Another "smoothing lawn thread"

[leonz]

Hello LD1,

The fastest way to get the results you want are to mow closely and use a/overseeder dethatcher
and pick up the thatch and dirt clumps with a lawn sweeper since Mathews Lawn Genie Pick up
mowers are no longer made.

The dethatcher and an aerator will create great turf once the thatch dirt plugs are removed with a lawn sweeper.

Short of that a Land Pride or Caroni flail mower will solve all those issues for you.

 

[LD1]

Hello LD1,

The fastest way to get the results you want are to mow closely and use a/overseeder dethatcher
and pick up the thatch and dirt clumps with a lawn sweeper since Mathews Lawn Genie Pick up
mowers are no longer made.

The dethatcher and an aerator will create great turf once the thatch dirt plugs are removed with a lawn sweeper.

Short of that a Land Pride or Caroni flail mower will solve all those issues for you.

Not sure I want to mow my lawn with my MX5100 flail. 5 acres and alot of things to mow around.

Not sure what you mean by mowing lower. I already mow about as low as I can, And still scalp in a few spots when one side drops into a derpession/rut or goes over a high spot.

Are you saying to use the lawn mower to intentionally scalp off the high spots?

 

[ddbackhoe]

If a top dresser adds fill in an even manner, won't I still be left with a rough lawn if I don't do something to smooth first?

Not at all concerned about a healthy weed free lawn. I hate yard work and mowing. I just hate dirt and mud more so that's the only thing keeping me from round uping the whole thing.

I'm only trying to make the dreaded task of mowing less unbearable and smooth things out.

I enjoy the fact that my unhealthy lawn only needs mowed once a week instead of 2-3 times like those that treat their lawns

PTO driven so you can lay it out where/when you want....Or, scoop of ______ fill low spots, smooth and seed. You either need a spotter to find the low spots or carry some marking flags when you cut and hit a bump

Marking Flags, Tape, Paint,

 

[LD1]

or carry some marking flags when you cut and hit a bump

Marking Flags, Tape, Paint,

I'd need about a 500 pack of flags to do that :laughing:

 

[Steave]

The Frontier power rake has a 250-275 RPM. Probably close to the Harley in speed but from the looks of it speed is the only comparison. It counter rotates but has a shield instead of a top roller.

 

[kthompson]

I have learned over the years often many ways to reach same result. Our lawn was about 50% wooded area and we had trees cut and stumps ground. Long term mistake in smooth lawn as the stumps rot it needs work. But never would have been able to dig all probably so best option. Without knowing how un-level your lawn is will say the following: ours has some natural roll, has with old water run through it. The natural roll is not issue but the stump holes have been. It has been about 16 years since we cut the trees and for years have filled in rotting stump hole with top soil, shovel and steel tooth rake and it has done well for us. Need to do so even now and really thing this will be last time with the rain we got last fall and winter should be it. I am one of those who bought the Ferris due to rough lawn but then I have a medical issue that being shaken on lawn mower hurt (digestive system). The Ferris is so much better (not sure the model but full suspense) and I can run it wide open even with the few stumps holes we have. Mower I was using is Bush Hog their I think estate model but not the pro model (when I bought they had two last I look they have three models). The Ferris is much better than the Bush Hog as to comfort. Then my brothers Pro Bush Hog was smoother with the larger tires and longer wheel base. But the holes will be filled as soon I dig some top soil for them (excavator down right now). There is also the option of really bringing in dirt and leveling it I would say with box blade and really moving it over the ground a few times to fill in the low areas and take off high areas if need be. At least here our best lawn grass is slow to cover (at least two years but longer in most cases) and you do not want to go back to bare dirt.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Is there such a thing as harder and softer ground ? I probably cut ten acres around here, not all of it smooth and I never have an issue with getting bounced around. I cut ten acres for a customer last fall whos ZT was out of action. That ground seemed so hard, it just about killed me. Mind you, I did all of theirs in four hours and do mine a little here and there. I lowered the tire pressure and that helped a bit.

 

[4570Man]

Was waiting on someone to say that. I haven't done much reading up on them, but how well do they actually work. I am sure it's a smooth ride, like my 4-wheeler would be. But cut quality? How does the deck act when I hit the bumps at 9mph that, on my scag, bounces the deck on the chains and almost throws me off the seat?

Surprisingly good. There is linkage that raises the deck when a wheel moves up.

 

[LD1]

The Frontier power rake has a 250-275 RPM. Probably close to the Harley in speed but from the looks of it speed is the only comparison. It counter rotates but has a shield instead of a top roller.

SitePrep Demonstrates the Harley Rake - YouTube

1:45-2:00 mark

Just seems a whole lot faster than 250-275?? Maybe not.

My tiller is counter rotating, (reverse rotation), and runs 180RPM. With it being larger diameter, the blade tips are probably spinning faster than the harley rake.

The tiller dont do a good job. Almost hard to believe that a harley rake does a better job with knubs instead of tines. Especially spinning that slow.

 

[Steave]

Watching the video it does seem faster. This one has the nubs and some I've seen have the horizontal bars and one I seen has bars formed into a slight V shape (elongated V). All of them appear to do the same job. Maybe somebody will find time to count the RPM that ownes one.

If I were to build one I'd probably opt for the one roller with a adjustable shield instead of 2 rollers. Either way it seems like it would be a dusty ride especially on a skidsteer with no cab.