Long Hot day, and I am not pleased

[Jimbo]

I am so tired of this heat, and scorched ground. I skipped one of my small commercials last week because they called and said the grass had not grown.
well I went this week because as you know the grass still grows around the edges....why I dont know.
When I got there I saw a few stringers and thought I might as well mow it in case they dont want me to mow next week. The front of the property looks ok, but when I went to the back I saw my tire tracks from last week.
The tracks were REAL BAD!!! I felt so bad and I feel like I didnt do a good job, but I guess there is nothing that can be done. You have to mow it sometime...right?
I felt so bad I had to run some water on the tracks even though we are not allowed to water due to drought restrictions.
Just had to vent a little to some people who would understand.

None of the props I do have sprinklers and if they did they would not be allowed to use them anyway.

Jim:angry: ::

[Tvov]

On some properties we've been able to mow only parts of the lawn, by following the previous pattern so that it is not obvious that we've only mowed part of the lawn.

Last week I had a customer call up about wheel marks in the lawn. This is a multi-million dollar property, but they've been having problems with the irrigation system (along with half of my other customers this summer!). I showed up to look it over, and it is a small area, BUT right next to the main entrance. The wheel marks looked like we applied Roundup using the mowers. It was incredibly bad (but it is recovering quickly with proper irrigation).

With this weather, even the irrigated lawns are having trouble!

[TurfGuyTX]

Vent on Jimbo, we are here for each other. Though we're not experiencing the drought like others right now, I understand the frustration. This is our best summer in years as far as the weather has been. I wish you the best.

[General Grounds]

:blob3: real bad here in central jersey as well. not much you can do for the tracks jimbo, pray for a nice cool soaking rain, without rain its gonna be real hard to do seeedings this year we usually start last week of august doesnt look that way this year. t

[darryl gesner]

Ditto on the tracks being brown. I've been moving over a foot or so from my normal edge mow pattern. Another thing that I never really thought about is that with my 48 inch WB, the inside tire track from one pass gets run over again by the outside tire track when I go other way, as the deck sticks out very little from the wheels. If my deck was a bit larger, my tire tracks wouldn't be overlapping and would be better for the turf. This is something I've never seen mentioned on this site.

[Doogiegh]

I dunno what to say, other than whooo-wheee is it hot out. And it's not even the heat, but the humidity that makes it where you just can't breathe all too good.

I did do something different today for the first time that helped.

I trimmed all my properties first, then mowed, then blew.

Usually I mow, then trim, then blow.

I find that when trimming, I get alot of stuff on me, and then there is no time for it to fall off cause I get real hot trimming, and then blowing is quick, so I always hop in the truck filthy.

Today trimming first, allowed me to get covered with clippings and them they fall off and by the time I blow off, they were gone. I guess riding behind the dry heat of the mower helped dry things off.

I also wore shorts today and put on full-legged chapps that go on via Velcro on for the trimming part. So it was a good routine..

Jump out of the truck cool from the A/C. Put on the chapps and trim right away.. Break into a sweat.. Tear off the chapps, feel cooler, mow the lawn and dry off, and then blow off and onto the next one..

Being I'm using a smaller mower, I'm not too terrible at leaving tire track marks, but I know what you guys are talking about. What we really need is like 3 Nor-easter storms here in NJ in a row, spread out like 3 days apart. <G>

Gary

[bobbygedd]

just think of the $$$$ to be made in sept and oct thatching and power seeding......i cant wait

[HOMER]

What's up with these tire tracks? I had a customer today ask me if the mower was
1. Too heavy?

2. Too hot and the heat was killing the grass?

3. Was I mowing too short?

I've been thinking somehow, some way, I've been spewing gas all over the place..............yes it does look like round up but only in places........why not every where?

I asked the man of the house? when the last time it was he fertilized. His answer was November! This yard is a mix of centipede and St. Augustine. The centipede is doing great but the Augustine is having some real issues with living. I tried to let him know that it needed fertilizing more often than once and especially not in November! I also wonder if it's possible to have a infected spot in a yard then slowly carry the bad into the good areas and create more damage this way, hence ..........the round up looking tire trackin' dead areas.
The difference down here is we had quite a bit of good rain a couple weeks ago and then it got dry really fast. The grass shouldn't have been affected that quickly. But............my yard ain't doin' it and I run the same mower over it too.

Confused...........as usual.

