Who here is a lawn buff? Post a pic!!

[RamThis]

Who here is a lawn buff? Post a pic!! (56K beware)

Just wondering who is into meticulous care of their landscaping/lawn and what your's looks like. Mine is off to a good start this year, St. Augustine. Had a hell of a fungus problem, and some Bayleton and F-Stop rotated took care of it, looks like my lawn should be super green for the summer now.

Just raised my mower up a notch today too. Should be good for about a month.

Also, what do you mow with?

I run a Snapper 21" Self Propel with a Briggs 7HP Intek, with a blade Hi-Lift kit for bagging.

And my trimmer is a multi-attachment setup from Shindiawa, the M-230, and I have the line trimmer, stick edger, articulating hedge trimmer, and pole saw attachements. Shindiawa is THE TOP of the quality chain for trimmers. Echo runs a fairly close second.

So, let's see pics!! When I get a chance, I'll post some of mine, including the flamed Toro rider I did for my parents (I'm a small engine technician in case you wondered lol) 14,000 hours on that rider and I've kept it running on the same engine, and it does not burn oil. Most major repair was a new head gasket and ring set at 13,500 hours. Not too shabby.....

 

[the_gunslinger]

i take care of it, but nothing extravegent...i just layed down some seed & scotts weed&feed, so hopefully that dead sopt by the swing will grow again. parties kill lawns dead

edit: oh, i've modified my craftsman 7.5hp 22" self prepelled mower with a muffler and drilled/ballanced blade. i'm a hot-rodder and 'tinkerer' by nature...

 

[the_gunslinger]

i'm not thread jacking, sorry

small engine technician, huh?
well ramthis, you might get a kick out of my minibike project...

it's a honda GX390 i'm hoping to wring 20hp out of :biggrin2:

 

[Falls]

I keep it weeded , cut at 2.75" , I run a John Deere 445 , 2001 , 22hp fuel injected , cruise , power steering , adjustable seat and tilt wheel .

I love to cut grass and do a few other in my immediate area , just cut & trim and out the door.

If I was doing it with a push mower it may be a different story....lol. The lawns I cut including my own are 1-2 acres here.

 

[gizmopt2002]

Lol. This will sound so stereotypical. I'm mexican-american and have one of the nicest lawns on my street. I use a craftsman mover and some cheapo blade I keep real sharp.

 

[RamThis]

Sorry I'm slow getting some pics posted lol. Just had a baby earlier this week so we've been busier than all hell and forgot.

But here it is. I think I took this pic last year or the year before, but it all looks the same. I almost have it to this point again this spring, just a bit more growing season and my carpet will be back to normal lol.

And Gunslinger, nice mini-bike project you got going on LOL. You doing a "chopper" type mini-bike?

 

[RamThis]

Ahh here's last year's. 6-11-06's pics I took. MMMM St. Augustine!!!!!

And, can't forget the flame job I did on my mom's Toro Rider. I have to replace and re-paint the top section of the hood, because after repairing a fracture down the upper middle of it, doing the whole paint/pinstripe job, as I was installing the hood, the left rear corner of the hood busted off in my hand. Effing plastic was so brittle it just busted off. Mower had never seen the light of day yet, I hadnt even finished tightening the last bolt on the hood mounts when the job was destroyed. So, barely visible in the pic, is a strip of clear tape holding the hood together. This summer I will replace that top section and re-do her hood once I get some other projects finished up.

And some pics of it's progress:

 

[RamThis]

Paint was done in DuPont Chroma Base, Dodge Flame Red, Dodge Driftwood Metallic Pearlcoat (silver), DuPont Chroma Clear, and primed with Napa Tec Prime, shot with a Snap-On BF700 HVLP gun and a 60 Gallon upright tank in my garage. Finish is as sprayed, no wet sanding or polishing.

 

[broncosi]

i see people paint flames and other designs like that using that taping process and i still have no idea how its done, is there anyway you could explain it to me?

 

[RamThis]

i see people paint flames and other designs like that using that taping process and i still have no idea how its done, is there anyway you could explain it to me?

