Difficulty cutting thick lawn

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Hammbone81
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Difficulty cutting thick lawn

Post by Hammbone81 » September 7th, 2021, 11:07 pm

Im curious what folks are using for walk behind / push mowers in thick / healthy KBG lawns.

I struggle this time of year getting a good cut and keeping up. I had a 2018 Honda HRX that was horrible at cutting thick lawn at or above 3.5". I'm on my 2nd season with my Toro Super Recycler and its struggling too (mulching). (4th year in this house with a walk behind. I used to have an acre with a Scag zero turn).
With the Toro; I've played with side discharge, mulching, positive pitch, negative pitch, level. Mulching doesn't seem to create enough lift and it dumps clippings in piles at end of rows and leaves a thick strip of clippings in wheel track. When doing side discharge, I feel I get a better cut because the blade can create more lift, but its window-rowing. I just mowed 2 days ago. Increasing frequency isn't practical.

My lawn is 9,800ft^2 and I want to stay with a walk-behind mower.

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Hammbone81
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Re: Difficulty cutting thick lawn

Post by Hammbone81 » September 9th, 2021, 6:32 pm

My Toro dealer is also a SCAG dealer. They're going to let me demo a new SFC30! Sweet!
Mrs. Hammbone just rolls her eyes.

+1 for buying from a dealer and not Home Depot!

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Difficulty cutting thick lawn

Post by MorpheusPA » September 9th, 2021, 8:25 pm

I had the cheapest Toro and you've seen my lawn. It cut very nicely, but did leave some clippings in piles when the lawn was longer. The new Landroid is doing a stellar job, better than the old Toro, but definitely isn't a walk-behind.

Much of the quality is the speed you walk and the sharpness of the blade (correct sharpness, not super-sharp...and definitely not the dull as ditchwater most people have). Moving too fast, as I usually do, leads to the clipping piles.

Hammbone81
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Re: Difficulty cutting thick lawn

Post by Hammbone81 » August 24th, 2022, 9:55 am

OP here.

Another later summer with the Super Recycler performing less than stellar.

I rotate my pattern every time I mow. N-S, E-W, NE-SW, NW-SE. All in an attempt to prevent from ingraining in wheel tracks. It seems to happen anyway. The lawn is thick and healthy, but stays down at where the tracks cross. I tried mowing last night at a notch lower (3.25", down from 3.75") and I offset the row half a mower width so I wouldn't be driving on old tracks. It still couldn't lift the old tracks properly.
Note: The mower was setup for side discharge and the high-lift blade. Its the best it can do from an airflow standpoint, but still not up to the challenge.

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Below is after I propped up some grass from a wheel track intersection.
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Any insight would be helpful. I'd love a commercial zero turn, but I don't have storage space.

Riverpilot
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Re: Difficulty cutting thick lawn

Post by Riverpilot » August 24th, 2022, 5:46 pm

I have that problem on occasion with my Honda HRX. I just double cut on those times it happens. Kind of a pain, but unless I want to purchase a commercial mower....

On another topic. You're in the QC area, correct? Have you been able to source urea lately? SiteOne is on backorder. DK Turf wants $50 for a bag.


Hammbone81
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Re: Difficulty cutting thick lawn

Post by Hammbone81 » August 24th, 2022, 7:01 pm

Riverpilot wrote:
August 24th, 2022, 5:46 pm
I have that problem on occasion with my Honda HRX. I just double cut on those times it happens. Kind of a pain, but unless I want to purchase a commercial mower....

On another topic. You're in the QC area, correct? Have you been able to source urea lately? SiteOne is on backorder. DK Turf wants $50 for a bag.
I "had" and HRX but sold it and got the Toro because of this exact problem. Grrrr.... I'm curious about the Exmark commercial mower. I demo'd a SCAG 30" last year. It was a booger to turn.

I'm between IC and CR. I get my stuff from DK in Hiawatha. I paid the $50 last year. I should still have enough for this year. If not, there's an ag fertilizer company in town that'll fill 5gal buckets for me. Nonetheless, I need to dig into that.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Difficulty cutting thick lawn

Post by MorpheusPA » August 24th, 2022, 8:23 pm

Yes, that's truly a horrible problem to have. :-)

The solution is to mow before it grows that much. Again, keep the mower blades sharp, but not razor-sharp, mow well before the 50% rule, and if you have to take smaller chips to chew it up properly, do so. I can certainly suggest some very inexpensive whetstones that do the job well enough if you'd rather not have it sharpened (expensive) or do it in a vice (somewhat inconvenient). But definitely pop the sparkplug when working on your mower (in my case, I just pop the battery even though it's a Class 3 robot. I still don't trust it).

