I need a mower for a field

stehughes90

Hello friends,

I've been tasked with replacing a broken mower at my Archery club, we rent an old farming field which grows about 6 inches taller each week. In some areas it's never been cut, it's dense and tall grass with lots of thistles hidden in there.

We were using a standard 40cm wide petrol mower which did ok but it's a bit tedious.

Can anyone suggest what kind of equipment I should be looking at here? I want something that can handle thick grass with no issues and as it's the middle of nowhere it needs to be petrol.

I've seen scythe mowers, they look ideal but I'm not sure if they require a lot of maintenance or not. Or would a mulching mower be a better bet?

Thanks!

raisingirl

It depends a bit how rough the ground is underneath.

If it's a level 'pitch' you could hire/borrow/co-opt a flail mower from a local farmer to cut it properly, then potentially use a scythe mower to keep it down. You do get a lot of cut grass lying, so you can end up with a lot of thatch. I don't know whether a mulching mower would improve that. Or you could just get a really good 'standard' mower to use after it's been cut once. You have to keep on top of it though

We have a small flail mower that we use for ours but our ground is very rough and steeply sloping so nothing else will cope with it.

Obelixx

No mower is going to manage tall grass that hasn't been cut so is it possible to get a handy farmer to come in and cut it with his hay cutter?   Maybe he'd also like the hay for his beasts. 

Once it's been cut to a reasonable height it should be manageable with any good, sturdy mower, preferably a sit-on mower with twin blades that cut between 70 and 80cm wide and can either collect the cuttings, mulch them in or leave them in strips at the side to be raked up.    The model will depend on budget but the cheaper ones, starting around £2000, don't do well on rough ground such as a old field.

There are sturdy push mowers with petrol motors that cut wider than 40cm and, again, your budget will determine what you can get but make sure, whatever you choose, that there is a good range of height adjustments for the blades.  The higher the blade the longer the grass and the stronger the grass roots will be and thus better able to withstand dry spells and outgrow thistles and other nasty weeds.

stehughes90

Thanks for the comments.

The ground isn't actually that rough, around the edges it seems to have some vehicle tracks where a tractor sank in a little bit and there's some animal holes but 90% of it is flat.

We did look at second hand ride on mowers but I'm not sure we have the storage space to be honest. The field does seem to only need topping down once and then managing so I guess we could rent something for that and then focus on the managing of it.

Are there any good suggestions then for a 50-60cm wide cut sturdy mower? Something new with a warranty would be ideal. We've tried second hand stuff in the past and it's always bit us in the rear later on.

The budget I've been told is £800 to £1000. Two mowers or machines for that price would be ideal so we can have 2 helpers mowing at once.

Are wheeled brush cutters any good? Perhaps one of these in addition to a good mower would be the solution?

Thanks for the ideas, I've really got no idea on what I'm doing buying these but I seem to have been tasked with it 

Obelixx

@stehughes90 We have a large expanse of grass which is ex-pasture.   OH has a sit-on mower for the flatter parts but also uses a McCullough push petrol mower for the rougher areas and narrower bits round trees and obstacles where the sit-on can't go.  

If no-one comes up with more suggestions I suggest you google for self-propelled 4 wheel mowers as these need guiding rather than pushing so will be easier and then check for models with an easy start feature and a good engine such as Briggs and Stratton.   

Have a look at this article - https://www.t3.com/features/best-petrol-mower and check also for Which? recommendations.