If you have a large lawn, and need to do a lot of hauling or digging, it may be time to move up from a small riding mower to a more powerful lawn tractor. You'll save a great deal of time in mowing your lawn that you can then spend doing something a bit more enjoyable.
Of course, lots of people enjoy the feeling of power that mowing a lawn gives them. Richard Widmark, in an article in Architectural Digest way back in 1991, said, "Mowing is very satisfying. It's all about wanting everything to be neat and under control."
Large lawns take a lot of water, and a lot of fertilizer, to look their best all year round, unless you are careful to choose those types of grasses that don't need a lot of water, and typically don't need a lot of fertilizer. Native grasses are growing in popularity, as opposed to importing "exotics" from other climate regions, and then forcing them to grow where they don't normally grow. However, that's an issue for another time. Let's get back to lawn tractors.
Buying A Lawn Tractor
Treat your purchase of a lawn tractor as you would that of buying a car or any other means of transport. It is after all a major investment. Visit the showrooms of various manufacturers (or look at their sites on the web) to see what kind of features each model has, and what their quality and reliability ratings are from such independent consumer groups as Consumer Reports. If possible, test drive the tractor.
Engines
There are three types of engines on a tractor - air-cooled and liquid-cooled gasoline engines, or liquid-cooled diesel engines. Each one has its advantages...and its attendant costs.
Accessories
The basic cost of a tractor usually does look quite attractive...and then you learn the costs of those add-ons, or accessories. Just like a car, the nicer the accessories, the more expensive the model will turn out to be.
Accessories consist of such things as canopies over the driving cockpit to keep you protected from the sun on hot days, and grass collection bags. Cutting decks are considered accessories. They vary in width. A smaller cutting deck will come standard on the tractor, but you can replace it with a larger deck, for a fee.
Safety
Lawn tractors have a low center of gravity. This makes it possible for them to mow on slopes - there's less chance of them tipping over. However, most accidents with lawn tractors do happen on slopes - no matter how low the center of gravity a steep slope will have the last laugh. The best thing to do is plant ground cover on the slope which will prevent erosion - and yet never need mowing.
Always wear ear protectors and safety glasses and sturdy shoes. Never have a "lawn mower race" - if you like to get some speed out of your tractor do it on a track in a recognized event - not on your own lawn.
Never mow with an audience. Kids may become distracted and run in front or behind you and be hit by flying rocks. Never mow with passengers.
If your mower jams, turn everything off. Clear any jam with a tool - not with your bare hand.
A manual will come with your lawn tractor. Read it, and keep it in a safe place so you can refer to it when needed.
Lawn Tractor Used Parts
Modern country site can diverge from hundred square meters up to more substantial areas. Thus when the site is enlarged it inevitably will take more efforts for you to look after the site. You have two options: carry on to work in an old-fashioned style using a raker, a chopper and a shovel or think about buying very helpful technical equipment as a lawn tractor.
It stands to reason that a yard tractor, even if it is a lawn tractor, requires certain open space for its function. Small holdings may sufficiently cut its efficiency and would make it look like a tiger in the cage. Medium-sized plots would also be unfriendly to a lawn tractor - owing such plots s it is more preferable to use lawn-mowers and mechanical trimmers. But if your land plot is estimated in tens hundred square metres or in hectares, it is more wiser would be to get a tractor or a lawn rider.
All lawn tractors can be divided into three groups - multipurpose, garden and compact:
Multipurpose Tractors
This sort of tractor is used on a site exceeding two hectares: either on farmhouse lands or on professional athletic fields as well as on the farmlands. The word multipurpose means that this is a very powerful tool with lots of various nozzles that go with tractor in a kit form.
Garden Tractors
These are chiefly developed for mowing of grass, for lawn and backyard works and for snow clearance. They also come with a choice of nozzles which allow executing the following works: turning up the soil, disk harrowing, milling, harrowing and other works associated with the soil. Such tractors are suitable for work on land plots of 1-2 hectares.
Lawn Rider
These machines are utilized for grass mowing on the territories not exceeding 1 hectare and for snow clearance. As well they can optionally be equipped with brushes for sweeping paths, containers for fertilizers and chemicals as may be essential in your monthly lawn care procedures.
What mini lawn tractor can carry out for you?
One of the most important functions of a lawn tractor is grass mowing. Thus by means of any tractor it's likely to make an exceptional lawn. To pass up collecting a mowed grass by hand, tractors prepared with particular grass storage tanks with a size up to 300 liters.
Mini lawn tractor could be used as a "ploughman" but it needs to be equipped with the plough. In the autumn this machine effectively copes with fallen leaves with the help of a special nozzle.
Lawn mini-tractor wheels are designed to carry minimal pressure on the grass in order to protect the lawn from ruining. Protectors, in their turn, provide good gripping, therefore, a tractor confidently moves both in mud and on a wet grass.
How to pick out a lawn mini-tractor?
When deciding on a particular lawn mini-tractor model the most important thing that should be taken into consideration is the character of your land plot:
- if it is a big one with lots of knolls, bushes and trees, you'll need a more powerful model with a significant volume of petrol tank in order to keep away refueling every hour or so.
- if your plot is not that big and trees are planted close to each other, you'll need a lawn mini-tractor with the least turning radius which is very helpful when maneuvering between trees.
It's worth mentioning that the more the engine is powerful, the bigger is the number of attached devices your tractor can work with.
Both Mr.andrew Caxton & Mike Silverstone are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Mr.andrew Caxton has sinced written about articles on various topics from mountain bike, Japan Car and Gardening. Andrew Caxton is the editor of http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com . You can find more information and resources on
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