Questions re: using lawnmower this time of year
I have a couple questions, and I hope they don't seem silly... I know there are professional landscapers on this forum! (Please don't laugh.) And this is only my second year with a new mower and sort of keeping up the grounds on the property by myself, so I don't have a lot of experience. So...
The grass has mostly stopped growing, except we seem to have a particular variety of grass in large patches that continues to grow a lot, even when it is getting colder. It's especially green and has thicker stalks, and doesn't seem to be slowing down as much as the rest of the grass. Therefore, I'm still having to mow every couple weeks. Is anyone else in this situation?
And... we have five or six acres that are lawn. It's obviously WAY too much to rake or use a leaf blower on. So I've been going over it very occasionally to mulch the leaves, so they don't build up too much in places, especially under the large trees. And it just makes everything look cleaner. Does anyone else use the mower to do this? Is there another way that I'm overlooking? And if I leave a thick bed of leaves on the ground under trees on the lawn -- will that hurt the grass for next season? Or is it fine and I should stop wasting gas?
Thanks in advance!
-newbie mowergirl
Rebecka 
5catmom Rebecka - Grass grows *more* in colder weather, not less. If you have grass not growing now, that's what to worry about, not the grass that's doing well.
As for the leaves, your mower should be able to suck up the leaves without the mulching. Too much leaf mulch will start to turn the soil slightly acidic. Some leaves, like oak are more acidic than others. Be careful, and if you have brown patches in the spring, test the soil for pH and act accordingly.
GC Wait - you mean I should be bagging the leaves GC? When you say suck up, do you mean collecting everything with the mower? I don't have that attachment - should I get one? Our largest tree IS an enormous oak, and the amount of leaves on the lawn is crazy.
Grass grows more when it's cooler? Well... I told you I knew nothing about this! But most of our lawn needs to be mowed less now. Maybe it's sick but it's definitely slowing down.
Bag them yes, which is easy with the mower attachment. It collects in the bin just like the clippings and you just empty into a big bag. Oak leaves = potential acid issue so definitely pick them up one way or another.
Hmmm, my grass grows more in cooler weather but not in cold; has not been growing too fast recently.
I mow them leaves and have done so for a few decades. However, I am able to mow/blow most off into the wild by herding those leaf doggies to the edge so don't have a huge problem with too much leaf matter in the lawn.
There are a few spots in the center I can't do that and what I do is mow the cra...... stuff out of em over and over and then blow some one way, some another until I can barely see any.
You do need to watch that you're not covering the air intake to the engine. One of mine is in the side, gets covered when I plow up a one foot wave and I need to shut the mower off and watch them fall.
Works for me.
mistergoogle As long as the grass keeps growing and most of the leaves are still on the trees, I mow whatever falls. I am also down to mowing every two or three weeks. I will mow one last time this weekend and then put the mower away. Then, I'll wait till all the leaves fall and then clean them up.
ianimal Rebecka I know you have an exmark zero turn, if I remember correctly, your mower is totally fine to use in this weather. Let it heat up before running it at full throttle. Start it, keep it low, then bring it up slowly. In like two or three minutes. Also, throttle it down slowly, like a minute should be sufficient.
With 5 acres that's a lot of leaf pick up. If you don't have the vac bagger attachment, which is like between 1-2k for your machine, you can mulch them in (as long as it's not too much, mulched in leaves are good, too much mulched in leaves are bad). If you don't have a mulch kit and mulching blades installed just mow over it multiple times. The final option is to get a grass catcher, they hold like 4 cubic feet. You can use that and just dump it onto a tarp and drag it. This is a ton of work, but if you want a completely clean look and don't have the cash for the vac bagging system this is the only way to go.
Penningslandscaping Mister google brings up a good point about the air intake, but you also need to watch the exhaust. Leaves can get caught in there and start a fire. I don't know the layout of an exmark, so I don't know how much of a threat this is, but it happened once to me on a ferris 61" is3000 I think.
Just be mindful of it, it takes awhile for them to catch, so keep a stick or leaf blower handy to clear them out if they get lodged near it.
Leaving thick layers of leaves in the grass will kill the grass.
