i am a bit obsessed with my lawn. Recently started researching lawn stripers that attach to mowers. Anyone have any experience using one? What were your thoughts?

Grab some popcorn... This should end well for you!

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He's asking for a Lawn Striper, not a Pole Dancer!

I never knew such a thing existed. Most of my lawn is good, but I have a few places in the back that could benefit from something like this.

I guess some of you struggle with spelling?

I assume you are asking about a lawn de-thatching attachment for your lawn mower? Google it, many out there!

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I assume you are asking about a lawn de-thatching attachment for your lawn mower? Google it, many out there!

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No he's talking about doing this:

https://www.toro.com/en/homeowner/walk-behind-mowers/22-lawn-striping-system-20601

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I assume you are asking about a lawn de-thatching attachment for your lawn mower? Google it, many out there!

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No he's talking about doing this:

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Exactly.

There are several systems availible...just curious if someone has used one and what they thought of it. Online reviews aleays bug me because you never know if it is a "real" review or not.

Aren't they just rollers?

Just alternate mowing directions. I do it with a push mower. Puts a nap right in the grass

Are you using a rotary or a reel mower?

A reel mower will stripe your lawn naturally. I've seen people fill a 4" pvc pipe with concrete/rocks and attach to the rear of their rotary mower to push the grass down and stripe it. Not sure how effective that is.

I've got a Honda HRX217HYA lawn mower. I alternate directions, so my "lines" are well defined and you can see a criss-cross from week to week, but would love the striped look. I might try and rig up the PVC version. If it works, great, if not, I'm not out too much.

I've used both a reel mower and a rotary with the Toro striping roller behind it. Honestly the rotary with the roller works better because you can't mow as short with the rotary. The longer blades of grass tend to lay over better than the short stuff. I use mine on Zorro Zoysia FWIW.

It depends on your grass type and then your cut height. The use of a roller or brush attachment will get that effect if the above considerations are satisfied. Longer blades usually do stripe better but that does not mean low cut yards do not stripe. Mowing consistent patterns helps this effect too. I use a Tru Cut Reel with a front roller on my Celebration Bermuda kept at .625".

Great looking lawn

If I had a yard like that it would have divots everywhere.

That is some damn good looking grass.

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It depends on your grass type and then your cut height. The use of a roller or brush attachment will get that effect if the above considerations are satisfied. Longer blades usually do stripe better but that does not mean low cut yards do not stripe. Mowing consistent patterns helps this effect too. I use a Tru Cut Reel with a front roller on my Celebration Bermuda kept at .625".

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Ok serious question to the pictures above; do you have to go over your lawn that you've already cut again to get that cross pattern? Basically, you're walking your yard twice as much you need to?

Or am I missing something?

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Ok serious question to the pictures above; do you have to go over your lawn that you've already cut again to get that cross pattern? Basically, you're walking your yard twice as much you need to?

Or am I missing something?

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You're correct, only way to get that criss-cross pattern is doing it twice in the different directions as above to get that pattern...

Here's what you want..

http://eastmanind.com/eastmancommercial/EASTMANCOMMERCIAL/21KStriper/tabid/189/Default.aspx

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Ok serious question to the pictures above; do you have to go over your lawn that you've already cut again to get that cross pattern? Basically, you're walking your yard twice as much you need to?

Or am I missing something?

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Yes but for me it is only 2000 sqr ft for the back. All in all it takes me about 10 minutes to make those two passes. I originally started doing that because with reel mowers you can cut every blade except a small amount of of them that just so happen to be oriented perpendicular to the bed knife during your first pass. Doing a second pass in a different direction eliminates this problem in theory. That is what I was told anyway. My opinion now is that this probably isnt the case with the quality cutting units and horsepower behind modern reels. But by the time I came to that conclusion I had a very nice argyle pattern and it was habitual by then.

Here is the mower

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Ok serious question to the pictures above; do you have to go over your lawn that you've already cut again to get that cross pattern? Basically, you're walking your yard twice as much you need to?

Or am I missing something?

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Yes but for me it is only 2000 sqr ft for the back. All in all it takes me about 10 minutes to make those two passes. I originally started doing that because with reel mowers you can cut every blade except a small amount of of them that just so happen to be oriented perpendicular to the bed knife during your first pass. Doing a second pass in a different direction eliminates this problem in theory. That is what I was told anyway. My opinion now is that this probably isnt the case with the quality cutting units and horsepower behind modern reels. But by the time I came to that conclusion I had a very nice argyle pattern and it was habitual by then.

Here is the mower

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So you are saying my 3/4 acre would be tough to handle? I actually went over the back twice two weeks ago, because it had been about a month between mows due to rain. And the areas where the septic hits were THICK.

