Husqvarna Rider R16C AWD - Do they mulch as well as Stiga's?!

[dumbbrit]

Howdy all. We had a Stiga Park mulch (110 deck) for a few years but the deck rotted out and couldn't afford another Stiga so followed advice (wish I hadn't now) and bought a Rider R16C AWD. Instantly noticed how cheap it sounds and feels! But it did cut fairly well. Never seemed as good as the Stiga but it has done the job for a year or so now. The deck was starting to rust (wet and salty here, the weather, not me ) so before going through that pain again, I got it off and we rubbed it all down and gave about 4 coats of rust encapsulator and several top coats, aiming to make it last as long as possible.
I am toying with idea of trying to sell it to use money towards a Stiga again. Few reasons:

It doesn't seem to mulch as well
It doesn't allow a longer cut (used to use Stiga on fields for rougher/longer grass and it managed it fine whereas the Husqvarna struggles)
It isn't as nice to drive

One thing I noticed today when using it (my kids usually do the mowing!) is it doesn't mulch very well. I began to wonder if the blades were put back on properly after we spruced up the deck, but having looked at some Husqvarna videos/photos I think the blades are on correctly. Picture below. Yet it doesn't mulch well at all, the blades are razor sharp so I just wonder if these don't mulch as well as Stiga's generally?
Also I notice the speed people drive these Riders at (in YouTube videos etc) is WAY faster than we go with ours, and we get tons of clippings left behind.

Can anyone advise if they think something may be wrong with ours, or whether they are just not that great and I should consider changing back to Stigas? Thanks

 

[bertsmobile1]

Not much you can do
Husqvarna imported a batch of the articulated mowers from Europe where they were made & found they sold well.
The design they inherited from Jonsored when Husky bought them out so for a while there were 2 almost identical models .
Then they had a roll over problem because USA owners refused to read the owners manual
These got withdrawn ( on the QT ) and dumped into Australia where they sold poorly because of the cost .
Husqvarna US then did a cheaper nasty copy which they called the Rider Pro to differentiate between the rubbish US model & the high quality EU model
IT is a finish mower originally designed to cut the very fine European grasses that grow in regions that get a full snow coverage in winter so even the EU models do not cut long grass very well .
The Stiga is made in Italy and was designed to cut heavier thicker grasses that grow around the Med so the deck dynamics are totally different
I have Pro-Riders, Rider Pros , Rider Flex , Jonsoreds & Stigas in my service run .
While the Stigas are head & shoulders better quality that even the EU Husqvarnas , getting parts for them is near impossible down here
If you still have the Stiga then find a boiler maker to repair or fabricate a new deck .

 

[dumbbrit]

Wow, very interesting reading thanks! I am in the UK
Parts for Stiga's aren't too hard to get here. I dont have it any more, sold it but regretted it from the minute I did. What you said makes TOTAL sense, it just doesn't cut 'proper' grass like the Stiga did. The Stiga could almost chop through a farm field, the husky needs a golf course to cut without leaving a trail of clippings and squealing/burning belts!

 

[bertsmobile1]

hey might start to become harder to get as Stiga is part of the Global Garden Products which was a merger between a lot of smaller makers after Husqvarna went on a buying spree so they would not get swallowed up .
Now GGP is based in the EU, actually in Italy and the UK is no longer part of the EU so things might become "interesting "