Best Lawn Mower Lift

Something like this? I’m hoping on just walking around and spot treating weeds. PBI/Gordon 652400 Speed Zone Lawn Weed Killer, 20-Ounce - Brown/A https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001PCRKDC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_sglLEb7Q83CTC

 

Loss of suction will be the limiting factor as to how high you can get away with, on cut height. You should be seeing decent stripes, where the blades of grass are being pulled in the direction of mower travel. Once you stop seeing that, you know to come back down with your deck height. Likewise, you should be seeing grass trying to be sucked under the deck, when you stop moving. If you can at least stay in the upper 3”-range, you’re good.

And, yes, stay up on sharpness. The more dull they’re allowed to get, the harder to get them back into shape, as well as, the harder to maintain the proper sharpening angle. I have a Magna-Matic MAG9000. Spendy, but, blades come out perfect.

Yes. That’s the SpeedZone I’ve used. You can mix that up to 2oz/gal.

 

I don’t know about stripes, I want it to look like a pro ball field but it looks like a field in the hood actually it’s looking decent at the moment, waiting on it all to come in which assume will be by end of the week.

 

I build some cool stuff time to time with bits n pieces I have around. The linear slide bearing on this is worth about $450

 

Finally got my site one account approved, but I'm trying to understand the price difference between their fescue and the tractor supply seed. Seems to be quite the delta.

 

You'd be better off to buy the TS seed and take your chances on germination rate. My cost for SiteOne used to be $2/lb. Different areas and different times.

 

So applied 100 pounds of the Lesco I linked to upthread (I asked the gentlemen working the desk what a comparable product would be with pre and post emergents and he wasn't interested in discussing - in his defense, everyone's on edge these days). Anyhow, just wanted to report back that after a nice all morning drizzle the dandelions and assorted other weeds are getting their asses kicked

Also, looked at a couple of the Lesco spreaders while I was there but gave it a shot with my cheapo Scotts and it appeared to do a fine job. Really glad I didn't go the pull behind route as it only took my ~45 minutes to spread across my whole property and was some welcome exercise. I would think you'd need a few acres before a pull behind spreader was worth the trouble.

 

I constantly spew how little it takes to have a nice yard and, now, you’re on the way.

Once you get your lawn rolled a few times in the early-spring, budget spreaders will work, satisfactory. The commercial units are simply easier to push and have better flotation over rough surfaces. And, they just feel nicer to walk behind. Only you can make the justification for buying one.

Again, you want to be walking behind your spreader, monitoring the application.

 

My lawn is coming in very nice as well. Weed spot spray works titties, lawn rolling helped and I did it a 2nd time after the ground was even more saturated with rain (but not soaking wet) and think I found the moisture content sweet spot. Made up my own edger blade that’s about double width of a standard one. That’s just a personal preference as it looks a lot cleaner and well finished to me and the clean look lasts a tad longer. Wasn’t sure if my edger would have enough power to without crawling along but it did ok.

 

Be careful with this, depending on your summer temps. Creating a groove along concrete exposes the grass roots to air. That’ll cause them to dry out and those plants will die. It’s exacerbated in the summer heat. What you’ll notice is the plants along the groove will start lightening up, in color. In extreme cases, it’ll just turn white and die. I’d go back to a single blade, to minimize the groove width and root exposure. And, edge every 2-3 weeks, which will allow the soil to fall back into place, provide cover for the roots, and minimize trauma to the roots.

Concrete is hotter than the earth and stays warm into the evenings. This causes the soil to be excessively dry along it and is very hard on grass. It’s another reason to minimize your edging and plant trauma.

The important thing is you’re not using a string trimmer to try and emulate that look. A string trimmer destroys grass because it’s literally knocking the top off (not actually cutting like a sharp blade), which is why you’ll see no grass around objects or along concrete edges on commercial properties. The commercial hacks string trim everything and the grass dies and weeds move in. If the property is treated, then, dirt borders form around/along everything.

Tip: A walk-behind edger is used only to establish your initial groove in the spring or on a property that’s never been edged. A handheld edger (stick edger in industry slang) is used for maintenance.

