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Mowing in the rain

#1

Lawnboy18

Lawnboy18

Who here mows when it rains? I try to not mow when it rains.
Right now, it is raining here, nothing intense, but it is just no fun to mow in the rain. The job isnt as nice either.


#2

X-man

X-man

Lawnboy18 said:
Who here mows when it rains? I try to not mow when it rains.
Right now, it is raining here, nothing intense, but it is just no fun to mow in the rain. The job isnt as nice either.
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I don't mind mowing in the rain, done it plenty of times.

If the ground is soaking wet, or if it's pouring, then I'll stop.


#3

Lawnboy18

Lawnboy18

Yea, if it's a drizzle I don't mind or if I am far from home and I have a few yards left to do.

It rained all night and it stopped this morning. I tried to mow one lawn, but it was just too wet so I stopped after that one. It started to rain again also. I guess it's a rain out today.


#4

Wildcat

Wildcat

We don't mow when it starts raining. Is not that I don't mind it, its just that I'm not going to tear up a clients yard when I start to lose traction on my mower or ball up the grass. Not good for business if you ask me. Lately its been raining everyday here in Missouri. I was lucky to get one yard done before the sky opened up. I had to call all my clients that were scheduled for today and tell them I will try tomorrow. Now my Friday is going to be packed and I'm dreading it.


#5

exotion

exotion

I always mow in the rain, I also don't use heavy equipment.


#6

jekjr

jekjr

Wildcat said:
We don't mow when it starts raining. Is not that I don't mind it, its just that I'm not going to tear up a clients yard when I start to lose traction on my mower or ball up the grass. Not good for business if you ask me. Lately its been raining everyday here in Missouri. I was lucky to get one yard done before the sky opened up. I had to call all my clients that were scheduled for today and tell them I will try tomorrow. Now my Friday is going to be packed and I'm dreading it.
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At times we mow in the rain or we could not now at all. If it rains every day and you do not mow it will be a foot tall and growing.


#7

Ric

Ric

I don't mind mowing in the rain if I get caught in the middle of a lawn but I wont start a job if it's raining. People talk about a drizzle or light rain but that's something we don't get, right now were getting rain on a daily basis and when we get rain that way it generally is down pours 2 to 3" at a time and it floods lawns and we don't get a chance to dry out and it gets to a point where you can't mow.


#8

Wildcat

Wildcat

jekjr said:
At times we mow in the rain or we could not now at all. If it rains every day and you do not mow it will be a foot tall and growing.
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I agree with what you are saying. Its just I rather the grass be tall rather than have rut marks, skid marks, mud tracks and balled up grass in a yard we done. I've seen others do it and when they are done, it looks like straight poo. Maybe thats me being judgemental but I'm not allowing my name nor the company's name that I work for have a yard that looks like poo because we worked through the rain.


#9

Nwatson99

Nwatson99

No way I would mow in the rain or wet grass, too many tire tracks can and most likely be made, grass accumulating under the deck, grass clumping too much on the lawn, it is just not worth it.


#10

jekjr

jekjr

Nwatson99 said:
No way I would mow in the rain or wet grass, too many tire tracks can and most likely be made, grass accumulating under the deck, grass clumping too much on the lawn, it is just not worth it.
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You got 30 yards to cut. It rains 3 days a week for the month of July. You either cut them in the rain or wet or they get so tall that they can be baled for hay.


#11

jekjr

jekjr

I don't think I remember but one week we have not had rain since before Christmas. Last summer we went for weeks that it rained everyday. Either cut it wet or raining or find another business to get in.


#12

TaskForceLawnCare

TaskForceLawnCare

X-man said:
I don't mind mowing in the rain, done it plenty of times.

If the ground is soaking wet, or if it's pouring, then I'll stop.
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Same here, but if we didn't we'd just be sitting in the shop twiddling our thumbs. Its been a wet one so far in central Indiana.


