Zero Turn Mowers

the mower has been bought and it takes 2hrs to mow now not all day....Echidna my paddocks will be rotational...as I dont have a lot of land so the paddocks not being used will need to be maintained for not just grass but weeds control also...which mowing helps with

I agree with you in regards to el nino I think the grass will get burnt a fair bit....but I do hope to irrigate a little on paddocks that will be used.

I don't actually have a horse at the moment which makes it all the more important to keep it under control...and horses actually don't like long grass, they will eat it if its all thats left but its not their first choice :)

if you saw how rough, weedy, bushy, rocky and grassless oour paddock was when we bought it you will see that our care and attention and continuous mowing has really really help our place...we have the best grassed paddock on our road with very minimal weed. thats how I would like to keep it :) well until a horse comes a long and destroys the lot :D

Have you considered a tractor???



(sorry, couldn't help myself).

Enjoy your ride on.

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Originally Posted by carjunkieanon

Have you considered a tractor???

(sorry, couldn't help myself).

Enjoy your ride on.

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Yeah I agree. Should have bought a tractor. And preferably second hand off eBay to save money.

(Sorry, couldn't help myself either)

I refrained from posting, but since we are back on the alternatives bandwagon: Have you thought of getting some geese instead?

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Originally Posted by kenleyfred

Quote:

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Originally Posted by carjunkieanon

Have you considered a tractor???

(sorry, couldn't help myself).

Enjoy your ride on.

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Yeah I agree. Should have bought a tractor. And preferably second hand off eBay to save money.

(Sorry, couldn't help myself either)

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Sorry can't agree. We have both a tractor and zero turn mower and for house yards and lawns the mower is far superior.

On the tractor, they are great for large areas without obstructions and overhanging branches but around the house you are a always stopping, reversing to get to awkward spots, yet you still have to clean up with the hand mower or whipper-snipper. Worse still when the ground is wet you leave furrows and tread marks in the lawn.

The zero-turn you can come up to a tree or post and mow right around it. That can't be done with a tractor.

Ben

Not sure that geese are good to saddle and ride!

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Originally Posted by dullbird

<snip>
I agree with you in regards to el nino I think the grass will get burnt a fair bit....but I do hope to irrigate a little on paddocks that will be used.
<snip>

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Lou

Are you on the mains sewer or a septic system?

We had pump out septic systems and a few years ago converted them to bio-digester systems. The waste goes into system of tanks the first being filled with particular bacteria which digest the waste and eventualy the waste water is pumped onto the grass via a sprinkler system. Coupled with rainwater tanks for the flush system and 14 solar panels on the roof it is environmentally friendly. The only restriction is we can't have cattle in the same paddock as the sprinklers are working or for a day afterwards. We rotate the sprinklers around two paddocks and an area of the house lawn. It's a way of re-using the water and irrigating the grass at the same time.

Eventually the solids in the digester tank are pumped out, but that is part of the service contract.

Diana

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Originally Posted by isuzurover

I refrained from posting, but since we are back on the alternatives bandwagon: Have you thought of getting some geese instead?

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I did the same, wrote a whole post the other day talking about mower options, uses, performance, brands, ranges, durability etc based on my research and purchases and that of others. Then deleted it.

why not agist (sp?) something on the paddocks now to keep the grass down? it will also help to give you an idea of the stock levels you can manage to hold?

5 acres = one donkey and bowling green short grass in my area, meanwhile the neighbours 2 horses which are also on 5 acres eat nothing and walk around in 18 inch high grass waiting for their oats....

A flock of geese would be awesome, fun birds with bonus security system built in!

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Originally Posted by EchiDna

A flock of geese would be awesome, fun birds with bonus security system built in!

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Indeed! I am amazed how scared of geese people are...

Hi Diana

I'm on septic soak away.......the grass grows amazingly over the septic tank extremely green and lush. However we do have concerns about using this paddock due to the septic you hear all sorts of stories of horses falling through into them. So we have decided to be safe, that paddock will only be used in the dry periods of the year when the ground is hard.

I'm not scared of geese and yes they do make great security system...however the dogs would love to kill them as would our high population of foxes here. And as Diana said I would find it very hard to get people to take me seriously in a dressage arena doing a freestyle to music. They tend to fall over when asked to Piaf hahahahah :D

You made the right choice Lou/Ian. I've just finished mowing five acres, one acre heavily treed, with the tractor and slasher because the ride on has taken a sickie; what a PIA round the trees.