 

Thanks for the tip. Being the engineering geek I am I actually read up on edging last year. I modified my edger with an additional stabilizing wheel so that I’m barely below soil level. I also have my sprinklers set up so that they have some over travel / and atop/ start points that ensures they get a lot of moisture. My grass gets plenty of water and speaking of the great water debate. Sprinkler system- once a day? Two smaller cycles a day? Best time? Right now I have 4 zones. Finally have all sprinkler heads replaced, dialed in with correct swing and appropriate orifice size. No idea what they were thinking but they spent a shot ton on landscaping/ sod etc but sprinkler system had all cheap non adjustable heads and regardless it it was a 90, 180 (and they had a couple 360) all had 3.0 orifices. They also used sprinkler system to “water” the garden plants / bushes etc. I’ve put a proper system in to water all those on it’s own zone (I have up to 8 on my system and was able to run the line thankfully) so now I can ensure everything gets even water but did adjust slightly for slope, etc after watching it.

 

Got a guy coming out to take a look at my sprinkler system on Wednesday. I explained the situation to him (have no schematic and more than likely damaged the system when we got a circular driveway installed last year) and he said it'd almost certainly be cheaper to put in a new system than to troubleshoot the old one. He asked about zones and I said my current one has nine zones listed and he quoted a ballpark of $3K to $3.5K, which I was quite surprised by (on the low end).

Anyhow, anything specific I should ask about and/or look out for?

 

Sounds like you have a great handle on your system.

Time, duration, and frequency are highly debatable, for some reason. Some “experts” are totally fooked, though, as I’ve seen systems going at noon or even in the afternoon.

IMO, 3am-5am is a good window. Temps are cool and no sun, so you’ll get good saturation and your money’s worth from the water. When the sun comes up, it’ll start drying the grass, so as to avoid fungi issues.

As for duration, I shoot for what the soil wants. I want enough to saturate the upper couple inches and not be heavily puddling. I want my duration to be my constant (volume I know the area can handle). For setting up, run one zone at a time, monitor puddling, and make a note of the time it takes to do that. Then, you’ll have exact base numbers, to achieve the same result, across every zone. It’ll be your constant.

For frequency, it solely depends on what your property is asking for. If you have areas of full-sun, all day, they may require 2 or 3 times per week, or even more, while shaded areas may only need once per week, or even manually added in as needed. Start at once per week, once the heat arrives, and adjust frequency from there. Let frequency be your primary system adjustment. It keeps things simple.

If you see a zone consistently needing more moisture, bump the zone duration 5min. If your whole yard needs more moisture, bump the frequency. This is simplest way I’ve come up with.

You don’t want the soil surface to constantly be damp or you’ll start having issues. I like shorter duration, more frequency, because it maintains soil moisture level and the grass isn’t receiving wild fluctuations of moisture. Again, you HAVE to be cognizant of fungi. There has to be time for the surface moisture to evaporate. Right now, you shouldn’t be watering, especially with cool temps. Likewise, when you start seeing mornings of heavy dew, turn off the system. Watering, combined with long periods of surface moisture (warm, high humidity, and dew), will result in what’s commonly called “rust”, which is a fungi. The grass blades will develop brownish to blackish striping on the blades. And, the yard will smell of mildew. SiteOne has a lawn treatment for this and it’s crucial to quickly apply it, should you start seeing the least bit of it developing.

I had a property with a massive slope on the backside, facing west, and on a lake (sun reflection). In the summer, I’d normally have the back at 25min, M-W-F. One summer, I pulled it back to 15min, but, went 7 days, because the heat was brutal and we had no appreciable rain for like 7 weeks. I was trying to raise soil moisture content without flooding at the bottom of the slope. Yet, in front of the house, I had a zone at 3min, once per week, all summer. While I kept the front and side yards at M-W-F. There were 7 zones and monitoring the different shades, slopes, and concrete proximities was a challenge.

You’ll just need to monitor your ground, whatever day it is you mow. No need to become a worry wart and have it become a stressor in your life.

Hopefully, they’ll reconsider, once they look at it. It’d be nice to just replace the driveway area and maybe update a few things, without total replacement. Nine zones seems like a large, complex system and disregarding it seems wasteful. And, that quote seems awfully cheap.