#13

Nwatson99

Nwatson99

jekjr said:
You got 30 yards to cut. It rains 3 days a week for the month of July. You either cut them in the rain or wet or they get so tall that they can be baled for hay.
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Nope I am not a business, but I might mow just as much as a professional with 30 yards, but most home owners might get torqued off if a ztr is tearing up their wet yard mowing in the rain or leaving clumped up grass everywhere.
If it rains 3 days per week, might want to schedule those yards around the rain days to get them cut without rain falling on you.
It is just as bad as the mowing companies mowing dried burnt grass during a drought, you know the lawn is not growing during these times and all they are doing is burning it up even more.
There is a yard not two miles from me that has still yet to recover from a mowing company mowing it during the 2012 droughts we had, but they kept mowing dust and that yard which is 3 to 4 acres in size still looks bad today.


#14

djdicetn

djdicetn

X-man said:
I don't mind mowing in the rain, done it plenty of times.

If the ground is soaking wet, or if it's pouring, then I'll stop.
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You forgot to mention the third prohibitive condition.....lightening!!!
Nothing like being a moving lightening rod, riding around your front yard waiting to get lit up:0)


#15

jekjr

jekjr

Nwatson99 said:
Nope I am not a business, but I might mow just as much as a professional with 30 yards, but most home owners might get torqued off if a ztr is tearing up their wet yard mowing in the rain or leaving clumped up grass everywhere. If it rains 3 days per week, might want to schedule those yards around the rain days to get them cut without rain falling on you. It is just as bad as the mowing companies mowing dried burnt grass during a drought, you know the lawn is not growing during these times and all they are doing is burning it up even more. There is a yard not two miles from me that has still yet to recover from a mowing company mowing it during the 2012 droughts we had, but they kept mowing dust and that yard which is 3 to 4 acres in size still looks bad today.
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Again it is not a desirable thing to do however it gets to a point either you mow wet and sometimes even in the rain or you do not mow at all because of the amount of rain. Some times it rains every day for a week. Of course you try to pick the yards you have to mow under those conditions. However you do what you have to do.


#16

Carscw

Carscw

This time last year in a 60 day period it did not rain 4 days. Rained every weekend for 3 months.

I think today makes 16 days with rain in the afternoon.


#17

jekjr

jekjr

Carscw said:
This time last year in a 60 day period it did not rain 4 days. Rained every weekend for 3 months. I think today makes 16 days with rain in the afternoon.
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We have not had but one full week without rain since before Christmas. It was wet then.


#18

X-man

X-man

jekjr said:
You got 30 yards to cut. It rains 3 days a week for the month of July. You either cut them in the rain or wet or they get so tall that they can be baled for hay.
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Oh, I just love it when the trailer park makes me mow an empty lot with grass that tall. Nothing better than hearing your 15 HP engine struggling for dear life :confused2:

djdicetn said:
You forgot to mention the third prohibitive condition.....lightening!!!
Nothing like being a moving lightening rod, riding around your front yard waiting to get lit up:0)
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What? Come on! It's fun being a lightning rod on wheels. :laughing:


#19

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

Luckily my mower does well in wet grass, because that's all it's been. It rained every day this past week. I mowed a lawn the day after it POURED, and luckily I have a light mower because it was VERY muddy!


#20

jekjr

jekjr

It is like this. One day last week we loaded up and hauled 25 miles. We got about 3/4 or better through with a job. Then it started raining. There really was not an option for us but to finish.


#21

Carscw

Carscw

I don't even know how good my mowers cut dry grass. It's better then being dry and dust and dirt flying everywhere.

I took the gator blades off and put high lift on.


#22

T

toywizard

Lawnboy18 said:
Who here mows when it rains? I try to not mow when it rains.
Right now, it is raining here, nothing intense, but it is just no fun to mow in the rain. The job isnt as nice either.
Click to expand...

I have read (dont remember where) that its not good to mow in the rain, tears the grass.

Dont know if its true. I found it is great to mow in the rain but I dont want to hurt my lawn.
any thoughts?


