Mowing Mud

[pennwalk]

Icat wrote about the combination of 102 in the shade, dust and sweat of the brow making for a muddy mess answer . We have a way different problem. Rain Rain Rain. I am just about ready to abandon the lawns. Seems like every time I mow I am doing more damage. Almost makes me long for the drought. The farm lane is so muddy that I have been wondering if there is something I could do to firm it up. Then I think maybe patience is the answer. Truth is you couldn't get a truck down it and even walking would be a mess so why mow it. One neighbor suggested just letting it grow. Then hiring an Amishman with a horse drawn sickle bar to cut it and bale it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I guess it will dry out sooner of later.

Chris

 

[Anonymous Poster]

It's the same here in Tennessee. Kind of like mowing a swamp. It's been so wet that there hasn't been much opportunity to use the big tractor--save for pulling the lawn tractor out of the "swamp." /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

The good news is the the rain is supposed to stop for a few days--until the weekend, that is.

SnowRidge

 

[MDNick]

Same thing in So. Md. Mowed lawn Monday, finally just decided to drive into the wet spots and mow it. Grass was nigh on 18" tall, in spots. Didn't do to much damage. This spring has provided an amazing amount of rain. Surely has resolved the drought issues in these parts. Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day . . . Like August when it is 100 deg, 100% humidity, and dryer than a popcorn rolled in sawdust.

 

[Trev]

Our back garden is a swamp this year.. the side one is fine. The problem with the back one is that the former owner had a bulldozer push out a flat spot for her horses to run, and when we bulldozed it back down.. I don't know why.. but when you take out dirt and then put it back, you never have enough to do the job. So what we have out back now is a bit of a depression which collects water. What a mess. I tried to deal with it a bit last weekend, and got so stuck I needed two buddies with come-alongs to get me out. I had thought I could maybe till it while wet, along with doing some leveling with the front blade, but the R4's loaded up with mud and by the time I realized I was in trouble I was up to the axles. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

We're supposed to have a few nice warm days coming up, so maybe I'll get up the nerve to try it again. Either that or get my farmer neighbor to come in with his big rig and straighten things out. With 8 huge tires, he could probably float across any water. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[pennwalk]

Well we are in our third day of "drought". Its hot and sunny. The ground is drying out amazingly. I decided to use the JD front mower that I use of the lawn to cut the farm lane. I usually use a Yanmar 186d with a 5 foot Woods rear finish mower. The Yanmar had no trouble getting through the wet spots but it was leaving big rutts. The little JD seem it float over the mud. It kind of sways and shimmies.Almost like swimming. The turf tires do much less damage. In fact I was able to flatten some of the rutts by running the JD back and forth over them. There is still a section under water and I didn't even try it. I got the JD stuck there when we first got it. It is a long walk back to the barn to get the truck. I hope to find the time to get in there and improve the drainage. I have been thinking about spreading some gravel on the wet spots to firm them up.

Chris

 

[icat]

I'm not sure which is worse - knowing the ground is too wet to mow or knowing that the humidity will soak you in fifteen minutes of work (even though there hasn't been much rain at all). Just spoke to my folks out on the building site - it's 115 with the humidity factored in. Best they can do is about 4 hours a day in the heat. This summer is shapping up to be just brutal! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[snowman]

I think I've mowed five times so far this year and at least three of those were while it was raining.

Mowed the back field three times - one time it was raining pretty steady so I used my wife's red umbrella and put the cruise control on and mowed - must've looked kind of funny from the road.