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  1. Complete Turf Care

    Offered another unusual project

    Could you offer to install the gutters, and route the runoff into the pond, with full disclosure to the owners that it may not refill the pond? They want gutters anyway. If it doesn't refill the pond, they you can discuss adding a well later. I would suggest you do a little more research on...
  2. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Went till the football field we are renovating today. I was hoping to start laser grading today, but you can see in the video it started to rain just as I was finishing the tilling.
  3. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures from a skid steer mowing contractor

    That mulcher looks like a lot of fun. I want one....
  4. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    If it rains, you won't be able to see much of the sand in 10-14 days. This field does not have irrigation. We have a good chance of rain over the next few days.
  5. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    This is after the sand is spread. It's probably a little more than we needed. And they mowed it as short as he could yesterday. If we get the rain that is predicted for the next few days, it won't look so much like a beach.
  6. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Getting the sand spread today.
  7. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    It is a link to a facebook post. It's just a lot more work to post it to YouTube, then add a link here. I wish we could post videos directly on here, but we can't. Here is a link to YouTube.
  8. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Not sure if this will work, but here is a link to a slo-mo video of the aerator at work. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1ADiKh6Rcu/
  9. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Eight loads of mason sand delivered today and 2 fields aerated with the deep tine aerator. Tomorrow we plan to spread the sand, if the weather allows. The first field will be spread by dumping it on the field then spreading with the blade. The second field will be spread with the spin spreader.
  10. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    My assumption was correct. I could not load it on my trailer because the 2 center offset shanks would not raise up high enough. We decided to remove about 1.5" of the gusset with a torch so that I can now install a straight shank in the center. I have circled where we removed a little of the...
  11. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    I added some cultivator sweeps on the front of my laser grading blade. The idea is to be able to loosen the soil in front of the blade instead of using the tiller on another tractor. The 6" sweeps are too small and I will try some 10" sweeps. The height is adjustable by loosening some set...
  12. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Today I did some seeding of Bermuda grass at a newly constructed ball park. This was not on the actual ball fields, but in some open areas between and around the fields. I told myself many times that I needed some pictures, and finally remember to take some after I had loaded up to head home.
  13. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    It's been a while since I've added to this thread. We've been busy, but I keep forgetting to take pics. This was yesterday on the same field I sprayed in the previous post. We are waiting for the school to decide what they want to do about the irrigation system. It needs upgrades.
  14. Complete Turf Care

    What's for Breakfast? Humor me!

    What part of this meal gives you the energy? I've always been a morning person, which means I'm at my best first thing in the morning, no matter what breakfast I have. I've worked along side people that couldn't do anything until they've had 2 or more cups of coffee. I have to be careful with...
  15. Complete Turf Care

    What's for Breakfast? Humor me!

    For the past 10+ years, I get up every morning and fix breakfast for me and my wife. Every day, except Fridays, it's 2 eggs with shredded cheese sprinkled on top, 2 slices of turkey bacon, and some sort of fresh fruit. The fruit could be strawberries, blueberries, oranges, bananas, grapes, or...
  16. Complete Turf Care

    Equipment buying negotiation strategies, haggling stories sellers, etc.

    That's exactly what I paid for the same mule about 6 months ago. Mine was a 'demo' that had been loaned to the local small college. It had about 250 miles on it and came with a full warranty. Sales tax here is about 9.5% and that was included in the 18K.
  17. Complete Turf Care

    Equipment buying negotiation strategies, haggling stories sellers, etc.

    I don't really do a lot of negotiating. But I do a lot of research before a major purchase. I'm looking to upgrade my 40' equipment trailer and recently found two on FB marketplace. Both were the same year and model. The first one was a bit rusted, and I hesitated, and he sold it to someone...
  18. Complete Turf Care

    Is it too soon to talk about Crypto yet?

    At our Rotary club meeting, our speaker was our state treasurer John Fleming. I asked him his thoughts on cryptocurrency. He said that although one state agency does accept cryptocurrency payments, his department is not ready to start dealing with it yet
  19. Complete Turf Care

    Another tornado threat! Level 5 alert!

    Seems the weather is getting more extreme. Here in south Louisiana, we have already had a record snowfall of 10" in January. This past Saturday, I had 11" of rain in 5.5 hours, and a total of 15.8" in 4 days. Today, winds are in the 40 mph range, which is rare, except during hurricanes. More...
  20. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    It's not snowfall this time, but rainfall. I have measured 15.8" in 4 days. Most of that fell in about 5.5 hours Saturday afternoon when I got over 11". This morning (Monday) was another 3.2". This pic was taken Saturday from my front yard. My house and shop did not flood, but many homes and...
  21. Complete Turf Care

    Autonomous Mowing - Autonomous 36, 48, or bigger machine - would this have a need / interest for folks, or no?

