Mowing ..

[MITCHAY]

I put down weed and feed a while back and to my surprise it actually killed off the weeds. Not a lot of feed though.

It is dry as **** in Canberra at the moment, 3 weeks since any significant rain. When I bought this place I was mowing every week or two about 2 years ago.

A lot of dirt patches, even the couch grass is dying off except around the edges.

[roddy1960]

Whilst doing my obligatory You Tube , Saturday morning browse I found this from Makita trade show... Some bloody awesomely cool stuff here ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1-vexPmFeI....


More money spent I guess for one or two of these in coming years ..

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Posted these for all the grass freaks here.

image

image

So many great posts here ....I love reading and looking at all the great gear you guys operate and have a passion for but I can't believe I missed a few fairly recent posts !!!!... roKWiz....So much fantastic early model stuff there ....Wow , what a collection...That looks like fun. Congrats on preserving a little bit of history like that ..Apologies for missing it til now. Cheers..

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by CoupeKing

Cheap lawnmower for sale....

.. "Hey dearest , I've got rid of the cockchafers and nearly Fido as well " .. Whoops..

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

roKWiz....So much fantastic early model stuff there ....Wow , what a collection...That looks like fun. Congrats on preserving a little bit of history like that ..Apologies for missing it til now. Cheers..

Hey roddy,
wasn't my stuff, I took the pictures at a truck and machinery show of all places but knew you guys would appreciate it.

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Hey roddy,
wasn't my stuff, I took the pictures at a truck and machinery show of all places but knew you guys would appreciate it.

Great catch regardless roKWiz ..Thanks for posting those awesome photos...Love it ...Cheers.

[DFB FGXR6]

Ok, so not "mowing" but in the garden none the less, one of my clients has a Flow beehive.



Really interesting watching them come and go about their business. And the whole back garden smells like heavenly honey!

I keep dropping hints as to how much I love honey, perhaps I'll be paid with the gold liquid for mowing.

[MITCHAY]

Not going to be mowing anytime soon. It is the only chore I actually enjoy

Had 0.6mm on 3/12, 0.2 on 27/11, 22 on 4/11 (flooded everywhere), 0.2 on 3/11, a total of 23mm in October. And reality is I got mostly **** all of this where I am because I'm quite away from this station.

If I rubbed my feet enough I could rip up the whole yard, the only green bits are where I'm watering my plants where it runs off. A lot of dirt patches popping up.

[MITCHAY]

I tried to upload comparison photos to my gallery but **** me for some reason I couldn't. It says it was uploaded but then they vanish into thin air

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

I keep dropping hints as to how much I love honey, perhaps I'll be paid with the gold liquid for mowing.

Manuka honey would be a fair wage. Nice bee house.

re the dry lawns, I've parked my lawn mover til April. !

[.:4:.]

Well, due to the lack of rain, water restrictions and im not one to water my grass anyway. But i have nothing to mow. Its all yellow and crispy. Anyrate, not too far off topic. I bought the cheapest chainsaw at bunnings about a year ago. Its cleaned up my yard, and helped out a few neighbors. So i paid 119, theyre currently 99. I had to lop a tree yesterday and the chain was dull as anything. Got the tree down, but in big sections, and it was a punish. So i set out for a new chain today. So from the book i knew 3 numbers, but of those 3 numbers the 6 options which matched had 4 numbers. I read the back for model fitment and i went with the cheaper brand which said homelite but didnt list my model. Im guessing the replacement chain on a cheapskate chainsaw is a new chainsaw. Anyrate. Turns out it fits. So first few cuts i adjusted chain tension. But i thought brand new this thing was dangerous. An aftermarket chain, shes deadly. Reliability, well, its right up there. Its been 3 or 4 months and yeah, its been sitting with minimal fuel, but a fresh tank and it cold started like a warm start. Im yet to even swear at the thing. Its seen more use then what its worth. I payed for itself just tidying up my yard. But its also been shared around helping out neighbors so its been thrashed a bit. But eh, ive got to know people better, who would have thought a 35cc homelite chainsaw could do that?

