walk or ride

[jsaunders]

velkies allow you to do more without gettting so tired but they leave there marks in the grass. I have always just walked but I doubled my customer list this winter and was wondering how you or your customers felt about the velkies.

[millsmowing]

What lines? My velke doesn't leave any.

[linky]

Get a two wheeled velkie. I have never seen any marks left by it and when i get home i have alot of energy left from not walking.

[stslawncare]

i did a search by clicking on the button at the top of the screen and typed in the same title as this thread., here are some threads that may be of interest to you on this topic

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=25894&highlight=walk+or+ride

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=23057&highlight=walk+or+ride

[rodfather]

With a velke, you can more than double your productivity...we have them on every one of our WB's.

[65hoss]

The 2 wheeled type will follow the tires on the mower. No lines.

Yes, a sulky will easliy double your productivity and leave you with energy at the end of the day.

[AK Lawn]

I use a velke and think it makes a tramendus difference considering i have one without and was also wondering about the new proslide and if that made a difference? i am gooing to buy one to check it out cause the one wheeled velke does leave a mark. What are your guys feelings is it worth it (the Proslide)? or have you guys even seen it?

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Pro-Slide = can't use on hard surfaces.

2 wheeled velke will leave a line just inside your tire lines, you can hardly see it.

http://lawnsite.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=229004

POP QUIZ!!!

I am having trouble seeing Velke lines in the below picture can you see them?

[AK Lawn]

Lawn Godfather what do you mean you can't use the proslide on hard surfaces? do you mean pavement or some kinds of grass just don't want to waste $300 on it if it doesn't work
Thanks AK Lawn

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Well you have to hop off to back up.

You have to walk on all pavment.

Velke you almost never have to get off.

[MikeLT1Z28]

unless you have a belt drive WB with reverse assist... :D

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Originally posted by MikeLT1Z28
unless you have a belt drive WB with reverse assist... :D

LMAO yup

Well the first thing I try not to do is use reverse in the first place.

[goodbeus]

Originally posted by LAWNGODFATHER
Pro-Slide = can't use on hard surfaces.

2 wheeled velke will leave a line just inside your tire lines, you can hardly see it.

http://lawnsite.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=229004

POP QUIZ!!!

I am having trouble seeing Velke lines in the below picture can you see them?

I have this sulky on one of my back-up mowers....the only problem I have with this one is it bottoms out on thick lawns and you can't adjust the height...

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Originally posted by goodbeus


I have this sulky on one of my back-up mowers....the only problem I have with this one is it bottoms out on thick lawns and you can't adjust the height...

HUH? :confused: explain.

Almost all my lawns are thick, I don't understand what you mean.

[VLM]

You will definitely get addicted to a Velke as soon as you use it. Just be careful as they can be dangerous. Backing up is tricky, never put it in reverse when on the Velke, be careful on any grades as they slip sideways. There are many other little tricks to learn so take it slow at first and think throuh what you are doing before you do it.

[stslawncare]

u mean bumpy lol?

[Wayne Offiler]

I'm a satisfied Proslider! Not only leaves no wheel marks, but improves te striping. not tiring, as you can move your feet around on it. True, not a good idea to slide over pavement. But, you just get off it, the platform swings up, and you walk, then get back on it when ready to mow. Never even thought of that as a drawback.

[geogunn]

well, let me differ.

the question:walk or ride?

I walk.

most of my commercials are very small and I have tested a velkie with not great results on these properties.

I am surprised that I don't own a velkie and that it would spend most of its time over in the crap pile of junk that I have accumulated in the last five years but I don't.

perhaps I need one just for the principle of it...?

GEO

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Originally posted by Wayne Offiler
I'm a satisfied Proslider! Not only leaves no wheel marks, but improves te striping. not tiring, as you can move your feet around on it. True, not a good idea to slide over pavement. But, you just get off it, the platform swings up, and you walk, then get back on it when ready to mow. Never even thought of that as a drawback.

Why flatten the turf you drive over?

You can move your feet on a velke.

Not tiring on you but is for your mower. Friction, no wheels. Uses more horse power to run.

Hop off to drive mower on pavement, what if your truck is 1/4 mile away? Guess what, have fun walking.

Big draw back.

[65hoss]

My sulky doesn't drag. It sits kinda higher than some. Since "striping" isn't as much a big deal around here I don't really know about a proslide.

I will say, if I was using a w/b all day, I wouldn't want to be drug around sliding. Just seems to hard on your feet, knees, and hips. To much shock on a body. The sulky is like riding on a wagon behind.

[goodbeus]

Originally posted by LAWNGODFATHER


HUH? :confused: explain.

Almost all my lawns are thick, I don't understand what you mean.

the tires are not very tall...on a thick lawn, the wheels tread deeper into the lawn allowing the plate you stand on to ride closer to the ground....same idea when a mower starts to scalp a thick lawn, you have to raise the deck...

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Originally posted by goodbeus
the tires are not very tall...on a thick lawn, the wheels tread deeper into the lawn allowing the plate you stand on to ride closer to the ground....same idea when a mower starts to scalp a thick lawn, you have to raise the deck...

Still lost.

But what's the differance the grass will move out of it's way and not get matted down.

You're not cutting the grass with the velke. Your mower wheels are doing the exact same thing.

Sorry I think you got this wrong. It has no referance to same as a mower scalping, as the velke does not cut grass.

[goodbeus]

Originally posted by LAWNGODFATHER


Still lost.

But what's the differance the grass will move out of it's way and not get matted down.

You're not cutting the grass with the velke. Your mower wheels are doing the exact same thing.

