Mowing season again

I have a Toro 48xl - HATE the dam thing. Spent a lot of time fixing / modifying things that have either bent, broke or worn out. Lost count the number of belts I have gone through (the cheaper belts seem to last the best) and it is SLOW compared to my COX or the Rover Rancher I had (con rod went through the side of the motor)
So far the COX has been the best around my place. Mostly lawn but have used it in the paddock a few times and the person I got it from use to do some pretty heavy cutting with it (now has a commercial Walker Zero turn)
Have kept the Toro as my son can use it / the COX is too big for him.
The Toro has bar blades on it, and does not like things too thick so best around the house.
A friend has a commercial mower business and swears by his Greenfield, and another mate with a commercial business uses Walker Zero Turns, where a 3rd commercial owner I know hates the Walkers and would only ever use a Ferris.
Neighbour has a John Deer (about 3 years old now) and he likes it but his place is fairly easy going and flat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crash

I have a Toro 48xl - HATE the dam thing. Spent a lot of time fixing / modifying things that have either bent, broke or worn out. Lost count the number of belts I have gone through (the cheaper belts seem to last the best) and it is SLOW compared to my COX or the Rover Rancher I had (con rod went through the side of the motor)
So far the COX has been the best around my place. Mostly lawn but have used it in the paddock a few times and the person I got it from use to do some pretty heavy cutting with it (now has a commercial Walker Zero turn)
Have kept the Toro as my son can use it / the COX is too big for him.
The Toro has bar blades on it, and does not like things too thick so best around the house.
A friend has a commercial mower business and swears by his Greenfield, and another mate with a commercial business uses Walker Zero Turns, where a 3rd commercial owner I know hates the Walkers and would only ever use a Ferris.
Neighbour has a John Deer (about 3 years old now) and he likes it but his place is fairly easy going and flat.

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This is quite normal for the american mowers... Well in my experience ... and most people in my families experience... Aussie mowers doen't get broken if you try to use them as "slashers" ... well not as quickly either way... What I look for it a big single cutter deck (the twin/triple decks can't clear the grass and bog down at the first sign of thick grass and detroy the cutter belt). The old rover rancher here still has it's original cutter belt it left the factory with. If I manage to jam up the cutter deck, the 18hp B&S on it will stall before the belt slips.

I am going to "somehow" modify the mower so it sits a couple of inches higher someday. It's only issue is the cutter deck at it's highest setting is basically scraping the ground scalping the **** out of it.

I think rovers idea was to sell it as a "mulching deck" ... for bowling greens when the grass is kept 5mm long .... when it gets to 5.5 mm long, you cut it again .. Utterly useless for an Aussie "lawn". Last time I fitted 4 new blades.... 90seconds after engaging the cutter deck in the rough back paddock I ran over a broken brick ........... Many :censored: words followed. Straight back to the shed to remove the destroyed brand new blades and refit the bent buggered blades I'd just removed. If it was an american mower I'd have either broken the deck spindle or bent the very expensive bar blade beyond repair.

VERY frustrating. No matter how often you pickup and remove these sort of debris from your yard they seem to appear again at a later point. This is why I'm "sort of" hoping I'll chase up a flail mower at some point. If I get a tractor, I'll try to level it ... Then we could sell the tractor in the future and get one of those big industrial mowers to run over the paddock with ( as I imagine cutting grass with a tractor sucks compared to using a mower that'll spin in it's own length).

I've might go an have a look at this ancient piece of history if I sell them caravan here ... The old thing is obviously reliable if he's contract slashing with it.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/kynet...her/1123748780

seeya,
Shane L.

My mowing the house paddock takes 4-5 hours. If i do the whole "grassy" area takes another 2-3 hours. I have a Grillo 921 & can't fault it. It was the only mower at the time to cope with our terrain. There is another mob out now, Razorback, which look the goods too as theirs is 4wd whereas mine is only 2wd with diff lock, but i don't know whether the newbies are built as robust. My mower will eat 2'-3' high grass & 10' high lantana
with ease. Blades are about 6mm thick & double edged so can be reversed when one side is worn. Also able to be touched up with a grinder or linishing machine.



