[Lambo]

New to this striping thing and my first roller filled with sand that I made was 2" pvc and too light. I upgraded to 3", which was much heavier, but still not that great of stripes. I had an extra piece of 3/4" horse stall mat that I had left over from my home gym install, so I bolted it on. Wow what an improvement! I'm not even sure I need the roller, but I'm sure it helps a little. Pics are in order of oldest (2" pvc) to today (3" with rubber flooring).

2" pvc filled with sand:





3" pvc filled with sand:





3" pvc filled with sand with added rubber mat:

 

[MarkAguglia]

That's pretty cool! Might have to look into doing this with my homemade striper. :thumbup:

 

[Harts]

Nicely done. I use the Checkmate, which imo lays down really nice stripes. But your homemade set up by far lays down the nicest stripes out of others I've seen. Looks great!

 

[stotea]

Very nice! I thought I was gonna go with the Checkmate, but now you have me considering DIY once again. Any chance you have more photos of the bracket you put together there?

 

[Lambo]

Very nice! I thought I was gonna go with the Checkmate, but now you have me considering DIY once again. Any chance you have more photos of the bracket you put together there?

I stole the idea from @GrassDaddy on his YouTube channel. He has a pretty good video on how to make something similar. It's basically a piece of 1" square tube and 4 angle brackets. I have a piece of 1/4" all thread running through the center of the pvc and the end caps are knockouts. I used bolts, nuts and washers I already had, so a bunch of randoms.

 

[social port]

@Lambo that setup looks really nice. I've tried some of the things you posted, only your setup was much stronger than mine. I have yet to lay down an impressive stripe.
I've seen several youtubers who mow professionally and use the rubber mat only. It seems to work by itself--but you may be getting added benefit with the roller.

 

[Lambo]

@social port I found the rubber flooring on Facebook marketplace. It was used in a martial arts business and they were moving. Full sheets are flipping heavy but easy to cut with a utility knife. Simply score it and fold it onto itself. You can source the mats (and maybe half sheet sizes or even a damaged discounted piece) at many farm good stores because they are used in livestock trailers/barns. Mine are 3/4" thick because that is what the martial arts place was selling, but the sheets also come in 1/2". The 3/4" piece I'm using is pretty firm, which is why I think the stripes worked out so good.

 

[fusebox7]

My old mower (MTD?) RIP had a factory-installed rubber flap on the back. It was very thick and rigid and only flexed enough to allow for forward/backward maneuverability without tearing out the turf. It laid fantastic stripes on my crabgrass lawn

 

[Suburban Jungle Life]

Due to the dragging motion of the mat across the leaf, are you not concerned about it acting like sandpaper and roughing up the leaf? Compared to a rolling type of striper. Possible openings for fungus or other pathogens?

 

[ABC123]

Stripes look great!

I've done this to a few riding mower decks. Bolt the flap to the back edge, never had a issue and it laid stripes very well. Just have to make it narrower than the tires or it tries to drive over the rubber.

 

[Lambo]

@Suburban Jungle Life I see no reason why it would damage the grass, especially with my light Honda mower. The mat slides across the grass and is not coarse like sandpaper would be.

 

[Lambo]

I promise this is it on the pics, but I just mowed and the stripes are the best they've been. This pic was taken at almost dark in the backyard (the opposite side of the house as the remaining sun). Loving that something so simple is working so well.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I have a 4" pipe filled with sand and works great. I need to come up with a better way to secure it though i just drilled some holes in my flap and ziptied it on to drag behind while resting on my flap., but they break every few mows.

 

[Lambo]

@FuzzeWuzze my first rookie attempt was a sand filled 3/4" black pipe strapped to my mower's flap. I had the same experience of the zip ties breaking frequently paired with having issues backing up. I always feared the flap would tear. Absolutely no backing up issues with the setup I'm using now. It rolls and glides right along with the mower.