#23

Lawnboy18

Lawnboy18

toywizard said:
I have read (dont remember where) that its not good to mow in the rain, tears the grass.

Dont know if its true. I found it is great to mow in the rain but I dont want to hurt my lawn.
any thoughts?
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It is not the best idea. It tends to squish the grass, leave ruts all over the place, large amounts of grass stick under the deck and then they creat a grass pie on the ground. It is true that it isn't good.


#24

E

earthworm

We need improvements .. Better blades, better mowers, and much better yards .
The rain we have to live with ..
My yard is a "case in point" .
Its lousy !
Many low points and semi-sink holes .. and poor grass (mostly weeds) ..Was never done correctly 75 years ago ..And I doubt if I am the only one .. A "nice" yard can be costly ...
If we must mow during a rain , we can either/or set the blades higher and change them ..


#25

LazerZLandscaping

LazerZLandscaping

I don't mind mowing when it is sprinkling, done it plenty of times, but if it is raining hard or pouring, I won't mow at all. I always check the weather before I go to a job.


#26

gfp55

gfp55

If I start cutting and get most of it done and its not raining to hard I just finish in the rain to get it all done. I don't if its lighting out. But thats just me.


#27

exotion

exotion

Lightning is usually the least of my worries lol. Plenty of trees, houses, power poles to attract the lightning around me. I will mow until i start tearing the lawns up. And i have a really lightweight mower so i have never been rained out,


#28

Carscw

Carscw

I just mow if it's raining. The bank don't care they just want it cut.
I have cut yards in a light snow. I had a yard was late one time told the bank I did it yesterday. Went there the next day to cut it and it was covered in snow. Well a half inch.


#29

LazerZLandscaping

LazerZLandscaping

Carscw said:
I just mow if it's raining. The bank don't care they just want it cut.
I have cut yards in a light snow. I had a yard was late one time told the bank I did it yesterday. Went there the next day to cut it and it was covered in snow. Well a half inch.[/QUOTE


I had an appointment to go mow a lawn at a doctor's office for the next day, and the next day I walk outside and there is an inch of snow on the lawn. I called the doctor's office and asked if they wanted the lawn shoveled :) They laughed and then I went there a day and 1/2 later to mow. I never saw snow until 2 months later, Time to get the plows, sanders, shovels, and the snowblowers! Give the summer equipment a long nice nap.)
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#30

O

OneMowTime

Lawnboy18 said:
Who here mows when it rains? I try to not mow when it rains.
Right now, it is raining here, nothing intense, but it is just no fun to mow in the rain. The job isnt as nice either.
Click to expand...

How does your YBravo 21 do in wet grass? I'm thinking of getting one to replace my old Honda HRC216, which does quite well in wet grass. I've never tried a YBravo, but I hear they are supposed to be up to the same standards.


#31

LazerZLandscaping

LazerZLandscaping

Lawnboy18 said:
It is not the best idea. It tends to squish the grass, leave ruts all over the place, large amounts of grass stick under the deck and then they creat a grass pie on the ground. It is true that it isn't good.
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I've never heard of an YBravo. Is it just a Canadian brand? How well do they operate?? Pros and cons??


#32

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

LazerZLandscaping said:
I've never heard of an YBravo. Is it just a Canadian brand? How well do they operate?? Pros and cons??
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They are good mowers, just not heard of by a lot of people. They make 21" and 25" commercial mowers.

Simply Professional | Honda Powered | Commercial Lawn Mowers - Ybravo.com - Ybravo.com LLC


#33

Lawnboy18

Lawnboy18

Ybravo is a rather new company based in the U.S.

The mower cuts very well and performs good. On 2nd speed it is a monster. PM me for more info. I know this mower inside out and own the 21" with the Kawi motor.


#34

Carscw

Carscw

Not mowing in the rain but playing in it.

This is a old rally.
Runs about 40 mph and lots of fun in the mud

image-218484244.jpg

Attachments





#35

LazerZLandscaping

LazerZLandscaping

Carscw said:
Not mowing in the rain but playing in it.

