What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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andy10917
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What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by andy10917 » October 23rd, 2018, 9:03 am

Just curious - what do you strive to get to for a final Winter height of cut, and how do you get from Summer HOC to Winter HOC?

For me, I start at a HOC of 3.5" around Labor Day (sometimes 4"), and slowly come down 0.5" until I reach 2.5" at Average First Frost (October 17th here). I maintain 2.5" from then to growth stoppage.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » October 23rd, 2018, 10:02 am

I tried to maintain @ 1.25" most of the year. Wasn't always successful. I let it out some to recover from insect damage, then took it back down. Going into winter I'll leave it at 1.25"...

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by MorpheusPA » October 23rd, 2018, 10:12 am

3-3.5". My first cut of the year is shorter, to knock off the dead tips from winter, but all other cuts are at the long end.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by Oldschool » October 23rd, 2018, 11:09 am

My winter HOC is 2”. My summer HOC is 3.5”. The third week of August I drop to 3”. Three weeks later down to 2.5” wth the final drop to 2” on October 1st. Seems to work well for my lawn. My last cut of the year Is usually the last week of October.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by seiyafan » October 23rd, 2018, 11:18 am

2.75'' here


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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by smontgo150 » October 23rd, 2018, 11:41 am

3.00 here in MI, Then take it down to 2.75 for the first few cuts in the spring.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by bpgreen » October 23rd, 2018, 6:15 pm

I generally keep my mower at the same height--whatever the highest setting is for the deck. I may lower it this year to see if it does a better job with the leaves.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by Chris LI » October 23rd, 2018, 8:34 pm

2.5" I'm already there because I was trying to encourage kbg spreading.

I'm usually at 3" at this point and don't typically drop it until the last cut after all the leaves fall. After the last mulching of leaves, I put the bag on and lower the HOC to 2.5". Taking a little leave blade helps with bagging excessive mulched leaf buildup, to reduce turf matting and smothering. I spread the micro-mulched leaves in my vegetable garden on the bottom, and cover them with piles of mowed leaves, so the smaller leaf particles breakdown in the spring while maintaining a blanket of leaf mulch to block weeds. Sometimes, I'll spread a little lime to help counteract any increased acidity from the leaves.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by rydaddy » October 23rd, 2018, 9:09 pm

3" is typically my lowest HOC. I can get lower (2.5") in the back if needed, due to thatch and uneven terrain 2.5" doesn't bode well in front.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by Green » October 23rd, 2018, 10:13 pm

Short answer: 2.6 in. That is on TTTF/KBG, PR/KBG, and various tri-mixes of fescues, KBG, and PR.

Long answer: I used to use the 2.25 inch setting for final mow after I got this mower a few years ago, which produced a HOC of around 2 inches, however, it tended to scalp in some areas that were more uneven, and it was impossible to remember all the areas so as to avoid it...so now I mostly use the 2.75 inch setting, which generally yields a 2.6-inch HOC, but doesn't scalp anywhere near as badly in as many places.

I generally try to get down from 3.75 to 3.25 before Oct. 1, but was late this year. Currently stepping it down now. No fear...mowing twice weekly right now due to leaves.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by PSU4ME » October 24th, 2018, 10:21 am

2.5” seems to be a good level for me. I’m there now and plan to hold there for the rest of the year

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by Irisbergamot » October 25th, 2018, 3:55 pm

2.25 because the Super Recycler increments are 2.25, 2.75 etc...

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by greenrebellion » October 25th, 2018, 4:51 pm

2.5 inches coming down gradually from 3.5-4" peak height in summer.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by Riverpilot » October 26th, 2018, 12:38 am

2.5" in the fall for winter. 3" to 3.5" in the summer.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by rtomek » October 29th, 2018, 1:13 pm

I'm at 2.5" all year, except for a 2.0" first mow of the year to get rid of the old blades. I would like to stick with 2.0" (or lower) all year except it's tough to commit to mowing frequently enough to not make the 2.0" cut a slog, even with PGR.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by micvog » October 29th, 2018, 4:23 pm

3.25" through Labor Day and 2.25" by end of October. Thinking of trying to stay at 2.25" all of next year.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by BobL » October 31st, 2018, 12:33 am

I'm at 3.5-4 in the heat of summer to provide some shade and try to prevent it from drying out. Once the weather breaks, I'm down to about 3", and just went down to 2.5 through 2 cuts last week (1/4" each time). That's my final height for the winter.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by llO0DQLE » November 8th, 2018, 11:56 pm

2" all year long. My Crafstman mower only has 5 settings: 1- scalp, 2 - scalp some areas, light green grass, 3 - crew cut, 4 - shaggy and grass lays over causing swirls, 5 - Too long. So I cut at the 3rd setting which is about 2", sometimes 2.5" in some areas because my lawn is not completely level. Apparently it's supposed to be 1.75" when I measure the blade height from my sidewalk but the actual height of grass is at least 2" after a mow.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by kentster » November 9th, 2018, 7:42 am

This was my first year on this forum and following a plan. I was using a 4" for spring/summer and then progressively lowered to 3" now. My yard is pretty hilly and uneven, so I don't plan on going any lower.

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Re: What Do You Use For A Final Winter HOC?

Post by bauer time » November 10th, 2018, 3:43 pm

3" is the lowest I go with my HOC. I drop it down from 3.5-4" to 3" after first frost and keep it that length until the end of the season.

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