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Connors Journal

95K views 442 replies 87 participants last post by  texastanguy 
#1 ·
May 27, 2017 Put down PGR
June 21, 2017 Put down PGR with iron
 
#35 ·
Thanks for the nice comments fellas.

g-man said:
Great video. I have a couple of questions

-Are you mowing every 3 days all season long?
-how is the winter damage at 0.7in?
Yes every three days or more. This week of the 4th I mowed Friday, Monday,Wednesday, Thursday. Secretly I want to mow it tonight (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday). I love to mow and its fun for me. The side and back not show in the video is less often. Maybe 2 times per week.

Winter damage is a reality. Last winter we had record snow amounts. The damage this spring was not to bad but by mid April it seems to pull out just fine. We tend to have issues with voles under the snow pack trenching and tearing up the lawn. Luckily I only has issues with that in the back. I like to get out early as I can when snow is melted and hand rake the lawn. It helps it recover much faster.

We only have a few days in the 90s here where I live. I am at 6000 ft above sea level so its cooler than down in Salt Lake City. 103 today in SLC and like 86 here.
 
#37 ·
Thanks for the reply. I have more questions. I'm trying to make a decision on my HOC in Indy. Are the back and side also at 0.7 since you only mow 2 twice a week?

Do you get winds during the winter? I'm more concern with dry, cold (<20F) winds (20-30mph) that we get in indy during the winter. It tends to dry out the blades. The snowed covered areas actually do pretty good since they are protected.
 
#38 ·
g-man said:
Thanks for the reply. I have more questions. I'm trying to make a decision on my HOC in Indy. Are the back and side also at 0.7 since you only mow 2 twice a week?

Do you get winds during the winter? I'm more concern with dry, cold (<20F) winds (20-30mph) that we get in indy during the winter. It tends to dry out the blades. The snowed covered areas actually do pretty good since they are protected.
I am in a cold climate. Once we get snow cover around Christmas it stays until march april (which I dislike, I do not like winter). Winds yes. Its windy here all the time. I live at the mouth of a canyon and I am in the Rocky Mountains so it blows daily. Not like crazy windy but windy. Some crazy windy breaking trees and other days (most) breezy.

There are a lot of days that high temps in the winter are low 20s and it gets negative temps at night regularly.
 
#39 ·
Ware said:
Hahahaha, the first 20 seconds were awesome - now let me go watch the rest.

ETA: The yard looks fantastic - congrats! You can really tell all your leveling work has paid huge dividends. :thumbup:
I have to agree that the 1st 20 seconds are the best. So rewarding to put that sticker on my mower. I hope Andy sees it.

Yeah the leveling is additive. Its hard work but makes such a big difference. Its just not a one and done deal. Tortoise not Hare type situation.
 
#41 ·
g-man said:
Thanks for the reply. I have more questions. I'm trying to make a decision on my HOC in Indy. Are the back and side also at 0.7 since you only mow 2 twice a week?
Sorry I forgot to answer this one as well.

As for the side, I cut with the reel mower. I cut that at the same height as the front. I just cut it less often. I will cut it tonight.

The back is about 1 time per week since I have been using PGR. The PGR really has helped a lot. I usually mow that with my Honda HHR216. I have modified the blades to mow lower with some steel flat washers. I made a video on that but have not posted it. This get moved around an inch or so with the rotary. i have never measured the bench HOC. With the washers it will go really low but really tears up the lawn if I take it too low. This going low with the rotary mower comment I just made is sure to get some troll comments. I toot my own horn when it comes to my personal lawn.

My wife does not want me to cut with the reel in the back. She wants that area to be hers for the kids to play on. She thinks if I were to mow with the reel back there then I would treat it as something that the kids can not play on. Also there is an area back there that the dogs ruin with urine. I am not going to fight my wife on this one so I just cut it with the rotary lower than most. I will cut it with the reel once every 2 weeks or so. Whenever I feel in the mood.
 
#47 ·
Today I installed new blades on my verticutter overseeder and verticut my front 7500sq ft.

I feel like the turf needs thinning out. Its so incredibly dense. I think this could be contributing to the washboarding I can not seem to shake off.

Going to sand my lawn and overseed in a few weeks.

More thinning out tomorrow.

The washboarding is fairly evident in this picture.



New delta reel blades. Man I'm so glad to have new blades. It compares to the feeling of a freshly sharpened reel or the proverbial hot knife through butter. You get the picture. Pun intended.

 
#48 ·
wardconnor said:
Today I installed new blades on my verticutter overseeder and verticut my front 7500sq ft.

I feel like the turf needs thinning out. Its so incredibly dense. I think this could be contributing to the washboarding I can not seem to shake off.

Going to sand my lawn and overseed in a few weeks.

More thinning out tomorrow.

The washboarding is fairly evident in this picture.



New delta reel blades. Man I'm so glad to have new blades. It compares to the feeling of a freshly sharpened reel or the proverbial hot knife through butter. You get the picture. Pun intended.

What brand of verticut is that WC? Would you attribute the thickness from how well those overseeding a lawn? I've got my eye out for a used one to buy.
 
#49 ·
Ward, I hope you figure out the washboarding. The only times I have seen it is when I mowed too fast or cut off more than I was supposed to. Keep us updated on the results of verticutting. I agree that turf can get too thick over time and can cause problems(mowing in your case but disease is possible if too thick) and why I am a fan of disturbing it by verticutting or aerating.
 
#50 ·
Vols_fan08 said:
What brand of verticut is that WC? Would you attribute the thickness from how well those overseeding a lawn? I've got my eye out for a used one to buy.
Vols... It's a husqvarna "commercial" SD 22 slice seeder with a delta reel with fixed blades. Commercial.... Ha ha thats just vinyl lettering in my opinion.
It has a seed hopper but I hardly ever use it. I mainly like it to verticut and open up canopy.

I have used it to overseed my lawn and yes my lawn is extremely thick. I can't say if I can attribute it to that or mowing low. I do have to admit that I've dumped PRG on this front portion of my lawn. Between the front and side yard I've put down 4-50lb bags of seed in the past 2 fall seasons. I just purchased another 2-50 lb bags of prg that I want to do a little in front and mostly side and back yard.

Pete1313 said:
Ward, I hope you figure out the washboarding. The only times I have seen it is when I mowed too fast or cut off more than I was supposed to. Keep us updated on the results of verticutting. I agree that turf can get too thick over time and can cause problems(mowing in your case but disease is possible if too thick) and why I am a fan of disturbing it by verticutting or aerating.
Thanks Pete. I just can not lower my rpms. There is a good chance that it will help but I can't do it. It would take me so much longer to mow. It already takes long enough with walk behind and front 7500. Let alone the rest of yard which I do reel mow when I feel up to it. Switching to rotary for good is not an option as of now.

Its definitely not be caused by taking off more than I should be at once. I'm mowing like 4 to 5 times a week. Last week I mowed every day that was not labeled Sunday and Tuesday. I mowed today after verticut and did not see washboarding. Maybe I'm on to something. Only reason I didn't mow on Tuesday is because it was a downpour. Got like 2 inches in like 30 minutes. It was kind of fun using a squeegee on the turf. Wife said that was a new all time low.
 
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