    What is the mowing height? It looks a bit high. Also, does it sense a heavy load on the mower? Does it automatically slow down in thick grass?
  22. Complete Turf Care

    Cool Nature Photos

    The rain stopped around 6.30pm yesterday and the water began to recede quickly. However, quiet a few homes and businesses did get flooded. I think all roads are open now. Some are saying this is worse than the flood of 2016, when we got about 24" in 24 hours. It just came down a lot faster...
  23. Complete Turf Care

    Cool Nature Photos

    Not really a "cool" nature photo, but it is a nature photo. This was taken in my front yard yesterday afternoon when I got over 11" of rain in 5.5 hours. My house did not get flooded, but I'm almost certain the house in the pic did get flooded.
  24. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    A new AC for my house. This one is very quiet and a lot more energy efficient compared to my old unit, which is about 15 years old.
  25. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Sprayed this football field today with a mix of glyphosate (aka Roundup) and fluasifop (aka Fusilade). I used a rate of 1 gallon per acre and 24oz per acre. In about 10-14 days I will do the same thing. After the existing grass is dead and removed, we will till it, laser grade it, fix the...
  26. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Slow motion video of the aeration.
  27. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Deep aeration on a football field today.
  28. Complete Turf Care

    Boom for Atv Type Sprayer

    You will want to have the 'wings' of your boom spring loaded. That way, if, or when, you hit something, it will fold backwards and the spring will pull it back into place.
  29. Complete Turf Care

    Boom for Atv Type Sprayer

    Go to 12' Spray Boom w/ 12V Electric Solenoid & Remote Control They will have all the components you need. I had my sprayer custom built at a local shop that specializes in agricultural sprayers.
  30. Complete Turf Care

    Lost an hour to DST

    I say keep doing it the way they are doing it now. Spring forward and fall back. I like it this way.
  31. Complete Turf Care

    Call before you dig

    I agree the orange is the conduit. Here in Louisiana, we are required to call or submit a 'locate request' online at least 3 business days before digging. Also, the utility companies pay to be a member of 'Louisiana One Call' which is the organization that handles all locate request. I get an...
  32. Complete Turf Care

    Call before you dig

    If I submit a locate ticket, the phone company (AT&T) will come out and locate all of their lines. There are at least 2 fiber optic cables running through my property on the highway frontage. All of the fiber cables around here are much larger than what is in your picture. They are at least...
  33. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    Yes it is. I have 2 friends that have a very similar truck and the are getting about 26 mpg. It’s the only half ton diesel available right now from the big 3. Ford and Ram don’t offer diesel in a half ton for 2025 models.
  34. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    I've put about 40 miles on it so far. I find the ride is a little stiffer than what I was expecting. And although the diesel has good pep, it seems to be a little less than my Ram 2500 with the 6.4L hemi. I think the price was fair compared to other vehicles, and the diesel actually has a...
  35. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    Dammit! I really struggled with this decision. It has the 3.0L Duramax diesel.
  36. Complete Turf Care

    Cool Nature Photos

    Two redfish and 4 flounder. It was a slow day. Actually, my daughter and son in law caught everything. I didn't catch anything, but it still a very nice day to be fishing.
  37. Complete Turf Care

    Cool Nature Photos

    Went fishing this morning and saw some pelicans at the boat launch. And a nice sunrise.
  38. Complete Turf Care

    The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

    This is where a skid steer with a grapple bucket would be handy.
  39. Complete Turf Care

    The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

    Could this be a 'test well'? In other words, a hole that goes down to the water table to monitor water quality. I've seen this sort of pipe with a lock at some DEQ hazardous waste sites that I help maintain. These DEQ sites are about 2 acres each and each has a test well at each corner of the...
  40. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    I'm spraying a tank mix of 2 products here. One is glyphosate (Roundup) to kill existing weeds, and the other is prodiamine which is a pre-emerge herbicide to prevent new weeds from germinating. The glyphosate will work, but a lot slower in cooler temperatures. Temps were in the low 60's when...
  41. Complete Turf Care

    Kubota L6060

    I own 2 L6060's. I really like them as they are a good fit for my needs. But, I am in South Louisiana and we get a little snow here about once every 10 years or so. I did have a major fuel issue with my older machine a few years. You can read that story here. Water in fuel causes $10,000...
  42. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Herbicide application on some football fields today.
  43. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    A new tool chest. I was going to get the 42” wide model, but today the 52” was on sale for less than the 42”. It’s gonna fill up fast.
  44. Complete Turf Care

    2024 Kawsaki mule pro fx ranch edition 1000

    I have a glass windshield on my older Mule 4010 and I really like it. I've been looking for a glass windshield for my new 1000 HD but when I find one, it says that it must be removed when hauled on a trailer, or you must use an enclosed trailer to haul it. I haul mine to job sites and to the...
  45. Complete Turf Care