This is a old rally.
Runs about 40 mph and lots of fun in the mud

View attachment 22644
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That is cool. I have an old Murray mower out in my "tractor junkyard", and it looks suitable for a muddin mower.

Just have to find time, I have too many things to do. This weekend I'm haying.


#36

Carscw

Carscw

LazerZLandscaping said:
That is cool. I have an old Murray mower out in my "tractor junkyard", and it looks suitable for a muddin mower. Just have to find time, I have too many things to do. This weekend I'm haying.
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Here is the same mower.


http://youtu.be/nHypacgdFf0


#37

LazerZLandscaping

LazerZLandscaping

Cool.


#38

Carscw

Carscw

Got to my first yard and my dang mower is to wet to start. Guess I will use the blower to try and dry it out.


#39

LazerZLandscaping

LazerZLandscaping

Many years ago I saw someone sliding down a really wet hill on a Craftsman II tractor, 16/44, the were holding on to it for dear life.


#40

O

OneMowTime

Carscw said:
Got to my first yard and my dang mower is to wet to start. Guess I will use the blower to try and dry it out.
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I've never heard of a mower being too wet to start! Did water get into the intake? The only other thing I can think of would be the magneto shorting out.



LazerZLandscaping said:
Many years ago I saw someone sliding down a really wet hill on a Craftsman II tractor, 16/44, the were holding on to it for dear life.
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I did that once on a Dixon Z-turn! Pulling back on the handles with wheels going full speed in reverse while careening forward down the hillside. I looked like Tom Burlinson in the Man From Snowy River! :eek:


#41

Carscw

Carscw

The water gets the flywheel and coil wet.
We had some early morning rain


#42

LazerZLandscaping

LazerZLandscaping

OneMowTime said:
I've never heard of a mower being too wet to start! Did water get into the intake? The only other thing I can think of would be the magneto shorting out.





I did that once on a Dixon Z-turn! Pulling back on the handles with wheels going full speed in reverse while careening forward down the hillside. I looked like Tom Burlinson in the Man From Snowy River! :eek:
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Good thing you're alive some tractors slide down wet hills, roll over, and kill or seriously injure the driver.


#43

TaskForceLawnCare

TaskForceLawnCare

we mow in the rain a lot as long as its not causing turf damage. you have to do what you have to do to stay somewhat caught up


#44

LazerZLandscaping

LazerZLandscaping

TaskForceLawnCare said:
we mow in the rain a lot as long as its not causing turf damage. you have to do what you have to do to stay somewhat caught up
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I mow if it is light rain and if it is not causing any damage. You can't avoid wet grass in this profession.


#45

TaskForceLawnCare

TaskForceLawnCare

LazerZLandscaping said:
I mow if it is light rain and if it is not causing any damage. You can't avoid wet grass in this profession.
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don't get me wrong I love love dustless 70 degree days, but let's face it wet grass is part of what you have to deal with if you want to make a living.


#46

Carscw

Carscw

I love cutting wet grass but really starting to hate the rain.

It seems like every time I have to get a lot of yards done it comes a flood.


#47

B

Blaine B.

In June 2013 I was mowing, and a storm was coming in. I didn't stop. Severe lightning and downpour and all. It even started to hail for a bit. I stopped momentarily when a hailstone hit me in the head. As soon as it stopped I continued and ended up finishing the yard, just so I could hurry up and get out of my sopping wet clothing.

As people drove on by, I probably looked ridiculous, mowing the lawn in a torrential downpour.


#48

S

stevendrew12

Mowing wet grass With the rainy weather lately, it is inevitable that you will have to mow when it is wet. Though we much prefer to mow when the grass is dry, it is better to mow when wet rather than waiting until the grass is dry but grown to 8 inches tall. A couple of pointers for mowing wet grass; keep you blade always sharp.


#49

B

Blaine B.

I once read that it was best to sharpen your blade, but not make it too sharp because it will dull faster.

