Mower problems.

[Spectrum]

Its a 2005 MTD 96/115, B&S 11.5 all steel construction, so its done now, all welded up and extra bits welded in you cant be too careful with these machines. Been looking at a front deck mainly for ease of cutting around and under trees, so it will be the Kob or the Husky, tri blade, I think the main problem is that a lot of mower decks have a hosepipe fitting attached to let you "Jet wash" your deck each time, but water and steel and cold sheds are not very good for steel, I never used water but just put a stick under it and scraped off what I could, so will take the deck off and use it to drag the trailer around, DW can have the old one,

[L Austin France]

Been looking at a front deck mainly for ease of cutting around and under trees,

I've never regretted buying our frontal cutter. It's brilliant for dodging around flower beds etc when you can see exactly where the cutting head is. The Hydrostatic drive is a boon after my old clutch & gears jobby. It cost me 3,000€ 11 years ago & probably still worth a decent sum, so, a good investment methinks. 2 belts, 2 steering cables & 2 sets of blade tips is the sum total of parts I've bought. Tows my fully log laden 500kg trailer easily.
Also brilliant for mowing under hedges & such like as you can poke the cutter under without knocking your hat off with the branches. I once mentioned this fact on another forum & was mocked by someone who said the couldn't possibly mow under their hedge as it was very rocky & would damage the blades. I'm still wondering why anyone would even talk about mowing over rocks

[niemeyjt]

A valid point there - a hydrostatic transmission for me is another "must-have" on any mower.

[hughnique]

I seem to be in the same dilemma as a lot of others, regarding ride on mowers. Firstly I hate to see clods of grass strewn all over what passes for a lawn, mostly weeds but at least they are green and from a distance it passes muster. Collection in the back bag is therefore essential, but that's the problem, constantly getting blocked in the chute, and it is such a pain in the arse to keep hooking it out and starting up again. Currently a MTD, cost about 1800€ from bricomarche 2 years ago, basically crap, so what do I need to have a mower that will cut the green stuff and not keep blocking up all the time?

[niemeyjt]

Some machines have a fan to suck the clippings from the chute

[Bayleaf]

Side chute machines don't tend to clog so easily, and you can buy a collecting attachment if desired. Unfortunately, with so many things, you get what you pay for. One client has an Husqvarna, rear shute, ride-on - and if he doesn't mow every week, the machine just can't cope with it and it gets clogged. So, for those who like a tidy lawn, with minimal clods of grass, the only answer is to mow frequently during the growing months, and mow when the grass is at it's driest. It's quicker and better for the ground if it's not collected, but that's a personal choice.

[Blaze]

It's quicker and better for the ground if it's not collected, but that's a personal choice.

It's our choice too. The grass is dry at the moment so I've put the mulcher attachment on. No mess and good for the ground - it looks good too but then we aren't aiming for a bowling green.

[L Austin France]

I seem to be in the same dilemma as a lot of others, regarding ride on mowers. Firstly I hate to see clods of grass strewn all over what passes for a lawn, mostly weeds but at least they are green and from a distance it passes muster. Collection in the back bag is therefore essential, but that's the problem, constantly getting blocked in the chute, and it is such a pain in the arse to keep hooking it out and starting up again. Currently a MTD, cost about 1800€ from bricomarche 2 years ago, basically crap, so what do I need to have a mower that will cut the green stuff and not keep blocking up all the time?

You need one each of these.
A frontal cutting mulching mower that'll cut almost any grass plus a lawn sweeper for the first couple of cuts after winter when it leaves 'clods of grass' picked up by the tyres.
They've served me well for yonks & I can't think of anything better for our garden.

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[Doug]

Only just read this post, so apologise if doubling up.
We have about 1 hectar of land, the lawns close to our house are mown and cuttings put on a compost heap.
The park as we call it was for years cut higher with it spread about.
For the past few years I cut about half, leave the rest till autumn for wild flowers and orchids to bloom which makes it a wonderful place for butterflies and insects.
Its all strimmed in the autumn put through our shredder and put on a huge compost heap.
Since doing that we have less problems with greenfly etc on the veg plot.

[rabbit]

Re Grass collection. My Husqvana Rider front cutter has a mulching setting. It has 3 blades and cuts the grass into very fine clippings. The first two mowings of the season leave some debris, but after that the clippings disappear. I wouldn't go back to a rear grass collection mower. a) There are maintenance issues as the deck and chute are hard to clean, b) You have to make journeys back and forth to the clippings pile. c) The clippings pile.