Large rotary mower or power scythe?

[clv101]

I have around 1 acre of recently planted orchard. It's on a gentle slope and the field used to have cows but been empty for a few years. As such the ground is a bit lumpy in places and the grass, after not being cut at all for a couple of years is very tussocky.

 

I've been over it once with a (hired) BCS 615L Power Scythe which did a good job on the tussocks.

 

I need to buy a machine for long term grass management. The power scythe clearly works, but once under management seems an overkill (it's rather expensive to buy and heavy to use).

 

I'm wondering if a big, self propelled rotary mower would be up to the job? I'm looking at the:

 

• Toro 20959 - 675 Series B&S, 55cm cut, 280mm rear wheels, up to 104 mm cutting height, 38kg ~£500
   
  
• Toro 20975 - 875 Series OHV, 76cm(!) cut, 245mm rear wheels, 62kg(!), up to 108 mm cutting height, ~£900
   
  
• Mountfield SP535HW-V - GCV190 OHC, 53cm cut, 280mm rear wheels, up to 87mm height, 39kg ~£500
   
  
• McCulloch M56-190AWFPX - GCV190 OHC, 56mm cut, 305mm rear wheels, 90mm height, 37kg, ~£500
  

Basically I'm wondering if these self propelled mowers are up the job of mowing a field of rough grass, once the power scythe has taken all the big lumps out? I'm thinking the large wheels will help, and I like the 100mm+ cutting height of the Toro machines.

 

Any other machines I should be looking at? Don't really want to spend much over £500 and 21"/53cm is the absolute minimum width.

[Guss109]

What about looking at a wheeled strimmer?

[Woodworks]

As said buy Guss have a look at wheeled strimmers. We have a fair bit of rough grass here and if I stay on top of it a mower (Stiga Multiclip Pro 48) copes but miss a few weeks and have wet grass and the mower is stuffed. Bought a DR wheeled push along wheeled strimmer last year and it smashes through most things but for an acre I would get a self drive one.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Woodworks

[SteveA]

Have you considered having Kune Kune pigs for grazing your grass? Unlike sheep they won't eat your orchard trees.... Kunekune Pigs - DaleHouseFarm.com

cheers, Steve

[clv101]

Thanks for the wheeled strimmer suggestion. I hadn't even considered them but a brief look online suggests they might be more suitable for my rough ground. Much cheaper and lighter than a power scythe, a bit lighter and probably more manoeuvrable than a rotary mower.

 

Any particular models to look at, or avoid?

[davess1402]

Have had a couple of sites similar to the one you have described, early on we used a Rover which we still use to this day great machine, we also have an Etesia PRO51 which has the same capabilities but is heavy, last season we demo'd an Etesia PHTB46 Etesias for us are great for cutting & picking up wet grass the Rover runs them close, have tried Honda not good on wet grass, we are looking at a Viking VM655R with a view to buying but we have concerns over the reliability after hearing about some issues with drive, have heard that new Mountfield with roller is useful but up here in NE Scotland not aware of any dealer that does demo.

[clv101]

This is the kind of grass I'm dealing with. In fact this is the best area as I went over it with a brushcutter a few times last year:

 

 

I'm thinking the underlying ground is probably just a little bit too bumpy for a standard rotary mower. See also the slight slope to the site.

 

I'm now thinking about the wheeled strimmer along with the cheaper power scythes. Is the ~£750 "Al-Ko BM 870-III Scythe-Bar Mower" or "Lawnflite BM87-35 Powered Scythe Mower" likely to fall apart within a year? I really can't stretch to the fancy models twice that price.

 

Regarding the wheeled strimmers - how easy is it to get a level finish? Their usage seems a bit haphazard without much guide at the front end. Is it hard work mowing an acre with a wheeled strimmer?

[gdh]

Have you considered getting a second hand flail topper to go behind a quad bike (assuming you have access to a Quad)?

[harrythecat178]

We get many requests for machines to do this sort of job. Power scythes okay but grass really needs to be dry and standing . Good when you want to use grass for hay. Wheeled strimmers ok but job to get even finish and a bit slow in my opinion. A good hand held brushcutter ( Stihl FS460) almost as quick. Most people who want to cut these sort of areas we sell a Hayter Condor 30 inch rotary, cuts lawns to hay at best an acre an hour. Honda UM616 very good as well. I wouldnt bother with domestic mowers listed above, plastic wheels will last no time on rough ground

[aspenarb]

Running a swing hammer mulcher or flail over it as suggested would shave off all the high spots and leave it in a mowable condition.

 

Bob