Dumb mower

[mr.mindless]

My yard is annoyingly rough to mow. It’s mostly dried out now and goes from sopping mess of nearly getting stuck to concrete. How the F to smooth that out? I think I could take a roller compactor across most or all of it now but it seems likely that there’s only a couple day window where that’s true before the roller would do nearly nothing.

Damn horses and low spots.

I guess I should just re-grade and fix the low spots to delete the mud so it stays flat once it’s smoothed out mechanically. Then I just need to deal with getting something other than weeds to grow in the concrete after re-grading.

So I just need better suspension

[M4wdFab]

i dont remember it rough when i mowed, but im sure chains on forklift and UTV tires on the mower are not helping compared to the turf saver tires on mine. 


not sure what the solution is

[TrailTamer]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2205797656219650/

[Wingman]

sheep 

[mr.mindless]

Parts of the pastures were rough to begin with. Ruts from mowing and otherwise crossing the wet areas compound it. The couple forklift stucks and heavy trailers haven’t fully smoothed out.

I put a yard or two of topsoil in the holes this spring but the rough parts are still rough. I could lower pressure in the ATV tires and get a good ride but it increases tear out. There’s no suspension on the deck idlers up front so it beats that framework up pretty good if I don’t slow up.

I wonder if I could just tow a roller when I mow now that it’s not soupy and just peck away at at or if the concrete clay won’t move.

[M4wdFab]

My tractor pulling out 100 fence posts probably didnt help either when it was mushy! 

[etk300ex]

Rolling smooths my yard out for a week then it’s right back to bumpy.  Had it done three weeks in a row last year with one of those mini rollers, same results. 

[M]

My lawn is so damn bumpy...  so when I bought my zero turn a couple of months ago, I opted for the suspension system (Toro's MyRide).  Absolutely love it!  It really made a difference in how I felt after cutting my lawn.

[cracker]

My sitework guy offered to let me use this big guy for a weekend to flatten out some of my pastures last fall when he was on site to give estimates, but I have not asked if he was really serious or not.. my whole property is also extreme clay soil, and very punched up from all the horses.  I am just not sure if the roller will pack the soil to much and hurt the grass.

[Wingman]

I used one of those big boys on my yard years ago. Didn’t bother the grass one bit. Also didn’t seem to make a difference - too dry.

[mr.mindless]

yeah there's definitely a narrow sweet spot where it's hard enough to support but soft enough to make a difference. I wonder if maybe a good watering before rolling during late season dry times might be the ticket?

[mr.mindless]

Well that might be the worst mow job since springtime mudbogs but it's done for a couple days and shorter hayfield will dry more quickly.

Played with deck angle a bit since clumping was criminal. Higher in front was way better. May go another notch.

Deck has a very slight twist. Had been dead level on one side and front low on the other. I still think my blade speed is too low and bogs. Haven’t looked at plumbing in pressure gauges or trying to measure rpm.

[mr.mindless]

Before and after adjusting

[Wingman]

theory: front should be the lowest, else you are cutting the same blade of grass over and over again...

[TrailTamer]

There’s a relief valve somewhere on PTO hydraulic circuit? Maybe the valve or worn hydro motor bypassing when under load slowing down blade tip speed?

I reckons the rear discharge don’t help any. It has to do with either deck design or insufficient spindle speed. Id close off the rear discharge to keep grass in the deck and mulch.