My Landroid is still doing a stellar job, but I've lifted the deck to almost four inches and it runs daily. Even so, every once in a while in a spot or two, I have to mow with the Toro if it misses. It'll overgrow and the machine can't, as you note, get through it.

edslawn
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Re: Difficulty cutting thick lawn

Post by edslawn » August 26th, 2022, 1:03 pm

Hammbone81 wrote:
September 9th, 2021, 6:32 pm
My Toro dealer is also a SCAG dealer. They're going to let me demo a new SFC30! Sweet!
Mrs. Hammbone just rolls her eyes.

+1 for buying from a dealer and not Home Depot!
Horsepower baby! That SFC30 is a beauty! I have the Toro Timemaster with the 223cc B&S engine and it rips--even in the spring when the lawn is growing like crazy. It looks like the SFC has a 224cc commercial grade Kohler. I'll bet this engine will rip too.

Hammbone81
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Re: Difficulty cutting thick lawn

Post by Hammbone81 » August 30th, 2022, 12:01 am

edslawn wrote:
August 26th, 2022, 1:03 pm

Horsepower baby! That SFC30 is a beauty! I have the Toro Timemaster with the 223cc B&S engine and it rips--even in the spring when the lawn is growing like crazy. It looks like the SFC has a 224cc commercial grade Kohler. I'll bet this engine will rip too.
I've considered the Time Master, but I read and see lots of negative reviews with issues. Not sure I'm willing to make a $1500 gamble. Sounds like the time you save mowing, you spend declogging and doing maintenance.

The SFC30 was a beast to manhandle!

edslawn
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Re: Difficulty cutting thick lawn

Post by edslawn » September 4th, 2022, 12:10 pm

Hammbone81 wrote:
August 30th, 2022, 12:01 am
edslawn wrote:
August 26th, 2022, 1:03 pm

Horsepower baby! That SFC30 is a beauty! I have the Toro Timemaster with the 223cc B&S engine and it rips--even in the spring when the lawn is growing like crazy. It looks like the SFC has a 224cc commercial grade Kohler. I'll bet this engine will rip too.
I've considered the Time Master, but I read and see lots of negative reviews with issues. Not sure I'm willing to make a $1500 gamble. Sounds like the time you save mowing, you spend declogging and doing maintenance.

The SFC30 was a beast to manhandle!
I've seen the complaints, but haven't experienced any issues. Some seems to be from small lawn services using a consumer-grade product in a commercial situation. Also, the engine upgrade in newer models seems to make a big difference in power (possibly reliability) from what I've read. Mine starts with one pull, deck hasn't clogged at all, and cuts great. I also installed two upgrades:

Hour meter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y3 ... UTF8&psc=1

Commercial idler pulley: https://www.amazon.com/Exmark-126-7890- ... d_wg=r1Gh0

I hope this helps and good luck with it!

Hammbone81
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Re: Difficulty cutting thick lawn

Post by Hammbone81 » September 6th, 2022, 8:18 am

I seemed to have fixed the problem with the Super Recycler not cutting well. Here's the solution; remove all the "Super" parts (accelerator and kickers), use the high-lift blade, side discharge, overlap by 1/3. 1/3 is better than 1/2. ....I have a theory as to why.

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turf_toes
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Re: Difficulty cutting thick lawn

Post by turf_toes » September 6th, 2022, 9:08 am

Hammbone81 wrote:
September 6th, 2022, 8:18 am
I seemed to have fixed the problem with the Super Recycler not cutting well. Here's the solution; remove all the "Super" parts (accelerator and kickers), use the high-lift blade, side discharge, overlap by 1/3. 1/3 is better than 1/2. ....I have a theory as to why.
Huh. I’ve been using the battery-powered Super Recycler model for more than a year. I’ve not had trouble with that issue at all. But I realize that you’re probably using the gas-powered model.

But I’ve been using the super recycler mowers for 20 years and they’ve always cut thick grass easily.

Hammbone81
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Re: Difficulty cutting thick lawn

Post by Hammbone81 » September 6th, 2022, 11:32 am

turf_toes wrote:
September 6th, 2022, 9:08 am

Huh. I’ve been using the battery-powered Super Recycler model for more than a year. I’ve not had trouble with that issue at all. But I realize that you’re probably using the gas-powered model.

But I’ve been using the super recycler mowers for 20 years and they’ve always cut thick grass easily.
Don't get me wrong, it does a fine job most of the year, it's just mid-August through September that it can't lift the grass. Maybe it's my specific cultivars that don't like to stand up on their own? I don't get it. It just typically looks matted in the wheel tracks this time of year.

After I mowed yesterday, my 12yr old (who never pays attention to this stuff) said "Dad, the lawn looks a lot better today."

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