Mowing ..

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

How do you find the smell of Slasher?

We trialed it at the Nursery but I found that the place stunk for days after using it for spot spraying path weeds. I have since learnt from the Rep that Slasher can be used at about half the recommended strength and still being more than effective at killing weeds, often within hours.

Slasher for those who may not be aware -

image

I’ve never used it directly so can’t say. I can tell which councils use it on their roadsides, as weeds sprayed with gly fade to yellow before dying off, slasher busts the leaf cells open, causing them to dry out and collapse, it’s more effective in dry weather, and where the weed has direct sunlight on it. When cold, the weed flops like it’s been bitten by the frost. I don’t believe it kills the roots either.

[John 13]

Originally Posted by Rallye Sport

Lol getting abused by the public daily.
We have to put signs out now and they're like red rags to a bull. We used to quietly get away with it but they see the sign and hunt you down for a tirade. Funny I was approached by an outraged citizen today whilst hand spraying, she wasn't bothered by the boom sprayer nearby putting out a much worse substance, just by my glypho.

Seriously though we're all pretty accountable and responsible. Everyone is trained and licensed. Accurate wind, temps and delta T is recorded. We also program the spraying of glyph with seasonal growth spurts.

We've tried some alternatives.

Pine oil can work in large and very expensive doses.

Pelargonic acid it just that, bloody acid! The PPE you need to mix it is crazy, we stopped after golfers complained about us getting around in full rubber gaunts, aprons, shields and respirators

Steam is a complete joke. Only contact kills, misses stolons and tubers. Is very time consuming. Theres two things weed seeds need to germinate, heat and moisture, regrowth soon follows. Then theres the carbon footprint of running an internal combustion boiler all day to run it.

The only other one we use is pre-emergents, generally more toxic than glyph but no one seems to care, because they're not in the media and the only nasty chem they know is glyph. Lol.

Anyway thats where I'm at with it, will keep using it in a professional manner and deal with the numpties as they come.

What about the effectiveness or otherwise of a gas torch, is there anyone out there with experience ?

[Tonz]

bought one off flebay several years ago...wouldnt even light the BBQ

[Rallye Sport]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

I use glyph regularly for spot spraying my private yards, but won’t take it near the childcare centre I look after, just the same as rodent control there, I’m qualified in rodent baiting but leave it up to rentokil so they have the liability.
I discussed this topic with a concerned client, and gave her some perspective, a full driveway, pathways and tennis court spot spray might use 20-30ml of 360g/l glyphosate, the qtys are minute.
If it comes to it I will carry a sprayer full of slasher (non annoic acid) to use on request, but my fee will reflect that its 8 x more expensive than gly.
Unfortunately the general public get very upset about certain dangers, but are completely oblivious to others, I heard of a school groundsman who was weed spraying after hours, a parent saw him and caused WW3, because won’t someone think of the children! They probably drove home in their petrochemical powered car.

You're right, it doesn't take much product if used correctly. I watched a contractor spraying a paved area recently, ute mounted tank, pressure up way too high, large droplet size, he was blanket spraying the whole area regardless if there was any weeds. Practically hosing it down to the point of run off. People like that give the rest of us a bad rep.

Originally Posted by John 13

What about the effectiveness or otherwise of a gas torch, is there anyone out there with experience ?

Haven't had any experience with them, not saying they don't work but it seems like a costly and inefficient way of doing it. That and the element of fire could be quite risky.

Have you guys tested you water sources? We've got hard water of around 7pH, glyph works best at around 4.5. We started using a pH buffer, it has the added bonus of changing colour to indicate the value so we don't use spray dye anymore. The results are remarkable with a faster kill, less product used and we're knocking out the tougher weeds like fleabane.

[Tonz]

re the Ph buffer, would that be or a particular brand..if so you better tell us please.

[Rallye Sport]

Originally Posted by Tonz

re the Ph buffer, would that be or a particular brand..if so you better tell us please.

We're using one called Maxi-buff, just did a quick google search and all I got was finger nail polishing equipment, lol.
I can get a pic of the cannister during the week if you're interested.

[Tonz]

appears to be hard to get hold of esp. in rural South Oz

[Tassie f100]

Organic Crop protectants (NSW) S.A Ph 0488 173 181

[DFB FGXR6]

With the autumn leaf harvest done, time to give the Rover a rest. MasterCut's turn for a while.

