All About Garden Riders

The garden rider occupies high positions in the rating of small garden and agricultural equipment, making a worthy competitor to mini-tractors and walk-behind tractors. The popularity of the units is due to ease of use, work efficiency and versatility.

The garden rider is a self-propelled wheeled unit that combines the functions of a mini tractor and a lawn mower. Its construction consists of a sturdy steel frame, an engine mounted on it, a continuously variable transmission and steering. The rider is equipped with passable pneumatic wheels and is capable of speeds up to 11 km / h. A grass catcher is installed at the rear of the machine, and control levers are located on the operating panel. Grass mowing is carried out by means of sharp knives located in the interbase space.

The riders' grass collector is equipped with an automatic unloading function, which is carried out by means of a hydraulic cylinder.

The power of the units varies from 4 to 20 liters. with., which is quite enough for most agricultural work and garden maintenance. In terms of its operational properties, the rider is slightly inferior to a mini-tractor, but it is much superior to a self-propelled lawn mower. For great opportunities and high functionality, riders are sometimes called garden tractors, which is more than fair, since his work is not limited only to mowing grass and caring for lawns.

The scope of use of riders is quite wide. Thanks to the possibility of using attachments, they are used to mow lawns, golf and football fields, alpine lawns and tennis courts. They mow weeds and thin shrubs, clear the area of ​​fallen leaves, snow and household waste, transport not too heavy loads within the site, loosen the soil and mulch plantings. Thus, in a small farm, the rider copes well with most agrotechnical tasks and quite effectively replaces several types of highly specialized equipment at once.

Garden riders are highly valued by owners of backyards and small farms and are actively purchasing them for personal needs. The demand for units is due to their undeniable advantages over more powerful mini-tractors and miniature lawn mowers.

• The rider occupies an intermediate niche between the above samples of agricultural machinery, possessing the functionality of both types. This makes the unit quite versatile and significantly expands the range of work performed by it.
• Due to its compact size and high maneuverability, the rider deftly maneuvers between beds, bushes and buildings, which a mini-tractor cannot do. Moreover, due to the shortened base and the presence of a rear drive, the unit is able to turn in almost one place, while the tractor needs at least a couple of meters for this.
• The mulching mechanism, which most rider models are equipped with, allows you to process grass, shrubs and thin branches into a small substrate and fertilize the area with it.

• Manufacturing companies try to keep track of consumer requests by releasing a sufficient number of spare parts, which is why, as a rule, there are no difficulties in equipment repair.
• The riders feature a wide grip on the work surface. This is due to the fact that the deck with the knives installed in it has an expanded design and allows you to capture a strip with a width of more than one meter. In addition, several cutting elements can be installed on some models at once, which improves the quality of cutting of the grass and makes the lawn perfectly level.
• Due to the design features, the deck with knives is very conveniently located, which greatly facilitates access to the cutting elements, allowing them to be easily replaced if necessary.

It also notes the need to purchase fuel and the presence of harmful exhaust from gasoline samples. In this respect, gas-powered riders outperform electric lawn mowers that run on battery power.

Garden riders are classified according to three criteria: purpose, size and engine type. On the first basis, there are household, semi-professional and professional models.

• Household units are intended for home use and are used to treat areas up to 4,000 m2. The functionality of such samples is limited to mowing grass and garbage collection, which is quite enough for caring for the territory of country houses and cottages. The power of household models varies from 4 to 7 liters. with., the coverage is 70-90 cm.
• Semi-professional models represent the largest group of riders and are the best option for private backyards. The machines can be aggregated with most attachments, including seeders, harrows and cutters. The power of such devices is 7-10 liters. sec., coverage 80-100 cm.

• Professional riders are designed to handle areas of more than 10,000 m2, and have the ability to transform into a full-fledged snow blower or aerator. The power of the units exceeds 10 liters. with., and in premium models it even reaches 20. This makes the rider quite comparable to a medium-class mini-tractor and allows you to use it when performing earthworks. The choice of attachments for such models is quite large. The optional equipment includes brushes, trolleys, rake-tedders, shovel-blade, sprayer, aerator, seeder and harrow. Coverage 80-120 cm.

By the type of engine, cars are divided into gasoline and battery. The former are distinguished by a more powerful motor and high performance. This allows them to be used as tractors for the transport of goods or used for soil cultivation. The disadvantages include the need to buy gasoline. The latter are equipped with an electrically driven motor and run on a battery. The advantages of this type are the absence of harmful exhaust, low noise load and moderate vibration.

By size, riders are divided into full-size mechanisms and mini-samples. The first are multifunctional units capable of working with many types of attachments. Mini-riders are entry-level machines, a single-blade deck is located between the wheel axles, a grass stripper is often missing, the transmission is represented by a "mechanic" or variator. Attachments are not used with such models.In fact, mini-riders are lawnmowers with an operator's seat, low capacity and low power.

Models with a zero turning radius should be singled out in a separate category. It is quite simple to identify such units: the front rims have a "piano" design, and the steering is represented not by a classic steering wheel, but by two levers. The advantages of the species include high speed and high-quality mowing; among the disadvantages, the impossibility of using attachments is noted. This is due to the fact that the main weight of the machine falls on the rear wheels, and when attaching additional devices, the mower "rears up".

Below is a rating of riders who are most often mentioned in consumer reviews, which means they are the most in demand.

• Semi-professional Swedish model Husqvarna RC318T 9676287-01 equipped with a grass catcher and cutting height adjuster. Engine power is 17 hp. sec., capture width - 112 cm. The weight of the machine is 328 kg, the price is 599,000 rubles.
• Japanese rider Makita PRM0600 intended for domestic use, equipped with a 6 liter engine. with. and weighs 111 kg. The volume of the grass-catcher is 140 l, the working width is 62 cm, the cutting height is 30-75 mm. High reliability and durability of the model are due to the use of high-quality components and control at every stage of production. The rider's price is 100,000 rubles.

• Hungarian model MTD Smart RF 125 equipped with an American 4-stroke gasoline engine with a capacity of 8.4 liters. sec., capture width - 96 cm, mowing height - from 38 to 95 mm. The weight of the unit is 150 kg, the price is 155,000 rubles.

For a detailed review of the STIGA PARK garden rider, see the video below.