The best I can offer is check their referrals by talking to the installer’s referral customers at their properties. Referral customers are usually very candid about the quality of their installation. Walk their property with them. That usually jogs their memory of issues they have had or are having. Plus, it allows you see how well their system is working, by looking at their yard, foliage, and soil. Second, you want the installed products to be easily available, so you can repair the system yourself. It sucks to break a head off and have to wait on meeting up with the installer for a replacement....simple stuff that should’ve been easy to go buy and replace. Third, look over the installer’s plans, making sure the zones make sense for how you know your yard uses/needs water. For instance, you wouldn’t want a shady area on the same zone as a full-sun area. Lastly, I have a peeve about system boxes. I’ve seen 3 single-valve boxes within 2’ of one another. They should’ve been plumbed to a multi-valve box, so it’s consolidated and clean looking. I had one place that had more than a dozen single-valve boxes scattered around the place. That shows a real lack of planning. *facepalm*

 

Great info, pretty sure I’ve been over watering it. I’ll check out the blades in the morning when it’s light out. Sitting in the tree stand now waiting on coyotes to come back around, then boats already hooked up and ready to go so headed to do some casting practice, I mean fishing in the am. Thanks again for the thorough explanation. My big goal for this spring was to make sure my system was applying consistent water where it needed it. I do have a few heads that have a decent amount of area that gets little sun and I already out smaller nozzles in those as I noticed the ground was saturated quickly as it held the mostiture a lot longer than other spots. Being a Broome at times sucks but the reward is often worth it.

 

Agreed on that quote sounding awfully cheap, unless he meant $30K - $35K (which I don't think). That being said, gave it some more thought last night and the system is probably original to the house, which means that it's probably been "ruined" a few times. There was a pool installed in 2007 which takes up a chunk of the backyard (and certainly effed up whatever plumbing was out back), and I've had two 16x10 bases put in (one for a shed and one for my raised garden beds) in addition to the circular driveway.

Methinks that system is toast. I'm a graphic designer by trade (no, not really ) so I tried to show what the property looks like now. The pool as well as anything in red are new additions that prolly toasted whatever plumbing might have been there. The yellow spots are the lawn/landscaping visible from the street which is where I'd want the system to cover. The blue is my backyard (the lot is weird and somewhat trapezoidal following the tree line) which would be a nice to have from an irrigation perspective but not necessary.

 

I suspect your quote will rapidly escalate, once the guy sees the place. I can’t see it being done for <$15K, with two driveways and trying to get water to the other sides of them. I’ve crossed under a 14’ driveway and that was an absolute PITA. But, I understand disregarding the previous system, now.

I wouldn’t skip the backyard. You’ve got a nice area, back there, and you want for it to be as nice as the home and experience of living there. When company comes over, there’s pride in sitting on the deck and looking out over nice grass. A single, simple zone (active as needed) is a worthy investment, especially when it comes time to sell. You’d want the whole property to be tight, as the initial impression will have the biggest impact, behind curb appeal, which this place surely has.

 

I'm curious how big are these lots you guys talk of with only 3-6 zones? My place has 10 zones and is a S. Cal yard so you know it isn't that big. I'm on a 10-12K lot. It is a flag shaped lot, so the entire front is a driveway that goes up to the house, all the concrete for side yard behind the garage stall and then the patio in back is also in concrete.

The grass area is probably only 3-4K sq feet but I have 6 zones just in the grass. When we had it originally installed the grass had one less zone and the coverage wasn't as good as expected so our guy recommended removing some heads off of other zones and lay in an additional zone. Part of that problem may be lower water pressure, as I think we only have about 40-50PSi?

 

A backyard is a must, I don’t want my drunk friends in my front yard. I live in a nice hood for a reason, I try to hide my white trashiness. Not very successful but I try.

 

This is on 7 zones, with a massive pump in the dock storeroom, pushing it uphill and 370’ to the mailbox. And, ~450’ of edging at this joint. Good times.

 

Yeah, we'll see - if it comes back at $15K (which is more inline with what I understood a new system to cost), I'll probably just deal with lugging sprinklers around as needed for the once or twice a year when it's dummy hot and doesn't thunderstorm in the afternoon. After getting off the phone with the dude, I pretty much said $5K is my "no-go" point.

This is the outline of my property (you can see how effed it is - my backyard basically goes halfway into my neighbor's backyard on the right hand side). It's an acre.