I enjoy lawn care but not necessarily the money involved. I want to demonstrate ways to improve your lawn and hopefully reduce the amount of money and water required to have a nice lawn.
Yeah. Usually happens in the spring due to long winters but I couldn’t this year because of dormant over seed. I’ll probably do it this fall. I made a video of it last fall before seeding because my summer was rough last year.
Yeah, if every day is boiling then you just have to do what you have to do and mow any day. I don’t have irrigation so I let my lawn go dormant if temps are high for long periods of time. Dormancy is ok and natural for it to do.
@@cliffholmes5044 not transition, I live in northern Wisconsin. The grass initially was 3 varieties of KBG and it is the lawn pictured in my logo. I don’t have irrigation and we had a 2 years of high heat and drought so it died off last season. I rebuilt it with Jonathon Green mix that is Texas bluegrass and black beauty fescue blend. Much more drought resistant than before.
Truly a quality looking build. Just wondering how this held up for you over time? My biggest wonder was if you drive in a dip in the yard or up/down a curb, with there being no flexibility in the brackets.... how did it effect the rollers/bracket? Nicely done!
On the third season now and it’s still doing good. Dips and bumps are really not much issue because the entire thing can pivot up and down. The only issue I have encountered maybe twice, was backing into something. It ends up lifting the back off ground. Hasn’t caused any damage, just a weird sensation.
I believe it is an 8mm ball hex. Something I found this year that made deck leveling easier is I placed my foot under the deck and lifted just a little. It must take just enough pressure off screw to make it easier to turn. I did it one handed without difficulty.
I don’t think the same but similar concept. The Jonathon Green seed is actually referred to as Blue Gem KBG in testing. I can find the Blue Gem and SPF 30 for sale on the same websites as different products but I can’t really find testing data on SPF 30. The are both hybrids of Texas Bluegrass.
Thats tough. My intent with this video and the building video were to demonstrate how to diy. There are so many variables in different mowers that I feasibly wouldn't be able to build one without needing to invest a lot into getting other mower schematics. Not to mention shipping will be killer. A google search for striper made for your mower might yield some good results from commercial companies. You can always ask questions about building your own too. Some versions are very simple builds with good results. This would be the most complicated version only due to the planning stages.
It could. I can’t remember the exact weight but this roller ended up being around 50 pounds. So kinda hefty. But a spring would help it maintain contact.
I struggled for an hour trying to get the belt back to the main drive spindle. I used the tensioner arm but it just wouldn't go on no matter how far I pulled it forward. I finally took my son's advise and put it on BEFORE attaching the lift arms. I didn't even have to use the tensioner arm then. So, don't listen to the user manual. Order of reattachment: Belt, front bracket, lift arms.
I separated my shoulder this year and I tried doing exactly this. It seemed to make sense in my mind but I couldn’t pull it off solo. Had to get a second person and used the tensioner arm with a 3/8 socket this year.
With me, there was no way that belt was going on with just two hands. I noticed the two springs, one of them holding the upper pulley in tension, and the other spring the lower one. I used a spring puller tool that came with our trampoline and undid the spring from the upper pulley, creating plenty of room to loop belt around main mower shaft. Then pulled the spring back on the deck with the tool. Took mere seconds and I was thanking God. I'm sure the tool is quite inexpensive, or a person could even make their own.
Nice! I learned later from the comments that there is a precut spot for a 3/8 socket wrench on a metal arm off a pulley. It takes all the tension off too but you do have to hold it open with one hand while placing.
my backyard profile looked a lot like yours last year. Curious how many actual pounds of lime you think you've put down to date. I also really like Andersons products!
First year was 220 lbs of lime, so like 12lbs/1000sqft. The next year was better and I did 80lbs or 4-5lbs/1000sqft. This year I will again do 80lbs. I put down half in spring and half in fall. So I’m up to 340lbs as of now. I’m a big fan of the Andersons products too.
I do like the quintessential strips. However I’m no scientist so don’t know about soil samples and analysis. Definitely not to your standards. Thank you for the content and for taking the time to share. It’s very much appreciated.
Yeah, it’s easy to get way too deep in the science. For example my iron is through the roof on the test, but my lawn still needs iron. I live on a granite hillside and the granite has so much iron that it’s rusting. This iron is not readily available for lawn to take up, so my lawn ends up iron deficient. Such a pain, but I don’t sweat it and I give iron if the fertilizer has it. Thanks for watching.
That seed was produced Nov 2020 according to tag. So 3.5 years since I put it down Mar 2024. You could always do a germination test like I did. Take 10-20 random seeds and see what percentage germinate. Place them in a wet paper towel in a plastic bag and see how many open up in 7-15 days.
The conduit pipe is 1/2 inch with maybe 0.7 inch outer diameter. Maybe slightly larger but still able to fit through boat rollers. Then the pvc pipe has to be larger inner diameter than outer diameter of conduit. My washers and pvc pipe are loose fitting so somewhere between 3/4 and 1 inch since they only need to contact the rollers to maintain spacing.
No problem. I didn’t know about it either until I moved to Wisconsin. I would hear people talk about it. It makes sense that it would work but obviously it’s a gamble since you can’t control anything with conditions.
