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K

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Discussion Starter · #1 ·


How the lawn sits today. (6/8/2019)








2019 Fertilizer and Chemical Applications
17 March - Pre-emergent, TalstarP
19 April - PGR
5 May - PGR, CarbonX
16 May - PGR, TalstarP
24 May - PGR

The Beginning
My wife and I decided to settle down in San Antonio after our enlistments both ended in the Air Force. We never got to own a home due to our frequent moves so we splurged a little whenever it came time to buy our first home. Luckily I still had my VA loan available and back in 2012 the interest rates were low and even lower for disabled veterans (2.75% if you're curious). Being our first home my priority wasn't the lawn. The first year I would only mow when it got high and pulled weeds when they got big. Starting in 2014 I started to take a little more care of my lawn but as you can see from the picture, I wasn't doing that great of a job.

2014


In 2015 I met a guy at work who was getting into lawn care. He showed me pictures of what he was able to accomplish with a Fiskers reel mower. I was pretty amazed to say the least. This got me into at least keeping my lawn as pristine as I could with the mower I had (2008 Craftsman rotary). I started to fertilize frequently and sprayed weedkiller every few months. You have to admit I did a pretty good job with that rotary.

2015




Not much changed in 2016. I still had my rotary but I tried to keep the lawn low. This, as you can see, had its issues with scalping. I knew next season I would need to get a reel mower. This was a challenge since lawn care isn't a huge hobby in South Texas. I scoured Craigslist but could never find a good mower at a good price. So I decided to buy new and at the time the Allett Kensington caught my eye with its interchangable cartridges. So I saved up and pulled the trigger and bought one from Super Sod.

2016






I started 2017 off right with a good scalping with my new reel mower but ran into issues immediately with the lawn. I knew that it was in need of a good leveling. So once the grass started taking off, I asked a few of my work buddies to assist me in leveling my lawn. I ordered five yards of mason sand but only used about 3 1/2 yards in the front. The rest I used in the back in a few places.

2017








The leveling paid off well but it still wasn't perfect. I knew next season I would need to do it again. I also ran into some issues in some spots where the grass was struggling. Turned out to be some crappy soil that wouldn't hold water. I did what I could but waited until the following season to address it properly.










While I've been pretty impressed with my Allett it is by no means a perfect reel mower. My biggest complaints are the reel and bedknife adjustment and the soft steel used to manufacture the reel itself. I found myself constantly readjusting the reel and bedknife after every other mow. The six blade reel that came with the mower dulled in a matter of weeks so I had to backlap. This helped a little but I could never get the leading edge to cut paper without making it rub against the bedknife. The ten blade reel cartridge hasn't had this issue...yet. I decided at the end of the year to purchase a greens mower from one of the Week's auctions. So at the begining of 2018 I picked up a Jacbosen Greens King 522A and had it shipped to SA. As of today I love it although it is a beast!

Equipment

Jacobsen Greens King 522A - Rebuild Thread
Allett Kensington 17B w/ Six blade reel, Ten blade reel, Lawn brush, and Verticutter (review coming soon)
Craftsman Rotary Mower
Spyker P40 Spreader
Echo 58v Trimmer w/ Landscape blade and edger attachments
Echo 58v Blower
Chapin 20v Backpack Sprayer w/ DFW wand




Chemicals and Fertilizer
Milorganite
Trin-Pac Select PGR
Prodiamine 65WDG Pre-emergent
Ferrous Ammonium Sulfate
Celsius WG Herbicide
TalstarP Incecticide
 
R

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#3 ·
Looking good this year already. I had a similar journey as far as lawcare. I just hope I can get mine close to looking like yours. Maybe by the end of summer.

Quick question - How do you keep the Bermuda out of the beds? I have a barrier around mine and continue to get a lot of grass growing in the beds. Can I spray with glyophosate?
 
R

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#8 ·
I thought I might have recognized that area. I am somewhat right around the corner. Protranco 211 area.

I am in the highest part of my neighborhood on top of rock. My builder only brought in enough soil to put 2" on top of what my house is on. I hit rock in my back yard if I go further then 3" in some areas. My front is a little better but still pretty bad.
 
F

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#12 ·
Yes, your lawn looks level and has a nice deep green. What else are you adding to your lawn?

Also, post a vid of your echo with that landscape blade attachment. I got the same weed trimmer off craigslist for 150 bucks. How do you like the edger? I am thinking about buying that too.
 
K

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Discussion Starter · #14 ·
Gave the lawn a double cut today with the Jake. I set the groomer a little lower this time and noticed a big difference with the cut. My HOC was a little lower too but now I'm starting to scalp in a few spots. Looks like the yearly leveling project will happen in two weeks.






Also, here's a video of the Maruyama Landscape Blade with an Echo 58v trimmer. I originally had the landscape blade attachment from R&R but a buddy of mine accidentally bought one a Maruyama landscape blade off of Ebay not knowing it wouldn't fit an Echo with a fixed head. Luckily it fit my Echo which has their PAS system so we just swapped. Sorry for the narrow video. I didn't know I had my GoPro setup incorrectly.

 
K

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Discussion Starter · #17 ·
@Fishnugget No, I don't have an extra battery for the trimmer. The blower did come with a battery of its own but it only has have of the lithium cells as the one that came with the trimmer. The trimmer lasts for two front yard trims before it needs a recharge. I could do the whole front and back on one charge.

I snapped a quick pic of all the gear that makes this possible. I felt kind of silly standing on the lawn taking the picture. It was almost like a family portrait.
 
PHXCobra

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#19 ·
Killbuzz said:
@Fishnugget No, I don't have an extra battery for the trimmer. The blower did come with a battery of its own but it only has have of the lithium cells as the one that came with the trimmer. The trimmer lasts for two front yard trims before it needs a recharge. I could do the whole front and back on one charge.

I snapped a quick pic of all the gear that makes this possible. I felt kind of silly standing on the lawn taking the picture. It was almost like a family portrait.
Click to expand...
With your lawn like that I don't think the manufacturers would mind if you snapped individuals of your machines and sent them in. Looks like a set.
 
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