"The deal is for contractors looking to ride out the credit crunch and increase profits through grass cutting," said Etesia UK general manager Les Malin

"Operators can buy one of our Hydro 124 124cm ride-on rotaries for an hourly rate equal to less than the price of half a pint of beer.

"That's roughly £1.50 an hour. Buying an AK85 ride-on brushcutter could cost the operator as little as 59p an hour."

His firm has published a new Ready Reckoner to help users plan and cost profitable contracts. The sums are based on a working schedule of 30 hours a week, he said.

And the prices represented a maximum advance of 75% of each machine's purchase price.

"Budgets are likely to be tight so buying through finance makes sense," said Malin, "Regular repayments come out of revenue so capital can be conserved for other uses.

"Our method of calculating the hourly cost of a machine enables users to budget more easily and plan their contracts on a pay-as-you-earn basis."