As GC alluded to, there are two types of grass - warm and cool season. Warm season grass goes dormant in the fall and winter and grows best in the summer. Cool season, what we mostly have up here, goes dormant in the heat of summer ... these are your rye grass, fescues, and kentucky bluegrass that most have up here. If the grass wasn't a cool season grass, it would die out over winter and you would have to replant. Cool seasons will go dormant as it gets colder. All grass needs water, sunlight, and some heat to germinate and grow.
Now that I have a bagger again, I simply bag the grass and dump it on the side of the road. I don't have 5 acres though. If you have really big trees, I'd think you would have to mow every 3 days or so just to keep up with it. I cleaned my leaves on Saturday and it's already too thick again to mulch it.
Mulching leaves puts nitrogen back into the lawn and that's good. Too many leaves, mulched or not, will simply suffocate the grass.
emaxxman Just curious what did you do before you had your new mower ? With that many leaves I would hire Pennings and go back to baking cakes
eapos Mow them and forget it. You have a lot of land and don't need to please your suburban neighbors with a leaf-free lawn. I still believe that's the way nature meant it to be :)
maja If you really want it to be the way nature meant it, you wouldn't even mow at all. The lawn will turn into a forest eventually which is more like what happens naturally. Meadows are supposed to be temporary transitions. It's only us suburbanites who have to keep mowing all the time to prevent the over growth and chop the tree saplings.
Thank you all so much for this information!
Yes, Pennings - I have an Exmark zero-turn, 60" deck. Not a true professional landscapers' mower but a serious homeowners one I guess. It's been fine going over a thick cover of leaves on the ground. When you say clear the intake - that's the thing that looks like a big black fan I guess on the back? I do pluck any leaves out of there after each mowing session, if that's what you mean.
I think I will get a grass bagger and go over the leaves several times and then pick up what I can that way. Not sure I want to spend $1-2K for the vac/leaf bagging system. And I think there are too many leaves to be good for the lawn, based on the info you guys provided.
@eapos - we had a gardener. He retired and moved to PA. Don't want to hire anyone, that's why I bought a nice big mower - because I very much enjoy doing yardwork like mowing myself, and I still have time leftover to bake cakes. ;-)
http://www.powerequipmentwarehouse.com/products/49336-selbro-pro-fit-grass-catcher.aspx
Rebecka, this is a grass catcher that could be of assistance to you.
You could also get a lawn sweeper, they hold way more and are towable. I saw them at tractor supply in flanders for around 200.
The air intake is by your air filter. You should be able to find it, it's clearly marked. I don't know your model well so I can't help much more than that, but clean your air filter every mow this time of year when doing leaves. It gets clogged up and can dirty up the carburetor.
Your biggest safety issue is the exhaust, just keep that clear. Its the part of your mower that gets incredibly hot! You'll know just because it's the only part radiating heat.
I would think the Exmark bagging system would be closer to the $2k mark or higher. I run all Scag's and the last 3 bushel bagging system I purchased was just over 2K in 2008. When I upgraded to a newer Scag 2 years ago I took the bagging system off my last mower and installed it on the new. I didn't feel like shelling out 2K more for something I only use in the fall. The challenge with just adding a bagging system is if you have heavy leaf cover, you will fill the mesh bags up in no time flat. What I generally do is take one of my mowers without a bagging system and mulch them up once, then go back over it with the mower with the bagger and I don't have to empty the bag as frequently. The bagging systems are kind of cumbersome to be taking on and off if you went that route.
One thing you may want to think about is, if you have areas to blow the leaves into l(i.e. woods) is a walkbehind blower, with a JRCO mount. The JRCO mount attaches to the front of the mower and you put the push blower in it so you aren't pushing the blower all around your 5 acres. Here is a link to show you that setup http://www.jrcoinc.com/commercial-attachments/blower-buggy/#images . I would guess the mounting system is probably $600 plus mounting bar. A good walkbehind blower is probably $1700.00 ....so basically you are up over the $2k mark.
If you are looking for a nice new toy to get, this does a good job too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8DsJgtun-I . Its the Hurricane X3. I see one on Ebay new for $9k.
