Here is a particularly exuberant example of pig weed. I swear it wasn't there two days ago:
Which brings us to the subject of lawn care in this part of the world. I won't indulge in King of the Hill comparisons because they're just too easy. More revealing might be the inventory of the garage where our lawn care tools are stored: three riding lawnmowers and a push mower. Two of the riding mowers are well-loved tractor mowers that are used only in a pinch. The other is a twirly, zero-turn mower that came to us when a cousin upgraded. Here's the thing: In this lawn care tribe, owning four lawn mowers is considered completely normal. Our cousin who upgraded has an immaculate garage bay that looks like the lawnmower lot outside Lowe's. Weird, in this lawn culture, would be my Austin yard, where all the Saint Augustine has been replaced with gravel, vegetable garden, and xeriscaping.
Which brings us to the subject of lawn care in this part of the world. I won't indulge in King of the Hill comparisons because they're just too easy. More revealing might be the inventory of the garage where our lawn care tools are stored: three riding lawnmowers and a push mower. Two of the riding mowers are well-loved tractor mowers that are used only in a pinch. The other is a twirly, zero-turn mower that came to us when a cousin upgraded. Here's the thing: In this lawn care tribe, owning four lawn mowers is considered completely normal. Our cousin who upgraded has an immaculate garage bay that looks like the lawnmower lot outside Lowe's. Weird, in this lawn culture, would be my Austin yard, where all the Saint Augustine has been replaced with gravel, vegetable garden, and xeriscaping. I once asked our friend Jamie, a native Texan, to shed some light on a diagonal mowing pattern we saw in Brother Sid's beautiful yard. She only shrugged and observed that "mowing is a religion in Oklahoma. That's just another sect." I have been pushing my tribe's boundaries of lawn etiquette; I'm not elderly or incapacitated, so I don't qualify for a mowing waiver. Excuses like, "but jeez, it's 114 outside!" just don't cut it with this crowd. If I waited much longer, I could expect concerned looks and an Intervention Mowing. Therefore, the Cranky and Reluctant Mower sect held services Saturday at 8 a.m. And it was good.
--mcg
will this work? I ain't doin this if it ain't gonna work. If I write somethin and it don't work, i'm gonna kick somebody's a..
ReplyDeleteHank Hill
Good, it works.
ReplyDeleteIt makes perfect sense, you gotta have more than one lawn mower. If you have just one, and it don't work, then you can't mow. Same with two. If you have two and neither one works, you can't mow. So you have three. Odds are, if 1 & 2 won't run, then 3 won't either, because it's set too long. But they've each got their place.
#1 Dixon 38" two blade zero turn. 14.5 Briggs
a mowin' Jessee! turn on a dime, run 8 mph and jar the bejeesuz out of your kidneys. cup holder too. a primo machine. But if you're running over a previous trash barrel location or wire or metal trash, you don't want to mess up your best machine, so try ....
#2. 42" Craftsman 2 blade. 5 speed Xmission. 14 hp Kohler. Now the best thing goin for this mower is the engine -- top notch brand. The deck, however has seen some hard usage and the spindle mounts have torn out the top of the deck which has been expertly repaired with 1/4" plate. Earlier this spring, a spindle siezed and was repaired with the salvage deck kept in the chicken house just for such an occasion. So you gotta keep this one just to get the benefit of the labor of installing the new spindles. But if anything happens, there's always ...
#3 38" Toro rear engine mower 11.5 Briggs engine Single blade. This is your ugly woman machine, you can't get rid of it. It has two sets of bags (as required for any ugly woman). So if you want to catch your clippings and compost, this is your machine. Plus it's got the golf ball on the transmission lever. A little personalized touch from Carl Mott.
That's the lawn mower inventory.
Now the tractor mower inventory on site today:
#1 John Deere 650 2 cyl Yanmar 16 hp 48" PTO driven 540 RPM single blade 3 point lift mower
#2 7 foot Sidewinder pull type "drive tire" gearbox 540 RPM manual adjust
#3 15 foot "batwing" 1000 RPM PTO driven hydraulic raise & lower + fold
See the same pattern here, you gotta have 3 implements for plan A, B and heaven forbid, plan C.
These guys will do some real damage, but you probably don't want the ruts in your lawn, nor do you have any 3" dia trees, or 7' tall brush in your lawn that requires their use. Consider them lawn reclaimation tools.
I'll post some photos after some instruction from Boomhauer.
Happy mowing
Hank Hill
THis is a test from Glenda....Tee-hee-hee.
ReplyDelete