hi guys and welcome back to machinery nation yes in this video i'm going to explain the differences
between all the rydel mower types on the market bit mini riders rear collect tractors articulated
front cutters zero turns and side discharge mulch so stay tuned and we'll find the right machine
for you so there is three different cutting techniques when it comes to ride on tractors
you've got mulch mulch is the principle where you'll cut up the grass into finer clippings
theory behind that is your cutting deck is enclosed so the grass can't escape till it
gets to a certain size and it's basically it acts as a natural fertilizer you don't
then need to obviously have a compost heap to get rid of your clippings your second option
is rear discharge rear discharge like the tractors down the bottom there that is where you're taking
the nutrients and all the grass off the ground you can cut a little bit lower with it and also
it gives you a really really nice finish your third option is side discharge side discharge
or mulch is a combination which basically side discharging is where you've got long grass
areas that you want to clear out very quickly so a paddock or anything like that that would
be the best option for you so in this video we're going to explain the difference between all three
and the four different motor types we're going to move on to the rear collect tractors first
so we've broken down our ride on lawn mowers into four categories and in at number one we've got the
rear clek and mini rider tractors now this is what everyone sees as your conventional garden tractor
so you've got grass box on the back to collect clippings you've got your engine on the front
or underneath the seat it's got a steering wheel and it's easy to maneuver and use like any machine
on the market each model has its pros and cons one of the positives with a rear clutch tractor
is you are collecting the clippings off the grass so if you wanted to cut the grass shorter then
it will give you a really really nice fine finish you can then use those clippings in a compost heap
but the negative to that if you haven't got anywhere to dump your grass any compost bins or
anything like that you're gonna have an unsightly compost heap or you're gonna have to basically use
the green bin and recycle your clippings these are fairly universal so you've got a collection box on
the back of both of these you can mulch with them if you wish you can also put rear discharge shoots
on the back so if you are cutting slightly longer grass than usual but you didn't want to collect
the grass because it was going to put so much strain or a lot of grass to collect i would put
the rear discharge shoot on the back and just drop the clippings out the back once it's been down for
a couple of days then you could go over and cut at your normal height another positive example
is this little mini rider if you've got quite a compact small garden maneuverability wise is a
key so you've got a small 32 inch blade on this one they even do smaller versions down to about
26 inches so if you're the sort of person that can't cope with a walk behind rotary mower and the
garden isn't quite big enough for a large machine like this then a mini ride will be most suitable
for you but really they do only go up to 50 inches in size so if you've got a large open area and you
want to cut the grass very very quickly then a zero turn or a side discharge is going to be
your best option i mean sky's the limit when it comes to size on cutting decks for that
70 80 inch whatever you know generally they are bigger machines and they'll cut the grass quicker
obviously you've got a grass tip box on both pull up the handle tip the box now a lot of the
mini riders you have to do that manually so if you're not strong enough to obviously tip that
then that's going to be an issue but on a lot of the premium tractors there is obviously
additional extras you can put an electric tip on a lot of the models so it makes it a lot easier
to tip the grass box it's also worth noting that these tractors aren't designed to cut
long grass they're not designed to cut paddock grass that's been left for weeks on end they are
regular maintenance tractors so you want to be cut in the grass at least once every fortnight to make
sure you're cutting it down and you're not putting any stress on strain on any cutting deck belts
and that leads me on now to articulated and zero turn mowers right so moving on to our
second option that is the out front mulching riders now in front of me i've got a husqvarna
one of the bigger more premium models the 400 series with a bigger larger cutting deck than
that we've got on the the rear collect tractors now what are the pros and cons behind riders well
basically you are going to get a fantastic mulch result with one of these tractors they have a bio
clip cutting deck and a lot of the other brands on the market will have a similar sort of system
whereas the blades are in small little contained units which allow the grass to be clipped up
very very fine so it will give you a really nice finish to your lawn the other option is obviously
you've got a lower center of gravity so unlike the rear collect tractors these are designed for more
challenging grounds so you can have all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive options and you'll feel
more comfortable on this you're not sat high on it you're sat down near the ground out front riders
are designed for high maneuverability and this particular model will actually spin on a sixpence
there's different types of turning circles so there's brands on the market that basically bend
in the middle this particular model actually twists its chassis on the back end so really
really good if you've got a garden area which got loads of twists and turns or a lot of obstacles in
it the other swaying point to a lot of ride on purchases is actually how big the cutting deck
is so you've got a large open area that you want to cut very very quickly you're going to want a
bigger cutting deck well on this particular model you've got 122 centimeter cutting deck so that
will get the job done very very quickly and as you can see it's an enclosed cutting deck so safety
is absolutely paramount so if you're using this against any public spaces on the edge of a road
or anywhere you know you've got delicate objects around the garden like a greenhouse or windows or
anything like that you're not going to have debris flowing around the garden unlike a side discharge
or rear discharge tractor that could potentially chuck stuff out this is all going to be kept
underneath so now unfortunately i've got to tell you the cons of this type of system so as you
can see it does look more complex doesn't it so it's going to give you slightly higher servicing
costs you've got a few more belts on it to drive the gearboxes the cutting deck and the main blades
itself so obviously bear that in mind so riders aren't designed to cut long grass they're not
designed to cut paddock or field grass or anything like that they really are designed to keep a nice
formal lawn down you have to cut more regularly so unlike a rear discharge tractor which you could
get away cutting perhaps once every fortnight these tractors which mulch you really do need to
be cutting once a week to keep the finish looking really really good but having said that a lot of
the cutting decks have rear baffles in the back so if the grass did get away from you for a couple
of weeks or for the first couple of cuts of the season you just want to top off the higher grass
