Gardening Thread

[DickieKnee]

All get yourself a Honda lawn mower 4 stroke, Shindaiwa brushcutter 2 stroke, and an echo hand held blower 2 stroke and you will get a life time out of them. About $1500. Does at least 2000 lawns a year (commercial) with minimal servicing and repairs.

I went years buying the cheap brushcutters. They'd last 2 years max and the line was always snapping. Bought a 3 acre block about 5 years ago and bought a commercial Stihl, the thing rips through grass and has had about 20years use of a suburban block and still going strong.

 

[ScrappyCoCo]

I went years buying the cheap brushcutters. They'd last 2 years max and the line was always snapping. Bought a 3 acre block about 5 years ago and bought a commercial Stihl, the thing rips through grass and has had about 20years use of a suburban block and still going strong.

The Hondas definitely go forever and I know a lot of commercial gardeners use the Shindaiwa as I see what they have on their trailers. Stihl have a great reputation too, especially with chainsaws but the biggest problem is you have to get it serviced by them for the warranty to be valid I think and that's not always practical for us guys. One of my mates moved across to Stihl and was using battery charged hedge trimmers and was very happy.

 

[DickieKnee]

The Hondas definitely go forever and I know a lot of commercial gardeners use the Shindaiwa as I see what they have on their trailers. Stihl have a great reputation too, especially with chainsaws but the biggest problem is you have to get it serviced by them for the warranty to be valid I think and that's not always practical for us guys. One of my mates moved across to Stihl and was using battery charged hedge trimmers and was very happy.

Yeah I'm sure batteries today are a lot better than the cheap Ryobi electrics needing a chord years ago. The thing I've noticed since buying a commercial grade one is the line feeds better and hardly ever breaks. Like I say if I'd bought a commercial stihl when I was on a suburban block 30 years ago it would still be going and I would have done my trimming well under 15 mins per cut.

 

[ScrappyCoCo]

Yeah I'm sure batteries today are a lot better than the cheap Ryobi electrics needing a chord years ago. The thing I've noticed since buying a commercial grade one is the line feeds better and hardly ever breaks. Like I say if I'd bought a commercial stihl when I was on a suburban block 30 years ago it would still be going and I would have done my trimming well under 15 mins per cut.

Mines ridiculously easy to feed the line onto the spool and I use a bump head...one or 2 taps and the line is out to the correct length. Makes the job very fast.

 

[the_interloper]

Mines ridiculously easy to feed the line onto the spool and I use a bump head...one or 2 taps and the line is out to the correct length. Makes the job very fast.

I have a Stihl one, the bump head gets stuck and sometimes doesn’t work, very frustrating

 

[ScrappyCoCo]

I have a Stihl one, the bump head gets stuck and sometimes doesn’t work, very frustrating

Tried giving the insides a clean up with a stiff brush....maybe some dirt is causing the problem?

 

[Cruyff14]

Bought a cordless mower (Ozito) and blower today.

 

[the_interloper]

Tried giving the insides a clean up with a stiff brush....maybe some dirt is causing the problem?

Good thinking, I haven’t cleaned it since… well ever ha ha and I’ve had it 4 years

 

[PoppedCorn]

Yeah take it apart
Itll have green stuff all caught up in it, small lube spray inside will make it work like new once cleaned

Ive sold up on 2 and a bit acres but srill have my gear
Stihl chainy, honda whipper sniper cant go wrong, change the head to a decent bump one thats a quick feed
Husqvarna ride on sitting in the shed with 20 hrs on it
Prob should look at selling it come winter

 

[ScrappyCoCo]

Good thinking, I haven’t cleaned it since… well ever ha ha and I’ve had it 4 years

If worse come to worse replace the head...probably $60 and you should be be right. I use quick feed bump heads and the only real problem I have...is occasionally the spring seems to lose a bit of tension and they can go through stages of letting line out themselves when touching the ground lightly by mistake...I am a midget though so that probably doesn't help. Replacement caps are about $20 and last me a couple of months.

