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Wandering Orange posted:Sounds like your sub-patio is a concrete slab? If so then my next question would be whether it's appropriately sloped away from any structures because it won't drain water like a normal paver base. Okay it might be basically the same if your normal base is some three quarter minus that packs like it should. Yeah I just measured it it's sloped to 1/4-in per foot away from the house. The problem is the concrete on top was too high and against the weep screed of the stucco. So I have a max of 3 in to work with preferably less. edit- I still don't know what we are putting here. FogHelmut fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Aug 18, 2020 |
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Aug 14, 2020 04:07
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I live on a hill above the neighbors to the back. The flat part of my yard ends and then slopes down suddenly towards their yard. Right now, its all dirt as I have been fighting a 4 year battle against their encroaching english ivy. Here is a before picture of the back yard:  This is what it looks like now:  Why are we tearing this all out? The neighbors lament that we are losing our view.  I've had enough of the view. We have no trees and no shade and the concrete is a giant heat sink and reflector towards our house. Its 900 degrees from noon until sunset and the back yard it unusable in the summer, which in southern california is 9 months out of the year. So you can see that wall from the before picture is now gone. It wasn't really a retaining wall, it just separated us from the hill and allowed me to ignore it. But now with it gone, we have an extra 3 feet of yard. I would like to prevent hill erosion and prevent the ivy from proceeding underground into my yard. I can keep it at bay from above. My plan is to lay landscape fabric on the hill, and secure pressure treated 4x4s with rebar, and then plant trees and plants, and then place some kind of groundcover.  How many rebars do I need per 8 ft section of 4x4 to secure it? I'm on the fence between 2 and 3. Is 4 necessary? Am I going to need a gravel base? It's a single pressure treated 4x4, the soil is mostly sand. FogHelmut fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Aug 18, 2020 |
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Aug 18, 2020 17:32
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I'm moving to a 2 acre property shortly, and someone in the gardening thread told me to come ask here about riding mower questions. If there's a better thread send me there please. The sellers threw in a 2019 John Deere E160 lawn tractor with 10 hours or so on it for a pretty good price. I'm pretty confident that this mower will do the mowing that I need from it, but I have some other questions as I'm new to this whole riding mower thing. 1) If I want accessories do I need the John Deere brand stuff? Specifically I will need some kind of bagger for turning my clippings and leaves into delicious compost, and I need a snowclearing solution (the previous owners sold their snow clearing solution to someone else  )2) Regarding snow clearing (Canadian Prairies, so heavy duty, and I absolutely 100% need to be able to bust my SO out of a bad blizzard because she's an essential services person) my sense is that to add a blade to this mower won't cut the mustard. Is this correct? Is the 44 inch snowblower attachment worth a poo poo? Or am I better off just getting a separate snowblower or a front blade for my pickup truck? 3) Regarding baggers, which kind of bagger should I get? I see one that attaches to the back of the mower, and I see one that's like a trailer with a rake. Is one of these better than the other? 4) To what extent can I add other functions to a lawn tractor? Is it, for example, possible to put a front scoop/bucket on a mower like this, short of like rebuilding it entirely?
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Aug 19, 2020 23:25
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CommonShore posted:4) To what extent can I add other functions to a lawn tractor? Is it, for example, possible to put a front scoop/bucket on a mower like this, short of like rebuilding it entirely? I'm gonna start here: No. You aren't going to add a front end loader to that or anything like it. With the amount of snow you're talking about I'm already leaning towards "don't buy that thing" but I have some questions: - How much grass will you be mowing? - What other kind of property maintenance will you need to do? Dirt/stone driveways or paths to maintain? Mulching a significant amount? - How many trees do you have over the grass? This makes a huge difference on the bagger recommendation. For example I have an 18 cubic foot PTO driven VAC that I have to empty like 6 times just to get through my front yard when the leaves are really coming down. - Are you willing to exchange money for time/less effort? If so, how much? - Grades: is your yard hilly or mostly flat? Because I'm thinking SCUT (subcompact utility tractor) with a mid mount mower deck on it and some manner of bagger, but need more info on the amount of leaves. Motronic fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Aug 19, 2020 |
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Aug 19, 2020 23:35
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The yard is pretty much an open area, mostly flat. The trees are essentially a wind break on all 4 exterior edges, so it's about 1.5 acres of mowing. The trees are a mix of elm, boxelder, and ash, all pretty mature. There are a few slopes on the property but nothing too drastic. The current owner just does it all on this mower, but he just mulches everything. As I said I want that sweet compost. I'm responsible for maintaining some gravel driveway, but it's not especially long. It's mostly D shaped and on the corner of the lot. I already have this mower, as I said. It came with the property. Right now I am keeping an eye out for something a tier up, but I'm trying to avoid paying 10-15 thousand dollars, but I will if I have to.
