First Mowing

[Ed Kennell 35,809]

Put the new horse to work.  The 310-8 ran great but the 42" SD did leave a small streak.  May need a new set of blades.   I had a little trouble using the clutch and brake pedals.   I'm a hydro guy used to pushing one pedal to go forward and releasing the pedal to go backwards.   But I didn't run over anyone or thing.

 

Then used the 312H to till the bean patch and put up a rabbit fence.

[ebinmaine 63,178]

Excellent work Ed. 

 

 

Lest you forget what the white stuff looks like: 

 

 

 

 

This was just this past Saturday!!

[JoeM 7,643]

Ready set mow!

I wish my place was flat like that, hopping from side to side and hanging on while cutting here is like a Jane Fonda workout!

I did test run the gear-drive that I have up for sale and I am going to say on this hilly terrain the hydro is much better. 

[Brockport Bill 1,390]

hoping to see that green look sometime soon here in the Hudson River Valley

[Retired Wrencher 4,880]

Ed you are blessed with green grass that looks that good this time of year. Looks good to me but I am no expert on mowing. I just like to ride. 

[Mickwhitt 4,153]

I did my first cut last week before rain arrived again.

The grass looks pretty tired so I had a guy come and look at it for me.

He said the soil was compacted and the roots were drowning so it needed aeration.  

Set him on to do the aeration with a machine and treat the weeds etc to see hiw the grass will look after a year. Then decide if it needs replacing. 

[JoeM 7,643]

12 minutes ago, Mickwhitt said:

He said the soil was compacted and the roots were drowning so it needed aeration.

the other day talking to a guy just about aeration. Every spring I would roll my yard to knock down the those winter humps. I was told it was not a good idea because it seals off the night crawler worm holes that naturally aerates the ground. I am going to see what the difference this year without rolling. 

[lynnmor 6,795]

I should be spreading crabgrass preventer right now but the price has at least doubled since last year.  Not gonna happen this year, it would be $810.43 plus gas.

[Tuneup 1,416]

Yeah, the preventer as a granule is costly but a necessary evil in the South. You can always do the old Weed-B-Gone mix and spray.

[lynnmor 6,795]

1 hour ago, Tuneup said:

Yeah, the preventer as a granule is costly but a necessary evil in the South. You can always do the old Weed-B-Gone mix and spray.

That is effective for 3 weeks, the preventer is once and done each year.  

Since my new neighbor is using his front yard for a chicken pen and mule pasture, I may as well give up on appearance.  I should mention the manure piles and puppy mill but it might sound like I am piling on.

[WHGuy413 2,506]

Wish it was time to mow here. Although I don’t get much seat time at home with @WheelHorse_Kid around. Which is fine by me. Some times after mowing for 8 plus hours a day at work I just won’t want to at home. But here’s a picture of my 416 laying down some stripes a few years ago. 

[D_Mac 8,230]

@ebinmaine all ours just melted here in western NY. Hopefully won't see anymore until next year. But you never know. Grass hasn't woke up yet. Soon though. I have 5 garden tractors but mow the lawn with a push mower..... go figure. At least the push mower is Red.

[Ed Kennell 35,809]

7 hours ago, JoeM said:

the other day talking to a guy just about aeration. Every spring I would roll my yard to knock down the those winter humps. I was told it was not a good idea because it seals off the night crawler worm holes that naturally aerates the ground. I am going to see what the difference this year without rolling. 

I also roll the frost bumps Joe.    I do have a good supply of night crawlers though I thin them out for trout bait.    The crawlers are  selling for $0.50 each now.  I should probably sell them and just buy my fish...but what fun would that be?

6 hours ago, lynnmor said:

I should be spreading crabgrass preventer right now but the price has at least doubled since last year.  Not gonna happen this year, it would be $810.43 plus gas.

I used to treat mine with Weed and Feed,   then after shocking the well multiple times and struggling for a couple years with a slime growing in my well water, I consulted with Penn State Ext.    They told me to stop using the W & F as too much nitrogen was leaching into the well feeding the fungus.      I stopped feeding the lawn shocked the well and never had another problem with the well water.          worked for me.

