So Dayz what brand do you go with? I may have been a few days late but apparently this stuff is pretty forgiving.

Scotts. So far so good.. I have some dandelions to deal with in the flower beds, but they'll be toast soon enough...

Got a few of those myself, and that purple flower crap, and some clover. I have gone with weed and feed after pre emergent but with all that fertilzer, I don't want to mow twice a week. Going to spot spray for another month or so, then hit it with weed and feed.

My plan too.. The fight for a beautiful lawn never ends. And not having a sprinkler system is a regret I've had for a long time..

Acid stained concrete. Going to talk to the installers to see if we can get it darker. I'm satisfied with the look now but the Mrs. always has something else in mind.

I went the cheap route a couple of years ago and have pretty good results. Water timer and adjustable contouring sprinkler. Over time the sprinkler hose will get buried by the grass so all you see is the sprinkler which isn't THAT noticeable. I've had pretty satisfying results.

Just invested in 2 water timers with 2 outlets so until I get that in ground system, this will have to work. Will post pics of yard later.

Aeration is almost a waste. Next time use what you can rent at Home Depot called a overseeder spreader. It basically power rakes your yard, de-thatches it and spreads seed all at the same time. Had amazing results with it a couple of years ago.

Interesting....

This dude?

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pro...5859e_1000.jpg

Using a Honda mower (two blades) and I bag most of the year, so thatch isn't a problem. And I seen those deals, not far off of the aerators in form factor really. And, since I don't have a riding mower, what's pictured won't work very well.

Will try...

Yeah. I thought about buying one it worked so well but haven't had to do heavy seeding like that since. So I figure it's like everything else that's "new and shiny". It's better to rent than to spend a ton of money on and rarely use.

You've explained marriage in a nutshell

Well played sir!... Well played!

This was my ride over spring break. I cleared over 350 yards of fence row.

From Sunday afternoon until Thursday night and there wasn’t anyone happier in the world (Friday morning) on spring break at a beach, on a yacht, skiing, or whatever than me, not having to work on that hairy bitch.

I bought a 15 gallon sprayer and laid down some high falutin roundup so I won’t ever have to do that shit again and its like the surface of mars.

I also popped the fence and put a gate in so I can just dump my horses out late at night if I have to.

I've got a Billygoat connection, so I didn't have to rent aerators or verticutters.

Who knows about 3 point rototillers?

I'm going to buy one soon, 5-6' to put behind a 45h tractor.
I have a 2 bottom plow and am going to add the tiller for personal use and probably till gardens and food plots for some $.

I'm interested in preferred makes/models...to offset or not to offset and shear pins or the slip clutch.

Do you all know that dandelions, henbit (purple flower) and clover are some of the first nectar available for bees? Do you also know that some species of bees have been placed on the endangered list?

I'll have 3 hives going by the end of the month.
I will also be helping grab some swarms and maybe...MAYBE...some cutouts.

I thought that's what it was. I agree with your mrs. darker would look better, especially with the color of the house.

Man, it looks pretty right to me... But hey, if they can make it more to her liking, that's cool too.

I don't have one but have run a mountain of PTO driven stuff and 3 point mounted stuff.

What are you wanting to know?

I am curious about makes and models ...which are reliable and tough, which if the systems I'd like better the slip clutch or sheer pins....I guess , interested in opinions on forward turn versus reverse turn tines....

Best product for price. I know land pride are made in Kansas.

I have a 6 foot reverse cut LandPride

I run it on a 4730 John Deere...about 55 HP

Its a digger but it takes time...they all do. And they wont till sod into a 8 in deep tilled patch in one pass.. It takes a while.

I like the reverse tines for food plots because it will throw rocks or old hidden stumps forward.

I typically use it in my veg garden for fall tillage only and my Try built for spring tillage dur=e to being able to run in moister soils with the old troy.

They represent tractor horsepower in my mind too low...they take serious HP when in deep cutting or clay soils...I can nearly stall mine.

Wow!

I don't have much info on brands. Take a look at the gear box and frame. I don't know if any of them have mounts for suitcase weights, but they might be helpful depending on soil type.