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Aug 19, 2020 23:57
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CommonShore posted:The yard is pretty much an open area, mostly flat. The trees are essentially a wind break on all 4 exterior edges, so it's about 1.5 acres of mowing. The trees are a mix of elm, boxelder, and ash, all pretty mature. There are a few slopes on the property but nothing too drastic. The current owner just does it all on this mower, but he just mulches everything. As I said I want that sweet compost. Okay, that doesn't seem unreasonable then. Those lawn tractors kinda suck to be honest. A baby tractor (SCUT) with a loader and a 3 point hitch/PTO is going to get a lot more work done, but it doesn't sound absolutely necessary in your position. A zero turn mower is going to be far superior for mowing a smaller area like what you're talking about. But yeah, now that two different things. But let's talk about the compost: you sure don't want to be catching all of your grass clippings or you're going to have to do a lot of fertilization/inputs to maintain the lawn. If there are so few leaves that the could be mulched you may not get a ton out of that either, so if that's what you meant by "mulching" you can probably get away with a pretty simple bagger like this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/John-Deere-100-6-5-Bushel-Twin-Bagger-for-48-in-Tractor/50329427 If you have heavy leaves to deal with you're looking at something that is powered. I mentioned my old one:  This is it on a SCUT. It's got a vac powered by the PTO of the tractor. It worked great, but the tractor was underpowered and had a hard time going up hills while pushing the mid PTO for the mower deck and the rear PTO for the bagger. Do not buy a Mahindra SCUT. They are just not good. This was a mistake I obviously made. Once I realized this, I decided to go with a zero turn mower for mowing, and up-size the tractor to a compact. This is a lot more useful to me since I'm doing heavire work with a lot of wooded land and using pallet forks for things. It was super sketchy on a SCUT, they just don't weigh enough for that kind of work. In any case, even though you CAN put a mid mount mower deck on a compact tractor, that just wasn't worth the expense just to re-use the 3 point leaf vac. So I went with a cart that has it's own engine on it:  (excuse the minor state of being disassembled) Picked it up cheap and rusty, needing some welding repairs and new tires and I'm almost done. I think this is going to work out a lot better for me, and it can be pulled by the zero turn mower. So there are some options. What I'm going to actually suggest: you already have the lawn tractor. Stick with it for at least an entire year. See how it works for your particular circumstance. Blow/rake some leaves into a tarp and make your compost pile. Maybe run it over with the mower in circles so the are all blowing to the inside, just to rip them up a bit, then put them in a pile. See how that all works out before spending more money. If it works out for you and all the jobs you need to do, great! Go it an appropriate sized bagger like the one I linked, or a cart if you need more capacity/less dumping. If it doesn't work out, start looking at used SCUTS with mower decks and your choices for attachments open up greatly. For the snow..........how much are we talking/how big of a driveway? Because that tractor probably doesn't weigh enough to push much so you might want to find a used blower like you were talking about for now. Get something cheap in case the entire idea of that lawn tractor doesn't work out. It's going to be a lot more comfortable plowing with a SCUT. And if you've got a lot of it and are willing to spend the money, one with a cab and a heater. You can also get front or rear mount blowers for those if that happens to work out better for your particular situation. Motronic fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Aug 20, 2020 |
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Aug 20, 2020 00:57
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Phone posting so I'll read in greater detail and check the links later but thanks a ton! For the snow I'm now looking into a blade for my pickup, which has a 4wdL drivetrain so it should be able to handle it, and then I'll make a decision based on relative prices. My FIL told us that he thinks the blade is the best bet for the snow removal, if all things are equal.