take the baffle out the back and it will just rear discharge out the back for you mulching is always
going to be more difficult with wet grass so if you've got a garden that lies fairly damp all
year round then potentially mulching is not the right system for you because the grass will clump
up and it won't give you the finish you want the other thing obviously if it is damp it's going to
be putting a lot more stress and strain on belts and blades so the last thing to bear in mind when
you're buying a tractor is how quickly you need to cut the grass this type of system is always going
to be slower than your zero turn or conventional tractor you have got to go a little bit slower
to mulch grass efficiently this video is sponsored by haze machinery suppliers of atvs garden
machinery power tools trailers whatever you need visit their website hayesmachinery.co.uk thank you
for watching so now we move on to the third option and that is zero turns so we have got the lap bar
version and the steering wheel and these are true zero turns where they won't leave any uncut circle
of grass so again pros and cons for this type of system i'm going to start with the cons this time
because i think there's a lot more pros that we can talk about so the first con would basically
be the traction on slopes now we've got two different versions here fixed steering wheel
absolutely fine the steering stays straight you can turn it to whatever angle you want because
it's a wide wheelbase version they do track to ground very very well so they almost do what a
four-wheel drive machine will do now when it comes to a lap bar version it's a different story think
of it as a shopping trolley analogy because the dolly wheels on the front they're always trying
to pull you downhill so you can have loads of traction if you go up over but as soon as you want
to turn the front end is always going to want to pull you downhill again so if you have got sloping
ground a fixed steering wheel version will be best for you although not a negative thing with these
two machines because they can discharge grass out the side they aren't really used as rough
cut mowers you could use these for paddock grass absolutely fine but there's a lot of other zero
turns on the market that don't have the option for side discharge and mulch so it's just basically a
mulching cutting deck you are going to want to use it on more of a formal lawn so driving a machine
with lap bars is a bit of an art if you've never driven one before it might take you a little while
to get used to it but having said that once you are used to it the driving is so simple
forward and back it acts a little bit like power steering so it's really really easy on your arms
typically you will spend a little bit more on your zero turn mower but having said that that
is because they are designed for more demanding and pro users so these machines might come at a
slightly higher price tag but there is a heap of positive features with these type of mowers
you have got your speed and ease of use you know the lap bar system here so easy to drive the
steering wheel version very very good on slopes and really really good traction why wheelbase
low central gravity so it will make you feel really really safe you've got wider
cutting decks and they're generally fabricated so that means a high strength precision mowing
yeah that's right it's going to be so much easier to use in your garden if you've got a lot of
obstacles and last but not least you know most of them give you the option to side discharge when
the grass is long or even give you fantastic mulch results by just easily putting a plug in the side
so on this particular model the cub cadet it's really really easy to change it from
side discharge cutting longer grass and putting the mulch plug in to cut it shorter
so last but not least is the fourth option on our list that is a side discharge tractor now
this option here comes with a mulch kit as well so you can cut the longer grass like paddock grass
chuck it outside and discharge it but when you get into your more formal garden
you can put the mulch plug on clip the clippings up and return the nutrients back into lawn acting
as a natural fertilizer things to consider with this type of system of tractor they are advertised
that you can buy collection boxes for the back of them but they are never designed to collect grass
full time it's okay for occasional collection if you had some leaves down on the ground and
it is very very light clippings you're blowing into the box but if you are wanting a tractor
to collect grass full time then go for a rear discharge tractor with a shoot underneath the seat
anything that collects grass going up a pipe up the side is never that great it will clog and
you'll be forever putting your hand down there unblocking it you're always going to have less
maneuverability than that of a zero turn so if you've got lots of obstacles around your garden
there might be a few backwards and fours to cut all the grass and the last thing to bear in mind
is if you have got longer grass areas next to driveways or paths or borders or anything like
that and you're not going to mulch you're going to chuck it out the side then you are going to
get clippings onto your paths which would mean you have to clear them up once you've got it down
obviously put your mulch plug back in and clip it up and then you won't have that mess so we've gone
through the main four types of ride on mowers on the market but you're still asking me the question
what is the right machine for your garden so you've got larger areas that have got longer grass
like a paddock and you've got formal lawns which you want to mulch and you don't want to collect
clippings then the side discharge mulch type of system is the one to go for so you've got garden
or paddock areas which are very very large you want to cut the grass fast you want to mulch you
want to side discharge you want to cut long grass you've got sloping areas then the steering wheel
version is for you if you've got gentle sloping areas then the lap bar is a version for you or if
you've got areas around your garden which you need to go in and around obstacles then the zero turn
type of system is the one for you now you've got a garden that's undulating or very steep
you need high maneuverability you've got shrubs and bushes that you want to be able to drive in
underneath and cut then an out front rider is the right machine for you you can get right
underneath cut you're going to have a low centre of gravity with an option of all-wheel drive and
it will make you feel very very safe and you'll be able to cut all those hard-to-reach areas
or you've got several lawn areas in your garden you want a nice formal lawn you want to be able to
cut the grass really really low you're definitely going to want to rear collect tractor but then
you've got the options to be able to mulch and rear discharge but it isn't designed for long
long grass like the other tractors on the market and the breakdown between the two rear discharge
tractors if you've got something up to about three quarters of an acre then the little mini rider is
going to be fantastic for you high maneuverability it'll collect the grass really really well
but if you've got a larger garden up to a couple of acres you're going to want a twin bladed system
something like this alco t20 that will give you fantastic cut and collect performance
and get the job done quick so hopefully now you know which machine you need for your garden area
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