I am not sure if that makes any sense or not.


#50

bt3

bt3

It's all about ground saturation for me. If it's soggy and there is a good chance of generating mud or causing turf damage, I won't mow. If I'm close to finishing and it starts to rain, I'll probably continue unless it's a downpour. If it's actively raining, I won't START to mow. I wait until the precipitation stops. If the grass is just wet, I will usually mow. Some mornings the dew is so intense, you'd think it had rained.


#51

The red 20

The red 20

sounds like lots of fun! :thumbsup:


#52

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

Here is my experience: http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/commercial-residential-lawn-mowing/29768-i-had-mow-rain.html


#53

E

Elle

Mowing in the rain doesn't make any sense at all. It's bad for the mower blade and grass. When you cut a wet grass, the finished will appear patchy and untidy. The clippings clump, mower clogs and the blades get dull. My suggestion? Be patient until the sun comes up then you can start your mowing session.


#54

Z

zmister11

Elle said:
Mowing in the rain doesn't make any sense at all. It's bad for the mower blade and grass. When you cut a wet grass, the finished will appear patchy and untidy. The clippings clump, mower clogs and the blades get dull. My suggestion? Be patient until the sun comes up then you can start your mowing session.
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Alot of us don't have time to wait for the rain to go away. We have a schedule.


#55

TaskForceLawnCare

TaskForceLawnCare

Elle said:
Mowing in the rain doesn't make any sense at all. It's bad for the mower blade and grass. When you cut a wet grass, the finished will appear patchy and untidy. The clippings clump, mower clogs and the blades get dull. My suggestion? Be patient until the sun comes up then you can start your mowing session.
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its not the preferred method to mow in the rain, but I've plenty of blades, its doesn't generally clump unless its over grown. I run a pretty tight schedule and can't afford to be 8 or 10 hours behind. I'll mow in the rain first.


#56

Carscw

Carscw

If I skip a day because of rain that puts me 2 days behind.

This time of year is already bad with 4 hours less daylight.

Sent from my iPhone using LMF


#57

Lawnboy18

Lawnboy18

Carscw said:
If I skip a day because of rain that puts me 2 days behind.

This time of year is already bad with 4 hours less daylight.

Sent from my iPhone using LMF
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Still mowing?


#58

Carscw

Carscw

Lawnboy18 said:
Still mowing?
Click to expand...

Yes.

We get a lot of first time cuts. Homes that have been empty for over a year.

Little slow right now. About 25 a week.

Sent from my iPhone using LMF


#59

bt3

bt3

If I had a Lawn Mowing Service, I don't see how you could avoid mowing in the rain. What if it rained for two weeks straight? No choice.

As a homeowner, you can usually wait it out.

I've mowed in rain before. I don't like to do it, as it tends to tear the grass and it's hard on the equipment, but I've done it. Sometimes I mow in heavy morning dew if I have no choice because I'm headed out of town for two weeks or so and have to cut before jumping on a plane or in the car. Wet or no wet, I had to get the lawn done.

I see my neighbors that have lawn service companies get their lawns mowed wet all the time.


#60

Lawnboy18

Lawnboy18

Carscw said:
Yes.

We get a lot of first time cuts. Homes that have been empty for over a year.

Little slow right now. About 25 a week.

Sent from my iPhone using LMF
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Not bad. Gives you an income to survive the winter Months. Here in FL it is warm and them companies are still mowing weekly. Some biweekly.


#61

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

Elle said:
Mowing in the rain doesn't make any sense at all. It's bad for the mower blade and grass. When you cut a wet grass, the finished will appear patchy and untidy. The clippings clump, mower clogs and the blades get dull. My suggestion? Be patient until the sun comes up then you can start your mowing session.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, you have to do what you have to do if you want to stay on schedule. And if you simply sharpen your blades more often, I don't think it hurts anything. Just my stance on it.


#62

kinnes lawn care

kinnes lawn care

I like mowing in the rain it makes the grass greener


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