Why do companies use commercial walk behind mowers?
Why do most landscapers use commercial walk behind mowers when the cost of a brand new garden or yard tractor is so much less? I was looking to start up a buisness and I found that a 8 - 10 year old walk behind commercial mower (32-48 inches) is the same price as a brand new tractor? Anybody with lawn mowing buisness experiance an answer would be appreciated. Thanks!
Since its been mentioned a in a few other posts- lets do a little comparison from a few years ago. A John Deere STX 38 had the same engine, same transmission, and same differential as the commercial walk behind from John Deere, however the components inside where NOT the same. So if you used a homeowner rider to do the same as a commercial walker, the rider would wear out faster because it wasn't built to take the abuse, the frame wasn't strong enough either. The commercial walk behind will last a LONG time if you take care of it (grease it /change blades daily, change oil, filters, plugs, etc on a routine basis, it will last quite a few years over a residential rider. BTW- you WILL look more professional when you are making great stripes over the yard and it looks like a professional baseball field when your done.
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US $510.00
burnout with lawnmower doughnuts
I've had many lawnmowers over the years and almost all of them I have found extremely annoying in some way. In our era of nuclear science, space travel you'd think that we'd have mastered the art of lawnmowers - I mean cutting grass shouldn't be hard to do. But if you've ever wrestled with a huge hover mower you'll know we haven't quite mastered it yet but here I try the Bosch Rotak 34.
The Bosch Rotak 34 is the smaller version of the Rotak 40 - the 34 refers to the cutting width of 34 cms so in theory the Bosch 40 should cut about 20% more area in the same time. The lawnmower is fairly simple to put together - fitting the grass box together is a little fiddly but no real problems as its only in a couple of pieces.
It's made almost entirely from plastic but seems fairly sturdy - the main benefit of this of course is the Bosch Rotak 34 is extremely light and easy to manouver. It can easily be picked up with one hand and moved around. The mower is powered by the powerdrive motor - whatever that means but supposedly can manage grass up to 30 cms high - to be honest I could imagine the Bosch 34 could easily manage this although I haven't tested it.
It cuts the lawn beautifully - the Bosch Rotak 34 is such a simple mower to use and the finish is excellent - surprisingly for a rotary mower you even get some reasonable striping although not as good as with a cylinder mower. It cuts really close to the edge thanks to some little combs on the side and the grass box is extremely efficient.
There's very little I can find wrong with the Bosch Rotak 34 - if you're not used to having a power lead attached that can be a bit tricky and the grass level selector is a bit stiff to use. Apart from that it just cuts the grass well and very easily. It's surprisingly good value and you can pick one up for quite a decent price if you shop around - this version is probably best for a smallish lawn although it works so well could probably manage quite a size. If you've got an average lawn or above you'd probably be better trying the Boasch Rotak 40 or the cordless rotak 37 version.
I don't think you'll be disappointed with the Bosch Rotak 34 though.
More information on the mower and up to date prices - read an up to date review here -
Bosch Rotak 34
Joe Simpson