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Aug 20, 2020 01:50
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Ok actually around to ask follow-up questions now. The bagger you linked is the exact one I was eyeing. You said it wasn't great for leaves? There is also this 42inch tow-behind lawn sweeper I'm seeing that I was wondering about. The price difference isn't significant between the 6 bushel bagger and the lawn sweeper. Any experience with the lawn sweeper? My instinct is that it looks like a hunk of poo poo, but I don't know because I don't have experience with that kind of thing yet. It might have some advantages I don't know about yet. I might pick up one or the other for year 1 just because all of this stuff resells at a pretty good price - there are definitely more trees than I want to rake by hand (we're talking, like a couple hundred mature trees. I'll be able to go count them and take pictures in 13 days. Walking around the grounds and counting and cataloging the trees is already on my to-do list, since another fiasco I'm planning to get into is making boxelder syrup but that's for a different bad post...). I guess I could look for a used blower too. I'm going to figure out the square footage of the driveway right now... Google maps' measurement widget tells me that it's 619 m2 (5500 ft2) of area that I'd need to clear snow from. The main open area that I'll need to mow is roughly 2550 m2 (27,500 f2) with roughly 350m of trees, 2/3 of them deciduous around the perimeter. I think the actual mowable area is larger than that, but that's just the number I got from wacking around on google maps. The garden will be coming out of that, of course. I'll look more into the subcompact and compact tractors. In a lot of cases for me when seeking this sort of thing my biggest obstacle is developing the vocabulary. "Subcompact tractor" and "compact tractor" are giving me far better search results already, since it seems to be the specific term the dealers use. Someone was selling a small cub cadet near me for $12.5k canadian not long ago but I hesitated, partly because I don't have anywhere to put it yet. I'm sure something else will show up on the used market.
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Aug 20, 2020 03:18
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CommonShore posted:Ok actually around to ask follow-up questions now. It's not powered, so it's not gonna be great for anything heavy. It will turn into a clog-o-matic. You got heavy leaves to pick up? Enjoy doing a quarter or less of your deck width at a time. CommonShore posted:There is also this 42inch tow-behind lawn sweeper I'm seeing that I was wondering about. The price difference isn't significant between the 6 bushel bagger and the lawn sweeper. Any experience with the lawn sweeper? My instinct is that it looks like a hunk of poo poo I don't know anything about that one obviously, but every lawn sweep I've ever seen has been a hunk of poo poo. CommonShore posted:I might pick up one or the other for year 1 just because all of this stuff resells at a pretty good price And that's the real deal. If you can buy things and unload them at nearly no loss........why not? Try it out. CommonShore posted:I'll look more into the subcompact and compact tractors. In a lot of cases for me when seeking this sort of thing my biggest obstacle is developing the vocabulary. "Subcompact tractor" and "compact tractor" are giving me far better search results already, since it seems to be the specific term the dealers use Yep, there you go. Glad I could help. Don't rush into buying anything, but know that these things exist, what they are capable of, and how much they cost.....epsecially used. It could end up being just the thing you need. Stay away from off brands, and also stay away from any major brand where you don't have a dealer service center anywhere close. Sometimes you just might need them, whether it's service you can't handle or "dammit, I'm halfway though doing this thing and a belt broke and I don't have a spare." Often this type of service will require them to come pick it up (if you can' move it) and the further away they are the more the transport will cost. For me, that's Kubota (which in my opinion is a solid choice, not just from the equipment I've bought but from decades of running this stuff growing up). I can drive the tractor there (at all 12MPH it goes) inside of 20 minutes if needs be. If I had a Deere, New Holland, or Case dealership nearby I'd be considering any/all of those as well. In my case I especially need the dealership because I got all dumb and overcompensating and bought the luxubarge version of a compact tractor with a cab heat/ac/bluetooth/lol. Motronic fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Aug 20, 2020 |
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Aug 20, 2020 03:30
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Thankfully I'm within trivial distance of Case, New Holland, Kubota, and John Deere dealerships. There are probably more that I'm not thinking of right now. It looks to me as if the smallest Kubota SCUTs are only about $12k new, so that's not too bad at all. All of my inlaws are kubota fans too, though one BIL recommended something else that now I can't remember. We were thinking about buying a New Holland just to troll them - "why did you buy that one?" "We decided we wanted the blue one" 
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Aug 20, 2020 03:48
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Everyone I've talked to who had a subcompact with a loader thinking it's a "do-all" has regrets. Granted, that's not including snow removal cause we don't get that. But my impression is that they're a bit too heavy and cumbersome to mow in a yard that's landscaped, and too light for pushing much dirt with the loader (which has a very limited lift rating). Maybe if you're running a bunch of PTO driven attachments. Seems like a very expensive machine just for snow removal though.