Two things. If I had to mow that much yard, I would need a bigger cutting swath. I am using a 20" right now so that would mean getting a triplex riding mower by Jacobsen or Toro or Deere. Secondly I would think really hard about the mowing height. For any hybrid Bermuda you arent suppose to cut above 1.5" so that is the ceiling. In order to keep it looking good at .750 or lower it would require a maximum of four days between cuts. If we are being realistic, every three days. I would use growth regulators which is a foliar spray (like primo maxx or a generic) and I would apply monthly. At half an inch height that allows you to cut once a week. I would need to have a lawn tractor or utility vehicle with an electric boom sprayer for that type of yard if using regulators.

A ZTR rotary with a striping kit should work fine too but with hybrid bermudas, you don't want to let it get too tall. Cutting it back from 4 inches takes the whole canopy off and it looks bad for a while. That said you cannot kill the grass it survives everything you could do to it. But you will get weeds for a bit. I would reccomend getting regulators anyway. If I know the weather will be bad and cut into my mowing schedule I put a dose on it. That stuff will save you the trouble of having to reclaiming your yard.

And thats all I have to say about that...

I had no idea there was another kind of mower other than the one that everyone uses.

What the hell is that thing, and what persuaded you stray from the norm and buy it?

It's a reel mower. This type of mower predates rotary deck mower designs by a long shot. It used to be your only option. They are not popular for home use anymore due to the higher maintenance required to keep them in good working order. Not including the engine, there are alot more moving parts than rotaries. Clutches, chains, sprockets, linkages, rollers. But the cut quality is the improvement. Also, reel mowers have the ability to cut down to under a quater inch cutting height in some cases. Although there are some rotaries that can cut under an inch the risk is high that you will scalp.

Hybrid bermuda cut height ranges from 0.5 to 1.5 inches. Inside this range, you can cut lower to get a more dense and attractive turf, and you can cut higher to promote deep rooting. That all changes outside that cutting height range. Below this range, and it does not flourish. Above this range, the chutes turn vertical and stop spreading. As old growth starts dying off and you keep cutting new growth everytime you mow, you start to lose density, gets weeds, looks bad every cut and so on. So keeping it in that range is paramount to having good looking lawns without weed problems.

Common rotary mowers have cut height ranges of 1.25 to 5 inches typically with half inch increments. It is also common to see some rotaries with settings down to 1 inch with similar increments. So that leaves me with two notches and in many cases just one setting to work with and the rest is not useable. With my reel, my cut height ranges from 0.25 to 3.125 inches with 1/8 inch increments which is adjustable with a single lever while standing behind it. That kind of flexibilty is worth the additional cost to me.

Reel mowers are everywhere in grass surface athletics. Football, baseball, golf, and soccer venues are all maintained with reels. There are walk behinds that are like mine and also triplex riders, five unit cutting rigs, and towed gang reels. Whole other side to cutting grass out there.

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I had no idea there was another kind of mower other than the one that everyone uses.

What the hell is that thing, and what persuaded you stray from the norm and buy it?

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In the "old" days, those were the available mowers. They didn't have engines back then either. The reel was hooked to the wheel and cut as you pushed.

You can still buy simple ones today. I don't think you'd want to try to push through a nice St. Augustine or fescue yard with one.

Lot's of great info!! Just curious, but what height are you typically cutting at?

EDIT: Nevermind, I saw you posted it earlier .625"

They also had motorized mower reels in the 50s




Today you have improved classic designs like this



And progressive designs like these

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I had no idea there was another kind of mower other than the one that everyone uses.

What the hell is that thing, and what persuaded you stray from the norm and buy it?

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In the "old" days, those were the available mowers. They didn't have engines back then either. The reel was hooked to the wheel and cut as you pushed.

You can still buy simple ones today. I don't think you'd want to try to push through a nice St. Augustine or fescue yard with one.

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I know this type of mower.. But I figured once a gasoline powered rotary mower came to be it was the standard. I had no idea someone decided to put an engine on this type.

I have one of these for my Palisades zoysia. It's a b**** to keep sharp but gets a pretty nice cut. I can't cut below 1.5" though and if I wait too long it's a hell of a workout.

I also have that Fiskars reel. I use it for keeping the side yards since the lack of sun keeps it thin. The nice thing about fiskars is that it is a heavy reel so once you get going it does cut well. But it cannot cut dense southern turf grasses in good health. Plus it has 5 blades which tends to leave ripples in the yard. For southern grasses kept under 2 inches I would say 7 blade reel at a minimum.

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Ok serious question to the pictures above; do you have to go over your lawn that you've already cut again to get that cross pattern? Basically, you're walking your yard twice as much you need to?

Or am I missing something?

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Yes but for me it is only 2000 sqr ft for the back. All in all it takes me about 10 minutes to make those two passes. I originally started doing that because with reel mowers you can cut every blade except a small amount of of them that just so happen to be oriented perpendicular to the bed knife during your first pass. Doing a second pass in a different direction eliminates this problem in theory. That is what I was told anyway. My opinion now is that this probably isnt the case with the quality cutting units and horsepower behind modern reels. But by the time I came to that conclusion I had a very nice argyle pattern and it was habitual by then.

Here is the mower

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Is that the 20" or 27"?