    2024 Kawsaki mule pro fx ranch edition 1000

    On mine, the floor of the bed is steel, but the sides and tailgate are plastic. Mine came with a hydraulic tilt bed. I added a horn and a LED light on the back to see the bed, and to help when backing up at night. For the light, I put a switch in the dash, and put a quick connect in the bed...
  46. Complete Turf Care

    2024 Kawsaki mule pro fx ranch edition 1000

    Mine is the 3 seater. My price was $18,000 out the door which included about 9.5% sales tax and $1800 off the msrp. It was a demo loaned to a local university and had 250 miles on it when I purchased it.
  47. Complete Turf Care

    2024 Kawsaki mule pro fx ranch edition 1000

    I have the 2024 Mule Pro FX HD1000. It is not the Ranch edition.
  48. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    New clay bricks, lips removed, 2 loads of infield mix installed and laser graded and new bases installed.
  49. Complete Turf Care

    Cell Phone Stolen

    That sucks. I doubt you will get it back. I've never had my phone stolen, but I did have my phone number stolen. Many of my accounts have '2 step verification' which means that when I log in to an account, they send a code to my phone that I have to enter in order to get into that account...
  50. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    More work on another softball infield today. We’ve had record high temps lately which is good for allowing us to get some work done.
  51. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    We just dump it somewhere off the field. It usually ends up being about 2 or 3 loads or about 6 - 10 yards. And a lot of it is grass, so it will 'deflate' over time as the grass decays.
  52. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    More lip removal and we added 2 loads of soil and laser graded the infield at Southern University in Baton Rouge today.
  53. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    More work on an infield today. We added 2 loads of infield mix, then laser graded it.
  54. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    It's the ABI Force Z23. https://www.forcebyabi.com/?__hstc=186473334.34ec583cd7c0bb0f27d2b7b5cc56e948.1738624458931.1738624458931.1738624458931.1&__hssc=186473334.1.1738624458931&__hsfp=3610251684
  55. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    I did get them on Amazon, but they are not Dewalt. They look like and fit Dewalt, but definitely are not Dewalt brand. I figured for that cheap, it was worth a chance that they might work for a while. We will see....
  56. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    I got a 2-pack of batteries to fit my Dewalt tools. These are 8ah and were 2 for $51. Lowe's had the 5ah with 2 for $315, but it included a charger. I have several chargers already so I thought I would try these knock-offs...
  57. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    We were back on some of the fields we removed the grass from last week. I wish I had gotten a pic when I was done. All we have left to do on this field is install new bases.
  58. Complete Turf Care

    Do all HD pickups ride rough?

    I have a 2022 Ram 2500 crew cab with a long bed. It has the 6.4L gas engine. I find it rides very well. It's the Laramie package, so it has better seats. Years ago, my brother had a 2008 Chevy 2500 crew cab, short bed diesel. I rode with him on a road that is known to be very rough. At...
  59. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    I don't have any fields that are on a contract for work every year, but, yes we do work on many fields every year. In fact, 2 of the fields we did yesterday had major work done on them last year. If someone had maintained them during the off season, they would have been fine and not needed any...
  60. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    We will be back on these fields with another piece of equipment that will smooth it all out. This was just to remove the existing grass so that we can work it up and then smooth it out. It was just too wet for us to do anything more. If the coaches had kept the grass off during the off...
  61. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Finally got to do some field work today. We are removing grass from the skinned area to prepare for baseball season which starts in about a week. We did this on 2 softball and 1 baseball fields today
  62. Complete Turf Care

    Help Me Name a Custom Lumber Company

    I always felt that a person's name or the name of a city or location should not be included in a business name. That way, if you ever decided to sell it, the name would not be an issue. If your name is Jones, would you want to buy Smith's Lumber? Same thing for a town. If you live in Dallas...
  63. Complete Turf Care

    Tractor Hours/Year

    It seems I've answered this question before on here, but I can't find it. I average about 200 hours per year on my 3 main tractors.
  64. Complete Turf Care

    Cool Nature Photos

    I captured this from my game camera a couple days ago. What's rare about this is that we had a historic 10" snowfall on Jan. 22 here in South Louisiana
  65. Complete Turf Care

    Leasing my Land

    I would also suggest you consider selling that property and buying something closer so that you can tend to it easier. Let the neighbor lease it for a few years, and give him first refusal when you decide to sell. That way you can take your time to find something you like and he ends up with...
  66. Complete Turf Care