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Aug 20, 2020 14:24
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angryrobots posted:Everyone I've talked to who had a subcompact with a loader thinking it's a "do-all" has regrets. Granted, that's not including snow removal cause we don't get that. But my impression is that they're a bit too heavy and cumbersome to mow in a yard that's landscaped, and too light for pushing much dirt with the loader (which has a very limited lift rating). Noted! My main applications for the (s)CUT are a) snow removal, b) moving dirt, mulch, and compost around, c) tilling.
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Aug 20, 2020 16:01
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angryrobots posted:Everyone I've talked to who had a subcompact with a loader thinking it's a "do-all" has regrets. Granted, that's not including snow removal cause we don't get that. But my impression is that they're a bit too heavy and cumbersome to mow in a yard that's landscaped, and too light for pushing much dirt with the loader (which has a very limited lift rating). This is why I bought the compact and a zero turn after the SCUT. You need to be sure of your use case and whether it will fit. But like everything with tractors, size/money makes them work faster. You gotta figure that compromise out on your own. I just couldn't safely handle trees unless they were cut down a lot, couldn't move dirt unless I was taking partial bucket loads, had to constantly worry about keeping weight on the back for pallet forks, etc. They obviously doesn't mow as well as a zero turn, because nothing short of a walk behind will, so you end up trimming more. So while I COULD get nearly everything done with the SCUT, I'd rather have the bigger machine and do it faster/easier and have a separate mower. I'm doing enough loader work that the fact the Mahindra loader didn't have corner function (raise/lower and curl at the same time) was super annoying for me as someone accustomed to running "real" equipment. Your point about "running a bunch of PTO attachments" is a good one too. In my case, I need a rotary cutter/brush hog as well, so I needed the 3-point. I also use a box blade a lot, and ended up with a 3-point core aerator and wood chipper as well. The single best attachment I have for the new tractor is a grapple. It turns dealing with fallen trees into a video game. CommonShore, this is my long winded way to say again, don't get anything now. Figure out what you need. There's always gonna be something unexpected about a new property. There were plenty with this one, which is why I ended up making the wrong decision the first time around. Also, see if you can get loaners/rentals of what you're seriously considering. Use them for jobs on your property. Make SURE it does what you want in the way you want. And if you've got that many dealerships nearby you probably have a lot of good used inventory for machines and attachments.
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Aug 20, 2020 16:10
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Motronic posted:This is why I bought the compact and a zero turn after the SCUT. You need to be sure of your use case and whether it will fit. But like everything with tractors, size/money makes them work faster. You gotta figure that compromise out on your own. Yeah that's the plan for the tractor for now (except if I get some serious deal that I can't pass up on a used one). I'm on my way to price out a truck blade today though, but that's because I have to go to the place that sells them anyway for another errand. I need to have some kind of big boy snow removal solution together by mid October to be safe in case we get an early blizzard (I've seen 30cm of snow on October 13, though it's rare).
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Aug 20, 2020 16:20
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how much tilling are you planning on doing? about how many hours a week are you planning on using this stuff? if you're planning on moving any earth at all, i would avoid subcompacts - i've never sat on one that didn't feel underpowered no matter what i was doing, and at the smaller end they're glorified ride-on mowers.
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Aug 20, 2020 16:26
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A 50S RAYGUN posted:how much tilling are you planning on doing? about how many hours a week are you planning on using this stuff? The tilling it's hard to say right now but I intend to have a fairly sizeable garden by year 3. For year 1 I have various tillers I can borrow. The year 1 garden is going to be 60 by 60 or so and the actual tilling strategy will depend on my grass killing. Right now the leading candidate is I'm thinking about tarping the area with lumberyard tarps and leaving it totally covered until late May, and then uncovering and tilling it section by section as I prep the beds and plant. Good to know on the front scoop. I just want to be able to mechanize the shoveling of wood chips manure etc.
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Aug 20, 2020 16:37
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Motronic posted:
Yeah. Mine usually stays on the tractor, except for putting out hay bales. It is endlessly handy. 