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by Tonz

appears to be hard to get hold of esp. in rural South Oz

Mate, go to Bunnings, they stock it.(slasher, not ph buffer . )

[Tonz]

yeah just found it.

[danzvtil]

My main garden client unpaused her services today now covid is easing, and tells me there’s a wedding at her place in 3 months, so full steam ahead.
I also bit the bullet on the stihl battery hedge trimmers, picked these up today
HSA 56 hedge trimmer kit with charger and AK10 Battery
HLA 56 pole hedge trimmer
AK 30 Battery as a spare.
Haven’t used yet, but surprised the big battery took only 2 hrs to charge from 1 bar on a “slow” charger.
Looks like I’m playing with my toys on the weekend ��

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

My main garden client unpaused her services today now covid is easing, and tells me there’s a wedding at her place in 3 months, so full steam ahead.
I also bit the bullet on the stihl battery hedge trimmers, picked these up today
HSA 56 hedge trimmer kit with charger and AK10 Battery
HLA 56 pole hedge trimmer
AK 30 Battery as a spare.
Haven’t used yet, but surprised the big battery took only 2 hrs to charge from 1 bar on a “slow” charger.
Looks like I’m playing with my toys on the weekend ��

Good one!

[danzvtil]

I’ve put 4-5 hours of use on the HSA56, what a great piece of kit. It cuts twice as fast as my last hedge trimmer and twice as fine. Absolutely loves diosmas which my last one would chew up rather than cut.
Back at my clients house for the first time in 3 months, the entire family were glad to have me back as all the topiary had gone to hell. The lady of the house isn’t happy when the garden looks like crap, and if she isn’t happy, no one is

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

I’ve put 4-5 hours of use on the HSA56, what a great piece of kit. It cuts twice as fast as my last hedge trimmer and twice as fine. Absolutely loves diosmas which my last one would chew up rather than cut.
Back at my clients house for the first time in 3 months, the entire family were glad to have me back as all the topiary had gone to hell. The lady of the house isn’t happy when the garden looks like crap, and if she isn’t happy, no one is

Great feedback. I'm a big rev head and I love the sound of a hard working two-stroke, but how good is the reduction in fatigue with battery gear!?

And it's always nice to get some positive feedback from a customer who values your work, makes a wonderful change to all the negativity in the world.

[scoupedy]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

My second favorite subject and I'm a massive Victa fan. My grandfather had a VC Mustang for years and in fact I still have it in the shed. I don't use it, its just too old, but it still starts 1st pull of the Zip Starter in a cloud of blue smoke.

I currently have 5 Victa's and I don't care what anyone says, they give the best finish out of all the brands.

But it's the 2-stroke ones that really light my fire. I love the sound of them and I can pick one running from two blocks away

image

image

The newer Victa 2-Strokes don't Rev like the older ones, but they have an amazing ability to grunt through the tough stuff like a 4-Stroke can't.

I'll stop now before I embarrass myself

(Thanks for the post Roddy)

Sorry but IMHO rover self propelled roller mowers give the best lawn

[.:4:.]

After 2 years of exceeding my extremely low expectations, my $119 35cc chainsaw i have retired. Its seen a silly amount of use doing my stuff, helping neighbors, fire wood etc. The bar crapped out. The thing starts stupidly easy, but a new bar for $80? The thing has had more then its own worth in chains and fuel already. Im guessing it was made on a wednesday as cheap stuff is usually rubbish, but it has payed for itself many times over. So funds permitting, the old unit was a 12 inch bar, im thinking maybe 14 or 16 inch. Its just for domestic use, probably stick to the same cheap brand as the little guy was fine for a long time of constatish use, untill it wasnt. No down hill decline. Fine then fail. My main concern is, the 35cc 12 inch would obviously bog down cutting things bigger then it was designed for and the 16 inch cheap boy is only 37cc. So 2cc extra for something thats supposed to be able cut things the 12 inch 35cc unit struggled with im not sold on. But this time when i decide, im thinking aftermarket chain off the bat. They make such a difference.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by scoupedy

Sorry but IMHO rover self propelled roller mowers give the best lawn

Like these?



Would love to give one of these a try one day.

