johnnyjay
LawnSite Member
- Location
- Mobile, AL
All you Professional and experienced operators please share with us New Operators (and old dogs that can still learn new tricks) your tried and true work methods you have discovered and/or learned from other professionals to make jobs go faster, yards looking professionally cut, and less wasted time. <p>Here is a list of items I am interested in to get this started. Others may add their requests. All you other new operators jump in and ask your questions.<p> (I am using a 36" WB Exmark Metro HP TriVantage with mulching system and using the gator blades. I have the 1 wheel Velke. Also, I have Stihl trimmer, Stihl Edger, Stihl 24" Hedge Trimmer, Echo Hand Blower.)<p>1. Do you cut around the circumference of the property first. Do you make 1 pass around or two passes?<p>2. Do you continue to cut in circles, or do you cut back and forth paths with straight lines?<p>3. When using the Velke do you cut in circles or zero turn around and cut back and forth paths?<p>4. Does it matter if you cut clockwise or counter clockwise with a mulching system?<p>5. How about cuting around trees or shrubery/flower islands? Do you find it unsafe to use the Velke around curvy islands?<p>6. How about using the Velke on wet grass. (Today I cut a yard where the neighbor's sprinkler was throwing water on the the yard I was cutting. (About 10 ft down property line. This caused mower to choke down and belts to slip and mower to shut down. At the end of job I went back over that area after the grass had dried and re- mulched the previous wet mulch grass that was standing on top.)<p>7. After you have cut the grass, do you use your weedeater trimmer next or do you use your edger next?<p>8. If drive and walks have not been edged in a long time and/or maybe never, do you use your trimmer first to clear a path to the edge, or do you go ahead and use the Edger and guess where the edge is and let the blade follow the edge?<p>9. In edging islands do you edge clockwise with the wheel on the grass side, or do you edge counter-clockwise with the wheel on the island side?<p>10. How about tips when cutting grass and edging or trimming around swimming pools? How do you keep grass from blowing into the pool? Do you stop and use blower to get the grass off of the walk around the pool? If left too long the wind will blow the grass into the pool.<p>11. Do you use your blower to spread out any mulched grass on top of yard?<p>12. Do you work back yards separately or along with the front yard? Meaning do you cut grass in front yard and back yard and then put mower up, do trimming in front yard and back yard then put trimmer up, do edging in front yard and back yard and then put edger up, and blow front walks and drive, then back yard walks, stoops, and put blower up.<p>13. Last, if you will be pruning shrubs and pulling weeds from around shrubs do you pull weeds first and then do the pruning? Do you put tarps or anything down to help catch clippings? Do you just try and get out as much of the clipings you can without raking out the mulch around the shrubs and leave the rest?<p>Thanks ahead to all contributors on this topic.<p>Johnnyjay<br>Jonesboro, GA<br>jonesjjjr@mindspring.com