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Aug 20, 2020 16:44
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angryrobots posted:Yeah. Mine usually stays on the tractor, except for putting out hay bales. It is endlessly handy. Where it your 3rd function valve control on that? Doesn't look like it's on the loader stick, but that might just be the picture.
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Aug 20, 2020 17:44
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looks like there might be two buttons on the side of the housing? or a toggle up above it? for our big spades we have twelve valves we need to control, so i'm used to looking all over for that stuff
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Aug 20, 2020 18:20
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Motronic posted:Where it your 3rd function valve control on that? Doesn't look like it's on the loader stick, but that might just be the picture. It's electric over hydraulic. There's a button on the joystick which controls a diverter valve on the loader curl/dump lines. Press and hold to swap the diverter. Curl/dump becomes open/close. So you can't curl and operate the grab at exactly the same time, but switching back and forth is near instant. I'm pretty happy with the setup, keeps everything one handed without having to come off the joystick.  
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Aug 20, 2020 19:21
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angryrobots posted:It's electric over hydraulic. There's a button on the joystick which controls a diverter valve on the loader curl/dump lines. Press and hold to swap the diverter. Curl/dump becomes open/close. So you can't curl and operate the grab at exactly the same time, but switching back and forth is near instant. I'm pretty happy with the setup, keeps everything one handed without having to come off the joystick. Oh, nice. I haven't see a setup like that. Mine is open/close buttond on the side - it's an ovemolded button thing that fits over the stock stick:  I kinda like the idea of a single button and using dump/curl. That's the circuit this diverter valve is on anyway, so it's not like you could open/dump at the same time anyway. The only real issue I have with it is that you have to shut the tractor off and turn it back on to accessory to dump all the pressure out of all of the lines (this one is electric over hydraulic as well). Otherwise good luck hooking up the hydraulics. I really should swap these over to some of the nicer flat faced connectors the self bleed. Because even with dumping the pressure off the tractors, getting those hydraulics hooked back up can be painful if there was a huge temp change between disconnecting them and hooking them back up again.
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Aug 20, 2020 19:32
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So I did some quick research, and sure enough none of the kits come with anything that looked like mine. I finally found a guy who added exactly the same thing to his Kubota. Apparently it's a standard aftermarket automotive shift knob with thumb button for nitrous, which you can get with any size thread adapter.
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Aug 20, 2020 20:12
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angryrobots posted:So I did some quick research, and sure enough none of the kits come with anything that looked like mine. I finally found a guy who added exactly the same thing to his Kubota. lol, that's pretty awesome. That would explain my never seeing something like that before. I really think it might just be a better way of controlling it rather than separate buttons.
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Aug 20, 2020 20:14
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i'm not very handy when it comes to cars but i had no idea that wasn't like, a thing that they made up for fast and the furious.
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Aug 21, 2020 01:12
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How do we feel about push mowers? Mine was a hand me down that was on the fritz when we got it and it seems like it is giving up the ghost. We don't have enough yard that I feel like a self propelled is totally needed. A lot of sites seem to like the Honda NeXite line, having a bag wold be nice but not totally needed, and I don't specifically need anythign fancy except maybe an adjustable deck because our gras doesnt like being cut super short.
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Aug 23, 2020 01:45
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KKKLIP ART posted:How do we feel about push mowers? Mine was a hand me down that was on the fritz when we got it and it seems like it is giving up the ghost. We don't have enough yard that I feel like a self propelled is totally needed. A lot of sites seem to like the Honda NeXite line, having a bag wold be nice but not totally needed, and I don't specifically need anythign fancy except maybe an adjustable deck because our gras doesnt like being cut super short. You should be cutting at the same height all the time, and never more than 1/3 of the total height. Every deck is adjustable in some sense, but it's a set it once and leave it thing. Probably 2 1/2" as an average rule, but it depends on the variety of grass. Most people seem to cut too short, which leads to distressed grass that is not very low water tolerant and weeds creeping in to fill the gaps. Anything with a Honda on it is going to generally be good. Why do you want to bag your lawn? What will you do with the clippings? Or is this just for mulching leaves that you are going to compost? (first thing bad, second thing good)
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Aug 23, 2020 05:22
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We are going to set up compost at some point in the near future. Right now our dinky mower is just a side exit jobber. I wouldn’t mind having a bag with a mulching function. Am I understanding that just letting stuff sit in the lawn from a side exit isn’t really good for the lawn?
