Anybody else gotta weedeat the whole yard before ya mow??

[Steelharp]

Man, this wears me out. My grass is so thick and retains so much moisture, I have to weedeat a little over a whole acre to get it to where it can dry where I can run my rider Husqvarna mulch mower over it. Thank God my wonderful wife bought me a DR walk behind trimmer/mower to do it... but that's still a lot of work. Anybody else have to do something so crazy?

[Sam1]

I'd be buying a more powerful mower before even thinking about weedeating an acre.

[gjohnsoniv]

Have you tried raising the deck up so you aren't bogging down as much and making two passes? 

[Steelharp]

3 minutes ago, gjohnsoniv said:

Have you tried raising the deck up so you aren't bogging down as much and making two passes? 

Yes. Doesn't help. It clumps up awful.

[Steelharp]

Been out there since 7:20. Just came in to rest a while before I mow. Thought I'd ask youse guys, lol

[Ronald_55]

I just strap my exhaust chute up to keep it from clogging and mow. Sometimes have to run back over it the opposite way in a few places to get it good. I have over an acre and I hate weedeating. So I do whatever to avoid it. The clumps of grass get broke up the next time I mow.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Ronald_55

[Wingshooter]

Do you fertilize? I'd stop that pronto. I experience something similar. I just raise the deck up and run over it quick. Then go back over it a second time. Still clumps up even with a mulching deck. The real fix for me is to just mow it every 3 days but who's got time for that?! Goats may be in my future...

 

I wish I had this problem in my front yard though. Can't grow anything but weeds there it seems. 

[peejman]

What they said....  weedeat an acre?      

Replace the mulching blades with discharge blades, open the chute, and let 'er fly. 

Wait until later in the afternoon so the grass has had all day to dry out before mowing. 

What kind of grass do you have?

Grass is growing like crazy with as much rain/sun as we've gotten.   You're gonna have to mow it at least twice a week if you're trying to mulch it. 

[Steelharp]

I have never fertilized. The grass is a mix of several kinds. The 2 I recognize are Bermuda and crab, lol.

Yeah, if I had time to mow every 3-4 days, that would probably help. But between my schedule and the monsoons we get, no can do.

[KahrMan]

With all this rain my grass also gets really thick and retains a lot of moisture.  I usually wait till late in the afternoon to mow when it is hottest.  That at least allows the grass to dry out some.  I still have to stop a time or two and clean the wet grass out of the mower deck.  

[gjohnsoniv]

I can understand the pain though. I just put fertilizer down on the farm fields a month or so back and I've had to be on the tractor about weekly keeping the grass down. It's even outgrowing the horses. 

[gregintenn]

Lord no! I'd bushhog it if need be, but wouldn't consider weedeating my entire yard.

[Ronald_55]

1 hour ago, Wingshooter said:

Do you fertilize? I'd stop that pronto. I experience something similar. I just raise the deck up and run over it quick. Then go back over it a second time. Still clumps up even with a mulching deck. The real fix for me is to just mow it every 3 days but who's got time for that?! Goats may be in my future...

 

I wish I had this problem in my front yard though. Can't grow anything but weeds there it seems. 

I agree on my front yard. Back is huge...front is moss and weeds. I gotta get time to add some lime, but I barely have time to mow. I am scared to use the bags of weed-n-feed I got a coupke years ago because of how much trouble it us to keep up with now. My wife just says "You wanted a big yard." I repeat back to her "I never intended to keep it all mowed". So is life, mow or sleep in the dog house.....

[Ray Z]

When y'all get done with your one acre, come on out here to Tellico Plains. I got 25 acres that got away from me while I was in the hospital getting my gull bladder taken out. My other half has volunteered to cut it for me. Only thing is when she came out of the bedroom in shorts, for the first time this year, I thought she was dead.

[Hozzie]

Get rid of that mulching mower.  If you can't mow at least every 4 days, mulching is terrible.  Get something that you can set at least 4 " (5" is better) high and remove the discharge blocker.  

Worst case, hire someone to come in and mow it down to where you can manage it again at a lower height.

[E4 No More]

40 minutes ago, Ronald_55 said:

I agree on my front yard. Back is huge...front is moss and weeds. I gotta get time to add some lime, but I barely have time to mow. I am scared to use the bags of weed-n-feed I got a coupke years ago because of how much trouble it us to keep up with now. My wife just says "You wanted a big yard." I repeat back to her "I never intended to keep it all mowed". So is life, mow or sleep in the dog house.....

I went from 0.25 acres with a heck of a slope in the backyard to 5.2 acres that are flat and love it! I got a damned big mower too.

[bersaguy]

Or you can be lucky like me and have a buddy that has this great big Zero turn mower and loves to show it off and he cuts my yards 1 time a week every week for free. Won't even let me cover the gas..............

[gary_boom]

Commercial mowers have more power and you can always double cut and get horizontal stripes.

[jpx2rk]

Mowing that early is a big part of the problem.  Need to wait till later in the day if all possible.  It doesn't get dark until after 8, yes it's hotter then, but the grass is drier.

[jughead]

like this old man has said all his life buy bigger and better than you think you will need as long as one can afford it

[Steelharp]

I never mow before 2. But if I didn't cut it down starting early, it wouldn't dry because it's so thick.

Just came in from mowing; now I get to do actual weedeating instead of general yard prep with it.

Yay.

[Ronald_55]

1 hour ago, SWJewellTN said:

I went from 0.25 acres with a heck of a slope in the backyard to 5.2 acres that are flat and love it! I got a damned big mower too.

I wanted a bigger mower for my last one, but the insurance was replacing it and would pay 100% of a similar one or 0% of a zero turn. 

[E4 No More]

3 minutes ago, Ronald_55 said:

I wanted a bigger mower for my last one, but the insurance was replacing it and would pay 100% of a similar one or 0% of a zero turn. 

That sucks. What's it matter to them what you use a settlement for? They only pay a certain amount.

[Ronald_55]

25 minutes ago, SWJewellTN said:

That sucks. What's it matter to them what you use a settlement for? They only pay a certain amount.

The agent said that he had to pay a receipt. He said they wouldn't pay 1 if it wasn't for a similar unit. I should just went and got one at Sears and copied the receipt. Then went in and told them I want to not buy that 1 but by another one.  Then either return it or exchange it.

[Steelharp]

My stepper says I've walked 11,704 today.