No matter how you choose to tackle it, it's not cheap....unless you go the tarp / rake route.
M & K OMFG I want that Hurricane blow vac!! Now that's what I'm talking about! I just need to win the lawncare lottery lol...
Thanks for more good info, M&K. Tarp/rake is definitely not in my future. It would take a week and by the time I got done I'd need to start all over again at the beginning. We do have a walk-behind mower too (in addition to the zero-turn), so JRCO would be a possibility. But that would still entail a LOT of walking.
Pennings - that grass catcher is totally affordable. If I go over the leaves several times and make them tiny, then put the catcher on, that should do the trick, esp. under the oak.
They get the job done, you can also buy extensions for them to make them much bigger. Dump on a tarp and you can drag it with the exmark.
I only run walk behinds right now, but even if I had a zero turn (next year a 48" or 52" scag ztr is my first purchase) idk if I could justify the cost for something like m & k said, for something I just use in the fall. The bags fill up quick, sticks can get lodged in the vac and mess up the blade, ect. My method is blow the bulk quickly and suck up the remaining leaves with the mower. Results are awesome.
The JRCO systems are really good. Mounting a blower on the front of a z makes a huge difference. Those little wonder blowers are a pain to push on uneven terrain.
M & K, she makes it sound like she has a lower end exmark, like a quest or something along those lines, I know they've made numerous different models. I love turf tracers but have never looked too deeply into their ztrs, so idk if there's an inbetween bagging option from catcher to vac system that they offer. You can't even put a vac system on low end commercial high end homeowner mowers, like the scag freedom z. At least that's what I've heard on lawnsite.
I wouldn't bother with the side catcher....even with the extension. It would fill up way to quick. I have one I use on my Scag V-ride on one account and it fills up super quick. I only use it on very small areas and generally will use my backpack blower and get the bulk out before using the side catcher. The other thing I am thinking is I think oak leaves don't mulch up as well as other leaves. Seems like when I mow around oak trees my bags fill quicker. Seems like Maples chop up better. Even when I'm using my leaf vacuum and trailer it seems like oak leaves fill up my trailer quicker.
Pennings I'm not sure what bagging systems exmark has but I would suspect they have something for all mowers. I know scag does have a 2 bag system for their Freedom series. If you are looking to go with a Scag ztr next year I would highly recommend the Vride if you aren't thinking of bagging. It's my favorite of my 3 mowers. Not sure if Kenvil Power does demos but I would check it out. If you buy used equipment maybe I can sell you mine. Thinking of going from 48's to 60's. Thinking of going to a Turf Tigar 60 inch and a Vride 60 inch. I'll have to look for you over on lawn site.
Rebecca maybe you could try googling cyclone rake or the DR series of baggers. I have no experience with either but maybe it would give you bagging abilities at a lower price point.
I use the same handle as on here, what's yours on lawnsite? I haven't been on as much lately, but I never could have gotten off the ground without some of the advice I've gotten on there
I was planning on buying new, the financing offers are really good and is rather not tie up a massive amount of Capitol if I don't have to. I like the idea of a v ride but I'm not sure it's what I really want. Is rather sit than stand.
That's a full commercial grade mower, you can put anything you want on that. You have all the options laid out, just a matter of what is cost effective to buy. The lazer z was a good buy, the cut quality is the best in the business in my opinion.
pmnsk It's the new bay in the garage that is the real cost of those trailer-ed leaf vacs.
Mister google, I know what you're talking about, I'm not talking about the tow behind agri fab ones.
The bagging system for commercial mowers is basically a cross between that and rear baggers with no vac that are on tractors.
Basically has a belt driven (attached to a pulley on the deck) vac on it, it has a turbine blade in it and creates a stronger suction under the deck and also mulches and propells clippings and leaves up the hose on the side.
Those agrifab units are cool, but they're really for a specific use. You need a massive property and a place to dump it to warrant it's use. Also it's enormous so unless your property is all wide open you'll be taking out bird feeders and low hanging branches at every turn haha.
Pmnsk it's not a problem I love talking about lawn equipment, Ill always take the time to give advice or discuss options with anyone that's curious.
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