Make sure you pay attention to the the class of hitch then buy a quick coupler. It doesn't matter how much you think you don't need a quick coupler, buy a quick coupler.

Slip clutches will be better IMO. You'll hate it when you have to rebuild it, but it will hold down more power and be easier on your gearbox if it slips. Just make sure you loosen it after the season is over.

TYPICALLY (I've never run a 3 point model) the reverse spinning blades dig better but leave the seedbed rougher. Forward spinning won't dig much but the seedbed will be a dream. If you could get a reversing transmission that would be superior but I don't know if that's available. With my walk behind it works really well to go over in reverse then forward.

As far as priorities I'd go:
Gearbox
Hitch/Frame
Tines

Slip clutch

Features etc

All excellent points. The cheap-o tillers will have small weak gearboxes made in China. Thats your KeenKutter or Countrymark or those sorts. Even the Deere is made with a China made gearbox.

I would expect all to have a slip clutch built into and part of the PTO Shaft but I may be wrong. They are a must have. Once you adjust it and burn it in a couple times its a charm

If you do have a quick attach 3point like the Deere iMatch, make sure the tiller is compatible. Not all are. Even with the imatch the best thing you will ever do is build a wooden frame with heavy duty casters to set it on when you unhook and store it. It weighs an ass ton and with the casters you back in roll it over lower the hitch and hook up. Otherwise nothing on this earth will make you cuss more than hooking u a 3 point and hooking up your PTO

Called him up yesterday. Coolest guy ever. He's going to put some solution to take up the sealer and was going to go over it with that color darker. I told him to use that color as a base and go over it with a completely darker color to give it a marble effect. He said he'll do it soon as it stops raining.

It should look nice when done.

RE: Quick connect: 3 points are categoy 1, 2, 3, 4. Here are the measurements.

http://www.tractordata.com/articles/...hreepoint.html

I don't run much of the little stuff, but you might be right about building a stand, but the big stuff works pretty good with a quick connect. The smaller stuff might well be more difficult.

Mine is cat 2

Ive runthe big stuff like you. But smaller is a pain inthe ass. If its not level and you are not agreatoperatoritsucks

I had hit the sewer cover in the middle of the yard a few weeks ago and thought I had just bent a blade. Last night after work I put the new blades on and figured out I had a bent and broken the spindle.

So I was up and at it by 8:00 this morning, on the phone to see if I could find a replacement part and found one at a place called Lumax Power Equipment. Drove out to Belton and was back home by a little after 10 and had it fixed by 11:30.

It was a little cool this morning, wore a jacket and gloves but got the yard mowed and trimmed before we get the next round of rain tomorrow.


.

I pulled the trigger on a 6' king kutter. I know it's not top of the line but it should do what I need to do. I'll probably till some gardens, yards and rodeo arenas for cash

You live in the second flatest spot on the globe. Unhooking anything 3pt in Scott one has a 97.6% chance its damn near perfect level

Where I am we have 0% of level. Thus why I store the tiller on concrete under cover. I do agree, the iMatch hooking up the brush hog is pure tits compared to the old days

This one?

https://www.ruralking.com/media/cata.../000108436.jpg

Eh. It's not as flat as you think. I have one field that slopes 75' in 1/4 mile. But yeah, on the whole you're right.

My first spring caring about a lawn and taking an interest trying to getting rid of the various not my grass things going on. Finding it oddly enjoyable.

Yesterday's work. Need to finish the irrigation and plant today.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2ca2fb270c.jpg

***Official gardening, landscape and yardwork thread***
 

Planting today: 2 cherry tomatoes, 2 crimson sweet watermelon, 2 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, 3 okra, 1 jalapeño, and 1 carmen sweet Italian pepper. Also some basil, oregano, parsley, and thyme.

Patching some worn out high traffic areas and a low spot I filled in. I use a service for weed and feeding so I'm not sure how to keep them away from the area. I may just fence it off to keep the dog, kids, and pre emergent off for a few months

Donezo with the gardens, and with a couple quick mods, the irrigation works exactly as planned!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...089d733121.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5c5411abd1.jpg

Yeah that sounds like it will

Looks good man

Shit man, looks fantastic! Are you a gardening veteran?

