Weapons of grass reduction

We're slipping here! Shouldn't someone have already suggested craigslist, two mismatched brands of riders, a welder, and some scotch??? Add a liberal dose of Aussie Steve to the mix and Battle Creek area lawns will never look the same again!

In reply to wawazat:

He said warranty.

wawazat wrote: We're slipping here! Shouldn't someone have already suggested craigslist, two mismatched brands of riders, a welder, and some scotch???

I just took for granted that was the accepted default solution, and we were merely discussing alternatives to that.

I have no useful information to add.

I just wanted to stop in and say...

In reply to Gearheadotaku:

Yes. This all day. Lawns are the bane of the suburban environment. "Wildscaping" with native plants will not only increase the diversity and health of your flora and fauna and attract pollinators like humming birds and honey bees, you'll waste less time mowing.

I am now referring to all lawnmowers as "Weapons of Grass Reduction."

Thank you. My life is now complete.

My house has a half acre of open lawn. It came with a '94 Murray tractor style 42" cut. I had to fix the damn thing every time I mowed. It took 2 1/2 hours to mow the property. When it died I wanted to hire it out until I got the quotes. Cheapest was $200/ month year round for basic cut, trim, and blow - and that was from a guy on my street who could drive is mower to my yard.

I got a Gravely 42" zero turn for 0% interest. It's between homeowner and true commercial, but it has a welded deck and has a serviceable transaxle instead of the sealed bound-to-die homeowner version. It costs me $90/ month and I can now cut my yard in 35 minutes. Plus it's fun enough to drive that I feel like I'm autocrossing the yard.

ultraclyde wrote: My house has a half acre of open lawn. It came with a '94 Murray tractor style 42" cut. I had to fix the damn thing every time I mowed. It took 2 1/2 hours to mow the property. When it died I wanted to hire it out until I got the quotes. Cheapest was $200/ month year round for basic cut, trim, and blow - and that was from a guy on my street who could drive is mower to my yard. I got a Gravely 42" zero turn for 0% interest. It's between homeowner and true commercial, but it has a welded deck and has a serviceable transaxle instead of the sealed bound-to-die homeowner version. It costs me $90/ month and I can now cut my yard in 35 minutes. Plus it's fun enough to drive that I feel like I'm autocrossing the yard.

Agreed with the sentiment. PAy once and be done. You get something decent that will last, you will save yourself so much time. I'm saving 60 hours per year on mowing. For hte last 8 years. That's 20 days I got to spend doing something fun instead of sitting on a loud, hot, dusty, grass covered lawnmower.

Wildflower meadow and a postage stamp lawn to keep the wife happy. Or you could fence it and get some goats or sheep. My neighbor has a couple sheep and he doesn't mow, or fertilize.

D2W wrote: Wildflower meadow and a postage stamp lawn to keep the wife happy. Or you could fence it and get some goats or sheep. My neighbor has a couple sheep and he doesn't mow, or fertilize.

This is our total area, the area on the lower left of the pictures is marsh or wildflower. We are working out bee, butterfly and bat habitats this year for population next year. We rent out some for commercial farming as well.

The grassy area is increasing from this photo to about the area of the second photo.

The issue with converting retired farmland to grass involves a lot of not smooth terrain and many passes with a big roller. We have access to a few JD tractors for pulling the barrel so the unit will be primarily lawn maintenance.

You really need the biggest/fastest thing you can afford, anyone suggesting something like a 42" tractor has never had to mow that much lawn. My parents have a similar amount of lawn that was in my care for a number of years. Started with a Deere stx38, 4+ hours each cutting, nowhere near adequate. Moved up to a Deere 425 with a 54" deck, which I'd consider the absolute bare minimum of acceptable. Still took 2.5+ hours.

Once I graduated college and was no longer available as lawn maintenance slave labor, dad finally got serious about his lawn equipment. Demo-ed a number of zero turn options, but ultimately ended up with a Kubota utility tractor with a big honking deck and a bucket for plowing duty. The zero turn would have been a much more optimal machine solely for lawn duty, but the versatility of the tractor was deemed more useful in the end.

In reply to Furious_E:

I mowed 3 acres growing up on a Cub Cadet with a 42" deck.

It took 3 hours with trimming every Saturday. 2 hours without trimming.

That is why I recommended the LT255 Deere. You can add a snow blower or blade to the front.

Schrödinger's Flight Service wrote: In reply to Furious_E: I mowed 3 acres growing up on a Cub Cadet with a 42" deck. It took 3 hours with trimming every Saturday. 2 hours without trimming. That is why I recommended the LT255 Deere. You can add a snow blower or blade to the front.

I grew up mowing 3 acres plus a cemetary (another 4 acres) with a 46" craftsman. Took waaaaaaay longer than 3 hours to do it It was a full day affair to do it all, 4 hours just doing our stuff. Trimming was 2 hours alone. No offense, but I gotta call bs on 3 hours with trimming unless it was a flat lot with nothing on it.

In reply to Bobzilla:

Land was flat, ditch line was the only thing that required heavy trimming.

Cub Cadet was quick for a garden tractor. Nothing compared to a ZTR but it did it.