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Aug 23, 2020 13:17
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Side discharge bad, mulching good. Side discharge is good for really tall grass that would bog up the deck, or if you are going to do multiple passes. I'll amend what Motronic said about height: Height reduction in the winter can be good if you get a lot of snow as it can reduce snow mold problems. Raising the height in the summer can be good to help maintain cool soil. Raising the height can be useful if you let the grass get a little too long -- raise it and mow, then mow again 2-3 days later at normal height. Lowering the height to the minimum your grass likes (2-2.5 for fescues) before fall overseeding or dethatching is good. And bagging: If the grass is really long/wet (don't mow wet, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do) bagging can be much better. If you are planning to overseed, bag for a few weeks beforehand so your seed can get more contact with the soil. Likewise, bag for the first few mows after seeding. If you are ever having fungus issues (Transition Zone I see u) bagging until it clears up can be helpful. So I would say they are both very useful options to have, but neither is something you'd need to mess with most of the time. For what it's worth I mow at 3.5" (up to 4" if I've let it get too long), working down to 2.5 if I am overseeding (then back to 3.5"), and down to 2-2.5" for my last few mows in the winter. I mulch my clippings and bag/compost my leaves off-site.
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Aug 23, 2020 15:19
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We have zoysia which seems to be happy at about 2 inches. I kinda want to just get the Honda I see recommend everywhere. Does mulching and side throw. We are having a lot of mushrooms pop up which is weird but maybe makes more sense now. We also are going to reseed our back yard because the previous owners for sure only cared about the quality and spread of grass in the front.
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Aug 23, 2020 15:28
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This science of when to bag/mulch/throw intrigues me. If I want to maximize the clippings I'm getting for my garden compost heap, but also to minimize the likelihood of damaging the general grass health (mostly so that weeds don't get into the grass to then get into my garden) how often should I do each?
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Aug 23, 2020 15:40
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KKKLIP ART posted:We have zoysia which seems to be happy at about 2 inches. I kinda want to just get the Honda I see recommend everywhere. Does mulching and side throw. We are having a lot of mushrooms pop up which is weird but maybe makes more sense now. We also are going to reseed our back yard because the previous owners for sure only cared about the quality and spread of grass in the front. ~LiViN tHe DrEaM~ Then ignore everything I said about heights and timing. That said, you may want to do your first few mows in the spring at 1" to remove dead material from the winter, then raise it. The best height depends on a few things: 1) humidity/watering/rainfall. Shorter grass = hotter soil surface = faster evaporation. That said, Zoysia is fine with hot soil and is more drought tolerant, so probably not a big factor 2) surface quality. If you are mowing at 1" and the ground is uneven, you will scalp on the bumps. This is why people who like to mow "reel low" go to so much effort dragging in sand to rake out and level the grade 3) mow frequency. The 1/3 rule is still in effect, so shorter grass = more frequent mowing. At 1" you'd want to mow when the average height hits 1.5", while at 2" you could wait until it hits a towering 3". CommonShore posted:This science of when to bag/mulch/throw intrigues me. If I want to maximize the clippings I'm getting for my garden compost heap, but also to minimize the likelihood of damaging the general grass health (mostly so that weeds don't get into the grass to then get into my garden) how often should I do each? So first, I'm assuming no herbicide on the lawn. If you use a herbicide for weeds you will want to mulch or trash the clippings for the next few weeks after. Beyond that, my feeling is this: you aren't going to hurt your grass by not mulching clippings. You may lose the benefits of mulch (weeds, water retention) and may need to compensate for not returning that material to the soil (adding organic matter and nutrients) but that can be easily done. And if you are 100% composting those clippings instead and using them elsewhere in the garden then I'd personally argue you are doing the same amount of good by composting those materials more thoroughly and adding them elsewhere while avoiding the potential risks to the lawn from mulching. If you had the capacity to 100% collect, compost, and actually use all your clippings I would totally do that. But chances are you probably don't have that capacity/demand (at least I don't). And in general the mulched clippings ARE good, provided they aren't contributing to some other problem. These problems can be thatch buildup and depriving the underlying soil of oxygen and nutrients (if you are cutting very long grass), contributing to fungal disease (if disease or risk conditions are present), or covering the soil when you need seed-soil contact. So my rule of thumb is to generally mulch all the time, unless I want the clippings elsewhere. 1) bag when the grass gets too long (like I've been too busy/away). It won't break down as quickly and can mat down between the grass, contributing to thatch. 2) Bag when I have to mow damp/dewey grass, because it will stick together and clump on top. 3) Bag for a few weeks before and after overseeding. 4) Now since the clippings break down faster in the heat, if you want to generate more compost fodder another option is to bag from March-May (highest risk of spring fungus), mulch June-September (will break down in the summer), and then bag October-December (clippings won't break down much over the winter, so this avoids adding dead material and also adds some green content to complement any tree leaves you might be composting as well). Keep in mind this is not at all strictly necessary -- I think the general rule of "mulching your clippings is good for the soil" is fine; however, if you want to be a little more involved then I think these added factors are worth thinking about. Another thing to consider is dethatching. This can be very good for the grass, and the thatch you pull up makes for AMAZING compost fodder. You will generate a shocking amount of it.
