mowing wet lawn

[Gus]

My dad always said to never mow the grass when it was wet, not even with dew
in the morning. But I see people around here constantly mowing their lawn
when it is wet. For example, the neighbor is right now and there was just a
fairly heavy rainstorm about half an hour ago... When I get my haircut
though, the barber/stylist wets my hair before cutting it.

Slightly related, I had a job in Boston where the supervisor called "mowing
the lawn" sex with his wife. Being new to the office, I found it a bit odd
but maybe apropos. (I never did meet his wife.) On Monday mornings,
employees would snicker and ask him if he'd mowed the lawn over the
weekend... Come to think of it, I never did hear what he called it when he
did actually mow the lawn.

[Jeff Green]

On 5/18/2013 10:33 AM, Gus wrote:
> My dad always said to never mow the grass when it was wet, not even with dew
> in the morning. But I see people around here constantly mowing their lawn
> when it is wet. For example, the neighbor is right now and there was just a
> fairly heavy rainstorm about half an hour ago... When I get my haircut
> though, the barber/stylist wets my hair before cutting it.

With the grass is wet it's not standing up as straight as as could be
and the water acts as a lubricant that makes the mower blades slip off
the grass rather than cutting it. I see lawn companies do this all the
time in their rush to squeeze in as many customers as possible. It won't
hurt the grass but if that perfectly manicured lawn is part of your
vision, cut when dry and never less than 3".

> Slightly related, I had a job in Boston where the supervisor called "mowing
> the lawn" sex with his wife. Being new to the office, I found it a bit odd
> but maybe apropos. (I never did meet his wife.) On Monday mornings,
> employees would snicker and ask him if he'd mowed the lawn over the
> weekend... Come to think of it, I never did hear what he called it when he
> did actually mow the lawn.

I guess it depends upon the setting. I've been both in the corporate
world (where my boss talking like that would creep me out) and now in
the blue collar trades where chat like that is the norm.

J

[Gus]

"Jeff Green" <jeffin...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:kn84bc$ct7$1...@dont-email.me...

> With the grass is wet it's not standing up as straight as as could be and
> the water acts as a lubricant that makes the mower blades slip off the
> grass rather than cutting it. I see lawn companies do this all the time in
> their rush to squeeze in as many customers as possible. It won't hurt the
> grass but if that perfectly manicured lawn is part of your vision, cut
> when dry and never less than 3".

I keep mine pretty low. But it is a small lawn and nothing much to speak
of. I have a push "reel" mower, and usually put it on the lowest notch
unless the grass is high. Much easier to do if you do often, though my
small yard is a bit lumpy which adds to the challenge no matter how tall or
wet the grass. My only complaint is it is impossible to get close to a
fence or wall, and the thing will jerk to a stop if it gets caught on a
clump or small twig. But I've gotten used to that... It's good exercise
and doesn't pollute the air with unfiltered gas fumes.

I think growing up people around me called them push mowers, but really
every mower is pushed (except for riding ones). "Reel" mower sounds funny
to me, but I guess is more accurate.

[Tim Wright]

A reel type mower is best for the grass as well. It cuts with a scissor
like action rather than just beating the grass apart. I've never seen
any other type used on a golf green or fairway.

The problem with cutting the grass too short is it spends all its energy
growing the blades and not enough energy in growing a good root system.
Some grasses can be cut shorter than others, tiff for instance, can be
cut very short indeed which makes it very popular for golf greens.


--
Trying to understand the behavior of some people is like trying to smell
the color nine.
Tim W

[Gus]

"Tim Wright" <tlwri...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:u_idnYJwtsj4XwrM...@supernews.com...

> A reel type mower is best for the grass as well. It cuts with a scissor
> like action rather than just beating the grass apart. I've never seen any
> other type used on a golf green or fairway.
>
> The problem with cutting the grass too short is it spends all its energy
> growing the blades and not enough energy in growing a good root system.
> Some grasses can be cut shorter than others, tiff for instance, can be cut
> very short indeed which makes it very popular for golf greens.

You know, I've never noticed anyone cutting a golf green. I hate golf, but
went along with my dad when he used to golf to humor him. And I have been
on a golf course many times (unfortunately) The only time I started to
actually enjoy it was when one day a few years ago when I stopped keeping
score. Then it was a lot more "fun" and I just enjoyed being outside and
with my dad. Though my dad (an accountant) just had to keep scores and
started to for me. Having to report my number of strokes took the fun back
out it, so then I started purposely not counting the strokes and would just
make up a number. He kinda noticed, but the Accountant in him refused to
acknowledge someone would play golf and not count their strokes.

I remember seeing tractors on the fairways quite a few times with the
cyclinders behind them but never saw anyone mowing a green. They must do it
very often to have it so short and matted.