    Leasing my Land

    Here is my experience with leasing for cattle About 25 years ago, a local cattleman asked to lease my mom's family land for cattle. We signed a lease for 5 years, and renewed it after the 5 years and added that it would automatically renew every year, unless either party gave 120 days notice...
  67. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    You are correct. Anything below the surface does not need freezing protection. We usually do something to protect pipes that are above ground. About once or twice a year, we will get temps down in the 20's when pipes and citrus trees need protection. About once every 10 years or so, we get...
  68. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    We are starting to recover. I got water back on at my house late morning. I had one minor leak at my shop, and a trip to the hardware store for a fitting and it's fixed. Temps will drop below freezing soon after sundown and I'm afraid that all the melted snow will now turn back to ice and...
  69. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    I got a message from a friend of mine in Australia where it was 110F yesterday.
  70. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    We are not out of the woods yet. The local weather man just said we have hit a record low temperature of 5* F this morning. The forecast was a low of 12*. The previous record was 9 set back in 1989. I remember that because we built our house the summer of 1989 and I could not keep the north...
  71. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    One more video. This is a time lapse of the snow event, starting around 2am and ending around 2pm. You can see it got really heavy mid morning.
  72. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    Never have I ever pushed snow.
  73. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    My house and shop.
  74. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    Ended up right at 10”. I’m trying to post some drone images.
  75. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    About 8.5” so far at 10:45 and still coming down hard. As soon as it lets up a little, I’ll get some images with my drone.
  76. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    About 4” so far. And it’s still coming down hard.
  77. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    National weather service has issued a Blizzard warning for my area. It's 25* right now and snowing about 0.5 to 1.0 inches per hour. The TV weather man says we have had 2" already, and expecting 6-8 inches more today.
  78. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    I have set up 2 of my game cameras to record 18 hours of time lapse video of the snow event starting at 1 am tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. One is here at my shop, and the other is about 30 miles north of Baton Rouge where I deer hunt. Hopefully I will get some good video.
  79. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    Did you make that video?
  80. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    I am in the middle of the blue area on the first slide. But, local weather outlets are forecasting 8-10" last I heard.
  81. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    That is true. My generator runs on natural gas and can power my entire house and shop. But, I still hope I don't need it.
  82. Complete Turf Care

    What temp does diesel gel?

    What i understand from this is that I should probably get some of the red bottle just in case I have an issue???
  83. Complete Turf Care

    What temp does diesel gel?

    Thanks for the replies. I think we will be okay. I will put the skid steer inside my shop, but it does not have any heat.
  84. Complete Turf Care

    What temp does diesel gel?

    At what temperature does diesel begin to gel? We are forecast to have temperatures in the teens Tuesday night along with up to a foot of snow. This is extremely rare for here in south Louisiana. I want to have my skid steer and tractors available to push a little snow, and to pull cars out...
  85. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    Plowing? Interesting thought... I would guess you would have to go 500 miles north of me to find the first snow plow. I do have a skid steer and some tractors with loaders and buckets, but I would have no idea how much to charge to push snow. And I doubt anyone would want to pay me to push...
  86. Complete Turf Care

    Historic winter storm ENZO

    Starting Tuesday, we are forcasted to have snow here in South Louisiana. I've seen some forcasts up to 15". Now, I know this may not seem much to some of you, but we just don't get that here, ever... We have no snow removal equipment available anywhere close to the Gulf Coast. And our...
  87. Complete Turf Care

    An uncomfortable conversation. Don't suffer in silence! Embarrassing!

    I visited my doctor last week for my 6 month check up. I told her that I get up often during the night to pee. She prescribed Flomax, but when I started reading some of the side effects, I decided not to take it. It should not be used with ketoconazole, and tadalafil, both of which I use. I...
  88. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Starting off the new year laser grading another infield.
  89. Complete Turf Care

    10 dead in New Orleans

    If you've ever been on Bourbon street, it is a very interesting place. During the daylight hours, the street is filled with tourists. As the sun goes down, the crowd evolves into partiers. By 3am, most of the people are going to be pretty wasted. I would say this would have been a lot worse...
  90. Complete Turf Care

    10 dead in New Orleans

    Waking up to terrible news this morning. Apparently, a truck plowed through a crowd on Bourbon Street around 3 am this morning. I live about 2 hours from New Orleans, and I really don't want to visit there anymore. It's a fun, beautiful place to visit, but it is now also very dangerous...
  91. Complete Turf Care

    Is it too soon to talk about Crypto yet?