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Aug 23, 2020 18:09
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CommonShore posted:This science of when to bag/mulch/throw intrigues me. If I want to maximize the clippings I'm getting for my garden compost heap, but also to minimize the likelihood of damaging the general grass health (mostly so that weeds don't get into the grass to then get into my garden) how often should I do each? Or here's a less long-winded answer: bag whenever you feel like adding a pile of green material to your compost. You won't hurt the grass by doing so. This could be every other week, once a month, or just whenever you've got space.
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Aug 23, 2020 18:11
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While you guys are talking lawns we have a little patch out front maybe 6'x8' that my wife wants to patio over, it's got flower borders on 3 sides and the front of the house at the fourth. I'm reluctant to slab over it because I believe the grass keeps the heat down in summer but I wondered what super low maintenance alternatives are around? Mint, camomile etc? It gets direct sun half the day and some foot traffic.
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Aug 23, 2020 23:08
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cakesmith handyman posted:While you guys are talking lawns we have a little patch out front maybe 6'x8' that my wife wants to patio over, it's got flower borders on 3 sides and the front of the house at the fourth. I'm reluctant to slab over it because I believe the grass keeps the heat down in summer but I wondered what super low maintenance alternatives are around? Mint, camomile etc? It gets direct sun half the day and some foot traffic. Micro clover, Irish Moss, Creeping Thyme are all good alternatives. I'm actually looking for something similar for an awkward side patch of my yard.
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Aug 24, 2020 00:59
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Hubis posted:~LiViN tHe DrEaM~ You are much more detailed with what you will do with grass than I am, and I appreciate the additional insight. But I was NOT expecting zoysia which (I know I'm wrong) should always be a call out because it's a special snowflake.
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Aug 24, 2020 01:29
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if you have zoysia how often are you mowing? it shouldn't be often, surely?
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Aug 24, 2020 03:16
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Putting this here to share my pain. One of the previous owners of my property owned a dump truck, and was a big proponent of dumping all sorts of poo poo in the woods. The same woods that have a trail, that would be a real nice walk except for the piles of poo poo by them. I've been slowly working on it over the past couple years, already moving what was probably near a 14 yard dump load of asphalt shingles, house garbage, rotten wood, etc that was in a very large pile. About a month ago I started on two piles of bricks. Little did I know that these piles extended in some places two or three layers into the ground. They are a mix of brand new bricks (some even match the house) with busted bricks and blocks no good for anything but fill. I have no plans to keep piles of junk, so I hand sorted them and put the broken stuff in my 2 yd dumpster, one loader bucket per week. The result of my madness. Some like the cinder block will get used for *farm things* and maybe I'll use some for a fire pit. No idea what to do with the rest.  As a side note, something I've noticed is that every home owner wishes they had heavy equipment to play with. I hear it every time we pull up somewhere at work with an excavator or whatever ("I need to borrow that for about a week!  "). But in reality, it seems like when someone actually has unlimited access to equipment they use it to make a big drat mess. 
angryrobots fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Aug 24, 2020 |
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Aug 24, 2020 03:45
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cakesmith handyman posted:While you guys are talking lawns we have a little patch out front maybe 6'x8' that my wife wants to patio over, it's got flower borders on 3 sides and the front of the house at the fourth. I'm reluctant to slab over it because I believe the grass keeps the heat down in summer but I wondered what super low maintenance alternatives are around? Mint, camomile etc? It gets direct sun half the day and some foot traffic. I went out with a laser thermometer the other day. The concrete was 125 F. The grass was 92 - same as ambient temperature. Both in full afternoon sun.
