Castelgarden or Husqvarna?

jim2014

Just bought a house with lawn of about a half acre. The lawn is rectangular with minimal obstacles on it. For the first few years it will be a holiday home so will only be able to cut the grass about once a month. I've been looking at two ride on mowers for about the same price which I really don't want to go much above (around 2100 euro) the Castelgarden XDC140HD and the Husqvarna CT126.
Looking back at old threads both brands are generally well thought of. The Castelgarden is Hydrostatic whereas the Husqvarna gears are manual. I've seen somewhere that the Husqvarna may be a bit more heavy duty? Both use the same B&S engine.
Never owned a ride-on before so I would be grateful for advice if anyone has experience of these mowers (or others at similar price).

Thanks

celticmicky

Both lawnmowers are good machines for the domestic market.

The advantage the Castelgarden has over the equivalent Husqvarna is it has the twin cutting blades which allows the mower to collect the grass through a 'direct chute'.

Something to note with the Husqvarna also is that there is a model change for this year. The old models have been replaced by a smaller range, all with hydrostatic transmission. The new model numbers start with 'TC' instead of the old 'CT' & 'CTH'. The 2015 version of the CTH126 is the TC130.

thadg

I was in the same situation as you and I bought a john deere x155r .

a bit dearer but you wont regret it a 10 year old john deere will still make 1500 euro when you sell it on

NIMAN

celticmicky wrote: »

Both lawnmowers are good machines for the domestic market.

The advantage the Castelgarden has over the equivalent Husqvarna is it has the twin cutting blades which allows the mower to collect the grass through a 'direct chute'.

Something to note with the Husqvarna also is that there is a model change for this year. The old models have been replaced by a smaller range, all with hydrostatic transmission. The new model numbers start with 'TC' instead of the old 'CT' & 'CTH'. The 2015 version of the CTH126 is the TC130.

My old CTH171 has hydrostatic transmission.

jim2014

I can see the logic but the John Deere is a bit over my budget at the moment.
I do like the look of the TC130 but I can see the benefit of the direct chute/twin blades on the Castelgarden being better at picking up grass.
At the end of the day I think it comes down to the smaller twin blades of the Castelgarden against the larger single blade of the Husqvarna. Whichever works better with long grass will be the one to go for.

celticmicky

NIMAN wrote: »

My old CTH171 has hydrostatic transmission.

I meant they have done away with their manual versions altogether this year and are going purely with hydrostatic in their collecting ride ons. In the past they have had a mixture of both Hydro and Geared.

Will either of these mowers deal with grass that's not been cut for a month in the middle of summer. I used to have a 17.5 hp Viking to cut a house I rent once every 2.5 to 3 weeks. If it ran into four weeks due to being busy or bad weather I found it very difficult. What horse power are these mowers?

NIMAN

I have nearly always mulched my grass when cutting, and I find I nearly need to cut once a week it grows that fast. Not sure if mulching speeds up growth or not.

It can be a real pain when we get a wet period. There's been times I have had gaps of 4 weeks, and then you're cutting damp grass, and this isn't ideal for mulching, it tends to work best with dry grass.

jim2014

Deleted User wrote: »

Will either of these mowers deal with grass that's not been cut for a month in the middle of summer. I used to have a 17.5 hp Viking to cut a house I rent once every 2.5 to 3 weeks. If it ran into four weeks due to being busy or bad weather I found it very difficult. What horse power are these mowers?

That is a concern. It is the reason I was looking for a ride-on for only a half acre. The two machines I am looking at are both about 12.5 hp. On the plus side the ground is very flat. I was thinking a single larger blade on the Husqvarna would work better than the smaller twin blades. Maybe I need a rethink and try to get someone to mow it every 2 weeks during the summer - though being out in the sticks that might be difficult. Cannot post links to the machine specs as I am a new user.

hillbloom

Mods I think this is not in the correct section. Would you move it please!!!I looked at those two types today. Trying to make a decision. Either would suit me its just the price. In the first place they had the TC38. List price on the brochure 2,200 Euro & he couldnt take a cent off!! Next place they had the TC 138, list price on brochure 2600 Euro & he would sell it for 2350 Euro. A boardie might help me to decide!!

Supertoucher

The TC138 looks better across the board. It mostly has the same feature set, but it is more power and has a hydrostatic transmission. Practically the only down side I can see is that it is slightly more noisy, but that will be because of the higher powered engine no doubt.

Unless i've missed something, it's a bit of a no-brainer.