Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
im concerned about sticks, acorns and other random debris. i did some googling and people recommend just running over it unless its like 3/4" thick. that would be much easier than trying to pick everything up beforehand.
Yes; small sticks, acorns and pine cones are no match for the blades. Rocks and roots are! If you have any rocks or roots; you should avoid them - especially when mulching leaves. Leaves can cover potential hazards for your lawnmower blade and spindles. Many of the manufacturers do not give consumers lots of clearance today. Three and a half inches to five inches of height adjustment is not enough for many of our obstacles. One bent spindle can cost more than $100 to replace and put you out of business for some time. But you live in the Garden State and I live in the rock and roots territory!
I just got my Craftsman LT1000 lawn tractor back from the shop where they did some work and also replaced the blades. I decided that I was sick of grass and leaves getting stuck under the deck and needing to clean it, and found out about the graphite non-stick paints that are available. So, I went to my local Tractor Supply store, and bought a quart. I cleaned the inside walls of the deck with a wire brush and such. Then I used a real cheap paint brush to coat the walls. I let it dry for two days (I wasn't going to let it dry that much, but it rained yesterday all day) I just mowed to mulch the leaves on my 1/2 acre lot, and I had NO wet grass or wet leaves stick to the inside of the deck! It's clean as a whistle!
It does also come in a spray can, if you prefer that. Painting it on with a brush is pretty messy, as all I did was use a lift to raise the mower, and I laid on the floor reaching underneath to clean and paint.
i like that the mower can do more things than the vacuum but i am thinking that maybe the vacuum will do better for what i see as my primary concern of cleaning leaves and debris off the yard.
You will have to stop to empty this about every minute. maddening
Yes; small sticks, acorns and pine cones are no match for the blades. Rocks and roots are! If you have any rocks or roots; you should avoid them - especially when mulching leaves. Leaves can cover potential hazards for your lawnmower blade and spindles. Many of the manufacturers do not give consumers lots of clearance today. Three and a half inches to five inches of height adjustment is not enough for many of our obstacles. One bent spindle can cost more than $100 to replace and put you out of business for some time. But you live in the Garden State and I live in the rock and roots territory!
I hit a stone while mowing and it shot out, through a pane of glass in the front door and went flying up the stairs, landing in the upstairs hallway. I was 80 - 100 feet from the house. Good thing no one was home.
I hit a stone while mowing and it shot out, through a pane of glass in the front door and went flying up the stairs, landing in the upstairs hallway. I was 80 - 100 feet from the house. Good thing no one was home.
That is the reason the companies have plastic deflector chutes on the mowers. It isn't a perfect solution; but it diverts the force of flying objects so they hit the ground first. That way most of the energy is absorbed by the ground. It s hard to imagine how a diverted rock went that far; although anything is possible. Did you have your safety defector on and in place at the time that rock flew? It is also one of the reasons that OSHA and OPEI came out with blade speed restrictions back in the 1970. They said that the companies could not exceed 19,000 fpm blade tip speed to help stop flying debris that could kill (that does not mean that the 'right' object cannot fly and pose a danger).
I have greenhouse safety glass that is six feet tall and 30 inches wide. I hit the bottom of the one pain with a small pebble and watched as the crack spread and the whole pane shattered! At the time I hit the glass I was only feet away from the pane.
In the 'good old days' some discharge chutes were simply open and there was really no control on how fast mowers could operate. Many had adjustable speed screws so that home owners could turn up their own engine speeds. I always wondered how many people were lost before we came out with the regulations and better lawyers?
We have a mulch kit. The rock shot out from underneath the mower. The house was behind me mostly. When I am near the house, I always try to stay oriented to any rocks will get thrown away from the house usually if they go anywhere. However I thought i was plenty far form the house. Not.
We get a lot of rocks. We have a gravel driveway and a snowblower. We rake most of the rocks back in the spring, but there are always some strays.
The safety deflector that came with our mower is ridiculous. It is at least 2.5' or more. You cannot mow near anything and cannot get the mower into its spot in the carriage house. I only had it on for a few days once when the mulch cover broke. It was awful. I could not fit between the bushes to get to the side yard. Could not mow between trees that were less than about 7' apart. There were a ton of places I could not fit, and I could not mow back int he woods at all. Very glad we have a mulch kit.
I just mowed several large piles of leaves in places where I don't find them appealing. Driveway, gate, few more areas where they piled up. I simply mowed them, then mowed over and over again. Took my 60"" ZTR maybe 30 minutes to take care of all of that.
You simply set deck as far up as it goes, so blades create suction effect. I don't even bother to put mulching kit on, it's too long and clogs deck inside. I simply did few runs in opposite directions.
This chopped leaves into small chanks that will rot fast. Excellent fertilizer. Will look a bit brownish for a week or two, next year - no one will even know. Grass will grow, that'll be it.
Don't complicate this. Nature is used to fallen leaves. Spending big bucks on this and that... Why? Shred them, nature will take care of the rest.
Burning them isn’t all that bad, the ashes puts nutrients back into the soil if it’s spread out.
Sorry to disagree with you, but burning the leaves is bad on so many levels. I remember as a kid this was common practice where I lived. The air would hang with smoke.
Oak leaves in particular are great to shred and spread as mulch (or fork into the soil.) I do that with my live oak leaves. It increases the soil's organic matter, tilth, and microbial activity. In fact, I'd be willing to go rake, bag, and haul other neighbor's oak leaves for my own yard. But unfortunately, there's not a lot of large oak trees near me except my own
anyone have a zero turn mower? worth the additional expense?
I have a Toro MX4260 zero turn. It is cleaner when mulching. It mulches well but takes a beating when driving into large piles of leaves. You might have to replace parts, especially belts or deck pully wheels. I bag a fairly leafy lawn, but don’t try to mulch piles. I just grab a tarp and collect a few heavy piles maybe once late in the season and drag them out to the curb. The mower is invaluable for lawn clean up every fall. The cut is awesome and the mower is very fast (7mph). Hoping it lasts ten years.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