[Rallye Sport]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

Well, due to the lack of rain, water restrictions and im not one to water my grass anyway. But i have nothing to mow. Its all yellow and crispy. Anyrate, not too far off topic. I bought the cheapest chainsaw at bunnings about a year ago. Its cleaned up my yard, and helped out a few neighbors. So i paid 119, theyre currently 99. I had to lop a tree yesterday and the chain was dull as anything. Got the tree down, but in big sections, and it was a punish. So i set out for a new chain today. So from the book i knew 3 numbers, but of those 3 numbers the 6 options which matched had 4 numbers. I read the back for model fitment and i went with the cheaper brand which said homelite but didnt list my model. Im guessing the replacement chain on a cheapskate chainsaw is a new chainsaw. Anyrate. Turns out it fits. So first few cuts i adjusted chain tension. But i thought brand new this thing was dangerous. An aftermarket chain, shes deadly. Reliability, well, its right up there. Its been 3 or 4 months and yeah, its been sitting with minimal fuel, but a fresh tank and it cold started like a warm start. Im yet to even swear at the thing. Its seen more use then what its worth. I payed for itself just tidying up my yard. But its also been shared around helping out neighbors so its been thrashed a bit. But eh, ive got to know people better, who would have thought a 35cc homelite chainsaw could do that?

Can't go wrong with those cheapy saws, they're pretty reliable nowadays.
Try to get a hold of a sharpener, don't be sucked in by the fancy bar mount contraptions, just a basic round file and angle gauge. There should be some how too's on youtube. Easy to do, takes about ten minutes and strangely satisfying when you can get them razor sharp.
Using them regularly in a commercial environment we go through a chain every year or two but still keep and swap over to the worn ones if we know a stump or tree is full of sand or termites.

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by Rallye Sport

Can't go wrong with those cheapy saws, they're pretty reliable nowadays.
Try to get a hold of a sharpener, don't be sucked in by the fancy bar mount contraptions, just a basic round file and angle gauge. There should be some how too's on youtube. Easy to do, takes about ten minutes and strangely satisfying when you can get them razor sharp.
Using them regularly in a commercial environment we go through a chain every year or two but still keep and swap over to the worn ones if we know a stump or tree is full of sand or termites.

I get it, $35 for a chain on a cheap sword is almost not financially viable. But i mean, shes up for rent, and by rent i dont mean for money. Its done myself justace, helped out others, all that jazz. Still got more to do, i personally cannot be bothered, but i have a mate who will do the work for free on the junior chainsaw. He likes the little unit more then i do, and when i said its now deadly, he wants to find out how much it likes to cut.

[Rallye Sport]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

I get it, $35 for a chain on a cheap sword is almost not financially viable. But i mean, shes up for rent, and by rent i dont mean for money. Its done myself justace, helped out others, all that jazz. Still got more to do, i personally cannot be bothered, but i have a mate who will do the work for free on the junior chainsaw. He likes the little unit more then i do, and when i said its now deadly, he wants to find out how much it likes to cut.

You'd get a sharpener for under $35, quicker to sharpen than drive to Bunnings and get a new chain.
Lay the challenge down to your mate, as I said quite satisfying when you can put a deadly tune on those teeth.

[Rallye Sport]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Ok, so not "mowing" but in the garden none the less, one of my clients has a Flow beehive.

image

Really interesting watching them come and go about their business. And the whole back garden smells like heavenly honey!

I keep dropping hints as to how much I love honey, perhaps I'll be paid with the gold liquid for mowing.

When you say Flow hive is that one of the self draining types? Quite interested in them.
We used to have a hive on the vineyard, about feb/march when there was no flowers or nectar about they'd start feeding on the spoilt grapes. We'd put the separator in and get a totally different shiraz flavoured honey.

For now I'll have to settle for the native bee's at home. I've got Leaf cutters at the moment. They take small discs from leaves line a hole, in my case bamboo stakes, lay eggs and seal them over.
Cool little critter.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Rallye Sport

When you say Flow hive is that one of the self draining types? Quite interested in them.
We used to have a hive on the vineyard, about feb/march when there was no flowers or nectar about they'd start feeding on the spoilt grapes. We'd put the separator in and get a totally different shiraz flavoured honey.