    How do you go about buying bitcoin? If I wanted to buy $5000 worth of bitcoin as an investment, how would I do that?
  92. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    A little thingy to refill my 1 lb. propane cannisters for my deer blind heater. [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CN95XSX1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
  93. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    I've been trying to post pictures of this sod installation we finished a few days ago, but I could not get the pics to upload, so here is a youtube video of it. You can see the roller behind the Mule in the very beginning of the video. We used it to roll over the field several times to smooth...
  94. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    The mower is a Trimax, which is similar to Progressive. The rollers allow the blades to follow the contours of the surface a little better. Although it does push the grass down a little, we use 'high lift' blades which will lift the grass for a better cut. The rollers also do a better job of...
  95. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    There is a lot going on in this video. We got started laying sod on this field. We got 60 rolls done and have only 240 more to do. There was a paving contractor removing the old track to prepare for a new one. There was also another contractor removing the old goal post bases. I also had to...
  96. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    I grew up on a rice and soybean farm. After college I did research at LSU then worked for a large farm supply company. About 22 years ago I went on my own doing lawn care and landscaping. As time passed, I was doing more athletic field work and enjoyed it more than lawn care and landscaping...
  97. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Not really dissolve, but they will get worn down from the players shoes. If you look in the pics, you can see some loose clay in bags and in the batter's box. This loose clay is similar to the bricks, and is used below and above the bricks. It is also used to patch, or fill in, holes made by...
  98. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Went work on some infields today. These fields are about 210 miles from my shop. And I have to go through Baton Rouge and New Orleans to get there. About 4 hours each way if the traffic is good. First I mowed it down to the dirt. Then tilled it. Later I will go back and re-grade it with the...
  99. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    This is how the irrigation system is designed. I use Google Earth Pro to measure and draw the system. This is the drawing that I will provide to the owner.
  100. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    I don't have any pictures, but this is the valve we used on this field. It is a Rainbird PGA 2" valve. And we used Rainbird 6504 Rotors for the sprinkler heads. There are 4 valves (zones) on this field. Three of the valves have 6 rotors and one has 5.
  101. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    It's fairly complicated. The goal is to have the irrigation supply the same amount of water in all areas. It's called 'matched precipitation'. To design a zone, you have to know how much water (gpm) and pressure you have available. Then, you have to choose a sprinkler head and nozzle size...
  102. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    This was actually a fairly easy job. It has only 4 zones. If you look at the bottom of the picture, you can see the green covers of the zone valves. The water supply is mostly 2" pipe, and parts of it are 1.5". This system includes a 2 hp booster pump, because there is not enough water...
  103. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Another irrigation system installed on a football field.
  104. Complete Turf Care

    The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

    Looks like you could use a grapple on the fence job.
  105. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    There are some advantages and some disadvantages to the fake grass. Advantages of fake grass are: 1. Less maintenance 2. Looks nicer. 3. Less 'rain-outs' Disadvantage of fake grass are: 1. Much higher initial cost 2. Much hotter than real grass in summer. Up to 40 or 50* hotter at the...
  106. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    I went spread ryegrass on this field last Friday. I also treated for ants. Several weeks ago we had installed a new irrigation system and added some sod along the new fake grass. It rained about 6.5” in the 48 hours after I took this pic. We also topdressed with sand.
  107. Complete Turf Care

    You Have a Cab?

    This is why I have cabs.
  108. Complete Turf Care

    Heat

    November 7, 2024 at 4:30pm. Dew point is at 76* and the heat index is at 94. Still a bit warm for this time of year.
  109. Complete Turf Care

    Mule oil pressure switch

    Hopefully that solves your problem. Batteries can be finicky and will do weird things.
  110. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    Kubota SVL 65 with enclosed cab and high flow hydraulics. It has 536 hours. I upgraded from my 2019 SVL 65 with open cab and standard flow with 1710 hours.
  111. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    We were able to squeeze in another lip removal job today before the rain.
  112. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Tweels are the back 'tires' on the machine. I think John Deere mowers were the first to use them.
  113. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    The coaches understand. They are who hire us.
  114. Complete Turf Care

    Sploosh - blub - dagnammit!

    The 6” metal end of a fuel nozzle has been in the tank of my Kubota L5740 for years. It broke off while I was filling it. I have never tried to fish it out.
  115. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    It’s a gasser and I’ve been really happy with it, but I’ve been towing heavy loads lately. Today, I texted my truck salesman to see when the 2025 Ram 2500’s will be available to order. I’m considering going back to diesel. He said early next year.
  116. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    I don’t know exactly why it came with the tweels, but I like them. I think they give a little better traction than pneumatic tires would have, and no worries about flats.
  117. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    This is a 'before' pic of an infield. This is after removing the lips. We actually made another pass after this one because one pass wasn't enough. This was when I got home. You can see I averaged 6.7mpg on a 261-mile drive. This is about as far as I want to go for a job. 4.5 hours...
  118. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    The lip is most likely caused from when they drag the infield in a circular motion, they tend to throw a little of the infield mix out into the grass. And, since there is no grass on the skinned area to hold the soil in place, wind and rain can push it out into the grass area too. And, the...
  119. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Another lip removal job today. You can see how dry we are right now. Thank God for cabbed tractors.
  120. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    I usually have to provide an estimate for each job. Then, whoever is paying for it will issue a purchase order. Sometimes, these jobs will require 3 estimates. On bigger jobs (over $50,000) different bid laws require public bids. These require advertising for bids.
  121. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Finished this softball field today. It was a fairly big job just South of New Orleans. We rebuilt home plate and the pitchers mound, aerated and topdressed the grass area, removed the lips around the skinned area, added infield clay and laser graded the skinned area. It took 3 days to complete...
  122. Complete Turf Care