[Wayne0 294]

18 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Excellent work Ed. 

 

 

Lest you forget what the white stuff looks like: 

 

 

 

 

This was just this past Saturday!!

Yup! Same here!

[JoeM 7,643]

58 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

The crawlers are  selling for $0.50 each now.

yikes.....each 

I know my buddy says he paid last year in the spring $6 a dozen and felt good about it. (and the crawlers are smaller, shrink-flation!) lol

 

[ebinmaine 63,178]

1 hour ago, D_Mac said:

I have 5 garden tractors but mow the lawn with a push mower..... go figure. At least the push mower is Red.

 

Very similar here. As far as running driving units, I have two, Trina has three. We share the backhoe. I do have a couple mowing decks that could be used if they were fixed up but our yard is so odd angled we just use an old Snapper push mower that I got from a former co-worker. Great machine.

[Sparky-(Admin) 19,560]

Jealous! 
  Not fond of snow removal but I really enjoy mowing.

[ebinmaine 63,178]

1 hour ago, Sparky said:

Jealous! 
  Not fond of snow removal but I really enjoy mowing.

Ya ain't right Mike. 

 

 

 

I'm actually the total opposite.  

 

 

 

[Beap52 587]

Two of my neighbors hire a lawn service to spray for weeds, fertilizer and what ever they the company spreads/sprays.  NOT ME!  I do it myself.  Three years ago I    proudly sprayed my lawn for weeds.  In a couple of weeks I noticed everything was dying!  Yep, I sprayed with kilz all. It did a good job. Even this year, you can still see the places I missed and the grass in those areas is much fuller.  I've sowed grass seed the past two springs but hot dry summers kept it from thriving.  The grass I planted a few weeks ago is starting to sprout.  Maybe, just maybe this year we will get the rain needed. I was the talk of our subdivision and certainly my neighbors had to have had lawn nightmares!

[Tonytoro416 952]

A lot of those herbicides have a nasty half life so that could be contributing to grass not growing well 

[Tonytoro416 952]

14 hours ago, JoeM said:

the other day talking to a guy just about aeration. Every spring I would roll my yard to knock down the those winter humps. I was told it was not a good idea because it seals off the night crawler worm holes that naturally aerates the ground. I am going to see what the difference this year without rolling. 

We roll yearly here in Indiana and just last week we had a big down pour of rain and there was tons of night crawlers in the yard. Maybe it depends on your soil type but I can’t say I fully agree with that ideal 

[Ed Kennell 35,809]

1 hour ago, Tonytoro416 said:

We roll yearly here in Indiana and just last week we had a big down pour of rain and there was tons of night crawlers in the yard. Maybe it depends on your soil type but I can’t say I fully agree with that ideal 

   I rolled 2 weeks ago, we had rain today and the crawlers were everywhere.  I pulled about $30 worth in 10 minutes.     I think the weed and feed(that I quit using to save my well) were also causing damage to the crawler population.

[JoeM 7,643]

1 hour ago, Ed Kennell said:

we had rain today and the crawlers were everywhere

I know they like the in-ground pool. When I open it in May there are several hundred in the bottom.

And it is so weird, they tend to go right into the bottom drain and of course end up in the pump strainer on start up. Nasty. 

I have a second pump and remove a lot of them and sending that water into the drain. Then top it off. 

 

[squonk 38,940]

Back yard is already needing a cut. Different variety of grass. Was an overgrown mess when we moved in March of 88. No idea what it is. Unless it's real dry I have to mow it twice a week during the summer.  Front lawn is just starting to wake up. I put some Dandy-lyin preventer on it last year. Will prolly do the same this year. 

 

Going to put the deck on HHHOOOWWWAAARRRDDD!!! today and hit the back as soon as it's dry enough. 

[Lee1977 6,219]

I broke down and mower last Saturday and Monday.  They were calling for rain Tuseday and Wensday, I had been putting it off as long as I could, Its a long haul down here once it's started.

We usually end up getting up leafs after Thanks Giving or Christmas, with a lot of grass still growing. 

Edited March 28 by Lee1977