Gardening/Maintenance Thread

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 8:56 am

I've used this website before and found a gas station a couple miles away from me that sells ethanol free gas.

https://www.pure-gas.org/extensions/map.html

Too bad they are only open when I'm at work, but luckily my wife drives by when she takes the kids to swim class on Wednesday.

Postby **NTP66** » Sat Nov 02, 2019 7:26 pm

I’m hoping that today was the last lawn mowing session for the season.

Postby **dodint** » Sat Nov 02, 2019 8:10 pm

I got 8 bags of leaves and only did 1/3 of my yard.

Postby **skullman80** » Sat Nov 02, 2019 8:22 pm

Gonna mow the front tomorrow after taking down the Halloween decorations so the Christmas stuff is not overgrown by grass. The back can wait till next spring.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Sat Nov 02, 2019 9:31 pm

I got 8 bags of leaves and only did 1/3 of my yard.

I get 40-50 a year. Smack in the middle of it now

Postby **blackjack68** » Sat Nov 02, 2019 10:31 pm

We just push ours out to the curb and the township collects them.

Postby **dodint** » Sat Nov 02, 2019 10:55 pm

That's the superior method for sure.

Postby **tjand72** » Sat Nov 02, 2019 11:13 pm

I'm thinking of using the mower to mulch it into little pieces. I usually do about 5-6 small trailer-full dumps each year, but I figure it's better to chop it up and let it decompose. Easier on me and probably better for the lawn.

Postby **NTP66** » Sun Nov 03, 2019 6:05 am

I used to bag up our leaves, but no more. I use the leaf blower to push them all towards the back fence, and then just take them onto large tarps and dump them at the curb. Our township collects bags and uses a separate vacuum truck to get the leaves at the curb.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Sun Nov 03, 2019 4:15 pm

19 bags this weekend for a total of 35 on the year. Probably 5-10 more to go after the last of the leaves fall

Postby **Kane** » Sun Nov 03, 2019 8:14 pm

Mulch 'em up.

Postby **count2infinity** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 9:04 pm

Our potential new house has a 0.55 acre lot. It's on somewhat of a hill. I currently have a small reel mower. That's not going to cut it. Self-propelled push mower or riding mower for something that size? I'm thinking push mower and see how that goes for a season then re-evaluate.

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 6:05 am

Our potential new house has a 0.55 acre lot. It's on somewhat of a hill. I currently have a small reel mower. That's not going to cut it. Self-propelled push mower or riding mower for something that size? I'm thinking push mower and see how that goes for a season then re-evaluate.

That's about half a football field. Skip right to the riding mower, IMO. That's a lot of time to dedicate to just mowing the lawn with a push mower.

Postby **skullman80** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 6:08 am

I agree with NPT but I love cutting grass. If that was mostly flat I'd do a self propelled push mower all day long and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 6:10 am

I ain't NPT, ya dope...

Postby **skullman80** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 6:14 am

It's early and I'm at the gym not fully awake lol

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 8:03 am

If you go push mower I'd recommend battery powered. They are lighter and you won't have to worry about much maintenance or the ethanol gumming up your carburetor.

Postby **dodint** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 9:23 am

The B&D 60v mower I recommended earlier in the thread is still going strong. I like it a lot. There is probably an updated model of it by now, though. Either way battery powered mowers have been a game changer. No fussing with fuel, it's quieter, etc. Just don't let the grass get super high or cut it while wet, you'll go through a full battery pretty quickly.

Right now we use a lawn service at the country house. I think when we move I'm going to retain their services and sell my mowers. Typing that out I just realized I probably can't sell the battery mower because I use the batteries for my leaf blower.

I have a rider that I'll have zero use for, though.

Postby **Kane** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 9:28 am

What kind of rider?

Postby **dodint** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 9:45 am

Red. *shrug*

I honestly don't know. My FIL had a bigger John Deere and when he passed away my MIL traded it in for a smaller more manageable non-John Deere model. She used it a handful of times and then she passed away herself. I used it for about two months and then we hired a lawn service and it has been sitting in the garage with a cover on it. We have an acre and it managed to do that just fine, and our lot is on an incline.

We also have what feels to me to be a giant snow blower. Gas, just a huge thing. Something my FIL would've bought in reaction to some big storm but he never got to use, its brand new. I have my electric snowblower which did great in WI and here in PA so I'm going to sell the gas one too.

Anyway, they both have to go. I'll post here first to see if there is any interest before I go through Craigslist/Facebook hell.

Postby **mac5155** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 10:04 am

LMK about the mower - my dad's looking to buy one. If you're talking Latrobe, we're within 20 mins.

Postby **dodint** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 12:43 pm

Yeah, Latrobe. I assume since it's Feb he's not buying this instant? I'll take some pics of it when I go down there next week.

Postby **mac5155** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 1:57 pm

Nah, just looking for a good deal for the spring. He mows for a side gig, and is trying to get larger lawns.

Postby **willeyeam** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 2:03 pm

I saw a commercial for a Roomba like mower and it seemed kinda awesome. But I feel like it'd get stolen

Postby **dodint** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 2:08 pm

You'd need a second, up armored Roomba to guard it.