip graze it???? A domestic ride on mower wont cut very long heavy grass unless you go very slow and and a little at a time otherwise they block up and then the belt burns out .... and it needs to be level ground the other simple way is to ask a farmer if he could top it for you first then rake it up and then mow with the ride on... If you just have weedy clumps in grazed areas a ride on will do...
xena_wales
Well-Known Member
Yes, I've got a small ride-on mower which gamely deals with my 4 acres! It's not a pleasant task though, and takes about 8 hours to cut it all, and gives me a bruised butt!!
I've cut grass and soft rush with it, and use it for topping the buttercups and docks at the mo. If I had access to someone who could do it with a tractor though, there's no way I'd put myself through the trauma of using the ride-on!
I agree, it's better suited to dealing with the rough patches the horses leave behind, rather than cutting a whole field!
I've cut grass and soft rush with it, and use it for topping the buttercups and docks at the mo. If I had access to someone who could do it with a tractor though, there's no way I'd put myself through the trauma of using the ride-on!
I agree, it's better suited to dealing with the rough patches the horses leave behind, rather than cutting a whole field!
What brand is it Zena? It has gone beyond strip grazing I think, we have much more grass than we can cope with at the mo, we have docks etc, and the smallholders type tractor would be ideal but like gold dust and about £4000 for a second hand one. Ive looked at various wed sites but they give width they cut not length. Cant seem to find anyone with small machinery locally to hire either
xena_wales
Well-Known Member
It's this one:
http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/lawn-mowers/mtd-rs115-96b.asp
It cost us £850 from B&Q 5 years ago, though similar ones seem to retail for more now. We've had to replace the cutter belt once as hubby didn't check the blades were freed off after the winter... Not had to spend anything else on it though.
If I were to go this route again, I would try to get something with more power and bigger wheels.
It has allowed me to turn this (albeit I had one top with a tractor to give me a start):
to this:
http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/lawn-mowers/mtd-rs115-96b.asp
It cost us £850 from B&Q 5 years ago, though similar ones seem to retail for more now. We've had to replace the cutter belt once as hubby didn't check the blades were freed off after the winter... Not had to spend anything else on it though.
If I were to go this route again, I would try to get something with more power and bigger wheels.
It has allowed me to turn this (albeit I had one top with a tractor to give me a start):
to this:
xena_wales
Well-Known Member
Forgot to say too, that if the grass is really quite long (18" or so), then I end up only being able to cut about half a mower width at a time otherwise it bogs down, but you do get there eventually!
Jericho
Well-Known Member
I use a ride on to cut down nettles and docks, as well as top buttercups and trim the rougher areas of grass (about 4 acres in total) - it struggles with 2ft high nettles and I go very very slowly and it isnt doing it much good tbh but once they are down I keep on top of it and try not to let them get too high. I dont have the means to do it any other way as farmer says its not worth his while and I only really use it to tidy up the field now as have another horse which keeps the grazing a but shorter. If I was actually topping on high grass then I dont think it would cope well
xena_wales
Well-Known Member
I agree, if you want to top it, it won't do very well. Even on the highest setting, it's definitely a mow as opposed to a top!
Spottyappy
Well-Known Member
I use a small ride on mower to top it with, one like this (only mine works!)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Murray-36-Rid...arden_GardenPowerTools_CA&hash=item4150aa0afd
I got it from ebay for £200, and touch wood, 3 years on it is still going strong and owes me nothing. It tops approx 2 acres and that takes about 3 hours. It can struggle if the grass is more like hay,but I just go slowly and it is fine.
I went for this as opposed to a tractor, partly cos of cost, and partly cos I dare not elave anything too good at my place or it doesn't remain there long, as we have problems with unwanted visitors. I do jack it up and remove a wheel when parked up l though!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Murray-36-Rid...arden_GardenPowerTools_CA&hash=item4150aa0afd
I got it from ebay for £200, and touch wood, 3 years on it is still going strong and owes me nothing. It tops approx 2 acres and that takes about 3 hours. It can struggle if the grass is more like hay,but I just go slowly and it is fine.
I went for this as opposed to a tractor, partly cos of cost, and partly cos I dare not elave anything too good at my place or it doesn't remain there long, as we have problems with unwanted visitors. I do jack it up and remove a wheel when parked up l though!