My son in law is in a nightmare every mowing season keeping his lawn (approx. 3/4 acre urban lot) cut. The grass is way too thick - the neighbors tell him that the man who owned the house two owners before him was obsessive about overseeding - he was out there over-seeding all the time, and that's what created the problem.
I'm not a landscaper, but I'll just say that you've got to see this grass to believe it - if you try to slip your fingers down to dirt, you can't get there - there is absolutely no space between blades down near the ground.
About 4 years ago, he bought a Cub Cadet walk behind thinking it might handle it - it looks to be maybe the CC760 model (looking at pictures of current models). I know the engine is a 10.5 HP. But the engine doesn't have a problem - it's the belt - requires replacing often, and the mower can barely cut it on even the highest blade setting and creeping along - it takes him much of his off time to cut it - and he sometimes doesn't get it finished.
He has hired a pro to cut it a couple of times, and their professional-grade mowers were able to cut it, but they told him it was tough to do even with their equipment.
Out of desparation, he's starting to talk about getting a really expensive pro-grade mower. To help him avoid that, I've been trying to think of how to drastically thin out the grass. I know dethatchers aren't made for this purpose, but I'm thinking renting one of those and devoting a whole weekend to the chore, we could use that to pull up a lot of the extra grass and thin it out. I know it's going to create a huge pile of debris, but we'll just haul that off in my F-150 (several full loads I'm sure). I told him that even if it pulls up 90% of the grass and it looks like crap at first, so what, in a year or two, he could have it to being a "normal" lawn. I suggested also that after the dethatching, he could also rent an aerator - that would likely help the remaining grass spread to a more natural spacing and begin to breathe a little - that wouldn't have to be done right away, but might be a good additional step.
What are your thoughts? Short of doing a chemical scorched-earth treatment and totally starting the lawn over, is there any merit to my idea of using a power dethatcher? Better ideas?
Thanks for any help.
I'm not a landscaper, but I'll just say that you've got to see this grass to believe it - if you try to slip your fingers down to dirt, you can't get there - there is absolutely no space between blades down near the ground.
About 4 years ago, he bought a Cub Cadet walk behind thinking it might handle it - it looks to be maybe the CC760 model (looking at pictures of current models). I know the engine is a 10.5 HP. But the engine doesn't have a problem - it's the belt - requires replacing often, and the mower can barely cut it on even the highest blade setting and creeping along - it takes him much of his off time to cut it - and he sometimes doesn't get it finished.
He has hired a pro to cut it a couple of times, and their professional-grade mowers were able to cut it, but they told him it was tough to do even with their equipment.
Out of desparation, he's starting to talk about getting a really expensive pro-grade mower. To help him avoid that, I've been trying to think of how to drastically thin out the grass. I know dethatchers aren't made for this purpose, but I'm thinking renting one of those and devoting a whole weekend to the chore, we could use that to pull up a lot of the extra grass and thin it out. I know it's going to create a huge pile of debris, but we'll just haul that off in my F-150 (several full loads I'm sure). I told him that even if it pulls up 90% of the grass and it looks like crap at first, so what, in a year or two, he could have it to being a "normal" lawn. I suggested also that after the dethatching, he could also rent an aerator - that would likely help the remaining grass spread to a more natural spacing and begin to breathe a little - that wouldn't have to be done right away, but might be a good additional step.
What are your thoughts? Short of doing a chemical scorched-earth treatment and totally starting the lawn over, is there any merit to my idea of using a power dethatcher? Better ideas?
Thanks for any help.
I'll mention to him about cleaning the pulleys, and maybe trying a shorter belt (if it will work that way - not sure if it would allow the blade to cutoff with a shorter belt).