Best Lawn Mower Lift

I can tell you in Canada fertilizer and stuff that used to be just grab n go is a huge PITA now with alL the paperwork. Environmental is one part of it but the terrorist threat is another part as well. We issued to blow up tree stumps on the farm a good bit. Same mix they used in Ok city.

 

SPI-Springfield, IL.

 

I was able to get the rep for SKF a few years ago to get me “access” to be on a separate billing account (my personal CC) with SKF japan. I use them for my fishing reel bearings (ceramic or hybrid) and I do a fair amount of reels for other people so I go through a lot of bearings. They aren’t the cheapest but when doing reels for some guys who ship me brand new $3-400 reels and they make their living bass fishing I’m not cheaping out. Plus all said and done looking at a whopping two xtra $18 a reel over Chinese stuff but I also bought the min order wry or 250 each size which is a decent amount of $ up front.

 

What would be a comparable product that would be a little more family friendly to apply to lawns? I've got three kids 7 and under who love to walk around the lawn so need to keep it safe for them.

 

Rubber mulch my kids aren’t allowed to play on the front lawn. Back not problem but not the front.

 

I always planned 19-0-6 around incoming rain. After a good rain and a couple drying days, it’s not a real big deal, because it’s mostly washed down to the soil and the liquidity is dried out. It stinks for a week or so, though.

No emergent/chemical is healthful. I looked at Scott’s products, but, I’m not familiar with their stuff. They have a “Triple Action” product that is supposedly a fertilizer and pre-/post-emergent all in one. However, it has child warnings on it, as well. I’d plan your application around incoming rain and just be sure the yard is dry, before letting kids out on it. This is no different than an applicator spraying a liquid and putting a sign out telling people to stay off the grass until it’s dry.

The Pro-Mate I previously mentioned is an organic fertilizer, so not harmful to the touch. Momentum dries almost immediately and you’d be spraying that so sparingly it’s a non-issue, as well.

 

If it's only toxic for a few days I think I can live with that - I assumed it was a no-go for the 8-12 weeks you said it was "working" for.

 

No. The dust and wet product are the most harmful, regardless of emergent.

 

Lol, so somehow I needed to order the mulching blades vs the 795526. I'm trying to figure out how I ordered the proper blades last year (unless that's all in my head) and can't figure it out

@ducnut - any recommendations for mulching blades from that list? Would that Gator Mulcher (O396704) work?

 

Again, I can’t recommend a mulching or Gator blade, because you lose lift with both of them. You want a high-lift blade so it stands the grass tall, preparing it for a clean cut, from a sharp blade. High-lift blades will make a huge difference in your lawn’s appearance.

 

I am with Ducnut on the mulching blades, you would think the name implies, it will chop the grass into finer bits but, they dont. they clog the mower and leave clumps. high lift blades, with high blade speed from your mower, will do the best cut/job. Ski

 

Yeah, there's definitely some drawbacks with the mulching blades but unfortunately I'm kind of committed to them as I've installed the kit on my mower. Not even sure I know where the original pieces are to go back to side discharge if I wanted to, but I didn't have much luck when I did (admittedly much of that was probably not changing/sharpening the blades for several years) and there'd be lines of cut grass throughout the yard.

On another note, applied for an online account at Siteone and waiting to hear back. Rough math, based on 4 pounds/1000 feet, I'm thinking I need about 100-120 pounds (I have an acre, but much of it is not grass) of the 19-0-6 below. Also, looks like they don't carry the Proscape at the store by me but this Lesco product looks pretty similar - guessing this would work, yes?



So I apply that ASAP, and then in early mid August I was going to seed with this:



Unfortunately, my store doesn't carry any 18-24-12 so this was the closest sub - I figure it's *probably* close enough, and if not I can always supplement with additional K to even out the ratios - would this be applied immediately (like same day) after seeding or wait a week or two?



And then 2-4 weeks after the seeding/fertilizer has taken hold, I do another 120 pounds of the 19-0-6 (call it mid to late August) and that should take me into next spring?

 

Ok on to the next question. What’s a good spot killer spray for weeds?

 

Post #70 - Momentum.

 

The above post is for entertainment purposes only!

 

Holy cow! You guys are quiet, then, BOOM! All manner of stuff.

Do everything you can to return your mower back to side-discharge and install high-lift blades. No airflow equals no cut quality.