[awm]

homer these are confusing times at least for me. doesnt seem like i got any past experiences to reference ,for an answer.
but brother we will get thru it.
mabe the answer is to just leave it be ,an let what happens, happen.that dont pay the bills tho ,does it . good luck.
its rained here three days in a row.:) :) :) :) :) :)

[darryl gesner]

Homer - I think the brown tire tracks are just because it's an additional stress on already stressed out turf. Think of how you'd feel if someone ran you over while you were already hot and thirsty:) It certainly wouldn't help! Kind of like the straw that broke the camel's back. It won't matter as much in shady areas or areas with rich soil, but really shows in sunny/dry/sandy areas where the turf is already struggling.

[Jimbo]

Yeah your right it does look like i was applying round up behind my tires. Under the trees it does not look bad, its just lack of moisture. I might stay off the Z for awhile and see if that helps.

The area that is the worst is on the top of a hill which gets sun about 90 percent of the day.

The funny thing is that from time to time in the same area this lawn will get two four foot circular patterns which looks similar to the current stressed area. Funny part is that I dont turn around in this area. Do you think someone else did before I started and the grass is really screwed up in that spot? I need to get me a digital cam, and I will take photos next time it pops out.

Jim

[awm]

jimbo ,just a guess . but mabe when grading ,those are places that got fill dirt
to build it to grade. a soil test would probably yield an answer or two.
if its imporant enough.later now.

[AGG Lawn Maintenance]

Hey General Grounds your in my neck of the woods. How did you make out with the storm we had? I just moved from the West Long Branch area. (Thank god) The whole town was shut down due to all the trees riped out of the ground. All the clean up helped make up for all the money I lost skipping lawns.
travis

[Doogiegh]

Someone posted on here a very informative post a while back.

It said that if you walk on the grass and it is "crunchy" sounding to your foot due to the heat, it is because you are snapping the grass blades cause they are so dry.. Kinda like small carrots.. More like Potato sticks that they sell in jars... the snack food, you know what I mean?

Now put a 800 lb ZTR on the grass, 400 pounds a side roughly, and as you roll forward, you are systematically crunching the grass. Breaking the blades of the grass.

Someone asked the question "Why is my ZTR making a weird noise that they couldn't identify" and this is how the thread was answered.

So it's not roungup, disease, gas spillage... It's the sheer weight of the mower..

And that's why it was worse on the hill that is in the sun 90% of the day.

And smaller guys using smaller WB's won't have the problem as bad since th emachine physically weighs less.
Gary

[65hoss]

I agree with Doogiegh except for the w/b part. If the grass blades will break with a Z they will just as easily break with a w/b. They start around 400 lbs and go up. Grass blades are not strong enough to hold the 400 up and not break but can't handle the 900+ lbs of a Z. Also, the tire areas are getting a little more compacted each time you go over the lawn. So its squeezing the roots even tighter and not allowing oxygen in.

With everything in mind, you shouldn't cut the lawns if they are not growing. I know you guys really need the revenue, but adding more stress and damage to the lawns for the revenue isn't wise. The people may understand why you are there, but they will never forget it.

I feel for you guys. If I could I would send you some of the rain we've had this year. Its been spring rush all summer. But I do remember in 2000 our extreme drought and heat. Every bermuda, zoysia and fescue lawn went completely dormant. We didn't cut some lawns for 3-4 weeks at a time. We did mulch, beds, cleanups, shrubs(hate those in the heat), and cut our weed yards.

By having a mix of good lawns and weed lawns we have always been able to work some. Even with the drought the weeds were kickin. After that lesson I will always keep some of those on the route.

[m&m]

as far as the tire tracks, yes it is the stress being put on the grass with the heat and drought.........the places that grow while the rest doesn,t, i imagine that this is in shaded areas and also around ditches and the edge of concrete........this is where water runs off.............i dont mow my yard right now but maybe once a month........the ditches are really growing............my yard gets a lil shabby but i am trying to keep off of it and keep what i have at least half way healthy........as for my customers, well , i am going bout once ever two or three weeks in most cases............someyeards i still do bout once a week seeing as to how they have irrigation..............i fill in my gaps with other jobs................but, i tell ya , the heat has to go and we gotta get some rain soon so i can make some money............thx goodness, fall time is almost here

[Brickman]

These brown marks in the grass are from the grass blades breaking from the weight of the tires. And a WB will do it too. Even a 21" will, I have seen it. And the marks have always gone away with enough water.

