lawnmower hints & tips

ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MANUFACTURES SAFETY PROCEDURES 

  

Many years ago I had a small business called Barnsdale Mowers, it is/was an enterprise that I started from scratch and is still running in one form or another. During my time there is was accredited by Briggs & Stratton, Techumseh, Flymo ect as their warranty/service center, there are many repeating breakdowns that can easily be rectified and save you money!

Me and one of the Grand kids (trainee Greenkeeper)
in my garden

• Always remove spark plug before any work on petrol machines
• Always unplug electric machines before doing any work
• Balance the blade and keep it sharp! this prolongs flymos by years!! or even any mower
• Over winter store petrol machines on the compression stroke, 
• Empty and dispose of old petrol that has been unused and still in the petrol tank, common spring problem
• WD 40 cables and anything that twists or slides
• If you have to tip up a petrol machine up for maintenance ensure the carb is nearest the floor this will stop flooding and stop the valve chest filling with oil.
• Check oil level regularly

Top dressing

Today we completed or first summer topdressing. The video below shows the sequence of events, all the processes are carried out by our own staff and our own equipment. Thank you for you patience whilst the process is completed it will be worth it in the long run.

Update on dressing

Friday 14th June greens now cut at 3mm again and no visible signs of sand anywhere! this process really is the key to improving greens quality in terms of putting trueness and consistency from green to green not to mention the myriad of agronomic benefits. 

Footnote

Despite having football renovations (turfing) and top dressing all in the same week, the golf course was well presented on Friday 14th June.............. we done lads your efforts are paying dividends.

Well done lads, like a swiss watch

As the weather settles down to summer temps and warm evenings continue our turf begins to flourish, along with the growth comes improved surfaces. We can help things along by light aeration, top dressing with sand and vertical cutting, all these processes are crucial to continual greens improvement.
Top dressing is planned weather permitting Wednesday 12th June.
The irrigation system is working flat out at the moment, I am however working on it to make it more efficient, this may mean I have to dig up one or two greens sprinklers to reset them and change one or two nozzles ect I will keep disruption to a minimum.
The height of cut to the greens is currently 3.0 mm this might have to be changed with the prevailing weather conditions, for example if the hot dry spell continues this will exert environmental stress to the turf and I may have to raise the cut a little or even replace cutting with vibe rolling on select occasions this will not effect the greens quality.