Ride-on Mower worth investment..? Mountfield 827m??

I have around 1 acre land around my house mainly grass, some uneven surface as well. I am not sure I should invest in a ride-on mower or petrol mower that can be pushed is good enough? I haven't mowed this large garden before.

I investigated and Mountfield 827m that costs £1200 seems to be a good option, but not convinced invest that money..

Also for Ride-on Mowers price will be down when we approach summer or might go UP..?? Please help

 

The price of ride on lawnmowers will go up when the grass cutting season starts

 

The usual time to get a discount is the end of grass cutting season.
Think of an acre as a 70 x 70yard square . If you divide that into strips the width a mower will effectively cut, which is an inch or two less than stated in the brochure , cos you always get overlap, you will know how many times you'll have push , chase or drive it up and down.
Emptying the grass box can be the biggest chore, there are mulching decks buts thats weather dependant and feeds the grass.
It also depends how much free time you have so youve a bit to think about.

 

The 827 M is a small wheeled rider, best suited for lawn rather than a cultivated field - which do you have?
M stands for Manual transmission, H for Hydrostatic (automatic and far superior if you have loads of nooks and crannies to mow.)
Like all machines like these, grass discharge is fine if the grass is dry, and always clogs when it's wet!
With grass area of this size I'd certainly say you need a ride on mower, but that's your business. £1200 is about right for brand new.
John

 

I have to mow a similar area to yourself. Many people say why don't you get a 'Ride-On' but I don't see a saving in time. The acre is split over area's - 4 small lawns, two large areas and a small orchard. Takes about 4 hours on a good day with a large self-propelled mower. Cause of the number of small areas I don't see a time saving with a ride-on and I'd still need a second mower to cut the grass on the areas I would be unable to get the ride-on in.
You also have to consider secure storage. Access to where and how the cuttings are deposited. The grass bin on a ride is much larger than a walk behind so you have to be able to drop the cuttings somewhere or you spend ages loading into the garden waste bin.
I doubt you would save much time over a walk behind with that area.

Mate with two clear flat acres has a ride on - does save him time but he looses out on the exercise.

I'd say with an acre you are borderline on whether a ride-on has any benefit.

 

I have a Mountfield 827H. My lawn is approx 1/3 of an acre and with my walk behind 17" Hayter it used to take me 2 hours to mow it all, most of which was time spent emptying the grass catcher.

With the ride on i can mow it all in about 25 minutes. The major benefit is the much larger capacity grass catcher. However, if you use the mulching attachment and are prepared to accept grass cuttings on your feet when you walk on the lawn it would be even faster.

 

Useful things to have when mowing large areas with smaller machines are builders bags in strategic positions to empty the grass box into which saves walking too far.When your done they can be dragged to your heap ,etc

 

You can get larger mowers which aren't ride on. Have a look at ex council type machines on ebay. Ferris, scag, great dane, hayter etc etc. Usually well built, fast, hydrostatic.
At home I don't collect the grass cuttings, just cut it every week or two and it's fine, grass looks good for it too.


Another option is a robotic mower. Costs more to buy, but running costs are virtually nothing, and will save you a lot of time.

 

As you can see mine is similar, not a single plot. Got some trees as well. uneven surface and behind house grass is narrow patches as well. See photos . Its not a Football pitch sort of place.

 

Robotic may not be an option as pics uploaded its multiple patches of uneven king of area. Not easy to map and make machine understand!!

 

It looks a beautiful spot! Perhaps a small ride on lawnmower might be ok

 

A small ride on would be fine there - beware of leaving wheel tracks if the going is soft.
Given care you could make that coarse grass into a cultivated lawn if you wanted to - just lots of gentle cutting.
John

 

My worry is as you can see in second photo some area is like a small hill. Not sure can ride a lawn mover there?

 

You can. Just don’t cut too short and be aware of where the edges of the cutting deck can cut more deeply into the grass when the mower tilts.

 

Yes that looks like the hill is not too steep for a ride on mower