@@fortheloveofstripes3578Should work in my area as well. Your strategy of using on sale seed for this technique is also a great idea. Look forward to seeing the results! Cheers.
I'm in central Wisconsin. I have some leveling and over seeding I want to do also but I'm going to wait a bit yet lol. Very curious to see how yours turns out though.
Yeah. I have a two high spots that I basically scalped so hopefully I will be able to spot the seedlings growing. You’re feeling the same weather as me this year. Tonight thru Sunday if it really snows will be the most snow we got all winter! If we get what’s forecasted anyway.
There is a slot for a 3/8’s ratchet to release the belt tension.Make it a lot easier to remove the pto belt and might save your fingers from being pinched
Nice! When they dropped off the equipment they did an “orientation”. I just always stuck to what they said basically. Never realized the squares cut in that arm were for a 3/8 ratchet. Thanks for saying something. Will definitely do next time.
I didn’t even realize that was an option. I always just did what they said when they dropped off the equipment a few years back. The mower deck is off now but I just went out and tried it. Will save some knuckles in the future. Thanks for asking about it, otherwise wouldn’t have known.
Yeah. Same here pretty much. I just turned off the water supply lines to the outside faucets and put the insulated covers over them. Although I feel like I always end up mowing mid November.
You’re up north like me. We actually had potential for frost this morning. Didn’t happen though luckily but I still disconnected hoses in case it dropped to freezing. Thanks for watching, good luck with your reno too.
Almost looks like we could get a straighter shot into that adjustment screw, by just going underneath and reaching it from on top the deck. What am I missing?
I think I see what you’re saying. Just like how I reach through the side and put my finger on top of the screw. If you had the right size tool it could probably work. I think the idea is that you don’t need to find extra tools. I haven’t had any issues doing it this way, but you do have to guide it into the screw by looking at the side. It would be nice to have more leverage because it can be hard to turn at the start.
instant subscribe!!!! I've been looking for a channel where the person lives north of me. I'm in central New Jersey. Where are you located specifically ?
I’m up by Lake Superior Area. Day highs this week are 66-72 and night lows are 48-54. We are unexpectedly hot Sunday and Labor Day though. Looks like long range forecast has 32 degree nights by 2nd week of October. I drop the seed once I start seeing 70s days, and 50’s nights and my window is short up here. Last two years have had accumulating snow by second week of October!
Maybe it was an addition from the dealer. Or someone’s order that they cancelled. It had the seat and a mulch kit on already. They had another one that was somewhat different with different tires. I only ended up with this particular one because I wanted the snowblower too and the bracket was already installed for the control levers.
Thanks for the reply. I'm looking at a 2019 580 today. Did you leave the mulch kit on this one? I've never owned a mower with side discharge but might try it out if the 580 deal happens. @@fortheloveofstripes3578
I didn’t, I don’t recommend the mulch kit either. It was the worst cut I ever had. It had a “door” that opened for some side discharge but the grass really just piled up in the deck. Very uneven cut and very messy under the deck. I took the mulch kit out and the airflow through the deck improved greatly and the cut was more like I expected. Side discharge is nice and it throws it so far it’s basically like mulching.
@@charlesbeall2589 the mulch kits adds a bunch of plastic around the blades to try and keep the grass there for multiple cuts. It really effects the airflow under there and you don’t get the lift. You just get a nasty mess in the deck. Cut improves so much when it’s removed.
Nicely done! I'm looking to do something like this for my Spartan ZT........just curious, do you think the rollers behind the wheels are even necessary since the rear tires are likely imprinting the lawn already?!?!
Yes and no. Before I made this roller I did use my original pipe roller which was just wide enough to fit between the wheels. If I was making just straight lines then it wasn’t very different. You can’t see it in the photo but the pattern pictured in this video starts out as circles around a large boulder. The pattern is like ripples going out. Wherever I mad a tight turning curve, you would see a small stripe that didn’t lay down the same. The wider roller helps sweep over the area better when turning.
My model is a x580. I have a rear frame plate back there for mounting attachments. It might have been a piece that got added on for my snow blower from the dealer.
Personally, I don't like the striped, two-tone look because it makes the green appear uneven. I like my grass to have an even, shade of green throughout the entire lawn.
That would be very interesting if I could pull it off. Every pass would have to be the same direction. If I didn’t have curbs I would give it go so I could use the road to get back to starting point.
Awesome job on the building your own kit. On the 6x6 L-brackets, did you drill the holes so the steel pipe could fit through? Or did you buy them that way? Also, what size did you cut the spacers to fit between the rollers?
I did drill the holes. I used a 25mm “hole dozer” by Milwaukee. The spacers are 1/4”, 1/2”, 3/4” and 1”. I had to size them up as I did it and I just kept a bunch of the different sizes available. For example, wheel to wheel most likely about 1”, but if it was divided with a bracket it was more like wheel-metal washer-1/4” pvc spacer-bracket-1/2” pvc spacer-metal washer-wheel. To complicate things, the wheels are not symmetrical. There is a shallow side to wheel with extra white plastic. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching
