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Mowing wet grass?
We were never allowed to mow wet grass growing up. Two main reasons
were clogging and that the wetness caused the blade of grass to "slip" off the blade rather than cutting the grass. It left you with a more unkempt lawn as some blades would be cut and others weren't. That said, I live in Western NY and rain or shine, the office parks around here have their lawns mowed by the larger riding mowers. After they have passed by my window, the lawn looks like it was hardly touched. I've seen them mow in a driving rain. Seems to me, if I were the landlord, I wouldn't pay to have them mow on that day. Skip the week and come back the next. Any thoughts on mowing with riding mowers when its raining? Charles |
Mowing wet grass?
"Charles Woolever" wrote in message om... We were never allowed to mow wet grass growing up. Two main reasons were clogging and that the wetness caused the blade of grass to "slip" off the blade rather than cutting the grass. It left you with a more unkempt lawn as some blades would be cut and others weren't. That said, I live in Western NY and rain or shine, the office parks around here have their lawns mowed by the larger riding mowers. After they have passed by my window, the lawn looks like it was hardly touched. I've seen them mow in a driving rain. Seems to me, if I were the landlord, I wouldn't pay to have them mow on that day. Skip the week and come back the next. Any thoughts on mowing with riding mowers when its raining? Charles The lawn care companies have a difficult time turning away business. They know that they shouldn't cut in the rain, but better to do that than not cut the lawn that week. Peter H |
Mowing wet grass?
On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 06:31:25 -0700, Charles Woolever wrote:
We were never allowed to mow wet grass growing up. Two main reasons were clogging and that the wetness caused the blade of grass to "slip" off the blade rather than cutting the grass. It left you with a more unkempt lawn as some blades would be cut and others weren't. That said, I live in Western NY and rain or shine, the office parks around here have their lawns mowed by the larger riding mowers. After they have passed by my window, the lawn looks like it was hardly touched. I've seen them mow in a driving rain. Seems to me, if I were the landlord, I wouldn't pay to have them mow on that day. Skip the week and come back the next. Any thoughts on mowing with riding mowers when its raining? Good day Charles, concidering I've done my fair share of mowing in the rain, thought I'd give you some insights. We wern't allowed to mow in the rain as kids due to the fact your very likly to slip and wack off your foot! Also those old mowers were most likly side discharge mowers and not mulcher mowers. The mulcher mowers suck the grass up off the ground rather well and they seem to cut rather well even though it is wet. The commercial rider mowers have so much power and the blades have so many rpm's behind them, not much stands a chance as long as the blades are good and sharp or other wise your mower will 'puke' grass everywhere. Instead of the grass mulching, the dull blades will ball up the grass and 'puke' it out the sides of the mower. Now that's a fun mess to clean. The thing to remember is if the maintaince company was to skip that day, it would take them the better part of a work week to catch up, if at all. When your running a company that maintains a 1000+ lawns, you can afford to get behind. -- http://yard-works.netfirms.com |
Mowing wet grass?
"Peter H" wrote:
The lawn care companies have a difficult time turning away business. They know that they shouldn't cut in the rain, but better to do that than not cut the lawn that week. Peter H You -must- cut in the rain,if you do it for profit. -- GO# 40 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- http://NewsReader.Com/ 50 GB/Month |
Mowing wet grass?
"Charles Woolever" wrote in message om... We were never allowed to mow wet grass growing up. Two main reasons were clogging and that the wetness caused the blade of grass to "slip" off the blade rather than cutting the grass. It left you with a more unkempt lawn as some blades would be cut and others weren't. That said, I live in Western NY and rain or shine, the office parks around here have their lawns mowed by the larger riding mowers. After they have passed by my window, the lawn looks like it was hardly touched. I've seen them mow in a driving rain. Seems to me, if I were the landlord, I wouldn't pay to have them mow on that day. Skip the week and come back the next. Any thoughts on mowing with riding mowers when its raining? Charles It's a pain in the butt. I just had to mow my yard last week-end right after a rain. The grass was so tall I couldn't wait any longer. I have a 42" wide, riding mower with a mulch kit installed. After mowing, my yard was covered with patches of wet, clumps of grass. I tried picking it up with my tow-behind lawn rake. It left a lot behind. 3 days after mowing and the cut grass was dry, I walked around with a rake & raked up those matted down grass clippings before it killed the grass. I started to mow it Fri afternoon, but decided to wait until Sat. Then on Sat we got 3" of rain! Never again will I put it off. |
Mowing wet grass?
On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 12:32:12 -0500, Patch wrote:
"Charles Woolever" wrote in message om... We were never allowed to mow wet grass growing up. Two main reasons were clogging and that the wetness caused the blade of grass to "slip" off the blade rather than cutting the grass. It left you with a more unkempt lawn as some blades would be cut and others weren't. That said, I live in Western NY and rain or shine, the office parks around here have their lawns mowed by the larger riding mowers. After they have passed by my window, the lawn looks like it was hardly touched. I've seen them mow in a driving rain. Seems to me, if I were the landlord, I wouldn't pay to have them mow on that day. Skip the week and come back the next. Any thoughts on mowing with riding mowers when its raining? Charles It's a pain in the butt. I just had to mow my yard last week-end right after a rain. The grass was so tall I couldn't wait any longer. I have a 42" wide, riding mower with a mulch kit installed. After mowing, my yard was covered with patches of wet, clumps of grass. I tried picking it up with my tow-behind lawn rake. It left a lot behind. 3 days after mowing and the cut grass was dry, I walked around with a rake & raked up those matted down grass clippings before it killed the grass. I started to mow it Fri afternoon, but decided to wait until Sat. Then on Sat we got 3" of rain! Never again will I put it off. Make sure the mower blades are sharp, mow the lawn slower and when the lawn is high mow it twice. The first mow should be half of the hight you want the lawn. The second mow should be the final hight you want. You mowed too much too fast and your mower couldn't mulch the grass. It balled it up and 'puked' it up instead of mulching or bagging it. -- http://yard-works.netfirms.com |
Mowing wet grass?
They may WANT to cut in the rain to preserve profit, but as a homeowner
or office park landlord, I don't want my lawn to look like crap. Basically the guys zip by at full throttle, pouring rain. The grass is not clumpy afterwards because I think very little was even cut. Ona dry day, the sidewalks are covered until they come by and blow it off. On a wet day, the sidewalks have almost no grass on them. So far as the difficulty in catching up for the week, my preference would be if my lawns are cut on Tuesday and it's pouring, skip the week completely and start again next week. Now that does cut into profit. Charles In article , wrote: "Peter H" wrote: The lawn care companies have a difficult time turning away business. They know that they shouldn't cut in the rain, but better to do that than not cut the lawn that week. Peter H You -must- cut in the rain,if you do it for profit. -- Charles P. Woolever http://ny.existingstations.com Existing Stations in NYS |
Mowing wet grass?
"Charles P. Woolever" wrote:
They may WANT to cut in the rain to preserve profit, but as a homeowner or office park landlord, I don't want my lawn to look like crap. Basically the guys zip by at full throttle, pouring rain. The grass is not clumpy afterwards because I think very little was even cut. Ona dry day, the sidewalks are covered until they come by and blow it off. On a wet day, the sidewalks have almost no grass on them. So far as the difficulty in catching up for the week, my preference would be if my lawns are cut on Tuesday and it's pouring, skip the week completely and start again next week. Now that does cut into profit. Charles In article , wrote: "Peter H" wrote: The lawn care companies have a difficult time turning away business. They know that they shouldn't cut in the rain, but better to do that than not cut the lawn that week. Peter H You -must- cut in the rain,if you do it for profit. They ain't cutting for charity. Everyday is a cutting day,you can't wait till it dries up. You're talk about commercial cutters,and that's what pays the least in the green industry. It's not the kid down the street. sheesh -- GO# 40 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- http://NewsReader.Com/ 50 GB/Month |
Mowing wet grass?
On Thu, 24 Apr 2003 22:45:18 +0000, Charles P. Woolever wrote:
They may WANT to cut in the rain to preserve profit, but as a homeowner or office park landlord, I don't want my lawn to look like crap. Basically the guys zip by at full throttle, pouring rain. The grass is not clumpy afterwards because I think very little was even cut. Ona dry day, the sidewalks are covered until they come by and blow it off. On a wet day, the sidewalks have almost no grass on them. So far as the difficulty in catching up for the week, my preference would be if my lawns are cut on Tuesday and it's pouring, skip the week completely and start again next week. Now that does cut into profit. Trust me I didn't want to cut in the rain today!!!! Freakin' soaked to the bone but it had to be done. If I was to skip this week, next week would be total hell. Your lawn would look like total hell before next week's mow not to mention that you would get charged for two mows anyhow. Why get charged for two mows next week? Because I would have to mow it twice to get back to the right heigth. You mention that they are not getting grass all over the sidewalks when it's wet out, there is a reason for this. Have you ever tried to clean up wet clipping before? It's hard!! Wet grass doesn't blow away well at all. The lawn boys are taking a little extra time not to get grass everywhere ( as in not running mowers over concrete..ect) so they don't have to spend all day cleaning up after themselves. When it's dry, the grass gets thrown about alot and the lawn boys are not being careful about their messes. As far as them flying by at full throttle. when you go out and spend 7000.00 dollars for a 48 inch mower... It damn well better mow up wet grass at full throttle with little to no mess! When you spend a 1000.00 dollars for a 21 inch mower it better mow with no mess ... rain or shine. As far as you preference of being skipped, good luck finding a company that will do that and not double charge you for the next mow. You may need to stick with the kid next door for your lawn servicing, sure he won't mind working for free...... good luck in all your lawn adventures..... -- http://yard-works.netfirms.com |
Mowing wet grass?
A little more on the thread as people are now mowing weekly here.
Someone said earlier that the larger riding mowers could mow the wet grass so easily because they were so powerful. If that is the case, they why can't they handle a yard that has been skipped a week? Secondly, last week was pretty much rain all week here. Residents didn't mow during the rain. Businesses with lawn care were mowed. Now, those powerful riding mowers apparently cut the grass but the dandelion stems seemed to have been too slippery. By the end of the day they were mowed, the stems were standing up proud and tall above the now lower grass. That really looks bad. On a dry day everything is cut. Charles "Timothy" wrote in message m... On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 12:32:12 -0500, Patch wrote: "Charles Woolever" wrote in message om... We were never allowed to mow wet grass growing up. Two main reasons were clogging and that the wetness caused the blade of grass to "slip" off the blade rather than cutting the grass. It left you with a more unkempt lawn as some blades would be cut and others weren't. That said, I live in Western NY and rain or shine, the office parks around here have their lawns mowed by the larger riding mowers. After they have passed by my window, the lawn looks like it was hardly touched. I've seen them mow in a driving rain. Seems to me, if I were the landlord, I wouldn't pay to have them mow on that day. Skip the week and come back the next. Any thoughts on mowing with riding mowers when its raining? Charles It's a pain in the butt. I just had to mow my yard last week-end right after a rain. The grass was so tall I couldn't wait any longer. I have a 42" wide, riding mower with a mulch kit installed. After mowing, my yard was covered with patches of wet, clumps of grass. I tried picking it up with my tow-behind lawn rake. It left a lot behind. 3 days after mowing and the cut grass was dry, I walked around with a rake & raked up those matted down grass clippings before it killed the grass. I started to mow it Fri afternoon, but decided to wait until Sat. Then on Sat we got 3" of rain! Never again will I put it off. Make sure the mower blades are sharp, mow the lawn slower and when the lawn is high mow it twice. The first mow should be half of the hight you want the lawn. The second mow should be the final hight you want. You mowed too much too fast and your mower couldn't mulch the grass. It balled it up and 'puked' it up instead of mulching or bagging it. |
Mowing wet grass?
On Mon, 19 May 2003 08:34:03 -0700, Charles Woolever wrote:
A little more on the thread as people are now mowing weekly here. Someone said earlier that the larger riding mowers could mow the wet grass so easily because they were so powerful. If that is the case, they why can't they handle a yard that has been skipped a week? Secondly, last week was pretty much rain all week here. Residents didn't mow during the rain. Businesses with lawn care were mowed. Now, those powerful riding mowers apparently cut the grass but the dandelion stems seemed to have been too slippery. By the end of the day they were mowed, the stems were standing up proud and tall above the now lower grass. That really looks bad. On a dry day everything is cut. Just because the mower is powerful doesn't mean that it can harvest twice as much grass. Wet grass is heavy but the volume of the grass didn't double when wet. As far as the dandys go... they tend to lower their heads when wet. The mowers got the heads but not the heavier, thicker stems. Let's say just for giggles that your a business owner with a showcase lawn out front of it. Would you rather have a few stems poking up or would you rather have your customers look at long grass? What are the lawn companies to do if it rains on your mow day twice? Let it go for 3 weeks...? Now let's say you own a lawn service with 100 mowing accounts. That's 20 a day. Would you skip a rain day? How would you catch back up with 20 extra mows to do? Are you working saturday instead? What about the workers you employ? Are you going to send them home on a rain day? How are you to keep good workers if you can keep them working everyday? Granted, mowing in the rain is not ideal but when your talking about business contracts or talking about keeping your lawn compainy alive, mowing in the rain must be done. If I don't mow in the rain, my customers are unhappy looking at a shagy lawn and I'm fired. They look for someone else who will mow it every monday... rain or shine. And besides, up here in washington state..... When is it ever NoT raining? |
Mowing wet grass?
For what it's worth:
The guy who does my father-in-law's lawn says that he won't mow IN the rain, but can't stop his schedule if the grass is wet. -Tim |
Mowing wet grass?
"Tim Fischer" wrote in message .net... For what it's worth: The guy who does my father-in-law's lawn says that he won't mow IN the rain, but can't stop his schedule if the grass is wet. -Tim Here in Nebraska we are getting a lot of rain this year. It seems it always rains on my day off. If there is a break in the rain for several hours and it's my day off, I have no choice but mow my yard. If I have to wait for a day off without rain my grass would be too long to cut. I do it out of necessity. Brigitte |
Mowing wet grass?
On Tue, 20 May 2003 11:48:57 GMT, "Brigitte J."
wrote: "Tim Fischer" wrote in message t.net... For what it's worth: The guy who does my father-in-law's lawn says that he won't mow IN the rain, but can't stop his schedule if the grass is wet. -Tim Here in Nebraska we are getting a lot of rain this year. It seems it always rains on my day off. If there is a break in the rain for several hours and it's my day off, I have no choice but mow my yard. If I have to wait for a day off without rain my grass would be too long to cut. I do it out of necessity. Brigitte Just my two cents worth, but I do landscaping for a living. I don't like mowing wet grass. More maintenance on the equipment, takes more bags if the customer wants the grass bagged, and just doesn't look as good when done. Some times I just don't have a choice but to mow, after all that's how I pay my bills and eemployees. If you have to mow wet grass, though, there are a couple things you can do to make it turn out better. Make sure you have a sharp blade. I sharpen mine about once a week, normallly, but just about every mrning I know I'll be cutting wet grass. Some home owners only sharpen their mowers at the start of the season, but a dull blade just won't cut wet stuff. I also raise the deck a little, and mow at a slower speed. Like I said, it won't look as good when finished, but if you have to mow wet stuff, try doing the above and I think you'll find it helps. -- Steve Touchstone home page http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html |
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