    Rain

    Last rainfall here was September 17. We are under a burn ban for about a week now. A burn ban here has normally been very rare. We did have an extended ban last year. Still fairly hot too, but dewpoints have been down. Highs in the high 80's for the coming week.
  123. Complete Turf Care

    7 tooth spring ripper-cultivator-chisel

    Looks like the only thing you can salvage from the brush hog is the 'c-clamp'
  124. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    It’s time to start overseeding baseball fields with ryegrass. This field was done with my broadcast spreader. Most of the fields I plant are with a small drill seeder. I’ll post pics of it when I do a field with it.
  125. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    High school baseball season starts in late January. In about 2 weeks you won't be able to see much of the sand at all.
  126. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    Final drive motor for my Bobcat E20 excavator. https://precisionfinaldrives.com/products/bobcat-e20-final-drive-travel-motor
  127. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Drone video of spreading sand on a field with the blade instead of the spin spreader.
  128. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    I would say it's no different than any other business. The more you use it, the more it breaks. And we have been busy this summer. I try to keep my equipment updated as much as I can, but some things just get old and worn out....Kind of like me... We had to re-do the brakes on the 40'...
  129. Complete Turf Care

    Front wheel bearings failed L5740

    It happened again, but this time it was on one of my L6060’s. We were using it to load and lay sod. I knew what we were doing was too heavy, but it was not a situation where we could use the skid steer.
  130. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    More aeration today. This baseball field has the largest bleachers I’ve seen at a high school. Also, today was my lucky day. I stopped for gas and decided to look at the tires on my trailer. There was a tire shop about 4 miles from me and I made it there to get a new one.
  131. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    The symptom was oil all over the front tire. Yes I plan to do the work myself. I have done it already at least 4 times on my L5740. Here is a link to a thread I started on the L5740 back in 2015 when it first happened...
  132. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    We finished up our part on a baseball field today. We installed a new irrigation system and laid sod around the new fake grass infield. You can see in one pic we borrowed a telehandler from the general contractor to do the last pallet of sod. A front wheel bearing went out on my Kubota L6060...
  133. Complete Turf Care

    The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

    Interesting.... Next question.... What kind of mushrooms are they growing? To sell fresh? For canning? For something else?
  134. Complete Turf Care

    The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

    What exactly is 'mushroom hay"
  135. Complete Turf Care

    The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

    What do you do with the hay that has been ruined by rain?
  136. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    It's a 2" line from the city. Normal psi is about 50 to 60. This system has 6 zones with either 5 or 6 rotors on each zone.
  137. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    It's a gas. It was a demo unit with 400 miles on it, so I got it for about 2k off the msrp. Edit. It has 400 kilometers which is about 250 miles on it. 👍
  138. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    2024 Kawasaki Mule FX 1000 HD
  139. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Been working on installing a new irrigation system and forgetting to take pictures. They destroyed the old system when they started construction on the fake grass. We had to change one of the tracks on the mini excavator. Cost about $750 and it took about 20 minutes.
  140. Complete Turf Care

    Heat

    72* here at 6am. Forecast is for 92 today. But...the dewpoint is only 66 right now, which is a bit more tolerable.
  141. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Yes, I'm sure it was something stupid. It looks like someone slowed down because of heavy rain, and the vehicles behind them did now slow down enough. I don't know who was the stupid one. The one that slowed too much, or the one behind them that didn't slow enough. And, although I'm not...
  142. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    They sent 2 tow trucks to pull him out. They just got him back on the road and he was able to drive away without any damage. It was either hit the 18 wheeler in front of him or take the ditch. There were several accidents in front of him. There were at least 10 vehicles that either got...
  143. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    The day started out good. Finished laser grading the infield around 2:30. The trip home was not so good. Yes, that is one of my trucks in the mud. No damage to any of my stuff, but $1350 for a tow truck.
  144. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    We won't get on the field if it is too wet. But, in the spring, summer and fall, we usually need only a day or 2 after a rain, and it will be dry enough to work.
  145. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Rebuilt another pitchers mound with clay bricks and lip removal today. This field is about 165 miles from me near the Mississippi state line. It’s about 2.5 hours drive if traffic isn’t too bad in Baton Rouge
  146. Complete Turf Care

    Autonomous Mowing - Autonomous 36, 48, or bigger machine - would this have a need / interest for folks, or no?