65hoss your ethic about doing the right thing for the health of the property inspite of the income is how I tried to do things. And almost NO BODY else around here thinks that way. It is all $$ to them and if the owner wants it done they will not try to tell them that it could be harmful to the lawn. The only thing on their mind is $$. And then when I tried to tell people how to do things for the health and long term good they would not listen to me. I would refuse to do certain things because of it being hard on the lawn. Usually they would find some body else to do it that didn't care. But at least I knew that I was not harming the prop.
A good point for this area. Almost EVERYBODY is in love with power raking the lawn and "oh my goodness did you see all that dead grass we got out. That has to be good for the lawn." Not thinking about the fact that you need some thatch to help hold the moisture in ESPECIALLY in a 4 year drought. When I would try to tell them I was pretty much told that I was full of it. Even by other LCOs. Why because "I made XXX amount of $$$$ in one week power raking. That is better than mowing." Man that would chap me to no end just thinking about the harm being done but nobody else cared.

[awm]

just thought o the answer. hover mower.
NOT.
:)

[SLS]

Brickman sez:

"65hoss your ethic about doing the right thing for the health of the property inspite of the income is how I tried to do things. And almost NO BODY else around here thinks that way. It is all $$ to them and if the owner wants it done they will not try to tell them that it could be harmful to the lawn. The only thing on their mind is $$."

I agree with this way of thinking too...especially since I have picked up several great customers because the last guy was just "mowing the dirt". :D

That said...the benefits of educating the customer can outweigh the liabilities (loss of $$$).

Last Thursday I decided that the weekly lawns could stand to wait for a few more of these afternoon showers we've just started getting again. Did I want to lose the money? NO! Did I want the lawns to stay looking nice, thus keeping a happy customer? YES!

Funny thing was, one of my clients, after explaining my 'no-mowing today' situation to her, said: "Well, being you have today off...would you like to do some pruning,...and remove a few small bushes for me? I know you've got to make a living." After telling her I would be glad to, and selling her a pressure wash on her driveway and sidewalk, I actually had a much better day($$$) than I would if I had just mowed all day. She's happy, I'm happy, the grass is happy....... :)

Educate your clients, and show them you actually care about their property as much as you do your own pocket...and sometimes, just sometimes, they will come through for you. Heck, you can even get some of them to water their lawns...if you know the 'magic words'. ;)

[General Grounds]

:blob3: AGG, we got nothin here maybe a few branches, i heard you guys got slammed. last year we had that tornado on memorial day weekend we cut trees for 2 weeks. seems like day to day the lawns are getting worse, i guess i can set up those 3pm tee times this week. tony

[m&m]

brickman, i agree with you on the thatch............kinda like cutting a tree donw.......it takes away the shade and the ground dries up.........

as for sls, i have done what you was talking bout not mowing , yet , doing other things instead that would help them aorund the house or even"beautify " the area a lil more.....


i hate that i am not mowing as much right now, but it is only a two day a week thing(when all the grass is growing)........otherwise, i am doing other jobs

[Jimbo]

You guys are right about the grass breaking. I mowed mine today and I could here the blades crunching under my feet.

I have mostly monthly contract so I am not mowing it for the green$$$$$. I mow because it grows like wild fire in some spots.
How you handle this problem without mowing? Do you hand trim?

Heres a photo of the damage I was talking about. You can clearly see the mark up on side then down the other.

Jim

[FrankenScagMachines]

Jimbo,
how high are you mowing? Looks like you could be higher up... I'm mowing the lowest at 3" and the rest at 3.5" right now and we haven't had rain for a while and they're doing better than other lawns around here that are cut at maybe 2.5" or 2.75" or so. All non-irrigated lawns mainly. We're not richly green but we're not brown either like other guy's lawns....
Good luck to ya, we finally got alittle rain today :)
Eric

[Jimbo]

Eric,

I am mowing about 3.5" high. I was just messing with you guys on the photo. Thats not the damage I was writing about. The damage to my commercial account is much, much worse.

The photo is actually part of my own yard which is not doing so well either. How do you like those crispy stripes?

Jim

[65hoss]

Another thing, if you explain to them something isn't good but they insist anyway and you do it, when it shows signs of damage who do you think they will call to complain and want to fix it? I guess a business owner should think ethically and longterm customer mentality. :)