Burnt grass from W/B tires ???

SCAPEASAURUSREX · Jul 29, 2001

I just went to see a client today, yes Sunday ! He actually had a legitimate complaint. His back yard was stripped with browned and green lines. Never saw anything like it before ! The yard is in full Sun. The only thing I could think of is that the tires got soo Hot they burned the grass as I mowed. Anyone have any Ideas or am I right ? ? What should I do to fix it ?? or should I ??? Can it be prevented in the future ?? His whole lawn is weak and I mentioned to him the heat and dryness and he informed me that he waters the lawn for 4 to 5 hours a day ?? Think that may be related ?? Thanks in advance...

smburgess · Jul 29, 2001

Your tires weren't "too hot", the turf was stressed to the point that the tires broke the plants "crown" and died. I doubt the client has put any water on it.
When the turf is stressed like that it is best not to put a mower or even WALK on it.

Eric ELM · Jul 29, 2001

This will happen when the grass is stressed from heat and not much rain. If he was watering his lawn 4 to 5 hours a day, this would not happen. I think he fibbed.

I water mine about that long in a weeks time and I am not having that problem. We went 3 weeks with only 1/4" of rain, so we are really dry. We then got a gusher with a bigger amount of rain, but it mostly ran off since it came down so fast.

Tell him this is a natural thing to happen when the grass is stressed from no rain. As soon as we get some rain, it will come back nice and green, even where the tire tracks are.

This has been discussed here before and here is the link to the other discussion on this.
http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=616&highlight=tire+tracks

Lanelle · Jul 29, 2001

If he were truly watering his grass that much, the brown stripes would be mud tracks on the turf, not dead grass. You would be able to tell that the soil was wet, which evidently isn't the case.

accentlc · Jul 29, 2001

I have heard that fungus can be spread on mower tires and cause striping. I can't verify the source or the accuracy of this.

jeffyr · Jul 29, 2001

Chris,

Just think what it would look like if you used a proslide !!!:blob2:

jeffyr

SCAPEASAURUSREX · Jul 29, 2001

Thanks for the feedback guys , I think I can confront him with an intelligent explanation and resolve now .. Thanks for your help..

Jeff.. yeah , the funny thing is I do use the proslide on this account ! But all that showed brown were the tire tracks .. Thank God !.. But maybe it would have not been targetable towards me if the whole thing went brown..

Thanks again guys.................

EJK2352 · Jul 29, 2001

The guy is really fibbing, the grass blades are broken off at the crowns due to lack of water. Tell him to water the lawn for real and the grass will recover. A soil sampling probe is a great tool for checking the soil to see how dry it is. I'd stay off those stressed lawn till you get some rain. ED

eslawns · Jul 29, 2001

This happened to me earlier this season. It was a vacation client. When he came home he called to raise hell. He thought I had gotten Roundup on the tires and killed the grass.

bubble boy · Jul 29, 2001

i have had this happen. It was mentioned by someone here that fert could also cause the lines. If the lawn had fert on it, when the mower drives over the lawn the wheels break the granuals down, and then water releases the chemicals into the lawn too quickly. i don't know if this is actually possible, can anyone verify it?

EJK2352 · Jul 29, 2001

Very possible that sulfur coating on fertilizer can be broken by running on it with mower tires & when lawn is dry it could cause a burn due to excess nitrogen being released. ED

eggy · Jul 30, 2001

As everyone else stated ...you should have stayed of the grass, but this happens a lot. Purdue University mentions this in the turf tips section at www.agry.purdue.edu They have a few pictures of this also. They do reccomend on the scorchers if you mow tomow early or late, stay off the turf during the peak heat hours, which really shouldnt be hard to do because if its that hot and dry you shpouldnt be super busy.......just my two cents....

MOW ED · Jul 30, 2001

He didn't water.

I know of a residence near me (not my customer) that mowed to 2" and had the boys from Vhemlawn do a granular ap in the heat. I can walk on all of the tire tracks from the spreader. If the guy gives you a hard time, get rid of him. Not worth taking crap from a liar that doesnt care about his lawn.

AztlanLC · Jul 30, 2001

That happens really often when is getting dry, but I have found that one solution to this problem is to mow in different directions everytime you do it, and also don't go more than once in the same track, even if you have to double cut, Cause it maybe true that he's been watering he's lawn but you've been squeezing the water out with the weight on the tires.

About the fertilizer teory and the fungus on the tires, that's just nonsense.

Fallguy · Jul 30, 2001

tell him that for a nominal fee you could mow the opposite direction and give him a really great looking checker board effect.j/k

DillardTurfCare · Jul 30, 2001

It might have been the way you are cutting the lawn the same way all the time. You know the way we cut the lawn is some times due to the fastest way to cut it and go on to the next client. But, I have found out that if we change the way we cut from one time to the next. And I have seen the way some of my clients turf is done weather it is soft or hard ground. I have a 52 cut textron bobcat and it is a pretty heavy machine and after a while it will start making rutts. So, try this and let me know how it turns out. Ron......

SCAPEASAURUSREX · Jul 31, 2001

I do mow in a diff direction everytime I go, with all of my clients. It's better for the lawn and it also looks alot nicer too.. In looking at the lawn it just looks burnt and dry throughout.. It's in full sun all day. The front yard looks fine but it's in partial shade all day.. ?

Thanks again guys.......

eggy · Jul 31, 2001

belive me the grass was stressed...I was the thread starter for this last year......you tink i would have learned however I large commercial account today and noticed several sections of wheel marks........when we mowed last week it was about 95 and the grass was stressed should have stayed off...ut it happens.....we are going to skip it this week...temps are to be about 95 again mid week....however I do belive by next week with the rain we recieved this weekend it should be in good shape....you live and learn........and guys like me learn everything the hard way...

Greenkeepers · Jul 31, 2001

I had a customer who thought that my exhaust caused the lines like this in his lawn. Needless to say I fired him, now I just have to collect the money from the Lowlife.....

eggy · Aug 2, 2001

I gave some advice......that i didnt listen to on this.....now I need some advice!!! The account that we left wheel marks in from stressed grass, has grown and is need of mowing except for the area of the wheel marks........should we go ahead and cut????? Or shpould we hold of until the wheel marks cure????? Any suggestions, We do not want to cause more damage then we already have to the turf............Thanks...

Burnt grass from W/B tires ???

SCAPEASAURUSREX

smburgess

Eric ELM

Lanelle

accentlc

jeffyr

SCAPEASAURUSREX

EJK2352

eslawns

bubble boy

EJK2352

eggy

MOW ED

AztlanLC

Fallguy

DillardTurfCare

SCAPEASAURUSREX

eggy

Greenkeepers

eggy

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