I deal with the stupid flags all the time. I've started a nice collection of them in the back of my truck. I mow a storage facility that's on a main state road with city roads on 3 sides. This year alone they have flagged it 4 times.From the flags I can tell you there is 4 utility's running alone the state road. Water gas phone sewer.They flag the entire 1/4 mile rd frontage to work in 1 little stop grrrrr. When they dig the holes do their work and leave. The mess they leave.

 

you can plug sidewalls. i have plugs in both of my mowers. one of them has like 10 plugs crammed into the same big hole. plug them and put some tire slime in the tire. mine haven't leaked in years.

as far as flags i remove everyone of them and throw them in the trash before i mow. they never remove them. they put them down and leave them.

i've had fun this year. they are re-doing some sidewalks and curbs and so forth. they make a mess. they leave nails everywhere and don't pick up their mess. they destroy my customer's lawns digging up the old concrete and junk. it takes them 3 months before they are done with it all. i dunno why it's this way with construction workers, road workers, city workers, or basically any worker. they are so unorganized and sloppy in the way they work. they throw crap everywhere and make a mess and they never totally clean up the mess when they are done. the point is to NOT MAKE A MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! they will never get it.

 

Eh, I've tried to plug mower tires before most of the time they don't take too soft of rubber

 

Mow around them for two weeks then they come out. It's not a slalom course, just don't mow the block the are demarcating.

 

i will normally leave the flags for 1 to 2 visits, if they are still there after 2 weeks i pick them up.

 

they never come back to remove them. they will stay there forever until you remove them or the home owner. :laugh:

forgot to say i mow a Vet's office and they are getting everything remodeled. it's been fun mowing around the construction worker's crap every week. old long marble counter top sinks out in the grass and everything of the sort. what am i supposed to do? i can't pick them up and move them they are 500lbs each.....what made them think putting them on top of the grass was a good idea? i just don't get people. why couldn't they place them out of the way? instead they put them right in the middle of the grass and leave them there for a month....i moved them this week. they would leave them there forever. they make a mess and leave it. that's how the rest of the world works. the lawn care people have to clean it all up. :laugh:

they have a dumpster yet trash and crap is laying everywhere around it? aren't you supposed to put it inside the dumpster? people are freakin' idiots. i'll never understand it.

 

when a construction site pops up on my properties, i will mow around the junk and tools, no trimming, i didnt quote all the debris in the mowing price. once the construction is done, i will resume normal mowing.

 

Ive had to go back to the property owner a couple times over utility company's mess. This year they pulled into the drive and drove their trucks and equipment across the lawn at a angle to get to the NW corner. This hasn't been the driest spring. Rutted up the lawn to the point you could forget about mowing it. When they could have accessed the area by driving over a curb from the highway. Never heard what happened. I know he was mad I know they fixed it and put sod down.

 

you're lucky. at least they fixed it. around here they never fix anything. they just leave it in a mess and it's up to the homeowner to fix it which they never do because it would cost too much.

 

I've had decent luck with plugs in mower tires.

 

Besides owning and operating a landscaping company, I work for the local power company in NJ. It is our state law that the flags can not be removed by ANYONE for the duration of the valid mark out. In NJ, that is 10 days. If my crew shows up to a site that is marked, they are instructed to get a close as possible, but in no way disturb the flags or markings in anyway at all. After 10 days, we can remove the markings.

We have sent yearly writing letters to all our customers with the law clearly written on it and explained that we will not remove the flags for a 2 week period and urge them to do the same thing.

Also as part of the law, should anyone remove or disturb the markings prior to the expiration of the markout, and damage is done to any underground facility, the owner of the facility has the right to hold the party that disturb the flags fully responsible. You should see what these utility companies can do to an individual for messing up a mark out

Recently in NJ, there was a contractor that removed the flags (dog fence company). Three days later the gas company came out to hook up a new service. When they observed no markings on the property, they went to work. That is a standard practice in NJ. Well they dug down and hit a 3 phase, 13000 volt main line feeder to a circuit. Besides blowing the bucket off the backhoe and destroying most of the mechanical systems of it, they knocked out the circuit. The circuit was out for 3 hours. There were 2 supermarkets on that circuit as well as many other business's. The lawsuits from just the two supermarkets was over $800,000 in lost perishables. The lost time from the utility company and repair costs to that feeder was in the range of $450,000. There were many other small claims as well, being the circuit fed over 5000 homes and business's. The property where this incident occurred happened to have video surveillance. The utility company somehow got the film and the dog fence guy was clearly seen removing the flags. It will be an long ongoing battle for that business owner but I am sure he is having a lot of sleepless nights.

LEARN THE LAW OF YOUR STATE AND FOLLOW IT. YOU CANT AFFORD TO FIGHT THE BIG DEEP POCKETS OF A UTILITY COMPANY AND THEY WILL COME AFTER YOU SHOULD SOMETHING BAD HAPPEN TO THEIR FACILITIES.

 

I understand your perspective.....but tell me this if you cannot disturb flags for a certain period of time, why does the utility not come and gather up the flags when that period is over? How are we as lawn people supposed to know how long the flags have been there?? Bunch of BS IMO.

As for that utility that knocked out a power line, did they not see the paint marking on the ground?? Did they not use their heads when they started digging, thinking there were likely lines in the area? I'm sorry the gas company was a bunch of dolts for causing that damage. Then they want to take it to a small dog fence company....good grief hope the courts tell them to stick it.