Way back in this thread, or maybe it was another lawn thread, I covered the main reasons people have issues with their lawn mowing. But, I’ll go back through them. Dull blades will not cut anything and only knocks the top off whatever it is, which traumatizes the plant (look for fraying and dead tips of your grass leaves) and discharges unprocessed material. Mowing too short cuts down into the water of the plant and traumatizes the plant. Grass has a crown at the base, a stem above that, and a leaf at the top, which stores the plant’s water source. You want to lightly trim the leaf (no more than 25% of the plant’s total height), when you mow. Don’t scalp! Tall fescue is meant to be tall, so no shorter than 3-3/4” measured at the blade tip, facing forward. People’s yards are usually full of weeds. Weeds harbor more water than grass, which is partly why they survive heat and drought and more readily pack a deck. Get the weeds out of the lawn and cut quality will improve. Don’t mow wet grass. It only packs the deck and doesn’t discharge worth a damn. Don’t mow wet, whether that’s after a rain or early morning dew. Make sure your deck is pitched (1/4” is plenty) and leveled (ensure tires are properly inflated for both) and run the mower at WFO. Higher tip speeds cut more cleanly, generate more lift, and provide better dispersion out the discharge. When shopping mowers, a deeper deck (vertical height) will always cut better, because there’s more deck volume for material and airflow.

That 19-0-6 has a pre-emergent (Dimension), but, no post-emergent (Confront). You want a post-emergent for the longevity. That’s what gets ~3mos out of an application (even more, once weeds are pretty-well cleared out). Ask your SiteOne store about an equivalent with pre- and post-emergents. To be honest, about any fertilizer mix is going to be good for the lawn for general feeding. You just need a “carrier” for the emergents, so don’t get too wrapped up in the fertilizer part of it.

TALL FESCUE; not fine fescue. Fine fescue is shit. The Lesco stuff is good grass seed and they’ll have a tall fescue mix in stock.

Again, ask your SiteOne store for an equivalent to the 18-24-12. They’ll be able to match you up with something close with what they have in stock. Apply it the same day. It’s good for ALL plant material, including flowers and trees.

Do not apply 19-0-6, or an emergent of any kind, after seeding. Wait until the following spring. As I previously mentioned, I’ve had new sprouts all the way into winter and the following spring. Emergents will stop that germination, resulting in the loss of potential from your seed investment. Only spot-spray with Momentum, throughout this fall.

As always, you’re going to be limited to what you can get, locally. These commercial-grade products will work so much better than off-the-shelf products. You don’t need to be super-exact with what you use; I used what I could get, tried, and had great results. I don’t get into soil testing, mineral tracking, or any of that other finite stuff. It’s grass. Just feed it, water it, cut it right, keep the weeds out of it, and you’ll have something to be proud of.

Momentum is a selective; kills everything but grass. Mix at 2oz/gal and absolutely no more than that. It has no residual.

Roundup is a brand-name for glyphosate. Glyphosate is a non-selective, which kills anything that photosynthesises. It has no residual.

*”residual” means longevity or long-lasting. If you look on any product label and see any kind of “salt” listed, that’s going to be your residual ingredient. It can/will plug screens in sprayers, so just be prepared for that, should your sprayer start experiencing flow or spray pattern issues.*

 

Can find Momentum around here but a couple brands with same ingredient ratio so mixing conc I’ll do same ratio as Momentum adjusted to whatever I gets concentration- so it’s the same % of actual stuff as 2oz/ gal. Will that work?

 

If it’s the same ingredient percentages, try 1-1/2oz per gal, as a trial.

For Momentum, 1-1/2oz is what many around here mix at, but, they seem to have issues with clover. I’ve found I can get away with 2oz, without burn, and get rid of stubborn clover. More than that WILL burn, as I’ve learned. With any product I don’t know, I always go conservative, first.

SpeedZone is a product very similar to Momentum, with the same 2oz/gal. However, it lacks an ingredient (starts with a “C”) that kills clover. Depending on your needs, SpeedZone may work. Locally, it’s significantly more costly than Momentum, but, may be less expensive up there.

Momentum is a SiteOne/Lesco product, so you’re only going to find it there.

 

Ok sounds good. I’m limited around here so I’ll just order it online. BTW did a trim yesterday with some new high lift blades guy at my local hardware/ rental store gave me to try. I’ll have to look up the brand but they aren’t cheap. They just started carrying them and he told me to give him some feedback. Put mower 1/2” higher than last time I cut it. Was looking to see if high lift worked good on my mower. Holy crap what a difference. I’m also almost done making my Sharpening jig. It’s out of alum with a bearing slide on it. Also has knob adjust set screws to ensure it’s holding the blade square. Need little project using stuff I had lying around and heck of a lot cheaper than buy one. Need to get a different wheel for my bench grinder that’s less aggressive but I’ll grab on later this week. My goal is to only have to do touch ups and keep them sharp.