Ride on mower vs quad bike

[LynH]

I have 6 acres and will soon be having an arena installed so will need something to tow the leveller.
My OH spends a few hours mowing our lawn and the grassy areas around outside our paddocks every weekend so a ride on mower would be useful but he would prefer a quad bike for the pure fun factor.
I am not sure if a ride on mower is suitable for towing the leveller and a trailer for poo picking or would it be better to get a quad for these jobs. I currently pay a farmer to harrow, roll and top at £50 a time so I doubt I could justify buying the additional equipment to do the field maintenance ourselves. Would a quad and a tow mower be too large for a garden?
What do you use for towing levellers and poo picking trailers? I also suspect quad bikes are more of a thief magnet than a ride on mower!
Thanks

 

[Enfys]

You need a lawn tractor for your lawn, also useful for topping paddocks if you are careful and te paddocks are level. I don't pull anything with the lawn mower/tractor although it does has a hitch, it simply does not have the power, or ground clearance a quad does.

You absolutely CANNOT do without a quad. You can get mower attachments for lawns/topping. Mine hauls everything, muck trailer, roller, harrow, moves our 2 horse trailer, pulls 50 bales of hay on a flat bed. A quad is a worthy investment, ours works every single day, and yes, a harrow, leveller, trailer are worth picking up if you can.

Thief magnet? Oh, UK, yes, theft, fortunately we don't have that problem much, if we did I'd have 95% of my horses hidden away from the road.

 

[doonrocket]

Or you could try a cross over vehicle like the John Deere Gator, Kubuto RTV 900, kawasaki mule... More stable , can have a cab and pull all those things. They also come with a flat bed tipper, usually rated for 500kg.

 

[Enfys]

Or you could try a cross over vehicle like the John Deere Gator, Kubuto RTV 900, kawasaki mule... More stable , can have a cab and pull all those things. They also come with a flat bed tipper, usually rated for 500kg.

I forgot those

 

[mon]

Not as much fun as quad and a bit larger, we have jcb workmax utv and a quad on farm both useful for different jobs but jcb a very good but expensive wheelbarrow. And also less nickable.

 

[meesha]

I have a harrow which cost £145 (from ebay brand new) which I use on the back of the 4x4 to harrow the fields with - and turn it upside down to grade the arena. We also have a ride on mower which has made a huge difference to the grass - it looks 10 times better for being cut agaiin and again when rested to encourage new grass growth.

We dont have our fields rolled as they are clay and we dont want them compacted any more than they normally are, we harrow, so the 2 items harrow and mower do the job. You could get a mower that attaches behind a quad or 4x4 - they look great but quads are v v nickable !

 

[L&M]

We had to make the same decision and opted for a quad in the end.

Although a sit on mower can top paddocks they have to be very flat, or catch on the bottom of the mower and damage it. Some mowers do have tow bars, but again would question if they are 'man' enough to tow rollers etc.

I couldn't live without my quad - I can harrow and roll my paddocks at my convenience, and have a sprayer attachment too for weedkilling. I use it to grade the school and is invaluable in early spring when the horses are first turned out, as use it to carry hayalge/feeds until the grass is sufficient. Also as it has 'squishy' tyres, it has to be very wet before marks the ground, whereas a 4 x 4 would mess the ground up over the wetter months.

For poo picking, I have a crate attached to the back of the bike and just go round with a skip, tip into crate, then empty onto muck heap. Saves lugging a heavy barrow around, especially on our hill field!

I was going to save for a topper attachment, which new are approx £3000, but since we have moved, have a lovely farmer for a neighbour who will come and top for me for free, in return for a few weeks sheep grazing.

In terms of 'stealability', yes quads are more appealing than mowers, but there are a variety of security devices that you can buy. Mine is insured and always keep hidden out of sight.

Quads are also great fun!!! Hope that helps!

 

[LynH]

I'm guessing it may come down to whether I would be better off doing some of the field maintenance myself with a quad. It's been so quick and easy for the guy up the road to use his tractor but I could always top it myself to justify the expense of a quad :0) With only 6 acres and 2 horses I didn't really want to buy machinery that would end up doing very little. Argh I hate making decisions ;0)