 

[the_interloper]

If worse come to worse replace the head...probably $60 and you should be be right. I use quick feed bump heads and the only real problem I have...is occasionally the spring seems to lose a bit of tension and they can go through stages of letting line out themselves when touching the ground lightly by mistake...I am a midget though so that probably doesn't help. Replacement caps are about $20 and last me a couple of months.

Yeah I’ll be due when I get home from holidays so I’ll try cleaning it out and see how I go.

Oh and I discovered many years ago that getting the best trimmer line is a great investment

 

[ScrappyCoCo]

Yeah I’ll be due when I get home from holidays so I’ll try cleaning it out and see how I go.

Oh and I discovered many years ago that getting the best trimmer line is a great investment

I use a green fluorescent one "trailblazer". It is strong. I go against the grain here and prefer a finer diameter one...as it does thinner finer edges which look better. You get more on the spool but it wears quicker. It only really breaks when the eyelets get too worn and cut into it.

 

[the_interloper]

I use a green fluorescent one "trailblazer". It is strong. I go against the grain here and prefer a finer diameter one...as it does thinner finer edges which look better. You get more on the spool but it wears quicker. It only really breaks when the eyelets get too worn and cut into it.

Yeah I've been rocking 2mm, feel I might go up a bit so it lasts longer

 

[ScrappyCoCo]

Yeah I've been rocking 2mm, feel I might go up a bit so it lasts longer

Most common is 2.4 mm but 2.7 is also used. The thicker you use the the less power you will have. I like the 2mm if I can get it. Try the 2.4 and see how you go.

 

[Caesar]

I’ve got a 20mm scoria gravel path that is covered in leaf litter and other detritus - any bright ideas for getting it clean?

Using the blower is a bit rubbish, everything just gets stuck in the cracks

 

[Cruyff14]

Bought an electric mower (Ozito) yesterday and finally got the grass cut for the first time it got laid since August.

 

[ioppolo]

Bought an electric mower (Ozito) yesterday and finally got the grass cut for the first time it got laid since August.

View attachment 1304796

How much sun are those Magnolia's getting?

 

[Cruyff14]

How much sun are those Magnolia's getting?

In the summer a lot, from 6 until about 1ish.

 

[PoppedCorn]

Planted another China Doll and Frangipani yesterday

Will plant some veg today/tomorrow but will put them in big pots i think

 

[ioppolo]

In the summer a lot, from 6 until about 1ish.

Hope you (or your neighbour, can't tell who's property that is) keep the water up on hot days!

 

[raskolnikov]

Bought an electric mower (Ozito) yesterday and finally got the grass cut for the first time it got laid since August.

It would be nice having a lawn that size. Mine is about 5 times the size so takes ages.

 

[Caesar]

The house a couple of doors down has a robot lawnmower, it's quite funny to see it tootling around. It even sleeps in its own little garage/kennel, complete with roller-door.

Seems to do a decent enough job, he doesn't seem to do any other mowing (just the odd tidy-up with a whipper snipper)

 

[Cruyff14]

Hope you (or your neighbour, can't tell who's property that is) keep the water up on hot days!

They're mine. Yeah, I water them often. Will do them every day this week rain isn't forecast.

It would be nice having a lawn that size. Mine is about 5 times the size so takes ages.

Haha. I hadn't mown it since it was laid. With an electric mower, it took me 45 minutes cos it was so damn long lol.

 

[Scotland]

It would be nice having a lawn that size. Mine is about 5 times the size so takes ages.

I moved and have about 1/3 as much lawn as I used to and it doesn't really take me any less time to mow, edge etc.

If you have an acreage and need to mow it Forrest Gump style that's pretty time consuming, but otherwise the worst thing you can have is irregular shaped lawn. Friends growing up had a hills property here (probably half an acre or an acre overall) with a big lawn area that was multi level, butted up against curved garden beds etc. **** that. A couple of hours each weekend.

 

[Cruyff14]

Mulched the garden today and damn it looks good. Will try and post a pic tomorrow.