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Is Yard Work The Best Use Of Your Time?


Razors Edge

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1 minute ago, Randomguy said:

People take a great amount of pride in their ability to complain about yard work.

SO, low standards of "accomplishment"?  I've rarely seen a complaint here about yard work that rises above "meh".  Complaints about @Kzoo's performance? Sure. Complaints about folks actual yard work? Snooze-a-rama!

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32 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

...or just a good reason to complain about doing yard work?  Over and over and over again.  For years. and years. and years.

:scratchhead:

I guess it's cheaper but less effective than therapy?

Most of it I don't mind doing and it's a good way of keeping in shape when you're retired.

On top of that, the going rate for getting your lawn mowed and weed-whacked in a 100' x 60' plot is $50 for a 40-50 minute job.

 

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Friday's weather was lousy, most of Saturday was taken up by the kids' events, and I was grumbling Sunday morning because much of a nice day for bike riding was going to be taken up with yard work that I hadn't been able to do the previous days.

Maybe 10 years ago one of my friends from college said he'd started to pay someone to cut the grass - said "it was a no-brainer".  I disagreed, citing the feeling that I could make the property look nice through my efforts.  Also, kind of like the shower, I've always found lawn mowing to be a good time to get some thinking done.

So yesterday morning after listening to me grumble, my wife offered that she'd be happy to hire someone to mow, to give me more time.  I hadn't been thinking about that... but I am now.

 

Last year I was having an issue with one of the safeties on the mower - there's a lever that is only supposed to kill the engine if the blades are engaged, but it kills the engine all the time now.  That makes it pretty hard to start.  I wish I had left myself a note, because I completely forgot about this when I tried to fire it up for the first time.  I wasted half an hour until I remembered.  Now I have a nice clean spark plug, and a heavy spring clip to hold that lever down (that's my fix for now).

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10 minutes ago, TrentonMakes said:

I've always found lawn mowing to be a good time to get some thinking done.

While I always enjoyed cutting grass - of my own volition - I find time on a bike (or hiking) to be a better combination of thinking time and exercise time :)  I'd rather be riding than mowing 99% of the time.

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6 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

While I always enjoyed cutting grass - of my own volition - I find time on a bike (or hiking) to be a better combination of thinking time and exercise time :)  I'd rather be riding than mowing 99% of the time.

Zero turn mowers make mowing fun and quickly get the lawn done so you can go riding.

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Just now, Longjohn said:

Zero turn mowers make mowing fun and quickly get the lawn done so you can go riding.

Mowing - ie the time on the tractor - is always the funnest and easiest bit.  Edging, weed whacking, raking, etc., are what take a relatively easy peasy process and make it a "chore".

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34 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Mowing - ie the time on the tractor - is always the funnest and easiest bit.  

I guess that's my problem - I have a beast of a commercial walk-behind, and clutching/turning is a real upper body workout.  It cut nearly an hour off the time to do the entire yard, compared to the standard 22" cut mower I used to use.

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My parents loved their gardens and really enjoyed time spent working in the yard.  But as they got older and my Dad had health issues, we convinced them to hire a service to do the heavy duty stuff like mowing, tree trimming, snow removal etc, and they focused on their flower and vegetable gardens and some trimming of the flower bushes.  They loved seeing their work come to fruition and would enjoy sitting outside looking at the little oasis.

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7 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

Mowing - ie the time on the tractor - is always the funnest and easiest bit. 

That's WoBG's job.  Our JD tractor has power steering too.  So it is indeed easy.    It takes her about 2 hours to mow.  

7 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

Edging, weed whacking, raking, etc., are what take a relatively easy peasy process and make it a "chore".

I use our lawn mower and trim around the tree, bushes, culverts etc...    That takes about 2 hours.   We finish mowing at nearly the same time.

I do edging maybe once a month.    Trimming is done ever other mowing.   

I just got done with the spring time raking under all the trees and near the landscaping.  

I planned on fertilizing the lawn today, but that was postponed.   We should e getting a LOT of rain tomorrow, thunderstorms, wind, possible hail, and they used the T word.   

One large area of landscaping (just installed last year) needs to be weeded and/or grass removed.  That will be a horrible job. I should bill the landscaper for my time. 

If the weed /feed fertilized doesn't kill the dandelions, etc...  I get to declare chemical war against the weeds. 

Yeah... I'm glad I'm retired.  

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16 minutes ago, jsharr said:
22 minutes ago, BR46 said:

I don't mind sitting on the porch with a cold beer watching WoBR46 doing yard work. 

fify

What can I say...she likes cutting grass. 

Today I was checking the wheel bearings on the trailer and when I came around the corner of the garage I see Wo46 up on the cleaning rain gutters. 

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4 hours ago, Ralphie said:

I still contract oot the fertilizing and weed control but I am not that happy with the results.  But they are at least better at it than I am. 

You need one of these.

image.thumb.png.785eade791811ee476cfa2d859a5d9c0.png

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4 hours ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said:

That’s two of you. So let me ask: “WHY IN HELL WOULD YOU FERTILIZE A LAWN???”

No weeds and the lawn looks great.   And we get to use the JD more often. 

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