When you hear the name Suffolk Punch what comes to mind?
The popular answers probably include a horse and a lawnmower.
To precis the entry in Wikipedia, The Suffolk Punch is an English breed of draught horse that takes the first part of its name from the county of Suffolk and the name Punch from its solid appearance and strength. This could just as well be the description of the Qualcast Suffolk Punch cylinder lawn mower.
It is very common in this day and age to see a lawn being cut with a mower that does not just rely on muscle power alone. Yet it is not so long ago that a home gardener relied on a push cylinder mower. A petrol lawnmower was definitely a novelty, they could be seen in regular use on a bowling green or cricket ground but not for home use. If you did see one it was quite likely to be a Suffolk Punch.
Time has moved on and so has the range of lawn mowers for sale both available and affordable for the home gardener. The first electrically powered models were somewhat cumbersome but the heavy battery has been replaced with cable which is fine for a small garden but can be a nuisance and inconvenience for larger gardens or those with lawns that include trees. How does the cable end up in a knot around the bowl of a tree?
The other big change has been the mower blade and method of cut. The brilliantly innovative scissor action of the cylinder mower has been joined by the single rotary mower blade. Is one method of cutting better than the other? The simple answer is yes but it depends upon your grass and the amount of time you are willing to dedicate to lawn maintenance.
The scissor cutting method of the Suffolk Punch will produce a close cut, neat looking sward with the classic lines that many gardeners desire. However to achieve that look takes a bit more than just mowing and you need to cut more than once a week in the growing season. The rotary cut can also produce a good result, will cope better with rougher grasses and will cut (not recommended) when the grass is not totally dry. So in conclusion, the rotary bladed mower can still produce a satisfactory finish but the best lawn mower to produce that bowling green effect is still the cylinder mower.
The Qualcast Suffolk Punch can be purchased as a petrol mower or electric cylinder mower. Some find the electric model more convenient as no petrol has to be stored and it starts and stops easily. But as previously mentioned, if you have a larger garden with possible obstacles to circumvent the petrol driven model may be the better option for you.
