Yesterday's activity and post got us chatting about ride on lawnmowers yesterday evening - yes, we have such fun! For a start, how did we end up with 5? So the next few paragraphs distil our experience and knowledge and may be of use to those that are thinking about them and those that want to replace them.
What are they good at?
Mowing large, flat areas of grass and light scrub with no trees or shrubs, no moles, easy access, no gravel, and no tricky bits. If you have a suitable small trailer, towing things on the flat and strictly within your own boundaries.
What are they not so good at?
Mole hills, damp grass, fiddly bits, slopes, being moved from one site to another, gravel, narrow entrances.
What do you need to watch out for?
They are possibly the most dangerous piece of gardening equipment you can own, I say possibly because a chainsaw is clearly more dangerous, but people have a healthy respect for them. My brother worked in insurance and read too many accident reports involving ride on mowers - when I started using them, he was really concerned and kept sending me nasty reports. I have a healthy respect for them.
You do actually have to insure the things! Not just against theft (although they do get pinched regularly), but against civil liability (think gravel, think injury to people or animals or fencing). And that's not cheap.
They are tricky and expensive to maintain - wheels get punctures regularly, batteries generally only live about 4 years, and don't get me started on drive belts for the engine or the cutters! The required lifts are expensive and irritatingly simple for the price, and the ramps for getting them on and off trailers are similarly expensive and annoying. And yes, you will need a large, legal for your car, trailer to go with your ride on, because it will break down and need to visit a mechanic.
And on the subject of moving them around - they don't like it! You see them being taken for drives on trailers around here, but our observation is that a ride on that moves around a lot for work lasts about 2 to 3 years, because they get bounced around so badly on the trailer, bits fall off. They are not small tractors - build quality can be pretty shonky. That's why we have so many - we don't move them between sites unless absolutely essential.
They don't actually replace having a conventional mower, as they don't do edges, tight spots, banks and ramps, around pools, and they don't give a particularly nice finish either. Well some do - but those are the extremely posh, expensive ones that golf courses can afford. If you have one that collects grass, you have to stop every 10 to 15 minutes to empty a very heavy collector, and also ungum the places where grass clippings fly. If you have lateral ejection, you spread grass clippings everywhere, and if you have a mulching plate on your lateral ejection, you can only mow when it is very, very dry.
So as well as your ride on mower, you need a conventional mower and a strimmer, plus all trees and shrubs need to allow something 5 foot tall minimum underneath, plus all gates and entrances must be wider than about 4 foot to allow safe passage. The storage area needs to have a post concreted in so you can padlock your dream machine to it, in the hope it doesn't get nicked while you aren't looking.
If you have 5,000 square meters or more of flat grassland, it can save time: anything less, or with lots of trees and slopes, buy the best conventional mower with traction and electric ignition you can afford - it will still be about half the price of the ride on you yearn for, will give you a much nicer lawn and garden, and you can still listen to your MP3 while mowing. And that is the advice of people who use them regularly!!
To end this rather dull reflection on life, here is a photo of the limpid, clear and very cold waters of the village wash house, no longer used for beating one's whites in a communal gathering, but a very pretty place to visit.
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