    Are the blades really dull? Looks like it’s not a very clean cut.
  147. Complete Turf Care

    Heat

  148. Complete Turf Care

    Heat

    Still summer here. Heat index is 111*. Dew point is around 77-78*. Still miserable….
  149. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Today we dumped 5 loads of mason sand then spread it with the blade on a baseball field. We did it with the blade instead of the spreader because they had some small ripples in the outfield that we wanted to fill in. Yesterday we aerated 3 fields
  150. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Applied herbicide and insecticide for Virginia Buttonweed and fire ants. The second pic is from an app that I use to record my spray path. I can also use it to guide me as a back up to my foam marker.
  151. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Today I went fertilize the baseball field we sprigged on July 30. It usually takes about 90 days to grow in completely. Today is day 45. It’s about 70% covered now. I’m pleased with the progress.
  152. Complete Turf Care

    Hurricane Francine

    Well....we made it with no damage at my shop. About 1/2" of rain and a little breeze. It came onshore around 5pm yesterday about 80-90 miles east of me. Houma and New Orleans got a lot more than I got. Lucky for everyone it was not really bad.
  153. Complete Turf Care

    Hurricane Francine

    Ida was really bad. I did some work in Cut Off a few weeks ago, and they are still rebuilding from Ida.
  154. Complete Turf Care

    Hurricane Francine

    Light rain and a little breeze here now. We may not get much rain at all, which is fine with me. It should make landfall around 5pm today about 80 miles east of me. Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Houma will get the worst of it. But it doesn't look like it will be nearly as bad as some other...
  155. Complete Turf Care

    You Have a Cab?

    Four of my 5 tractors have cabs. The one without the cab rarely gets used. Several years ago, I was laser grading a football field with an open station tractor. Every time I got a phone call, I had to stop so that I could take the call. Not long after that, I traded the open station for a...
  156. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    More lip removal yesterday at one of the largest private schools in the state which is in Baton Rouge. We were planning to do another field today, but decided to stay home and prepare for Francine.
  157. Complete Turf Care

    Hurricane Francine

    I hope you guys that need rain get what you need. I dont really need any rain as we are about 7" above average for the year, and we've had plenty rain in the past 2 weeks. I'm starting to get a little bit of wind from Francine with gusts up to about 20 mph now. The forecast is still just east...
  158. Complete Turf Care

    Hurricane Francine

    Looks like it's moving slightly east of me, like 50 miles maybe. Landfall is scheduled for around 1:00 Wednesday. All schools are closed today and tomorrow. Doesn't look like it will be a really bad storm, but there will still be plenty of damage. Probably a Cat 1, and maybe a Cat 2.
  159. Complete Turf Care

    Hurricane Francine

    Well...I'm right in the middle of projected path of Francine. Got new hurricane shutters installed on my house Saturday. We should start seeing rain and wind sometime Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. I'm about 50 miles from the coast, so tidal surge won't affect me. I'll work tomorrow...
  160. Complete Turf Care

    How Many Hours Do You Spend on Your Tractor(s)?

    I have 5 tractors, but only 2 operators. My use is about 90% business and 10% use around my shop and on about 65 acres of land that I own but is rented out to a hay farmer. We tend to use the newer tractors more, because they are more comfortable. Here is a list of approximately how many hours...
  161. Complete Turf Care

    Heat

    Heat index was 112 yesterday afternoon. About 1" of rain today, so it's much cooler now.
  162. Complete Turf Care

    Rain

    Almost 2” of rain today at my shop. The weatherman says another 4-6” over the next 4-5 days.
  163. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    On this softball field, we added 60 yards of topsoil to try to reduce the steep elevation change in the outfield. We had done the same thing a couple years ago, but closer to the skinned area. After smoothing the new soil, I added some Bermuda seed. We have 5 days of rain starting today, so that...
  164. Complete Turf Care

    Ground hornets! [emoji2962]

    Years ago a friend had borrowed a large bulldozer from a local farmer. As he was pushing trees in his yard, he hit a nest in an old dead tree. He put the dozer in neutral, and jumped off, but as he was jumping off, he hit the lever to put it in reverse. You can't really climb back on to a...
  165. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    Dave’s not here…
  166. Complete Turf Care

    looking at used JD 3720 or 5045E tractor

    I bought one about a year ago. I've put about 50 hours on it. I like it so far, and the only issue is the fuel gauge does not work. We replaced the fuel sensor when I bought it, but the new one didn't last very long. Here is a link to a thread I started when I got it. My first John Deere
  167. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Another infield renovation today. We added 2 loads of infield clay mix, then laser graded it, then tilled is and laser graded it again.
  168. Complete Turf Care

    What's your go-to rubber farm/rural boot?

    Lacross Grange boots. Been wearing them for many years. I haven’t found anything nearly as comfortable. But, they are “ankle tight” so if you have thick ankles, they probably won’t be comfortable.
  169. Complete Turf Care

    Mule oil pressure switch

    Does it turn over at all? I have a 2016 Mule 4010 that would turn over, but would not start. I found that I was not getting power to the injectors. I was about to change the control module, when a mechanic determined that a wire was broken in the wire harness. Instead of taking the harness...
  170. Complete Turf Care

    Heat

    I don't know about in the US, but back in 2014, I visited Coff's Harbor on the Pacific coast of Australia. Their weather is very close to what you wish for.
  171. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Mound clay bricks are used on the mound and at home plate in the high wear areas to keep the players from making big holes. The clay bricks are harder than soil, but not as hard as regular bricks or concrete. There are several places that sell them. MoundMaster Blocks | Turface Athletics
  172. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    We removed the old pitchers mound which was made of fake grass, and put in new clay bricks.
  173. Complete Turf Care

    Heat

    Finally got a dewpoint below 70 this morning. It sure is a relief from the brutal weather we have been having.
  174. Complete Turf Care

    Liquid Lime/Calcium Anybody tried it?

