Scythe Or Rotary?

[Puffster]

Lots of little Christmas trees sitting in a field. Field goes from flat to quite steep. Need to cut the grass in between the trees, which has now grown quite a bit. Could be done with a strimmer but thinking a self-propelled cutter might be better. Therefore, which type would be best? Something like a Hayter Condor 30" or a Scythe mower like an Al Ko? I like the look of the Condor but wondering whether the slope might be too much for it, so the scythe might be more suited to climbing being lighter & possibly more agile. Max slope could be 30-35%

 

Recommendations welcome plus any benefits of one over the other. I may just end up using round-up but prefer not to.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Puffster

[woody paul]

Good old Allen scythe would do it easy and drag you up the hill with your heels dug in.

 

[lurkalot]

49 minutes ago, woody paul said:

Good old Allen scythe would do it easy and drag you up the hill with your heels dug in.

 

Yes and good luck getting it out of drive on a slope, those things have a mind of their own.  They'll sort the small trees too.  lol..

[scbk]

Hayter Condor would probably do it well, what's the distance between the trees, might want something bigger like a ferris/scag?

 

The Condor has discs with swinging blade tips so hitting stones/stumps isn't an issue, not sure what blades are on the other machines

[Puffster]

4ft between each tree and if the Hayter has a 34" blade should be ok

[Puffster]

On 02/09/2019 at 00:14, scbk said:

Hayter Condor would probably do it well, what's the distance between the trees, might want something bigger like a ferris/scag?

 

The Condor has discs with swinging blade tips so hitting stones/stumps isn't an issue, not sure what blades are on the other machines

WOW! Just the jobbie!

 

Got an eBay 2nd hand 11hp Honda one in good condition but needing a few things amending (ie good price). I took it out today for a couple of hours and what a beast! It just mulched everything I pointed it at (no trees!) and whilst I didn't yet hit the big slope am sure it'll do what's required. Monster machine - thanks for the recommendation

[scbk]

Great, stick some photos up of the field, always interesting to see.

 

I've had the hayter for a good over 2yrs now, it was an 800 mile round trip, rare to see them for sale up here.

[Puffster]

Doesn't really show the slope, which dips down on the right of the picture. That was only 90 mins of work and there's a load of clearance at the other end. Back on it tomorrow, its the left to right that will be challenging!

[L33 DA17ON]

Ferris do a 32"  walk behind my boss is selling one on ebay. Only thing is with grass been so long you run the risk of burning the belts out. You real should look at a flail mower will chop that down to fine clippings. Think scag do a 32" 

[doobin]

Flails are not great for long grass- it just wraps round the rotor and chokes it up. I have a Scag 36 flail. Were I doing a lot of long grass I'd buy a rotary deck for it.