[Rallye Sport]

From a bit of retro charm to this dang fangled new gizmo

With new financial year upon us the suppliers are falling over themselves to give us demo machines. We've just seeded a new green so we thought we'd trail, read; loan for free, some cylinder mowers. A couple of fossil burners and this electric model. Its not a bad unit, the transport wheels are handy and run off an extension of the roller shaft with quick release hubs. You don't realize how noisy the ICE until you use one of these and the torque is incredible. To its detriment I feel. The drive is either on or off and if the roller isn't spinning up and bruising the grass its pulling your arms out of their sockets. It really needs a speed controller or a clutch of some sort.

On to another loan machine thats got a big tick of approval, a pedestrian top dresser.

With most of our tee's backed by trees or perched on slopes its difficult to top dress or dust them with the tow behind dresser so we do them by hand.
This one will turn on itself with a cast of about 3m, perfect! We'll also be trying it on our new green thats not ready to have a full size machine driven over it yet.
It can also be dialed down low enough to spread granular fert. We won't be buying one but I'll be making as much use of it whilst I can.

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Great feedback. I'm a big rev head and I love the sound of a hard working two-stroke, but how good is the reduction in fatigue with battery gear!?

And it's always nice to get some positive feedback from a customer who values your work, makes a wonderful change to all the negativity in the world.

The other great feature of the stihl is the battery can be stored in the machine, but not engaged to power the blades. One client has a young fella who is always around, and if I need to drop the tool to grab something from the van, I can disengage the battery, knowing he can’t start it. It’s one smart feature I never thought of until I had it.

As for appreciative clients, I didn’t really have time on Saturday, but I went to the garden centre to buy potted colour to replace the frost bitten impatiens in a large bowl outside the lounge window, I knew she’d appreciate some fresh colour after so long.

[fnp]

I've just salvaged a couple of old Rover rotary mowers.


First one was early 80's model half submerged in the river. Pulled it out, hosed all the mud and crap off it, took the carb apart and cleaned it with carby cleaner, cleaned out fuel tank again with carby cleaner, bit of sandpaper on the spark plug electrode and some WD40 in the combustion chamber. Cranked it a few times with the plug out, put the plug back in and she fired right up.


Second one was a 90's model Rover on a verge collection. The handle had been taped together (I put bolts in instead) and the only problem with it was... the primer bulb was torn. $1 later she starts and runs fine. It even had a catcher!


People throw out the most amazing stuff. They probably bought some Chinese yumcha thing made of 0.8mm tin that will **** itself inside 5 years, when these old Briggs motors run forever with just basic care and maintenance.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Rallye Sport

From a bit of retro charm to this dang fangled new gizmo
image
With new financial year upon us the suppliers are falling over themselves to give us demo machines. We've just seeded a new green so we thought we'd trail, read; loan for free, some cylinder mowers. A couple of fossil burners and this electric model. Its not a bad unit, the transport wheels are handy and run off an extension of the roller shaft with quick release hubs. You don't realize how noisy the ICE until you use one of these and the torque is incredible. To its detriment I feel. The drive is either on or off and if the roller isn't spinning up and bruising the grass its pulling your arms out of their sockets. It really needs a speed controller or a clutch of some sort.

On to another loan machine thats got a big tick of approval, a pedestrian top dresser.
image
With most of our tee's backed by trees or perched on slopes its difficult to top dress or dust them with the tow behind dresser so we do them by hand.
This one will turn on itself with a cast of about 3m, perfect! We'll also be trying it on our new green thats not ready to have a full size machine driven over it yet.
It can also be dialed down low enough to spread granular fert. We won't be buying one but I'll be making as much use of it whilst I can.

Nice stuff, RS, this reminded me of a nice job I did back in the 80's for a golf course in Sydney. Drystone walls for the Tee off and greens for all 18 holes.
I would drive down to each job and have to pop the bonnet and boot lid up then wind all four windows down so as to protect my car at the time.

Wednesday, ladies day at the course was something else, most times I would be running for cover.

[.:4:.]