    That's good to hear. I didn't think it would make much of a difference. Even if you have to apply it every year, it would be worth the investment. What type of grass is the hay? Looks like it might be Coastal Bermuda???
  175. Complete Turf Care

    Rehab Softball Diamond

    My business is building and maintaining baseball fields. Are you reworking the 'skinned' area? Or the entire field? Does your field even have a skinned area? Your tiller will be a good tool either way. If you are reworking the skinned area, you will need to remove the grass somehow. If...
  176. Complete Turf Care

    Heat

    Heat is really getting up there lately. The national weather service has issued severe heat warnings for the past week or so. And again for at least tomorrow.
  177. Complete Turf Care

    Ground hornets! [emoji2962]

    I found a nest near my shop a few days ago. The next morning I mixed a tank of bifenthrin to spray my yard for ants. I was able to stick my wand down the hole and pumped about a gallon of the bifenthrin mix into the nest. They were all gone the next day.
  178. Complete Turf Care

    Heat

    Local weather just forecasted temps up to 100 degrees and heat index up to 120 degrees today. Lets see how high we can get....
  179. Complete Turf Care

    skid steer

    My Kubota is 68 and the Cat is 74
  180. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Yesterday and today, we removed about 6” of bad soil from an infield and replaced it with good soil
  181. Complete Turf Care

    skid steer

    We rented a Cat 259 for 2 days. My guys did not like it compared to our Kubota. It seemed to be a bit underpowered.
  182. Complete Turf Care

    Skid steer fire.

    I think it’s also very good that he got a picture of the error code. That should help determine what happened.
  183. Complete Turf Care

    Skid steer fire.

    That is scary. The 75-3 is a really nice machine. Let us know when you find out what caused it.
  184. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    I went look at the baseball field we sprigged (planted) 10 days ago on July 30. I starting to see a hint of green. I am pleased with the progress of the new grass. Hot weather helps.
  185. Complete Turf Care

    Heat

    Dewpoint is down to 70* here this morning, which is still described as 'oppressive'. But it's a LOT better than 80*. I went unhook my trailer and didn't even break a sweat.
  186. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    More lip removal today. We actually did 2 fields today. A little over 6 hours of driving time today.
  187. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    My niece's husband is an ACC college coach also. He is head football coach at Virginia Tech.
  188. Complete Turf Care

    skid steer

    I had a Bobcat T550 and upgraded to a Kubota SVL 65. The Bobcat was a very basic model. The Kubota is so much easier to operate. My next upgrade will be to a closed cab model. And it will be a Kubota again.
  189. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    Thanks. I've never heard of such a rule. But I've only hunted in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, and Canada.
  190. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    Please explain what a 'straight wall' state is.
  191. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    I don't know what disc he has. I think he said it's a 32'
  192. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    Today I laser graded the skinned area of a high school baseball field.
  193. Complete Turf Care

    Cataracts and other visual concerns!

    I went through that with my doctor. She said insurance would not cover it. And, its not medically necessary. I told her that I would pay for it out of pocket. And, I spend more than the cost of surgery on hunting every year. And, people have boob jobs every day, that are not medically...
  194. Complete Turf Care

    Kubota Treadle Pedal...

    This video shows my opinion of the treadle pedal
  195. Complete Turf Care

    Pictures of an athletic field contractor

    More lip removal with the Koro Field Top Maker today. After this we added about 40 yds of infield clay mix and laser graded it with the ABI machine.
  196. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    This is what we used to disc my 12 acres. It covers the area in about 15 minutes.
  197. Complete Turf Care

    Radiator cleaning with spray foam products?

    So far I've done 3 tractors and my skid steer and my Kawasaki Mule with the spray foam. It seems to have made a difference on the Mule for sure. The others, it's hard to tell. I just did the skid steer today. I've been blowing them out with air first, then apply the foam stuff, then hit it...
  198. Complete Turf Care

    Crop Dusting share your picture and stories.

    Cool video about aerial application. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/iwojhe9cPY4Nt2NK/?mibextid=QwDbR1
  199. Complete Turf Care

    What did you buy this week?

    The freshly plowed area you see is 12 of the 36 acres I bought yesterday. The other 24 is on the left. And on the right is 9 acres that I gave to my daughter and son in law in exchange for him building my office/kitchen about 2 years ago. The circle you see in the middle is where the cattle...
  200. Complete Turf Care

    Heat

    I was wrong with my prediction. Heat index is 121 at 4:45pm. Humidity is only 57% but the dew point is 80.2 degrees.
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