The Grillo is $$$$$$$$$$$ though.
Steve

Steve.
I feel sorry for you having a view like that.
I would be selecting bog cog and making the job last!!!!!
How about a pic of the machine???
ENJOY
Andrew

All I cna say is "Wow" i just googled it .... What a beast !!! What sort of deck is that .. it's not getting clogged up with the sheer volume of grass passing through it

[ame]https://youtu.be/ibxTVrtUOhk[/ame]

That is a huge amount of grass to cut. I'm surprised I dont' see cows munching it down :)

seeya,
Shane L.

The video gives a reasonable idea of the machine but, after getting used to it, I can categorically state it does much more.
I'm not stupid with it but some of the places I mow with it leave people shaking their heads. A B-I-L is a mower/landscaper bloke & he'd steal it in a flash.
The photo with the mower in it is it's maiden run in '09 with the wifey piloting. It's coming up to 450 hours with only service & general wear & tear $$$$ spent on it.
One drawhack is that it weighs in at 300+ kg so, if you get stuck, lifting it out is not an option (for me at least). I have had occassion to give the missus a cooee on the handheld to bring the Disco over to assist in recovery.
:p
Steve

Some pretty steep hills you are mowing there.
Thanks
Andrew

We picked up one of these for rough work around the block and along the roadside. They are a reasonably tough robust unit and can found at fair prices. This is not ours, just a photo I found on the googler.
Masport Shiremaster 720

Cheers, Mick.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mick88

We picked up one of these for rough work around the block and along the roadside. They are a reasonably tough robust unit and can found at fair prices. This is not ours, just a photo I found on the googler.
Masport Shiremaster 720

Cheers, Mick.

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There really good... the single deck is what works the magic. The best ones are the ones with cart wheels. Even the ancient ones that look to be 50years old seem to be worth $700'ish still. Having said that ...

bargain of the century
Grass Slasher ( open to offers) must be sold | Lawn Mowers | Gumtree Australia Mitchell Area - Wallan | 1125284658

we had one of these when I was a kid. The big cart wheels roll over any ground, no matter how rough, and the deck has a non-adjustable skid. They'll cut anything, anywhere pretty much.

I should be already driving down there to collect it ... but the idea of cutting 2'ish acres with it makes me want a tractor or much bigger ride on. :wasntme: I just don't have the spare time ( 3 young kids, full time worker) to spend so many hours walking around behind a mower.

seeya,
shane L.

Well I broke the front wheel spindle on the old ride on mower again ... talk about getting frustrated.

So I looked up ebay for tractors and noticed something intersting. If you type "tractor" into the standard ebay search engine ( all categories ) it defaults to the category "Industrial->Heavy Machinary->Tractors" ...... So I changed this to just "industrial ... and this popped up

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...1&d=1477621997

Not many views, and very few watchers. Infact not much interest at all ( as it didn't show up in any search. It was under "industrial->farming->other".

So I went for a drive to the other side of town. It looks like it's never been washed (just how I like to buy stuff). It sure is great looking piece of ****. Huge age cracks in all the tyres, black filth on everything gasket and seal .... But it's bone dry. 50years of weepage ... but not wet everywhere. Everything works, high, low, all the gears, steering doesn't have much slop, PTO, 2 stage clutch, 3pl... The smoke clears if you run the engine at work speed for 5 minutes.... and there is no blue or black smoke. He used a sniff of ether to start it. It starts instantly on the button after 5minutes idling without any glowplugs. He reckons it's hard to start when it's really cold using just the glow plugs... He didn't really answer when I asked how long he was giving it ( I reckon it probably needs a solid couple of minutes of glowing if cold .... the 1974 diesel passenger car we has years ago needed a minimum of 45seconds). It would seem like an eternity if your sitting there not looking at a watch. anyone used to diesels made in the last 20years would only give it 15seconds or so on the plugs.

It's bigger than I wanted, 2.1 tons is probably to heavy to put on my car trailer (I'm worried it's ballasted, if it has water filled tyres it'll be far to heavy).

So who wants to tell my wife, even though I bought another "old heap of ****" .... it still doesn't cut grass until I can find a cheap'ish slasher :o :wasntme:

He just used it to rotary hoe a vineyard and reckons it worked fine. but he's replaced it with a new tractor with a FEL and all the gizmos.

Now to find implements to play with :cool:

seeya,
Shane L.