Stripes.

[oldherbaceous]

I have just been cutting the grass over the allotments, it didn't really need cutting but it looks so much nicer just taking the tufty bits off.
Anyway, while i was mowing away, i wondered who that first gardener was to put stripes in the lawn.
I suppose it was done with a roller first, but i wonder if he realized what a trend he was setting all those years ago.
I bet theres been many a gardener cursed him, when they have had a good telling off from there masters for not having the stripes dead straight.
Just a little thought for you on a sunday afternoon.

It wasn't any of you lot was it.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.

[Clive.]

Hello OH,

Suspect it was that nice Mr Budding..who added the stripes with his new fangle mower.??...but, as you say, was it done previously with a roller.??

http://www.hdtrust.co.uk/ Hall & Duck Trust collectors of vintage lawnmowers.

At work we always vary the direction of cut if possible to give a patchwork effect as the stripes from the previous mows hold good for some while.
We have one area though where it is really impractical to alter the direction of mow...but if we do once in a while it is a pig to drive the mower straight on crossing well established stripes.

Up the road at the next Big House the preference is to always mow in the same direction on the same stripe and also to cut with broad stripes and not with just mower width stripes.
We have joked about a visit one night to mow the other way.

By the way.. there may be a risk involved with thinking too deeply whilst mowing....can cause Sundials to suddenly appear in your 12o'clock range 2'6"..!! ...done at my work place by a guy who assured HG that he had ridden one of these mowers on Eastbourne Council foreshore...perhaps they didn't have sundials..??

All the best,
Clive.

[oldherbaceous]

Evening Clive, i must admit i always mow in different directions when ever possible.
I love the story about Mad Mower Man, does he still work there or has he moved on to wreak destrution elsewhere.
As Harry Dodsen used to say, keep your mind on the job.

Clive while we are on the subject of mowing, at one of the gardens i work at, they have got a large Atco cylinder mower with a trailing seat. It has started leaving lines at about six inches apart on the lawn.
Its as if its either not cutting very well at these points or something is lifting the grass after the blade has passed. The cylinder has been adjusted fairly tightly to the cutter bar.
I was wondering if the cylider might need a regrind.
I must admit i'm not hugely mechanically minded.
Any help or thoughts will be grately recieved.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.

[Clive.]

Hello OH,

The Sundial story is an old one..with apologies to anyone who has worked on Eastbourne foreshore..it is only used as a representatative location in this case??!!...
I have seen the same sundial come a cropper as a result of a Henchman work platform being pulled with the person, nameless, walking backwards...I can't talk as with the very same platform I tipped over a large tin of black bitumen paint. ...I was only being helpful too..moving it for those who were struggling with it...their brushes were quickly put to use brushing up paint off the york paving and working it back into the tin..

I also admit to on occasions just clipping the side of a low Box hedge with the big mower and the ride on seat...the old Ransomes Mastiff was good at this game as it was such a powerful brute with lots of pent up energy that took an age to steady down if a manoeuvre went pear shaped....
As soon as it caught the hedge it would tend to spin it into the hedge and you had to try to hold the handlebars straight against this whilst try to get to the throttle lever to shut it to tickover...

I have looked behind before now after seeing bits of Box going through the blades and expected the hedge to be neatly trimmed to 2 inches high..

I tried out a newer version of the Mastiff 36" a few years ago at a local cricket club..it is much safer???..as it has the throttle as a bar that you hold up to the handlebars for full throttle and lower it for slowing down and tickover...I tried a tight turn to simulate going around our trees..I suddenly found that I couldn't release the throttle bar to slow the thing down as I was gripping the handlebar to execute the turn.!!....the seat started to tip and I nearly exited stage left..off the seat..!! Anyway the mower would have stopped if I had fell off..not like our old one when the seat pin dropped out...
The seat would deposit you on the lawn nose first whilst the mower headed at full throttle for the nearest border....or Skegness..!!!

The old Atco sounds like it may have the cutting cylinder gone out of true...in that it is cutting on some cylinder blades but missing on one...
If it needs to be set dead tight to cut then it sounds ready for a cylinder grind and a new bottom blade to match...the cylinder bearings should be checked for wear and replaced, if suspect, during the strip down/rebuild.

Alternatively it could be the bottom blade deflecting. When a cutting cylinder is set too tight to a bottom blade it tends to deflect the bottom blade down as each blade on its spiral sweeps along the bottom blade..this too leaves the effect you describe.. and gets worse as a ridged wear pattern develops on the bottom blade.
Some of the older Atcos and I suspect the more recent 20" Special, the 24" and the 30" are quite fiddly to set as if I recall it involves two screws/bolts being adjusted that push up to a fulcrum swivel block thing rather than a bolt or nut being tightened with a spring opposing as used on Ransomes Marquis, Matador, Mastiff

Sounds like a job for a local service agent.. they may be a bit quiet at the moment praying for a wet spell.. whilst mowers sit silent in their sheds..

All the best,
Clive.

[oldherbaceous]

Clive, isn't it always the way, whenever you try helping someone out is when things tend to go wrong.
Was it H.G that knocked the sudial over with the lift.
Bet the health and safety would love that old mastiff.

Thanks for that very helpful information on the Atco.
I suspect it could be a combination of both problems, it wasn't cutting very cleanly so the owner adjusted it up a bit tighter and this is when the problem arouse, i will have to get him to dip his hand in his pocket and get it sorted.
Thankyou again Clive.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.

[oldherbaceous]

Clive, when edging the lawns with long handled shears, do you edge them one way one time, then the other way the next time.
I have started doing this lately, but it took a while to get used to doing it the opposite way to what i was used to.
I reckon it does keep the edges a lot tighter though.
Or do you think i'm going mad.
If you havn't tried it you will have to give it ago.

Kind regards the ambidextrous Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.

[Clive.]

Hello Old H',

We have about a mile and a half of lawn edges... so we use petrol powered edgers...we have to keep the edge gulley in good order so as not to throw stones with the machine. However, I note that Ransomes have now developed an edger with oscillating blade rather than spinning blade...but I also note that we haven't got anything that new.!

The shears only come out for the small circles around the trees...a regular job for one of our trusty volunteers

A lot of the lawn edges have been boarded...a bit like wooden concrete shuttering. We set the board low enough to be out of sight viewed from the top but still high enough to support the edge with the pegs set a bit lower and on the lawn side. Moles gave us a lot of grief as they used to run down the edges and then the mower would collapse the edge. The boarding seems to deter the mole and now if he runs along the edge it is at least behind the board so the effect does not cause the same amount of damage. Also a run at 90 degrees to the edge coming onto the lawn, which causes a regular dip at that point, occur less frequently too.

I well remember the first day I did some gardening for a family friend back in school holidays..a long while ago...I was given the long handled shears and off I went at a rate of knots..I soon tired and also learnt then to change trimming directions once in a while..but more to ease my aching arms.!! ..

Some shears will allow a change of direction but some with a shallow bolt head but a larger nut can be problematical running the opposite way.

All the best,
Clive.

...trying to word the ambidextrous carefully