Well since this was my first time trying to do a layout I'm probably the last person who should advise you LOL. But I'll tell you how I did it, though I probably did it wrong in some ways as I just did it off what I saw on TV mostly LOL!!

I first measured off a center point left/right and front/back with the tape. I then just hand laid out the flames with the fine line tape, it's 3M Plastic tape, 1/8" wide. I hand laid out the flames on one side, peeling up parts and re-doing it until I was happy with it. Kept the flames large and simple for my first try at this. I then just eyeballed the other side against the first side, and literally just matched it by eye back and forth until I had what looked as close of a mirror image on the opposite side.

Now, the way you are supposed to do it, is to use some craft paper, and fold/tape it to form fit over the laid out design. then use a pencil and trace your tape lines on the paper, and use a "pounce wheel" to run over those lines on a table that punches small holes in the paper along the lines. You then flip the paper over, line it up using some reference points like door jamb corners or headlight screw holes to line up the design as a mirror image, and using a cloth bag with powdered chalk, lightly chalk bag over the lines to transfer a perfect mirror image on the opposite side of the car. Then you just follow it with the fine line tape, and you have the mirror image laid out.

I had no luck at the body supply stores finding a "pounce wheel" but they said I could find one at a fabric store, still havent looked for one just yet.

Anyway, then you just tape off the part that is not going to be flamed like seen in the pics, cuttign off the masking tape along the middle part of the blue fine line tape, being careful not to cut through both tapes and into the paint. Then paint the flames like normal. You can do faded colors of yellows, reds, whites, kandy purple tips, etc, but the basic layout and masking, I believe, is all about the same.

I'm still learning this myself so, dont take this as the right way, it's just how I figured to do it by watching a shitload of Overhaulin' and Ride's and American Hot Rod and American Chopper!!!! Maybe someday I'll learn to paint flames like a pro, but I'll NEVER be as good as Mike Levalee whith his "Real Flame" :artist:

 

[the_gunslinger]

COOL MOWER JOB! turned out real nice.

as far as the minibike, it's gonna be a street legal moped for around town errands...

 

[RamThis]

COOL MOWER JOB! turned out real nice.

as far as the minibike, it's gonna be a street legal moped for around town errands...

Post pics of your progress, I'd love to see that all finished up.

Are you putting signals and lights, speedo, etc on this lil machine??? That would be killer!! :bigok:

Or a side-car!!! :biggrin2:

 

[Kenn]

I have crabs!!!

Nice lawns. I have a problem with crabs in my lawn. It sounds like a personal problem, but it is crab grass in my lawn. How the f*&% do I get rid of it. It probably doesnt help that I have a gardener that mows other people's lawn and then mows mine. But the crab grass and clover looking things have taken over my backyard lawn.

 

[gizmopt2002]

I just use Scotts Weed Plus 2 or something like that. Works great

 

[jharris2]

Re: I have crabs!!!

Nice lawns. I have a problem with crabs in my lawn. It sounds like a personal problem, but it is crab grass in my lawn. How the f*&% do I get rid of it. It probably doesnt help that I have a gardener that mows other people's lawn and then mows mine. But the crab grass and clover looking things have taken over my backyard lawn.

You didn't mention the kind of grass you have. Some weedkillers also kill certain types of lawn grass. Be sure you get a weedkiller that won't harm the turf.

But if weedkiller doesn't do the trick for you, then you may have to take the extreme approach -- use RoundUp to kill all the weeds, then till and re-sod the lawn.

 

[RamThis]

Yes before using a weed/feed like Scotts, always make sure it's safe for the type of turf you have. I have St. Augustine, and you have to be careful with it as some of the weed killers will kill the grass too.

You could try manually popping the crabgrass out and putting down a crabgrass preventative, and start bagging your clippings to keep weed seeds from spreading. I bag year round and it's kept the weeds at bay in my front yard, and helped the St Augustine to get a good hold on about 2/3 of my back yard by slowing down weed germination. (now if my wife's damn dog would hurry up and effing die I'd have a nice back yard too, I hate dogs!!! :bash: )

And this winter, when the grass is dormant, use a good pre-emergence, which will stop alot of the weeds from even getting a chance to germinate and grow, and your grass can thicken up and choke out any remaining weeds.