For now I'll have to settle for the native bee's at home. I've got Leaf cutters at the moment. They take small discs from leaves line a hole, in my case bamboo stakes, lay eggs and seal them over.
Cool little critter.
image
image

https://www.honeyflow.com.au/pages/how-flow-works

Hard to describe in text, but it makes home bee keeping a bit easier.

I'm really interested in how it ends up tasting. The garden I look after is full of roses, lavender, salvia, daisy's and a plot planted up with cornflowers especially for the bees. Was there again today, the smell of hoeny wafting through the garden was amazing.

[danzvtil]

Going to spend my Christmas Eve making a formply ramp to help roll the mower in and out of the van, to save my back and arms.
Gotta say, the van is worth it’s weight in gold as far as practicality is concerned.

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

Going to spend my Christmas Eve making a formply ramp to help roll the mower in and out of the van, to save my back and arms.
Gotta say, the van is worth it’s weight in gold as far as practicality is concerned.

Sounds like a plan...

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

Going to spend my Christmas Eve making a formply ramp to help roll the mower in and out of the van, to save my back and arms.
Gotta say, the van is worth it’s weight in gold as far as practicality is concerned.

Had an older Bitzy van for years, was a 7 seater when I got it, converted it to a camper, then it became the stone hauler. Had its share of lawnmowers in it over the years. Couldn't kill it.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

Going to spend my Christmas Eve making a formply ramp to help roll the mower in and out of the van, to save my back and arms.
Gotta say, the van is worth it’s weight in gold as far as practicality is concerned.

I use these for loading mowers onto the Ranger.

https://www.repco.com.au/en/4x4-adve...slr/p/A9439587

I have entertained the idea of running a van, how do you go when you need to load up large amounts of green waste?

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

I use these for loading mowers onto the Ranger.

https://www.repco.com.au/en/4x4-adve...slr/p/A9439587

I have entertained the idea of running a van, how do you go when you need to load up large amounts of green waste?

I love vans, theyre absolutely amazing. But the down side is dirt, dust, any particulates in the giant back just ends up on the seats and pretty much anything up front. So the front turns into a cleaning nightmare and just not a happy place. Space wise moving smalls and clean stuff, yeah, van all the way. I love van life. But when things get dusty. No comment.

[roddy1960]

Right out of left field guys ... Flymo mowers. Anybody else use them or even remember them . Way back 25 plus years ago while I was still greenkeeping a 9 hole/18 tee golf course and 8x7 rink bowls green we had one sitting in the equipment shed . I occasionally used it for mowing the banks on a couple of our elevated greens but it was pretty clapped out at the time .

The other day I saw a real old one at a garage sale . Would have bought it but it already been sold..As if I need another mower and especially with my absolutely parched back yard with only weeds growing at the minute ..

Horrifying to see how dry our area is at present . Never seen anything like it before Chrissy...occasionally in late Jan or Feb ..sorry I digress .

Crazy ad from about 40 years ago about the Flymo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lYg1CrBj9o....


To all... I hope you're all having a great Christmas and Santy has been good to you ...Cheers....

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

I use these for loading mowers onto the Ranger.

https://www.repco.com.au/en/4x4-adve...slr/p/A9439587

I have entertained the idea of running a van, how do you go when you need to load up large amounts of green waste?

I had been looking around for ramps like that, but for what I wanted to use them for they were too expensive and bulky to lift a 50kg mower 50cm off the ground.
I bought a piece of form 1200x600 from Bunnings, rounded the corners, used a hole saw to cut a couple of grab points, and bolted on brackets so it hooks onto the rear nudge bar. $15 parts, half an hour of my time and a couple of coronas later, it’s done.
As for green, that mostly goes in my cage trailer, although the back of the van is filthy from potting mix,dirt, etc. once a month I’ll blow it all out. If the van was my full time steed, I’d probably invest in one of those sealed bulk heads (mines mesh) to keep the fuel fumes and dog sh#t smell out of the cabin.

