My dad had a Westwood, after donkeys years it rusted out and he got another one, it was a very good mower, we’ve not long sold it and dad had that one in 95.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Has your dad taken off the spring activated side shoot ?
I say this because thats what its for to stop cutting going all over the Lawn???
I dont use a collection box on the ride-on but i do use two mowers ie 1x ride-on
1x walk behind.
Let me explain a few good tips ref using both ride-on & walk behind.
A lot of people find them selves in a property with a large garden (good you may think)
And its about then the big boy toys thing kicks in and without any real experience of lawns
Or cutting of them "they're off on the ride on,
Rather than check the machine each and every time its tobe used (tyre pressure being very important,
If the tyre'a (any of them) are not at even pressure or not at the correct pressure!!!!!!
Then the skirt will be to low down when on its shortes cuttting setting and the cutting edges of the blades will be uneven,
rather than cut a nice clean cut, the lawn is scalp- scalp scalp and this kind of cut results in the grass not growing strong and ends up with a white patchy lawn,
Plus when the mower is being turned to go in the opposit direction !!!!!
when the cutters are in motion the vehicle leaning over and the wieght going to one side causes that sides blades to cut well into the ground until your again on a even run.
All this is due to tyre's not being checked, the setting being far to low and or the lawn not being level,
In the case of an un-even lawn the rider should see and know when to lift the machines blades for that part of the lawn. ( a bump or hill in lawn) once you've cleared this part go back to previous setting.
If like myself you have a garden with verious trees or cut out beds (circular ring formation around the base of trees etc) then if you use the ride-on around such edgings you'll find your causing the edges to loose the sharp edge because the ride-on tyrs are wide /plus the weight of the rid-on causes these edges to become an unclean edge and look sloped,
The same thing with long borders, and you cant get a ride-on to cut in an hard corner,
I use my walk behind to do all the edges first and then the ride-on later.
Ref grass box use, if like me you cut your lawn two / three times aweek then the cutting's go back on the lawn and act like a feed once they've composted down.
My lawn is like a carpet and soft to walk on, all done using the method ive explained.
if the grass is bone dry , the ground is dead level and the it's never more than about 2" high, I reckon it would be fine. On my sloping very wet and bumpy Devon garden, it's useless. The chute blocks up before the sensor goes off to say the hopper is full, sometimes it goes when the hopper is barely half full. The safety guards around the belts have an open front and end up rammed with dry grass which once caught fire ,(I kid you not ) I've had to have the hopper brackets replaced by the dealership as they accepted that the originals were useless, the "deflector" accessory didn't have anywhere on the mower to be attached, another visit from the dealer. If I hit a bump, one of the belts is likely to bounce off , or snap and at £70 each they're pretty expensive to replace. I could go on ,and on , and on.
Hi Hostafan 1
Well from what you've said i can tell you and your dealer should have told you, cutting grass in the wet is a no no,
The chute will block up because wet grass is a heavy material and if after every cut you dont use the hose connection to clean out the under skirt the wet grass will set like concrete and this has an effect of closing the chute open area smaller for the next time your using it,
Tobe honest i wish you lived near me because one the weathers dry and sunny a lot of the time & i bet i could sort this mower out,
Now i believe in being honest and your using the mower in the wrong way,
Your weather and the timing of cutting your "WET WET " grass you'd be better off with a good make of strimmer, These are used by councils etc in all weathers wet/dry etc and they do the job every time.
They dont have grass box's or alarms and from what ive seen the only complaints
came from the workers moaning (like your mower) they we're soaking wet and did'nt do the job as good as when it was dry/sunny.
Now come on Hostafan,
your expecting a mower to cut and clear the chute in soaking wet grass ???????
I said i'd like to help and here is a 100% answer to your cutting grass in the wet and its never ever been known to fail "but Hostafan" its not a jap make,
No the ones i know about a first saw when we bought our cottage 1 mile off the beaten track at the foot of the ARRAN mountain 7miles from the village of BALA
WALES,
It's better than any toyota as its echo friendly and the cost the last time i looked was £70. (Ive heard some people do ride on them and say its the best ride they've ever had)
"Oh christ" nearly forgot the name of the make "but they're on sale in BALA VILLAGE
If your feeling that trying to cut grass when its soaking wet with any mower then ive been gardening to long and maybe i should say nothing and let these people just slag off a machine ive found tobe good for whats it was made for,
Its pouring down as i write and i wont even take the dogs out for walkies let alone thing of cutting the grass, but if i did decide to go mad and cut the grass it wouldnt be with a ride-on "but" i did say what to use to cut any grass bowling green or otherwise and it was to let these people know its not the machine that wrong its the choice of machine for the weather and conditions
Philippa, whats that saying a bad workman blames the tools and everyone else but themselves.
I asked for the reason why the very machine i use was such a let down and when weighing up all the reasons it wouldnt do the job i can feel for the lawn mower,
Should have a SAVE THE MOWER thing ???
If its full of wool and go's BAH BAH and eats grass Its not a JOHN DEER "Philippa"
Blimey! Yeh - if only, Philippa. There's been times when I could have done with bringing a pony back from work with me Good luck to anyone living in the west of Britain waiting for grass to always be dry enough to cut it
Sometimes, danny&shaz, grass simply has to be cut when it's wet. Gardening, like life, doesn't always play ball. No need to get your gusset in a knot because your opinion is different.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Haven't we been here before? I think they must be related.
Good luck to anyone living in the west of Britain waiting for grass to always be dry enough to cut it
Sometimes, danny&shaz, grass simply has to be cut when it's wet. Gardening, like life, doesn't always play ball.
No need to get your gusset in a knot because your opinion is different.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...