Till today I did not realize the rotary motors most people have are
actually harmful to grass and basically butcher it. (Though I think someone
had told me this years ago and I had forgotten.)... I feel even better
about my cheap reel mower that people make fun of. No wonder my grass looks
fairly healthy even though I don't do anything to it. The reel mower gives
it a proper cut and not a mangling.

When I was growing up, my bf's dad had a "reel" style "push" mower but it
had a button that would make the wheels rotate and move on it's own. (I
think it had a long electrical cord.) I thought it was cheating to have a
"push" mower that moved on it's own like that. And my friend still
complained about having to mow the lawn even with a mower he only had to
steer!

[Greg Goss]

Jeff Green <jeffin...@gmail.com> wrote:

>With the grass is wet it's not standing up as straight as as could be
>and the water acts as a lubricant that makes the mower blades slip off
>the grass rather than cutting it. I see lawn companies do this all the
>time in their rush to squeeze in as many customers as possible. It won't
>hurt the grass but if that perfectly manicured lawn is part of your
>vision, cut when dry and never less than 3".

Does that distinction make a difference between a reel mower (cuts the
grass like scissors) or a rotary mower (chops the grass like an axe)?

My father never owned a non-reel mower. He said that the lawn never
looked right if you used a rotary mower.
--
We are geeks. Resistance is voltage over current.

[Greg Goss]

"Gus" <gus.o...@geemail.com> wrote:

>I think growing up people around me called them push mowers, but really
>every mower is pushed (except for riding ones). "Reel" mower sounds funny
>to me, but I guess is more accurate.

Yours is both "push" and "reel". I grew up doing the giant lawns on
our place with powered reel mowers. Well, there was also a push mower
for backup or when Dad thought I needed more exercise. There was also
a half-mower push reel "edger" with only one drive wheel and one
trailing roller.

[Hactar]

In article <kn8esg$cei$1...@speranza.aioe.org>,

I suppose that's true, if you don't use the self-propelling feature on
some.

--
-eben QebWe...@vTerYizUonI.nOetP royalty.mine.nu:81
LIBRA: A big promotion is just around the corner for someone
much more talented than you. Laughter is the very best medicine,
remember that when your appendix bursts next week. -- Weird Al

[John Mc.]

Hah! I had to cut the lawn with a one-bladed set of scissors and a pair
of tweezers.

John Mc.
Dept. of top that

[Tim Wright]

Luxury! We had to chew the blades to height, and we had to eat the
clippings for our dinner.
--
Tim W
So's your old man.

[danny burstein]

In <wJ6dnbLWae2QrwXM...@supernews.com> Tim Wright <tlwri...@gmail.com> writes:

>>>> I think growing up people around me called them push mowers, but really
>>>> every mower is pushed (except for riding ones). "Reel" mower sounds
>>>> funny
>>>> to me, but I guess is more accurate.
>>>
>>> Yours is both "push" and "reel". I grew up doing the giant lawns on
>>> our place with powered reel mowers. Well, there was also a push mower
>>> for backup or when Dad thought I needed more exercise. There was also
>>> a half-mower push reel "edger" with only one drive wheel and one
>>> trailing roller.
>>>
>> Hah! I had to cut the lawn with a one-bladed set of scissors and a pair
>> of tweezers.
>>
>Luxury! We had to chew the blades to height, and we had to eat the
>clippings for our dinner.

Paging Veronique...

--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dan...@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

[Les Albert]

On Sat, 18 May 2013 20:59:40 -0500, Tim Wright <tlwri...@gmail.com>
wrote:

I didn't have any lawn. Or shoes.

Les

[Greg Goss]

"Gus" <gus.o...@geemail.com> wrote:

>I think growing up people around me called them push mowers, but really

>every mower is pushed (except for riding ones). \

Not in reel mowers. The ones I grew up steering drove themselves.

[Alan J Rosenthal]

"Gus" <gus.o...@geemail.com> writes:
>I think growing up people around me called them push mowers, but really
>every mower is pushed (except for riding ones). "Reel" mower sounds funny
>to me, but I guess is more accurate.

I agree that "push mower" is a weird term.

By analogy to electric guitars and acoustic guitars, since push mowers aren't
electric we call them "acoustic". Same with non-electric razors.

[Hactar]

In article <2013May19.1...@jarvis.cs.toronto.edu>,

Likewise, non-digital cameras are "analog".

[David J. Martin]

I had a neighbor who edged her lawn with kitchen scissors.

David

[Snidely]

On Saturday, Les Albert observed:

No, but you had streets and stickball.

