I’d agree Norm. I have a very hilly place and end up mowing a decent proportion of the area with my Deutcher because the ride-on can get a bit lairy. Self propelled mowers certainly make the job a lot easier and I don’t think the job could be done in any efficient time period without them.
For cleaning up around trees and other obstacles I find there’s a fine line between adequate manoeuvrability and the convenience of self propulsion. The alloy body full crank Victa Special 160 is light, doesn’t churn dust and it’s very easy to change direction with so those machines get votes from me in that regard. I’m making up a couple in different configurations to see which is better.
If there were a durable, commercial grade, light weight, easily manoeuvred, 2-stroke, self-propelled I’d own one but it seems you can’t have all of that in one package. I’ve seen the Victa 505\550 and they are great but getting one of those at a reasonable price, that hasn’t been worked to death, is very challenging.