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

I had been looking around for ramps like that, but for what I wanted to use them for they were too expensive and bulky to lift a 50kg mower 50cm off the ground.
I bought a piece of form 1200x600 from Bunnings, rounded the corners, used a hole saw to cut a couple of grab points, and bolted on brackets so it hooks onto the rear nudge bar. $15 parts, half an hour of my time and a couple of coronas later, it’s done.
As for green, that mostly goes in my cage trailer, although the back of the van is filthy from potting mix,dirt, etc. once a month I’ll blow it all out. If the van was my full time steed, I’d probably invest in one of those sealed bulk heads (mines mesh) to keep the fuel fumes and dog sh#t smell out of the cabin.

There is no way id ever drive a van without a safety cage. Things in the back move. I absolutely loved the rental hi ace i was in for a month. And cable ties mean you can easily tie a bin to the cage for rubbish. The rental i had had plastic fitted to the cage, not ideal for visability but it did work really really well for keeping the dust in the back and out of the front. Rentals dont have tow bars, so any dirty stuff had to go in the back and i did a full replacement of car park light fittings so the diesel particulate covered old fittings went in the van and the front didnt get too bad. Normally, well especially now, stuff like that will go in the work trailer. Its an 8x5 high side with a tall cage. New ute is not about volume, just its accessible and orginised, but has a tow bar. So a clear cover for the safety cage does make a bit of a difference in a van. And vans are packaged so well, all the space with shorter wheelbase and skinner track width. Maybe not so much on the safety, but i put safety mainly down to the driver.

[.:4:.]

Still no need to mow, but i have been digging and cutting up the root system of this stupid common root sytem weed that ive been fighting. Anyhow, yesterday, 2 shooters were coming through cracks in the concrete. So im not one to salt the earth. But they didnt pull out, just snapped off. Being nothing should grow under the concrete, i ran a 6.5mm drill bit down the what was left. The only thing i had on hand that i know plants do not like is my jerry of 98. Yes my lawn mower likes 98. But checked today and those 2 shooters look pretty dead to me. Hopefully that section of the root system also doesnt like premium unleaded. Its a battle that im not sure im winning, but as dry as it is for some stupid reason the weed thing thrives.

[LG17]

This is the 4th month of a total fire ban for us, not that there's anything to mow.
If you have to use a mower around here (usually for spreading horse or cow manure) you must have another responsible person with you armed with fire fighting equipment at all times.

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by LG17

This is the 4th month of a total fire ban for us, not that there's anything to mow.
If you have to use a mower around here (usually for spreading horse or cow manure) you must have another responsible person with you armed with fire fighting equipment at all times.

I know where you're coming from . How my yard is now is how it might look like well into February.. Decided to trim the dandelions (only thing growing) on Saturday evening and the cars were out . I used the side throw MTD and the dust and dirt finished up covering the cars in a layer that needed washing them off . That's a first .

We've had total fire bans here and there and thankfully it's only been mild with a few hotter days but the rain is down to buggery and incessant wind for weeks and weeks from August through til a week or two ago .

Never ever seen our little valley this dry this early ..What we all wouldn't give to see a solid rain again eh ....

Only saving grace for our town is our mains water is bore water but I guess water restrictions in case of fire fighting needs will happen eventually . Can only imagine how bad it is in even drier places around our big old country .

[ute83]

Roddy, Husqvarna still make a petrol hover mower.

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by ute83

Roddy, Husqvarna still make a petrol hover mower.

Thanks .. That's interesting ...I like Husky stuff too .. My ride on is and so is my new-ish brushcutter .. Actually my original (now 25 y.o) and still going strong Jonsered brushy is technically a Husky too apparently because Husqvarna and Jonsered are run by the same parent company .

Toro do too by the looks of it ....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plHVt6gqQg8...

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by LG17

This is the 4th month of a total fire ban for us, you must have another responsible person with you armed with fire fighting equipment at all times.

The local quarry will not deliver granite on total fire ban days now after an incident where the stone coming down off the tipper sparked together in dry grass causing a small fire to break out.