/dps

--
Maybe C282Y is simply one of the hangers-on, a groupie following a
future guitar god of the human genome: an allele with undiscovered
virtuosity, currently soloing in obscurity in Mom's garage.
Bradley Wertheim, theAtlantic.com, Jan 10 2013

[Snidely]

Jeff Green explained on 5/18/2013 :

> On 5/18/2013 10:33 AM, Gus wrote:
>> My dad always said to never mow the grass when it was wet, not even with
>> dew
>> in the morning. But I see people around here constantly mowing their lawn
>> when it is wet. For example, the neighbor is right now and there was just
>> a
>> fairly heavy rainstorm about half an hour ago... When I get my haircut
>> though, the barber/stylist wets my hair before cutting it.
>
> With the grass is wet it's not standing up as straight as as could be and the
> water acts as a lubricant that makes the mower blades slip off the grass
> rather than cutting it. I see lawn companies do this all the time in their
> rush to squeeze in as many customers as possible. It won't hurt the grass but
> if that perfectly manicured lawn is part of your vision, cut when dry and
> never less than 3".

Wet grass also tends to clog the mower, and unclogging a rotary mower
can lead to practicing first aid. Reel mowers can clog, also, but
generally that's less traumatic.

/dps

--
"I am not given to exaggeration, and when I say a thing I mean it"
_Roughing It_, Mark Twain

[S. Checker]

Gus <gus.o...@geemail.com> wrote:
> My dad always said to never mow the grass when it was wet, not even with dew
> in the morning. But I see people around here constantly mowing their lawn
> when it is wet. For example, the neighbor is right now and there was just a
> fairly heavy rainstorm about half an hour ago... When I get my haircut
> though, the barber/stylist wets my hair before cutting it.

As someone else said, you tend to clog rotary mowers. The gas-powered
mulching mower I have is awful in that regard, even a little water will
make it choke on huge clumps of grass. If you flip it to side-discharge
it's better. But you also then track wet grass all over the hardscape,
which you can't blow or easily sweep off.

As for your hair, your barber wants it wetted down so that all of
the hairs stick together and he can cut them uniformly. My own barber
will spray my hair down, I undertand that "stylists" will just wash it
beforehand.

> Slightly related, I had a job in Boston where the supervisor called "mowing
> the lawn" sex with his wife. Being new to the office, I found it a bit odd
> but maybe apropos. (I never did meet his wife.) On Monday mornings,
> employees would snicker and ask him if he'd mowed the lawn over the
> weekend... Come to think of it, I never did hear what he called it when he
> did actually mow the lawn.

I know almost nothing about my cow-orkers' sex lives, and that is far,
far too much. Unless the job actually involves having sex with people
I'm just not interested.
--
Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never play cards with a man named
Doc. And never lie down with a woman who's got more troubles than you.
-- Nelson Algren

[Jorge]

In article <scil6a-...@pc.home>, ebenZ...@verizon.net (Hactar)
wrote:

> In article <kn8esg$cei$1...@speranza.aioe.org>,
> Gus <gus.o...@geemail.com> wrote:
> > "Jeff Green" <jeffin...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:kn84bc$ct7$1...@dont-email.me...
> >
> > > With the grass is wet it's not standing up as straight as as could be and
> > > the water acts as a lubricant that makes the mower blades slip off the
> > > grass rather than cutting it. I see lawn companies do this all the time
> > > in
> > > their rush to squeeze in as many customers as possible. It won't hurt the
> > > grass but if that perfectly manicured lawn is part of your vision, cut
> > > when dry and never less than 3".
> >
> > I keep mine pretty low. But it is a small lawn and nothing much to speak
> > of. I have a push "reel" mower, and usually put it on the lowest notch
> > unless the grass is high. Much easier to do if you do often, though my
> > small yard is a bit lumpy which adds to the challenge no matter how tall or
> > wet the grass. My only complaint is it is impossible to get close to a
> > fence or wall, and the thing will jerk to a stop if it gets caught on a
> > clump or small twig. But I've gotten used to that... It's good exercise
> > and doesn't pollute the air with unfiltered gas fumes.
> >
> > I think growing up people around me called them push mowers, but really
> > every mower is pushed (except for riding ones).
>
> I suppose that's true, if you don't use the self-propelling feature on
> some.

Some , turn the lawn under and grow a garden. sell the mower, get a
roto-tiller?
--
Karma ; what a concept!

[N Jill Marsh]

On Sat, 18 May 2013 10:33:02 -0400, "Gus" <gus.o...@geemail.com>
wrote:

>Slightly related, I had a job in Boston where the supervisor called "mowing
>the lawn" sex with his wife. Being new to the office, I found it a bit odd
>but maybe apropos.

That's not an uncommon term to me, although I hear the related term
"cutting his/grass" in reference to being cuckholded more often.


--
nj"internym here"m

Send reggae, guns & numbers.