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Why some people mow a lawn better than others

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Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#181

Post by account42 »

cortesoft wrote: post #3

This is a very different problem than actual efficiency when mowing a lawn or vacuuming a rub. Turning takes more work and time, and you miss a part of the 'square' when you are turning (the arc of the curve is not a straight line). In addition, vacuums especially have an area at the edge of the machine that is not cleaned as well, which is why you want a bit of overlap in your lines. Plus, when mowing a lawn, you of…

And you also don't get to leave the mower in the middle of the lawn when you're done.

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#182

Post by EdwardDiego »

codingdave wrote: post #94
cortesoft wrote: post #3

This is a very different problem than actual efficiency when mowing a lawn or vacuuming a rub. Turning takes more work and time, and you miss a part of the 'square' when you are turning (the arc of the curve is not a straight line). In addition, vacuums especially have an area at the edge of the machine that is not cleaned as well, which is why you want a bit of overlap in your lines. Plus, when mowing a lawn, you of…

> you often want to leave a nice pattern Even when it comes to mowing, different people have different goals. I live out in the country, and tall grass means bugs and ticks, so my mowing tries to strike a balance of short grass near the home and the property edges to stop the ticks, medium grass most everything else because we like to let the clover grow, and tall grass, un-mowed for years on some spots, to allow an…

> we still get monarchs

Genuine question, I thought monarch larvae predominantly feed on milkweeds? Do you get milkweeds occurring naturally in your grass? Or are they feeding on something else?

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#183

Post by account42 »

locusofself wrote: post #125
inigyou wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once had an electric lawnmower with a cord on it. Swaps one inconvenience for another. You don't have to recharge it, but you have to keep the cord out of the way.

I've had both. I'd rather have battery operated, especially if you have a big yard. Having an extra backup battery is a good idea as well.

How about attaching a generator to the corded electric lawnmower. That would solve both the long cable and charging problems.

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#184

Post by EdwardDiego »

topspin wrote: post #60
b40d-48b2-979e wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How often are you people mowing your lawn that that's even a concern? It's like this is "surburbs: the problem: the comment section"

We people vary frequency with weather. Lawn tractors are heavy and, due to moisture, ground isn't always hard. On large properties some of the ground stays moist longer due to drainage issues. So yes, after years of indifferent mowing, one can detect where wheels have been moving topsoil.

> Lawn tractor

I feel you're dealing with a different level of lawn mowing if you're towing a mower, not pushing one.

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#185

Post by EdwardDiego »

asdff wrote: post #129
jcalvinowens wrote: post #87

A lawn mower cuts grass whether you push it forward or pull it backwards: my trick when I was a kid was just to push and pull it back and forth across the lawn without changing the direction it faced at all.

Pretty dangerous to pull a mower.

Also dangerous to push one - that's how I had one bounce backwards after a wheel ended up in a hole in the lawn, onto my foot.

Turns out, when you get a lawnmower on top of a steel toed boot, you get a _lot_ of sparks.

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#186

Post by Yhippa »

paradox460 wrote: post #20
cortesoft wrote: post #3

This is a very different problem than actual efficiency when mowing a lawn or vacuuming a rub. Turning takes more work and time, and you miss a part of the 'square' when you are turning (the arc of the curve is not a straight line). In addition, vacuums especially have an area at the edge of the machine that is not cleaned as well, which is why you want a bit of overlap in your lines. Plus, when mowing a lawn, you of…

Plus mowing a lawn is meditative Copying another comment I made earlier When I was laid off a couple months ago, the first thing I did was go out and mow my lawn. One hour of simple, clean labor, with clear progress, goals, and solitude. It helped me stay out of a bad mental frame, and when I finished I went inside and sent out a few hundred applications Over the next several weeks, I spent a lot of time that wasn't…

After a bad day of work I've noticed that driving a manual transmission car helps me from stewing about it as opposed to driving an automatic where my mind can wander more often.

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#187

Post by inigyou »

account42 wrote: post #183
locusofself wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had both. I'd rather have battery operated, especially if you have a big yard. Having an extra backup battery is a good idea as well.

How about attaching a generator to the corded electric lawnmower. That would solve both the long cable and charging problems.

Beautiful and the generator can sip fuel through a long pipe from a tank inside the house.

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#188

Post by codingdave »

EdwardDiego wrote: post #182
codingdave wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you often want to leave a nice pattern Even when it comes to mowing, different people have different goals. I live out in the country, and tall grass means bugs and ticks, so my mowing tries to strike a balance of short grass near the home and the property edges to stop the ticks, medium grass most everything else because we like to let the clover grow, and tall grass, un-mowed for years on some spots, to allow an…

> we still get monarchs Genuine question, I thought monarch larvae predominantly feed on milkweeds? Do you get milkweeds occurring naturally in your grass? Or are they feeding on something else?

Yes, we have patches of milkweed in the un-mowed areas - it was one of the primary reasons were started letting those areas go wild in the first place.

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#189

Post by topspin »

EdwardDiego wrote: post #184
topspin wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We people vary frequency with weather. Lawn tractors are heavy and, due to moisture, ground isn't always hard. On large properties some of the ground stays moist longer due to drainage issues. So yes, after years of indifferent mowing, one can detect where wheels have been moving topsoil.

> Lawn tractor I feel you're dealing with a different level of lawn mowing if you're towing a mower, not pushing one.

Common lawn tractors integrate a mower deck. They're heavy duty riding mowers, but the terms are ambiguous. Large, commercial units can tow mower decks, but most lawn tractors used by property owners don't do that: it's hard to maneuver, and typically only used on fields.

Re: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

#190

Post by Hugsbox »

stackghost wrote: post #180
Hugsbox wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>a few days later Ohh, you're one of those neighbours. Once every two weeks is plenty.

Depends where you live, what season, and what equipment. I live in the PNW where the grass grows crazy fast in the spring, and I use a reel mower since my yard is small. It needs to be done regularly, and I'm not even a "lawn guy".

East-coast of Canada, the grass grows fairly well throughout the spring and summer but I think mowing excessively is... well, excessive. But I live in a neighbourhood of predominantly seniors who wash their car and mow their lawn every fucking day, presumably because they have nothing better to do, so anytime I try to sit outside and enjoy the lovely summer days it's ruined by all the lawnmowers. Wouldn't be so bad if they used reel mowers, but of course they're all on oversized lawn tractors to mow relatively small lawns.

But then, I also like my lawn to look just a bit "shaggy" instead of clean-cut all the time, so it's possible I'm in a bit of a minority here.

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