|
|
28-10-2018, 04:36 PM | #1 | |||
BLUE OVAL INC.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 8,618
|
Quote:
The club decided to pay a bloke to do the job last season and the greens went down hill so fast as he just wouldnt put in the time that we did. So many members complained about how they were playing, in the end he pulled the pin and now weve got 2 volunteers on the job again, a greens keeper from the local course and a former wicket curator who worked with me on them previously and the improvement in 2 months is remarkable. Havent quite got the pace up yet, running about 14 seconds yesterday, but the coverage and even colour is promising at this stage of the year. |
|||
28-10-2018, 07:46 PM | #2 | ||
Donating Member
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 11,724
|
As mentioned, trying to mow a lawn that is too tall in one hit will cause blocked chutes. If a lawn in wet its even worse. Now technically, you should never mow a wet lawn or mow too short, but some customers cant wait or want to see that the lawn has been mowed, read scalped in the aussie tradition.
Talking Honda's in particular, if the it looks like the model below, with a full width chute, then there will be no issues, be it wet or dry, tall or short. The problem arises when with the below image, with a partial chute. The self drive hardware prevents a full chute and sufficient airflow to allow long, thick or wet grass to be efficiently discharged into the catcher. These type of mowers are designed to be used on a regular basis, where only the very tips of growth are removed. A lawn that is maintained at a taller height is generally healthier, less prone to weed infestations and actually uses less water. Something at odds with the aussie tradition or expectation, ie "mow it so short so I don't have to do it again for a while". For me, I use a range of mowers to suit a variety of different lawns, lawn heights and customer expectations. As a rule there is no "perfect" mower hence the use of different mowers. The only one I have found to do almost everything (mulch/catch/wet/dry/tall/short) is the Rover ProCut 560. The drive system isn't as robust as the Honda systems but it has a full chute meaning it is more versatile. It was also much cheaper to buy, allowing for occasional maintenance on the drive system when needed. The amount of money this thing has made me over 5 years if it blew up tomorrow I would be content knowing it earnt its keep. And its been HAMMERED, thrashed even.
__________________
PX MK II Ranger FG XR6 FG X XR8 Mustang GT T3 TS50 - gone but not forgotten |
||
28-10-2018, 09:28 PM | #3 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: St Marys Tasmania
Posts: 3,556
|
Quote:
Last edited by roddy1960; 28-10-2018 at 09:37 PM. |
|||
28-10-2018, 09:13 PM | #4 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: St Marys Tasmania
Posts: 3,556
|
Quote:
The course is nine greens but 18 tees . Grass on both golf course and bowls green is a mix of browntop bentgrass and creeping red fescue , with a bit of errant poa annua here and there . Red Fescue and Browntop cope with our winters pretty well. We get 12- 13 seconds at the start of the season and up to 15 seconds by Christmas/New Year . Any faster is pretty hard to achieve. We've lost a lot of members to new clubs in the past 15 years and can no longer field a golf Pennant team despite a ton of flags up until 2005 . Really sad . Lucky to get 10 players on Sundays for a comp now and I haven't dragged the clubs out since about this time last year . Bowls is a bit different . Pennant is mixed four rink teams now in Div 3 and the club has done pretty well . Won the State Div 3 title three seasons ago . I've not played yet this year but will soon once I clear a few things out of the way. Plenty of players this year so no pressure to play . We bought an electric mower to replace the old girl that cut the green for a bloody long time (also electric) a couple of years ago. Scarifyer and corer too are shared with the golf club as is the seeder and boom spray . Roller is a standard ride on one with a Honda motor . Fourteen seconds is a beaut speed I reckon . Fair for all . I remember playing on a city green many moons ago in a rep game that looked about 12 before roll up and was actually more than 16 ..Was fun though despite us country bumpkins struggling to manage it . Congrats on having your green used for representative training , that's a real honour . Re volunteers ..Legends ..the backbone of all clubs .. |
|||
2 users like this post: |
29-10-2018, 12:09 AM | #5 | |||
BLUE OVAL INC.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 8,618
|
Quote:
I totally agree with your assessment, 14-15 seconds is quick enough and forgiving if you happen to miss your line by a fraction. We played on a synthetic at Payneham last weekend and it was running about 17 seconds which is actually slightly off pace for what it can run when conditions are right, even with the modern bowls, i use a very narrow set of SR's, i was hitting the boundary at the shoulder and quite often finishing on the non professional side. Not many could handle it and we lost all 4 rinks in the end. Im only a hack really, my Daughter on the other hand, 3 time State Junior Champion and was sponsored by Henselite until she turned her back on national duties. |
|||
29-10-2018, 08:16 PM | #6 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: St Marys Tasmania
Posts: 3,556
|
Quote:
I'm a tad old fashioned and love my old Henselite Classic ll's .Had them for ages. Mostly play pennant as a Third and the bit of late draw sometimes helps to get around short bowls in the way in a cluttered head . Remember playing against an old bloke many years ago who used these Size 5 wide draw bowls that all but finished up coming back toward you on a fast-ish green. He was a former Div 1 player and crucified me in a club singles game . Geez he could bowl . He was one of our skips at the time. Back to mowing . We used to send the cylinders to a company called Pellows to be backlapped for the golf greens mowers . I used to bugger round for ages getting the bedknife and mild steel blade bedded in properly once the cylinder was either backlappped or reversed but it was worth it . Watching water spray like clippings going into the catcher was very satisfying indeed .Had grand plans of building my own green at home and even bought an old Villiers reel mower which I still have . Maybe a while off yet , but ya never know !!!! Last edited by roddy1960; 29-10-2018 at 08:24 PM. |
|||
29-10-2018, 09:12 PM | #7 | ||
Donating Member
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 11,724
|
__________________
PX MK II Ranger FG XR6 FG X XR8 Mustang GT T3 TS50 - gone but not forgotten |
||
5 users like this post: |
03-11-2018, 09:25 AM | #8 | |||
BLUE OVAL INC.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 8,618
|
Quote:
Do you have a mowing business mate, if so is it a franchise or independant? |
|||
This user likes this post: |
03-11-2018, 07:31 PM | #9 | |||
Donating Member
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 11,724
|
Quote:
My employment is shared between my business and an employer. Its hard juggling my time to be honest but it's the best of both worlds most of the time.
__________________
PX MK II Ranger FG XR6 FG X XR8 Mustang GT T3 TS50 - gone but not forgotten |
|||
4 users like this post: |
04-11-2018, 03:57 PM | #10 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 1,587
|
Quote:
__________________
____________________ 2019 LDV G10 2009 Mitsubishi Express-GONE 2011 Honda Jazz ____________________ |
|||
11-11-2018, 12:49 AM | #11 | |||
T3/Sprint8
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 15,977
|
Quote:
I can't post pics but I mowed my surburban lawns yesterday being they were only mowed 1 1/2wks ago, I arrived back from an OS trip and easy 2" growth. Having used shelleys no17 a month ago, my grass is nice dark thick and rich, look pefecto for me.
__________________
Tickfords T3/TS50 '02 Sprint8 manual Sept 24 '16 Daily Macan GTS "Don't believe everything you read on the internet. Abraham Lincoln" |
|||
This user likes this post: |
11-11-2018, 02:30 PM | #12 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 990
|
Indigo, does anyone know how to get rid of that weed, it has a long tap root and it's a bastard, the council put concrete gutters in and tossed this crap soil with Indigo seeds in it.
I have never come across such a mongrel weed as Indigo it's about to take over the whole lawn. Zero does not kill it. |
||