There is really no easy way to deal with crab grass, just dont let it get out of hand! It took a long time to knock a bunch of it down that was about 2 weeks overgrown, even the big redmax had trouble with it!! plus, when you do cut it, it usually looks like crap anyway. I cant wait till its done either, when is that btw?

 

Crab Grass should be on the decline now. But it will be until the end of August minimum before it starts to go by-by.

 

There is really no easy way to deal with crab grass, just dont let it get out of hand! It took a long time to knock a bunch of it down that was about 2 weeks overgrown, even the big redmax had trouble with it!! plus, when you do cut it, it usually looks like crap anyway. I cant wait till its done either, when is that btw?

That is the trick, "just don't let it get out of hand," this means (in my situation) it must be mowed every 4 days.

 

Maybe you should cut it every 3 days.

 

I try to put a fresh coat of paint under my deck every year which seems to help for a few weeks...I have not found anything else last longer than a few minutes...even Fluid Film.
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That is the trick, "just don't let it get out of hand," this means (in my situation) it must be mowed every 4 days.

I couldnt believe how hard it was to cut, even with the trimmer on full throttle!

 

Put your crab grass preventer down in the spring and you don't have to worry about it during the summer!

 

Put your crab grass preventer down in the spring and you don't have to worry about it during the summer!

Good advice, but rural customers in Kentucky or Tennessee could care less.

 

I bought my Super Z XR7 this time of year and thankfully they took it back. My Lazer , the Grasshoppers, Dixies and Scags had no big problem with the crabgrass but the XR7 just wouldn't cut the stuff. Not above 3" anyway. I tried everything to get that deck to cut and not clog.

 

Crab grass is a pain in the ass. The single most important thing Ive found is keeping blades very sharp. Preferably blades that havent had a lot of steel ground off. For some reason the crab is very bad this year.

 

Put your crab grass preventer down in the spring and you don't have to worry about it during the summer!

That is a great idea, but hard to do on 15 acres with over 3/4 of a mile being an average of 20' strips on both sides of a paved road and 500' in each direction at a + intersection, along with distances in both directions at a T intersection on the other end. This is a little different mowing situation than the average lawn you are probably thinking of. Here is about 30% of the road I mow.

The fourth picture is approaching the intersection from my farm, and the fifth picture is going left at the interection.

 

The first picture is going to the right approaching the intersection from my farm, the second picture is going back toward my farm from the opposite side of the intersection. The third picture is going toward my farm, fourth is going though my farm and the fifth is standing in my front yard looking up a waterway through my soybeans.

You can tell it is raining again this Sunday morning as I was taking these pictures, meaning the crab grass is growing as I watch. I think you now get a slight understanding of what crab grass control would mean in this mowing situation.

 

Crab Grass should be on the decline now. But it will be until the end of August minimum before it starts to go by-by.

Maybe in IL where it's getting to be wintertime but crabgrass hasn't even gone to seed yet anywhere else.

Crabgrass spends all of it's energy growing and spreading until late August/early September. Then it gradually switches over to spending most of it energy making seeds. Then as the temps fall into the lower 40's and upper 30's it generally slows down all growth and seed production. At the first frost it is finished for the year.

 

Maybe in IL where it's getting to be wintertime but crabgrass hasn't even gone to seed yet anywhere else.

Crabgrass spends all of it's energy growing and spreading until late August/early September. Then it gradually switches over to spending most of it energy making seeds. Then as the temps fall into the lower 40's and upper 30's it generally slows down all growth and seed production. At the first frost it is finished for the year.

^^What he said. Crabgrass turns purple and dies when it gets cold. For us thats usually in mid september.

 

I love crab grass,it keeps me busy all summer when nothing else is growing,most people I work for(no high income or fancy estates) don't know the difference between crabgrass and any other grass,they just see that it's green and needs cutting.My 25 hp kawi flys through it like nothing. The only time it slows me down is weedwacking,but I use the belt edger on all sides of sidewalks,so its just the stuff growing in the cracks between the blocks and curb and road that takes time.I just carry an extra coil of line in my back pocket to refill the head if I'm far away from the truck and run out of line.

 

Yeah, I have a few yards like that, the home owners think it is just grass growing,but im not telling them what it really is! Right now, in KY anyway, those yards are about the only ones growing, and are green, makes ya wonder if spending money on fert ever year is even worth it. all those types of yards are as dry and brown as can be right now!

 

Maybe in IL where it's getting to be wintertime but crabgrass hasn't even gone to seed yet anywhere else.

