@jskierko , what have you been doing? hanging out on another forum? haven't posted in a month! hope you're doing well.
jskierko 2023
(End of season photo 17-Oct-2022- last "full" lawn shot I could find)
Location: Avon, IN (west side of Indianapolis)
Grass: 18k Bewitched Monostand
- Front 8k (2020 Reno)
- Back 10k (6.5k 2021 Reno, 3.5k 2022 Reno)
- Toro GM1600
- Toro Timemaster
- 10-10-10
- 0-0-50
- 46-0-0
- 21-0-0
- Propiconazole
- Azoxystrobin
- Thiophanate Methyl
- Tenacity
- Trimec
- Crossbow
- Dismiss
- Prodiamine
- T-Nex (PGR)
- FEature (Iron)
- Top dress/level to assist with reel mowing experience- back in spring (greatest need), front in fall
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I am definitely still around, just haven't been posting/documenting as much as usual. I just started a new job, so I have been busy with that transition. I also had my reel and bedknife ground, so the GM was out for a few weeks. Just been keeping up with the rotary mowing.
I did get motivated to get back to the reel life this week though. Basically a scalp/HOC reset. I started by mowing with the rotary at 1.25" (which I did have 1 casualty of a shredded belt, but I was able to pick up a new one and swap it out in an hour or so), then reel mowed down to 0.5", which is about as low as I can comfortably go with the high HOC bedknife. Finally I dethatched with the SunJoe in 2 directions at the lowest setting. I did a trial of this "cool season scalp" last season and the area bounced back great and color was better than the rest of the yard (see last pic below).
Plan is to let the front bounce back with some rain in the forecast this weekend. Then maybe later next week repeat the process in the backyard and do some sand leveling. I likely am going to remove about 3-5k of reel mowed areas and just keep them maintained with the rotary. It is nearly impossible to keep up with 18k reel mowed and maintain a good life balance!
Sprayed out some clover with some Crossbow. Pics below are 48 hours after application, showing a ton of wilt.
Test "scalp" area from last year in the background. A clear line shows where I stopped and the color ended up much better in the scalped area. (Edit: found a pic of the area right after I scalped).
Yep, I heard triplex in your future too. 👌Sounds like you need to invest in a tri-plex. At least that's what I'm hearing
Been busy with a lot of "non-mowing" related activities after the scalp down. Redefined/redug all 440 feet of the fence line. Used the Stihl edger to define and clean up the lines a bit and used a spade shovel to dig a down a few inches. I wish my grass was as good at spreading into bare spots as it is at spreading into my mulch beds!
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Got 10 yards of mulch which was maybe about a yard or so short of getting everything done.
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Don't mind all the Poa A. I have a ton around the fence, most likely from unearthing seeds when edging in previous seasons. No plan in place other than trying to stay on top of pre-m. If it is worse next season I may have to go with multiple tenacity rounds to knock it back.
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Last time I did this I rented a dumpster to get rid of all the solid fill. Decided to get crazy (and cheap) this time around and threw all the solid fill behind my fence and ran over it with the SunJoe a couple hundred times to break up all the clumps. Then I went over it with the drag mat to try to smooth it out. It looks rough now, but with the plethora of things growing there it will fill back in in no time.
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Got 10 yards of mulch which was maybe about a yard or so short of getting everything done.
Don't mind all the Poa A. I have a ton around the fence, most likely from unearthing seeds when edging in previous seasons. No plan in place other than trying to stay on top of pre-m. If it is worse next season I may have to go with multiple tenacity rounds to knock it back.
Last time I did this I rented a dumpster to get rid of all the solid fill. Decided to get crazy (and cheap) this time around and threw all the solid fill behind my fence and ran over it with the SunJoe a couple hundred times to break up all the clumps. Then I went over it with the drag mat to try to smooth it out. It looks rough now, but with the plethora of things growing there it will fill back in in no time.
More "non-mowing" stuff. Brought in 5 yards of sand to try to smooth out and fill some low spots in the backyard. First time doing any sort of sand leveling, so I didn't get too crazy.
Moving the sand was honestly the easiest part. I had the whole pile moved off the driveway within 90 minutes. Now the hard part was spreading it out. Wish I would have dumped more, but smaller, piles. It was a pain trying to spread/fan it out. I concentrated the piles in the lowest spots, which was good, but I may have went a bit too heavy in spots. We'll see how it recovers. I did throw down half a pound of N about 48 hours after dropping the sand once I had everything smoothed out in an effort to get it to bounce back faster.
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If time wasn't a factor I just would have let the coonhound have her way with the piles and spread it out by dashing through the piles. She thought it was just a big gym for her!
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Morning after sanding below.
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2nd morning after sanding below. Ran an irrigation cycle after this pic to get some more to settle.
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Pic below is about 48 hours after sanding. Never knew how much work this would be pulling the drag mat around by hand for several hours, using the lawn leveler and push broom to try to uncover some of the more buried areas.
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Moving the sand was honestly the easiest part. I had the whole pile moved off the driveway within 90 minutes. Now the hard part was spreading it out. Wish I would have dumped more, but smaller, piles. It was a pain trying to spread/fan it out. I concentrated the piles in the lowest spots, which was good, but I may have went a bit too heavy in spots. We'll see how it recovers. I did throw down half a pound of N about 48 hours after dropping the sand once I had everything smoothed out in an effort to get it to bounce back faster.
If time wasn't a factor I just would have let the coonhound have her way with the piles and spread it out by dashing through the piles. She thought it was just a big gym for her!
Morning after sanding below.
2nd morning after sanding below. Ran an irrigation cycle after this pic to get some more to settle.
Pic below is about 48 hours after sanding. Never knew how much work this would be pulling the drag mat around by hand for several hours, using the lawn leveler and push broom to try to uncover some of the more buried areas.
More fun with the Timemaster! I have put the machine through the ringer with all the scalping and, honestly, mowing over things I probably shouldn't be mowing over. Well during a cleanup mow after the scalp I heard a loud bang which was actually the 2 blades coming into contact with each other. The pulley that guides the blade synchronization belt shot a ball-bearing and ended up in a place that it is not designed to go (circled below). Didn't take me long to figure out what had happened. Was a $30 replacement part, but not too terrible of a fix. The blades need a really good sharpening after that though, as they are in pretty rough shape.
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Old/shot pulley and bearing with replacement part.
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Old/shot pulley and bearing with replacement part.
Not to hijack, but I recently bought this drag mat to tow around with my dad's atv. I haven't used it yet, but I thought it had a good price / size ratio. I'll be using it next month for my reno.
Yard Tuff 455TBDM ATV UTV 5 x 4.5 Foot Heavy Duty Durable Zinc and Steel Mesh Field Surface Leveling Drag Mat for Manual or Vehicle Assisted Pulling
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Oh okay. This is the one I have. I'm guessing I was told to not use it for my reno last year, because I had topsoil. Also ordering a wider leveling rake. Did it give you any issues, like tearing out existing grass?
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