With the title, I was hoping to learn about scorched-earth type grass removal

Schrödinger's Flight Service wrote: In reply to Bobzilla: Land was flat, ditch line was the only thing that required heavy trimming. Cub Cadet was quick for a garden tractor. Nothing compared to a ZTR but it did it.

That makes more sense. Ours was hilly, trees, driveways etc.

I do a couple acres and ditches along farmland going both ways to keep it looking nice with a 48" John Deere riding mower. Takes a couple hours. If it is bigger than that I'd want something larger or faster.

penultimeta wrote: In reply to Gearheadotaku: Yes. This all day. Lawns are the bane of the suburban environment. "Wildscaping" with native plants will not only increase the diversity and health of your flora and fauna and attract pollinators like humming birds and honey bees, you'll waste less time mowing.

It must be nice. Where I live deer are everywhere. The best way to keep them, and their Lyme disease carrying ticks away is too mow. The deer won't bed down in short grass because the coyotes will see them.

I re-powered a 1973 Gravely walk behind. I bought 2-1960's 50" mower decks that I am thinking of making a 100" mower out of it. All this to mow fields to keep the deer away.

pjbgravely wrote:

penultimeta wrote: In reply to Gearheadotaku: Yes. This all day. Lawns are the bane of the suburban environment. "Wildscaping" with native plants will not only increase the diversity and health of your flora and fauna and attract pollinators like humming birds and honey bees, you'll waste less time mowing.

It must be nice. Where I live deer are everywhere. The best way to keep them, and their Lyme disease carrying ticks away is too mow. The deer won't bed down in short grass because the coyotes will see them. I re-powered a 1973 Gravely walk behind. I bought 2-1960's 50" mower decks that I am thinking of making a 100" mower out of it. All this to mow fields to keep the deer away.

And it helps keep the coyotes back as well so they don't eat my puppies. They're usually more hesitant to come into maintained human areas.

QuasiMofo wrote:

D2W wrote: Wildflower meadow and a postage stamp lawn to keep the wife happy. Or you could fence it and get some goats or sheep. My neighbor has a couple sheep and he doesn't mow, or fertilize.

This is our total area, the area on the lower left of the pictures is marsh or wildflower. We are working out bee, butterfly and bat habitats this year for population next year. We rent out some for commercial farming as well. The grassy area is increasing from this photo to about the area of the second photo. The issue with converting retired farmland to grass involves a lot of not smooth terrain and many passes with a big roller. We have access to a few JD tractors for pulling the barrel so the unit will be primarily lawn maintenance.

I retract my previous statement about nothing useful to add.

You do not need a mower, you need a Rallycross car and a few good friends.

I bought a used Ariens rider when I bought my house. Mowed, fixed, wrestled with it for 5 years. One day it quit in the front yard. I climbed off, got in the truck, went and bought a Yazoo commercial mower. Mowing time went from 4 hours to 1 hour. Throttle froze wide open in the first year. Last fall the engine blew after 25 years. Best purchase ever. Bought a new 60" Husqvarna zero turn. I like it a lot but it's got a ways to go to be loved like the Yazoo. Yazoo went out of business/sold out/merged in about 2000. My advice: buy new, treat with respect, maintain, maintain, maintain.

Toyman01 wrote:

QuasiMofo wrote:

D2W wrote: Wildflower meadow and a postage stamp lawn to keep the wife happy. Or you could fence it and get some goats or sheep. My neighbor has a couple sheep and he doesn't mow, or fertilize.

This is our total area, the area on the lower left of the pictures is marsh or wildflower. We are working out bee, butterfly and bat habitats this year for population next year. We rent out some for commercial farming as well. The grassy area is increasing from this photo to about the area of the second photo. The issue with converting retired farmland to grass involves a lot of not smooth terrain and many passes with a big roller. We have access to a few JD tractors for pulling the barrel so the unit will be primarily lawn maintenance.

I retract my previous statement about nothing useful to add. You do not need a mower, you need a Rallycross car and a few good friends.

There are snow tires on IROC wheels for a reason, eventually.

1988RedT2 wrote: Every spring I figure the old bottom-end John Deere lawn tractor that I bought new in 2003 is going to bite the dust. Every year it soldiers on and it refuses to die. It never even gives me any trouble. I had to replace all the fuel lines, make one repair involving welding a bracket back onto the deck, replace a ball joint in the steering arm, put a set of new blades on it, and put a battery in it. I think the battery is dead again. Darn. It's been great.

You sound like someone defending an Audi, claiming you haven't had to do anything to it except ...

Deer don't seem to mind bedding down in our front yard. It's not mowed like a golf course but it's mowed every week. Maybe they're hiding from the coyotes out back.

Bobzilla wrote: We went Dixie in 2008. They had 0% for 36 months and the 50"/24hp kohler critters were going for $5k. I'd do it all again. Mowing time went from 3-4 hours to 90 minutes. Multiply that by the 30 times a year I must mow and gave me my life back!

Bought a Hustler Fastrak 52" Honda 20hp V-twin in 2003. Best value ever! I picked up a few neighbors lawn jobs and paid for itself in two years. Only do one neighbors lawn still.

Mower is going strong. If you are there for the long term, bite the bullet and go commercial. You'll never regret it!