A petrol turf cutter takes the lawn up in clean even strips at a set depth, ready to roll and move. It is the first job before a new lawn, a patio, a drive or a garden room base, and it is the difference between a morning and a weekend.
What it really buys you is a level start. Lifting turf by hand takes it off at whatever depth the spade happened to go, which leaves you fixing the level afterwards. A cutter takes the same depth the whole way across, anywhere between 10 and 35mm.
Getting it to the job
It needs 540mm at the narrowest point, which gets through nearly any gate and down most entries. Access is rarely the problem with this one.
It is heavy for its size and it is self propelled rather than something you carry. Loading it into a car is a two person job and a ramp is better than muscle.
The numbers
Turf Cutter specification
Cut width0mm
Depth0to 35 mm
PowerPetrol
Against a side gate
540mmSide gate 900mm
360mm to spare through a standard timber side gate.
Measure the tightest point of the whole route in, not just the gate. The turf cutter is one of the machines it fits past.
The rest of the sheet
Hire type
Dry hire
Getting it there
Collect or delivered
Ring the yard if a figure matters to your job and we will check it against the machine before you travel.
What comes with it
Serviced and tested between every hire
Fuelled and ready to go, nothing else needed
Delivery to site, or collect it from the Etruria yard
Off hire from the day you ring, not the day it comes back
What you will need
A lawn that has been cut short first
Somewhere for the lifted turf to go, and something to move it with
Boots, gloves and ear protection
Dry hireCollect or deliveredServiced between hiresSame day when we have it
What people hire it for
The jobs it actually gets used on
Six of the jobs the turf cutter goes out on most. Keep scrolling and they stack.
01/ 06
Before a new lawn
Taking the old one off cleanly so the new turf goes down on a level, prepared base rather than on top of the problem.
02/ 06
Before a patio or a drive
Stripping the grass first so you are digging out to a known depth rather than guessing at it.
03/ 06
Artificial grass
Artificial turf wants a properly prepared base, and that starts with lifting everything that is there now.
04/ 06
Garden room and shed bases
A clean stripped rectangle to work from, which makes setting out the base far easier.
05/ 06
New borders and beds
Cutting a clean edge and lifting the shape out in one go rather than chasing a wandering line with a spade.
06/ 06
Repairing a churned lawn
Lifting damaged sections cleanly so you can make good and re-lay rather than patch over.
How it works
Hiring the turf cutter start to finish
01
Ring, message or send the details
Tell us the job and the dates. We will say whether it is in, when it is back if it is out, and whether it is the right machine for what you are doing.
02
Collect it, or we run it out
Pick it up from the yard on Brick Kiln Lane in Etruria, or we will deliver it to site. If you ring early enough and it is free, it can often go out the same day.
03
Ring when you are done
We off hire it from the day you ring rather than the day it happens to come back, and collect it from site if we delivered it.
Before you book
What you need to know
Turf Cutter, in the yard on Brick Kiln Lane, Etruria.
01
Cut the grass first
Short grass lets the machine see what it is doing and keeps the strips even. Long grass wraps and drags.
02
Damp is best, soaked is not
Slightly moist soil cuts cleanly and holds the strip together. Bone dry crumbles and soaking wet tears, so time it if you can.
03
Lifted turf is heavier than it looks
A rolled strip of wet turf is a serious weight and there will be a lot of them. Get a dumper or a barrow sorted before you start, not after.
04
Find the obstacles first
Sprinkler lines, cable, shallow pipe and tree roots all stop it dead. Walk the lawn and mark what you know about.
05
Straight lines beat clever ones
Work in parallel runs the length of the lawn. Curves and short runs waste more time than they save.
06
It is a vibrating machine
Gloves, boots and ear protection, and break the day up rather than doing the whole lawn in one go.
From the Google profile
Used Elite for the first time after using other companies before, wow what a breath of fresh air, prompt replies to messages, Cameron dropped the micro digger off and what a credit to the company he is…
Neil Gerrard · Micro digger
Fantastic experience with Elite Plant Hire! I hired a mini digger and a tracked dumper, and both were top-quality, modern, and reliable machines…
The yard is on Brick Kiln Lane in Etruria, a couple of minutes off the A500, so most of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme is a short run either way. Collect it yourself if you have something that can carry or tow it, or we will deliver it to site and collect it when you are finished.
Between 10 and 35mm, and it is adjustable. Shallower keeps the strips together for relaying, deeper takes more root with it if the lawn is coming out for good.
If it comes up in good strips and goes back down quickly, yes. It does not keep. Stacked turf heats up and dies in a couple of days, so have somewhere ready for it.
It needs 540mm, so almost certainly. Measure the narrowest point of the route rather than the gate opening if the way in is an older entry.
For anything bigger than a small lawn it pays for itself. Wet turf is heavy, there is more of it than people expect, and barrowing it is what turns a morning into a day.
Get it booked
Tell us the job. We will tell you the machine.
Ring the yard and you get a straight answer on whether the turf cutter is available, when it is back if it is out on hire, and whether it is the right thing for what you are doing. If it is not, we will say so.