Sorry I think you got this wrong. It has no referance to same as a mower scalping, as the velke does not cut grass.

yea, but when you get enough weight on that velke, it starts ripping up the grass and the front of the mower starts picking up, just like a tractor pull...a guy that weighs 200 pounds, I know from experience....

[LAWNGODFATHER]

I had a guy work for me that weight 290# 6'8" tall.

Ran both a belt drive and a hydro drive, even the 36" belt drive in thick lawns. Never heard of that.

Try again.

The wieght has nothing to do with the price of turnips.

Lets put it this way, the sulke follows almost exactly where the mower went, that means if the blades were on, it has cut that grass.

Now if you are mowing in the woods with lots of vines it will hang up just as any sulke would.

But I guess you are the only one in the world who has this problem. Never heard of it.

Tell us how a "Velke" rips up the grass, there is nothing for it to catch on.

[LAWNS AND MOWER]

Now, now LGF, don't let this Turf Mag writeup get to your head. ( just kidding, got my issue today- congrats) Anyway, in Goodbeus defense, my Velke will take up a divot every now and then going over mounds or dipping in holes. Just started this past season, so I'm led to believe the bearings and/or bushings are worn out.

LAWNS AND MOWER

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Thanks L&M

Now that's not truely the velke's fault for hangin up in dip's, holes, and such. That's the oparator.

All the sulke's will do that in that situation. Hech your mower will too.

I am still having trouble grasping how his is getting caught in thick turf.

[goodbeus]

Originally posted by LAWNGODFATHER
I had a guy work for me that weight 290# 6'8" tall.

Ran both a belt drive and a hydro drive, even the 36" belt drive in thick lawns. Never heard of that.

Try again.

The wieght has nothing to do with the price of turnips.

Lets put it this way, the sulke follows almost exactly where the mower went, that means if the blades were on, it has cut that grass.

Now if you are mowing in the woods with lots of vines it will hang up just as any sulke would.

But I guess you are the only one in the world who has this problem. Never heard of it.

Tell us how a "Velke" rips up the grass, there is nothing for it to catch on.


the sulky bottom sits closer to the ground than the cutting blades....on a thick St. Augustine lawn, it bottoms out because the tires aren't very tall and the standing plate catches on the mat, NOT THE GRASS TIPS...now this doesn't happen every time, but ocassionally on a a lawn that is thicker than normal this happens...so check your turnips again and make sure they're not mushrooms guy...oh, and I'm not the only company here in the sunbelt that has had that problem with that particular sulky, so I guess if YOU never heard of that kinda problem, it never happened....

[Bill Davis]

the comment about the wheels in the front coming up while mowing is compleatly false. The wheels are acutally being forced down in the front. Just wanted to throw that in.

[65hoss]

Sounds to me that if the velke is to low and the wheels are to small you should be looking for another brand or buy some taller wheels.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

It sounds to me that those lawns are in desprate need of verticlicing.

It's not the Velke.;)

[goodbeus]

Originally posted by Bill Davis
the comment about the wheels in the front coming up while mowing is compleatly false. The wheels are acutally being forced down in the front. Just wanted to throw that in.


put a lot of dragging weight on the back of a walk-behind and I guarantee the front of the mower will start popping up....watch a tractor pull on tv, as the weight slides closer to the back of the tractor, it's front will also pop-up....same thing happens here, it's a mechanical fact....

[goodbeus]

Originally posted by 65hoss
Sounds to me that if the velke is to low and the wheels are to small you should be looking for another brand or buy some taller wheels.

yea, someone was asking about this sulky...I just posted the experiences I had with it....all in all, I like the sulky, it's extremely rugged....I work here in Florida, most people have St. Augustine grass which is the thickest lawn here...once in a while I'll get a new client who had been cutting the grass to high and the nick is exceptionally thick, I tend to get this dragging problem....doesn't happen on other grasses such as bahia or centipede....

[goodbeus]

Originally posted by LAWNGODFATHER
It sounds to me that those lawns are in desprate need of verticlicing.

It's not the Velke.;)

No, this is normal for St. Augustine grass here in Florida...what type of grass do you cut????

[Bill Davis]

First off the tracto pull thing is a little different of a concept. in a tractor pull the trailer that is attatched to the "tractor is hooked on so that there is no pivoting where the tractor and trailer are attatched. with a sulky like Jungle wheels there is a pivot point that lets the sulky move up and down with teh mower. Besides if you take the sulky off and put your w/b on a fast gear and let the brakes off the front end will still come off the ground. The wheelie problem has to do more with the fact that all the mowers power is coming from the rear wheels.

[goodbeus]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bill Davis
[B]with a sulky like Jungle wheels there is a pivot point that lets the sulky move up and down with teh mower.

True...but if that sulky bottoms out, then it won't pivot at all...the mower is pulling dead weight, and it that mower has enough dead weight, it does what...either it loses traction and the rear wheels spin or it maintains traction and the front of the mower pops up...

[Bill Davis]

If you cant use a piece of equipment like it is meant to be used then dont gripe about it, you have to use your judgement and determine whether it is right or not to use the equipment, By the way i am in the heart of the sunbelt and have had no complaints about my Jungle wheels

[goodbeus]

Originally posted by Bill Davis
If you cant use a piece of equipment like it is meant to be used then dont gripe about it, you have to use your judgement and determine whether it is right or not to use the equipment, By the way i am in the heart of the sunbelt and have had no complaints about my Jungle wheels

I haven't griped about the sulky...merely stated an opinion based on my experince at the request of the author who started this post and was asking questions about this sulky...in fact, I stated all in all it's a good sulky, now that doesn't sound like a complaint does it...