Crabgrass spends all of it's energy growing and spreading until late August/early September. Then it gradually switches over to spending most of it energy making seeds. Then as the temps fall into the lower 40's and upper 30's it generally slows down all growth and seed production. At the first frost it is finished for the year.

Any CG that hasn't been cut around here has now gone to seed. Basically I've seen the peak of the growth, but that's not to say that it won't stick around for a while still and cause problems for the next month.

Ultimately the key to any yard that isn't treated is to mow as high as possible, especially during the spring when CG germinates. I've got one client that mows at some ungodly high setting around 6 inches or more. Guess what though, they don't have any CG and barely any weeds.

 

Yeah, I have a few yards like that, the home owners think it is just grass growing,but im not telling them what it really is! Right now, in KY anyway, those yards are about the only ones growing, and are green, makes ya wonder if spending money on fert ever year is even worth it. all those types of yards are as dry and brown as can be right now!

In Southern KY we were dry at the beginning of July but it has rained a lot the second half. We've been having 2-3 good rains per week.

 

Maybe in IL where it's getting to be wintertime but crabgrass hasn't even gone to seed yet anywhere else.

Crabgrass spends all of it's energy growing and spreading until late August/early September. Then it gradually switches over to spending most of it energy making seeds. Then as the temps fall into the lower 40's and upper 30's it generally slows down all growth and seed production. At the first frost it is finished for the year.

Yep, August and September are the worst.

 

Are you sure you are cutting crabgrass? Most road sides here in NC are bahia. In wet conditions the shoots on that stuff are 18 inches high in a matter of days and take a couple of passes to get a clean cut.

 

Puppypaws, were you using a Woods or Predator Pro? In the Spring I removed the baffle kit from my Predator Pro and started using Oregon Gator blades. The removal of the baffle plate across the front of the deck freed up the blades quite a bit and didn't make them keep chewing up the same wet clippings. The striping ability is about the same and the clippings also dispersed more evenly with the baffle kit removed. The clippings discharge at all angles coming out of the chute now but, with the kit they shot out in a large concentrated stream.

 

Are you sure you are cutting crabgrass? Most road sides here in NC are bahia. In wet conditions the shoots on that stuff are 18 inches high in a matter of days and take a couple of passes to get a clean cut.

No Bahia, not one stalk in my area, believe me I know grasses in this area, I've been fighting all of them over 45 yrs. in row crop fields.

The big thing giving us problems in Roundup ready soybeans at this point in time is Roundup resistant Palmer Amaranth. There is something going on most people don't realize, there have been 15 weeds and grasses found throughout the US that is showing resistance to Roundup, some more severely than others, but it is coming into play very quickly. There are certain species of plants that can take any amount of glyphosate applied and never quit growing. I've started adding Reflex and ammonia sulfate to my Roundup and it does a very good job of melting redroot pigweed (Palmer Amaranth).

This is what I am speaking of, the plant gets so big it looks like little trees growing in a soybean field, and gives combines a fit.

 

Puppypaws, were you using a Woods or Predator Pro? In the Spring I removed the baffle kit from my Predator Pro and started using Oregon Gator blades. The removal of the baffle plate across the front of the deck freed up the blades quite a bit and didn't make them keep chewing up the same wet clippings. The striping ability is about the same and the clippings also dispersed more evenly with the baffle kit removed. The clippings discharge at all angles coming out of the chute now but, with the kit they shot out in a large concentrated stream.

No, I am using a Hustler Super Z with a 66" deck, and it did a very good job Saturday after the maintenance I pulled. I was cutting faster than most mowers will run and cutting at 2.75" with it fanning the full discharge opening, I believe this was accounted for because the deck was extremely clean and slick underneath. The new blades cut very clean and fast because the engine could hold its rpm's at the full 3600, enabling the blade tip speed to remain at maximum operating limits. I honestly believe the difference is a clean slick deck with new blades, it was like a new mower in comparison to the way it cut before the changes were made.

 

I just had a battle with crab grass today. I was at a customer's house with a nice bermuda lawn. In that bermuda lawn was splotches of grab grass in about 2 feet diameter circles. Extremely dense knots of crab grass. I thought I could get off easy with just my string trimmer because bermuda cuts real easy with a string trimmer. Little did I know that I had a battle ahead of me. Those big'o knots of crab grass was laughing at my trimmer string. I was using Rotary Vortex trimmer string too. That crab grass requires a steel blade. I learned my lesson today about crab grass.

 

2010 thread dude......