Is anyone else being driven insane by mowers that don't cut ?

Russell Hall said:
The old hay mower packed it in mid paddock so we've just bought a new seven disc Kuhn. Good discounts because nobody is doing much hay this year, still not cheap. It cuts and at speed.
Click to expand...
Kuhn makes.good farm machinery. I prefer the round discs of Taarup mowers in my rocky country. Your 96 hp Deutz ought to drive it easily: my 100 hp New Holland runs my 7 disc Taarup mower conditioner easily enough. (For context for the townies, each disc cuts about 400mm, much the same as a domestic lawn mower.)

You must have had more.rain than me lately, Russell. I have had two paddocks shut up for hay for about 8 weeks now, fertilised and all, and they are not even close to being worth cutting. For the first time in my life I am contemplating buying hay. I did make some silage and the yield of that was way down.

Roger
 
Yes, travelled to Heywood for some chickens and for the first time it gets worse as you go south. We've finished the hay and silage and probably got 60% of last year but still worth doing. Very patchy season, little hay being done in the heavy soil areas. Brandt is selling competitively.
 
Russell Hall said:
The old hay mower packed it in mid paddock so we've just bought a new seven disc Kuhn. Good discounts because nobody is doing much hay this year, still not cheap. It cuts and at speed.
Click to expand...
here's an ancient Mobilco a local guy used to cut the grass in the cemetery paddock...
DSC00303a.JPG

did a great job... :)

Bob
 
left on site to blow away... mostly shorter stuff. Achieved the objective of finding out what was hiding underneath the tangled mess, we suspected lots of stumps and tree roots that didn't happen - paddock is largely clear and ready for the poison plant... :devilish:
And... development of a new lawn section !
Bob
 
Everyone around here uses a slasher for clearing jobs like that.
 
Russell Hall said:
Yes, travelled to Heywood for some chickens and for the first time it gets worse as you go south. We've finished the hay and silage and probably got 60% of last year but still worth doing. Very patchy season, little hay being done in the heavy soil areas. Brandt is selling competitively.
Click to expand...
Huge growth here at Kinglake West and still green.
 
If I ever buy an electric vehicle it would be an electric four wheeler except I look at the pile of dead rechargeable tools and batteries from quality makers and wonder. I think hard going would really drain battery power quickly in a mower. I'd be keen to get rid of that growth at Kinglake.
 
Russell Hall said:
If I ever buy an electric vehicle it would be an electric four wheeler except I look at the pile of dead rechargeable tools and batteries from quality makers and wonder. I think hard going would really drain battery power quickly in a mower. I'd be keen to get rid of that growth at Kinglake.
Click to expand...
Yes, we borrow a petrol ride on from next door. Rover with 800cc twin cylinder, big enough for a car. We use an electric Ryobi (bought for the small lawn in our previous house) for the house lawns, yes, chews through battery in tough going. Converted to side exit with an angle grinder!
 
there is some really good reviews online for electric ride-ons if you look. Just make sure it doesn't have lead acid batteries!

My only issue iwth them is the same as electric cars. They will require expensive battery replacement at 5-7 years of age.
 
Last edited:
Only experience here with electric vehicles is SWMBO's trike. It came with a super duper expensive 'modern' battery, when it came time to change it, the crowd in Melbourne wanted close to $1k, plus freight, both ways, as the rehabilitation is done on your battery. So you lose the trike as well for a week or three...
I swapped out the flash battery for a bank of 3xSLA 36V, 12V 9Ah each, we haven't looked back. They cost $100 or so to the door and need attention every few years - depending on how keen she is about keeping it charged up in periods of little use. The SLAs take quite some abuse before chucking it in and put up with being put on the 'old time charger' to bring them up to an acceptable level for the smart charger from time to time.
Bob
 
bob said:
Only experience here with electric vehicles is SWMBO's trike. It came with a super duper expensive 'modern' battery, when it came time to change it, the crowd in Melbourne wanted close to $1k, plus freight, both ways, as the rehabilitation is done on your battery. So you lose the trike as well for a week or three...
I swapped out the flash battery for a bank of 3xSLA 36V, 12V 9Ah each, we haven't looked back. They cost $100 or so to the door and need attention every few years - depending on how keen she is about keeping it charged up in periods of little use. The SLAs take quite some abuse before chucking it in and put up with being put on the 'old time charger' to bring them up to an acceptable level for the smart charger from time to time.
Bob
Click to expand...
that is intersting with regards to cost. A mower is going to need a much larger battery than a small trike!
 
bob said:
..................I swapped out the flash battery for a bank of 3xSLA 36V, 12V 9Ah each, we haven't looked back. They cost $100 or so to the door and need attention every few years - depending on how keen she is about keeping it charged up in periods of little use. The SLAs take quite some abuse before chucking it in and put up with being put on the 'old time charger' to bring them up to an acceptable level for the smart charger from time to time.
Click to expand...
OK, just checked in the shed, previous battery set are dated for October 2017, they've just been replaced. So, looks like they are good for 5-6 years, not bad for $100.
Bob
 
DoubleChevron said:
that is intersting with regards to cost. A mower is going to need a much larger battery than a small trike!
Click to expand...
yeah Shane, looks like ride-ons are 50V plus and likely not a multiple of 12, that would be too easy. Also to consider is the allowable current draw from the bank of cells, fat terminals usually indicate you need grunt, spade terminals on my little SLAs suggest not much available....
Bob
 
well, there you go, the mid-range Ryobi is keenly priced at $5700. And it has 'normal' batteries, 4 x 12V 75Ah lead acid, say $300 each - still an ouch for four of 'em, but better than 'flash lithiums' I'll bet.... :)
www.bunnings.com.au

Ryobi 38" Battery Ride On Lawn Mower

Find Ryobi 38" Battery Ride On Lawn Mower at Bunnings. Visit your local store for the widest range of products.
www.bunnings.com.au www.bunnings.com.au
Bob
 
bob said:
yeah Shane, looks like ride-ons are 50V plus and likely not a multiple of 12, that would be too easy. Also to consider is the allowable current draw from the bank of cells, fat terminals usually indicate you need grunt, spade terminals on my little SLAs suggest not much available....
Bob
Click to expand...
When I built the electric trike last year I used four spade terminal 12 Ah SLAs initially. Then I added another bank of four in parallel to increase the range.
It had a 2000W motor (2500W max draw) and would do just on 70 kph. By the time I'd run the batteries flat (around 20 minutes) all the components and wiring were barely warm to the touch.
Obviously the length of the wiring plays a big factor in transferring electricity.
My Reliant car has a little motorcycle battery under the front of the driver's seat and I only have IIRC, little 50 amp cables for the earth and to the starter motor. But these cables are only about 15 cm long. It's been that way for 6 years, the little 850cc 4 cyl engine cranks over like a champ, and the cables don't get so much as even warm.
 
bob said:
well, there you go, the mid-range Ryobi is keenly priced at $5700. And it has 'normal' batteries, 4 x 12V 75Ah lead acid, say $300 each - still an ouch for four of 'em, but better than 'flash lithiums' I'll bet.... :)
www.bunnings.com.au

Ryobi 38" Battery Ride On Lawn Mower

Find Ryobi 38" Battery Ride On Lawn Mower at Bunnings. Visit your local store for the widest range of products.
www.bunnings.com.au www.bunnings.com.au
Bob
Click to expand...
they review really well. If you search out long term review, the batteries are on there last legs after about 2years (much like cheap lead acid starter batteries in your car). It makes for extraordinarily expensive grass cutting
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top