G'day N1KKO,
I read your intro and I hope we shall get some valuable real world experiences from your personal proving ground you just acquired.

There was mention a couple of years ago on here about some relatively simple and robust SP system they stopped bringing here and was brought here only in dribs and drabs by individual importers under another name.
It had an exposed and ready to access drive.

Don't forget the robust late 1960s Victa self propelled system with rollers on the wheels and well protected drive in a case under the deck.
Sadly they ate getting rare and probably difficult to get spares for. Plus they are only an 18" cut for domestic duties.





Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!