 

I've got 2 properties that are peppered with these flags. So far, i've mowed and trimmed around them to the best of my ability. We will see if they are there next week.

 

Cannot fix sidewall punctures, its either a new tire or a tube.

Sure you can....on mowers, just not on a vehicle that will maintain highway speeds. We've been plugging sidewalls on mowers for years.

Utilities companies are good at scattering the stupid things all over the lawn....but don't come back to clean up their mess. Ok rant off......

The first week I pull every other one. Second to third week, I pull all of them if there's no activity. In MI the requirement is they have to start within 2 weeks of being marked.

 

Sure you can....on mowers, just not on a vehicle that will maintain highway speeds. We've been plugging sidewalls on mowers for years.

Has nothing to do with speed. Obviously the safety factor is greater if you're trusting a plug in a sidewall of a vehicle at highway speeds, they also don't externally plug vehicle tires in the tread either, they come from the inside which requires removal of the tire.

You can plug sidewalls, they typically don't hold though. If you've been doing it for years I'm sure you've also seen them not work, because often times they don't.

 

Guys you can stop arguing about plugging tires. My issue is fixed.
Also, I plug my highway trailer tires all the time when I get a nail in them. As long as it's in the tread, they have always held.

 

Guess I got lucky, one plug in the sidewall a year ago and the only time I've put air in it is this spring after it sat all winter and lost 3 PSI.

 

I have a leaky rear tire. But the leak is in the middle of one of the knobs and I just got these tires last year. It's so bad I have to air it up every morning, and after 5-6hrs the mower begins to scalp due to pressure lost.
I haven't tried to pug it because I think it going to be hard to drive a plug through a knob and the tire.

So this begs the question, what is your opinion on a product like slime tire sealant or something else? I heard that over time a product like slime will rot the rim out. Man, it just kills me to buy a tire after I just got one last fall. Any thoughts??

 

Ream it under just under size of plug and use a good plug kitThumbs Up and good tire slime works no problems been used in ATVs for ten years or moreThumbs UpThumbs Up:bluebounce:

 

I keep a GOOD tire plug kit (Black Jack) in my truck with a small 12v air compressor. When you have roughly 16 air filled tires with you on a route and you have a flat, it's nice to be able to plug a tire and fill it back up with air on site and go right back to work.

 

Plastic rods similar to pesticide flags, instead of metal, would make me and I assume others less likely to want to remove them from the ground.

 

Just last week we plugged the sidewall of a lazer z rear tire which had a piece of high tensile fence wire in it. Mower has about 60 hours on the repair. No issues. Not the first time either.

And yes, those damn flags....in Ohio you have 7 days to get your **** done or it has to be remarked. So we leave them one mowing. Then they all get pulled. And the customer gets charged for the labor.

 

Michigan,

" 2 weeks and they can be pulled"
-USIC utility marking company
May 3, 2017

Asked him today

 

This reminds me about a customer last year called and was upset we had removed the flags because the contractor came inside and pitched a fit.

I don't remember exactly, but I believe they had been up for a month. They were working in the area, but not at that address or next to it.

 

Also, why can utilities not use plastic staffed flags? Not near as likely to shove through a mower tire than the wire staffed ones.

Bane, bane, bane![/QUOTE]
Wow, that's a great idea.:laugh:

 

you guys that have leaking plugs add some tire slime to the tire. it will take care of any small leaks.

 

Still a bane of mine.

 

Did you run over one this year?
Maybe it's a sign of summer for you

 

Popping up all over my neighborhood now by the utility marking company GridHawk.
Workers says that the power company is going to be installing "data fiber lines"

Curious as to how you lawn mowers deal with these...

https://www.metronetbusiness.com/blog/article/utility-flags

 

Good luck. For 2years we’ve been dealing with the fiber companies installing lines all over. One yard last year they flagged for 3 months never did anything. Just kept coming back to flag. Last week they flagged the yard again.

 

Wish more of these utility flags used white plastic 'poles'. If/when they get hit, white pieces are easier to find than a wad of mangled gray wire that essentially disappears and can/WILL knick up blades until found/removed.

 

Wish more of these utility flags used white plastic 'poles'. If/when they get hit, white pieces are easier to find than a wad of mangled gray wire that essentially disappears and can/WILL nick up blades until found/removed.

Or worse yet, those doggone flag-wires just wrap themselves around the shaft! 🤬

 

I just leave a strip on either side of them for a couple of weeks and then pick them up (if someone hasn't already). Then I just mow that overgrown strip when they're gone. I figure the customer already has flags and paint in their lawn. No sense getting close to them and getting hollered at by the folks who put them there, or getting one stuck in my tire.

I don't like picking them up. But in reality, it only takes a minute or two (in my cases anyway).

 

I just leave a strip on either side of them for a couple of weeks and then pick them up (if someone hasn't already). Then I just mow that overgrown strip when they're gone. I figure the customer already has flags and paint in their lawn. No sense getting close to them and getting hollered at by the folks who put them there, or getting one stuck in my tire.

I don't like picking them up. But in reality, it only takes a minute or two (in my cases anyway).

We need to charge for that honestly. Waste of time, esp on a flag littered big property.

 

https://digalert.org/pdfs/bestpractices.pdf