Replaced my chainsaw yesterday. My 12 inch needed a new bar. Motor is fine, starts and runs like a champ. But $86 for a new bar when on inspection after the rediculous amount of work i had got out of it, the clutch drum had signs of heat on the inside and wear on the outside where the chain brake grabs. So really, it was not financially viable to change the bar only to have the clutch/brake assembly crap out later on a saw that was $119 new. So i flicked through the specs in the manual of the 3530. It claims 35cc on the box, but the manual lists the part numbers and spec of the 12 and 16. The claimed 35cc on the box, in the manual is 37cc, same as the 16 inch. Logic kicked in. Im cutting the same sized fire wood, the 12 was good for that. The 16 inch model, same motor has 56 cutting teeth on the chain over the 45 of the 12 inch, an aftermarket 12 inch chain is $36 and an after market 16 inch chain is $40. My logic is if cutting the same stuff i dont need more power, but more cutting teeth means each tooth sees slightly less work so should stay sharper for longer. So i bought the 3740. I have a running parts doner now. First start on the old one i went letter by letter off what the manual said and it was a pain to start. The manual more or less says flood it and if it doesnt kick after 6 pulls, flood it again. But the new one, after tensioning the chain, i used my revised starting procedure. Basically prime it till fuel goes into the carb. First pull on a new motor on full choke, it turned. Second pull full choke it kicked. Third pull half choke, i let the thing sit for a minute to warm up. Then it was choke off for test cuts. It cuts the same.
Basically i paid for a new bar, clutch assembly and a 2 year warrenty. And i have all the other bits you cant buy for the motor.

[.:4:.]

Put the new chainsaw to 'work' yesterday chopping fire wood. Nothing more then the old 12 inch wasnt capable of. The initial test cuts on first start were only small, and being first start on a new motor, even though its a 2 stroke with a sacrificial oiling system, it was a light load and i warmed it up for longer then you typically would, but i really wanted to make sure the bar lube had also had time to lube the bar etc. Give it the best start to life sort of thing.
So my initial concern going to a 16 inch bar with the same motor as the 12 was maybe the thing will seem underpowered, even though my logic was more teeth cutting the same stuff should extend chain life. But my first impressions are it takes a fraction of a second longer to spin up, but the chain seems to carry more momentum when spun up. This may just be because the clutch assembly isnt worn, but where at times the 12 would bog for a second, the 16, you can feel it for a split second but it is just a quick rev change and its through, not what i would consider labouring. And the thing is rediculous to cold start. One prime, full choke, 1 pull and its not supposed to run on full choke, and it doesnt, but first pull it fires and flick it to half choke when its still turning and shes running. I mean, 2 pulls full choke, 1 half choke is quite acceptable for cold starting a 2 stroke. Never have i had a 2 stroke cold start 1st pull. And its done that twice. So maybe lightning does strike the same place twice. Give me a few weeks then i will probably complain saying its a peice of ****, but first impressions im pleased.

[whitelion65]

I always hold the bar tip near something light coloured, and don’t proceed until I see a evidence of chain oil coming off the chain.

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by whitelion65

I always hold the bar tip near something light coloured, and don’t proceed until I see a evidence of chain oil coming off the chain.

First start i did in my laundry. The floor is sealed concrete so the line of oil was a wipe away affair. Im being nice to this one. My initial plan was not even bother with the factory chain and go straight aftermarket, but they werent in stock where i bought it. I have subsequently bought an aftermarket chain, but being a hypocrite, i have changed my mind and will wear out the factory one first but i have a new one when the time comes to replace it. So from experience, that will be atleast a few months depending on how much use it cops. So if not a huge amount of use, the factory chain should last well more then a few months.

[LG17]

Might have to make this mower for something to do.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S_GEbLT6mM

[gooseneck]

Anyone here considered doing an LPG conversion a 4 stroke Briggs & Stratton?

I'm considering it because of the lower emissions but also because I don't yet want to invest in an electric mower.

[DFB FGXR6]

I think I got my moneys worth out of these..........



Ideally, these would have been replaced a bit earlier than this but, well, I have been busy.

[.:4:.]

It was garden bin night tonight. I did my lawn last week so the bin was almost full so i decided to just run over my driveway even though it didnt need doing. My whipper snipper was fine but needed some love. The tank was loose and it was missing 1 screw for the plastics. Id been putting this off, but i had the rubber thing to secure the tank and spare body screws. So under 5 minutes to fix what i had been putting off.
Dunno if it was something in the fuel or something in the 2 stroke oil, or if ****ty 2 stroke things have emotions (this one was free), its never started this easy, and it typically starts pretty easy. And nothing i did to it was remotely mechanical.
Not for any greater reason then i had never done it before, last time i used my mower i cleaned the air filter element out for the first time. Its always been the one pull wonder. Maintenance wise the briggsy has had an oil change or 2 and a set of blades in the 9 years ive had it. Its still a 1 pull wonder, but it must also like being able to breathe better. It loves it. It treats cold starts the same as a warm start.