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Aug 24, 2020 04:55
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CommonShore posted:Noted! My main applications for the (s)CUT are a) snow removal, b) moving dirt, mulch, and compost around, c) tilling. Bit late, but I'll throw in my $0.02cdn anyway. I love me some SCUTs. I'd echo Motronic's advice - take a year to use the lawn tractor and watch the local market while deciding if you want a SCUT or CUT. Snow: The truck mounted blade is probably the most reliable option for clearing snow, as long as you have a good set of chains and weight to put in the box. Our snow out here on the coast is usually wetter than prairie snow. My SCUT has a blade, liquid filled tires, wheel weights and works fine unless the snow is too deep (maybe 1/2 - 2/3 of the ~12" blade depth) or too wet and the wheels start spinning without chains on the slopes. Not sure what type of snow they have in Maine, but this guy has spent the last 10 years keeping his 8 acre farm clear with SCUTs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9CndlOCays Front End Loaders: As far as moving dirt, mulch, and compost around - it helps to think of SCUT FELs as self-loading wheelbarrows. They're fine as long as you're not in a hurry. They will dig, but you need to add weight to the back end and take small bites. Living in an easy to dig gravel pit helps. For the few occasions I need to dig deeper and faster I rent a skid steer loader or mini excavator. I usually end up back filling with the SCUT once I'm off the meter. Making two trips instead of one to dump bedding material into a horse stall is neither here nor there, especially since I couldn't get a CUT into the stall anyway. Same for moving compost from the manure pile to the garden. Doesn't happen often, I have the time, and it's a tight squeeze for anything bigger than the SCUT. The trade off for me between a SCUT and CUT is maneuverability in the forest and orchard. I can get my SCUTs in and out of places my neighbour with his CUT can't get into. When it comes to moving material in the FEL though he gets poo poo done a lot faster. If my property was as cleared as his I'd feel differently, but we're still heavily treed. I have to work on logs either where they fall or buck them smaller and skid them out, there's no way I can pick them up and trundle them across the yard like he can. Rototilling: SCUTs are more common on the second hand market in the Prairies than they are on the coast but you still might have a problem finding a rototiller for your model. SCUTs will probably use a relatively hard to find Category 0 three point hitch to attach the tiller to the tractor, and might have a non-standard way to get power from the the tractor to the tiller. CUTs are far more likely to be equipped with a standard Category 1 three point hitch and a 600 rpm rear PTO. Much easier to mix and match accessories with one of these than say a John Deere 318 with a 2000 rpm PTO. Ideally you'd buy a SCUT with accessories otherwise you could end up like one person I know, buy an ancient JD 400 and spend the next three years looking for accessories so you can do work with it. Again, a good reason to watch the market for a while. Collecting leaves: I picked up a lawn vac similar to the one Motronic has at a farm auction. It rarely plugs up even with wet maple leaves. The downside is maneuvering it around the orchard. It would probably help if your orchard is laid out in neat rows rather than the more "organic" layout of mine. A more compact collector like the one you listed would be awesome if it didn't plug, but without the secondary blower I have my doubts. Worst case would have you mulching the leaves without the collector, then try going back and collecting the mulch once (if) it's dried a bit. Before I got the collector I would just mow the leaves so they'd disappear as mulch during the winter. I bought my JD 420 garden tractor (with blade, mid mount mower, and rototiller) from a guy who owned two CUTs and a Bobcat skid steer loader. He was pretty well covered for pushing dirt on his acreage so he bought a ride-on lawnmower similar to yours from Home Depot to cut the grass and sold the 420.
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Aug 24, 2020 05:19
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If I wanted a tractor, I'd probably be looking for a Massey Ferguson 35 / 65 or even 165 if I wanted to use it in the woods. I think that's what most people here do if they want a tractor, get an old, cheap reliable model of tractor. I hardly ever see small modern tractors like that. Can't remember if I have ever seen one in real life. The janitor at my kids day care uses a lawnmower with snowblade though. edit: This was meant in a "how things are different in different parts of the world" way. His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 09:08 on Aug 24, 2020 |
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Aug 24, 2020 06:09
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