[Phantome46]

I have a 2 acre paddock and am looking to buy a mower to cut my paddock. I like to cut it every 2-3 weeks to keep the grass short and tidy - at the moment I am using my ride on mower but its takes a long time.

I am planning to purchase a topper or a finishing mower to make the job quicker.

I have a lot of rabbits in the paddock that like to dig so have a pretty uneven surface with small holes in it.

My understanding is finishing mower will cut shorter grass than a topper and cut it finer. Will it be suitable?

Advice please

[stufe35]

If your ride on mower cuts high enough for the undulations in the field then a finishing mower will be fine. The advantage of a finishing mower is it cuts more cleanly giving a standard of cut similar to a lawn mower. The height on them is controlled by how high you set the wheels and hence it follows the contours of the ground better. They are of course more expensive than toppers. In theory a finishing mower can't cope with grass quite as long as a topper, but I hold my finishing mower up slightly on the hydraulics of the tractor if I have some longer grass to cope with. Eg a couple of times a year I cut the local road side verges, just takes a couple of passes getting gradually lower each time.
I'd say get a finishing mower if the money isn't an object.
What tractor will you be driving it with ?

[Phantome46]

Thanks for the reply - I will be towing with a massey Ferguson MF35.

Thought a finishing mower would be best, just need to find one

[stufe35]

 My observations with mowers and toppers is that second hand they fetch a handsome sum often within a few hundred pounds of a new one.  You have no idea how old they are and they can easily be ten years old, and until you spin them up to speed you don't know if they have hit a huge stone and are out of balance.

If I were you and had the money , sounds like you will use it plenty, I would bite the bullet and treat myself to a shinny new one. I'd recommend an established make like Fleming such that spares will always be available.

The one I bought is 5ft wide, which I have found to be ideal on the back of my MF 35 as it is just the same width as the tractor, so you can mow right up to edges , tight past gate posts and trees, knowing the mower will follow you nicely.



I looked for ages (and I mean ages) on ebay and dropped across one which I got cheaply...I didn't know the make and took a bit of a gamble really...when I researched it I found out they stopped making them 20 years ago....!  So it's at least that old.  It been fine so far but that was luck really, I would seriously consider new as I mentioned.

The mf35 is ideal for the job.