I have not earned the right to be the first to comment on this

 

I'm just left with even more questions

 

WoW!! That's going to be one big task John. Looking forward to this one. :shock: a lot. :thumbup:

 

Personally, I'm a Toro fan even though my current Arsenal includes none 😂. JD is great, you'll love it.

 

I think you need to update your lawn size! Loved the video! Congrats on the new place! You already know what I think about JD and that machine!

 

Wow! That is awesome!!! This will be a great adventure to follow. Congrats on the homestead upgrade!!

 

Congrats! Looks like you gained a little more elbow room. Excited to see what's to come!

 

@Getting Fat @testwerke @jabopy @Gilley11 @Pete1313 @717driver @AZChemist

Thanks guys. We are planning to build a house on a little more land soon. The new lawn is about 3.5 acres in a rural setting with some larger tracts on all sides. Most of the area was owned by an old cattle and hay farmer up until about 20 years ago.



We are told he sprigged it with coastal bermuda grass back in the day. I see a lot of that, but it appears to also have been overseeded with perennial rye at some point. I'm not sure why - maybe to increase yield on the first cut. Anyway, it has just been cut for hay for a long long time, so transitioning it to a lawn is going to be an interesting journey. I'm really not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I will say ~3.5 acres of sod is probably not going to be in the budget - same with irrigation. I hope you'll follow along, while joining me in managing our expectations. :lol:

Modern Coastal Bermuda grass is a result of an extensive breeding program by Dr. Glenn Burton, a U.S. Department of Agriculture plant geneticist and grass breeder at the University of Georgia Coastal Plains Experiment Station at Tifton.

Coastal, the most widely planted variety in Texas, is a highly productive Bermuda grass producing both rhizomes and stolons and is adapted to a wide range of climatic conditions, Corriher-Olson said. The variety has exceptional longevity, readily responds to fertilizer and irrigation, and possesses better drought tolerance than common Bermuda grass. Coastal is also tolerant of continuous grazing or frequent and close defoliation.

 

The mower is a 2013 John Deere 8800 TerrainCut with about 1,500 hours. I purchased it at the Weeks Turf Auction in Kansas a couple months ago. Committing to reel mowing that much area right out of the gate is not something I was comfortable with, so my choices were narrowed down to a nice zero turn or something like this JD rough mower. I am not mowing low yet, but the (5) independently floating 21" decks was appealing to me. I think it will handle undulations and a lower HOC better than a zero turn without scalping. It's a beast - it's 4wd with like a 42-43hp Yanmar diesel engine. Everything is hydraulically-driven.

 

Congrats on the new property and mower! :thumbup:

 

Follow along!! Try an stop us!🤓 How far from where you are now is it? Going to be fun building from scratch, good luck John.👍

 

Committing to reel mowing that much area right out of the gate is not something I was comfortable with

That's one way to get committed pretty quickly :bd:

 

Follow along!! Try an stop us!🤓 How far from where you are now is it? Going to be fun building from scratch, good luck John.👍

Thanks! It's about 5 miles (8 km) away, as the crow flies. :thumbup:

 

That's a beautifl piece of land, John. You planning on building on the crest? Any interest in a walk-out or don't they do basements in AR?

 

Daaaaaayum!! Looks like that's gonna be a fun project!! Looking forward to your progress pics!!

Would be nice to just have a small front and back yard with sod of your choice. Then leave the rest natural coastal bermuda and save on water, ferts, chemical etc....

 

sounds like the perfect opportunity to have that TifGrand you always wanted. perfect setup for what I want next. if it was me I would have about 1/2 acre or so reel mowed Bermuda and the rest leave as is.

 

Congrats! All that space. Awesome.

 

Can't wait to see the progress. Awesome video, and great mower man, I'm jealous!

 

Man, I'm jealous of all that space! Enjoy!!

 

 

This is going so cool. I'm in the same boat as you with future plans to build on a previous hay field and contemplating turf options before even having the house built! Definitely watching for your direction in this.

You have house plans yet?

 

Man that's awesome! Can't wait to see the progression.

 

Congratulations @Ware look forward to reading up on this

 

Sounds like a good opportunity to drill a well for the irrigation!

 

Congrats, @Ware! I'm still trying to decide how to handle our open fields. Might have to follow your lead on that. Good luck on the house!