One thing I learned when growing watermelon is you need a ton of space. That thing will just keep spreading!

***Official gardening, landscape and yardwork thread***
 

Aside from herbs, total noob. Wife and I did a ton of research, though. We'll see how it goes.

Original plan was one watermelon and one cantaloupe, but could find any of the cantaloupe. Next year will order some online, and probably a different variety of watermelon - I really like sugar babies and black diamonds, but can't find those locally.

Sod is one year old. What do I need to do this year besides water?

Would like a pre-emerge, but not interested in fertilizer. I do not have dogs.

We wont see any melon, squash or cuke plants for at least a couple of weeks. They don't like temps below 40F and wont do much growing til the soil temp is at least 65F. From mid-April on look out, we'll have all of those and more for sale. Recommended planting dates for most of these are after May 1st here in NE Kansas.

He's in Alabama iirc.

Correct.

Um, why not fertilizer? It's a year old, treat it like the established lawn it is.

Wait, are you the owner of Smitty's in Olathe?

I didn't realize that's where you were FMB. How awesome to be able to plant tender crops now!

No, I don't own Smitty's in Olathe, I'm in Manhattan at Eastside Market.

Only if it really needs it. I was thinking less fertilizer, less work. But I have a watering system and a rider. So that blows that idea. May have to rake or get a bagger.

What is the best brand?

I would go with goats.

Nice..

Any sites you used for the planter and/or irrigation design?

This was the irrigation primer that got us started. The rest was just us talking it out.

http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/vi...tension_curall

Not sure what else the wife did. She did all the irrigation.

Where did you get the corner blocks that are grooved to hold your boards? Can you get those at one of the big box stores?

***Official gardening, landscape and yardwork thread***
 

Home Depot. Roughly $2.50 each. Fits 2x6 perfectly.

Perfect. Thanks. Your project looks awesome by the way.

Thanks.

There's also a hole in there for 1/2-inch rebar.

So is it an always-on drip irrigation? Or a manual turn on/off? Wasn't sure if it is something where it drips slow enough to just remain on all the time.

So the rebar runs inbetween the 2 boards? Or vertically into the ground?

I think it is going down the middle of the corner blocks

Yeah, that's pretty cool. With the length of the bed, I'd worry about the 2X6 Bowing out. FMB, you mind me asking what you have in that? doesn't look like a whole lot unless those posts are expensive.

Hummert's fertilizer from Ace Hardware if you're local. Only Ace Hardware sells it. Only thing left to do is fertilize. no way around less work with a healthy lawn.

Ace Hardware should have printouts of what to do with your lawn during what months. Ask them for one and tape it to your garage wall and your yard will look awesome if followed.
http://tobytobin.com/lawn-programs/

There are shutouts on each of the beds, plus at the source.


Per section, 4 2x6x16 @ $11.15, 8 stones at $2,56 apiece, and roughly 28 cu. ft. soil at about $1.60/bag.



Vertically into the ground.

Thanks man. That's a pretty sweet setup.

Did you use treated lumber? How deep did you drive the rebar in?

If you only cut about 1/2 inch off and get a mulching blade, you won't have to bag. The clippings are good for the lawn if they are not to long.

Kind of.

I bag mine every time. Over time if you mulch back it will build up the lawn and could affect drainage. Over time your yard could end up being higher than your house.

Granted that takes a long time but it can happen.

I am NOT ****ing with releveling a yard.

I got 2' rebar, so that's 12 inches into the ground.

And everything I've read is treated lumber is not good for gardens, so no. Framing lumber. I know I'll probably need to replace it every couple seasons.

Thanks for the info man. I imagine sooner or later Mrs Buehler445 is going to extract one of these from me.

***Official gardening, landscape and yardwork thread***
 

Finished up the bee garden.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...95a9a5a822.jpg

Good work FMB

Awesome job FMB! Have you picked your plants?

Yep, planted seed today. Wife did a bunch of research for bee-friendly plants that were also pet safe. Got echinacea, columbine, phlox, and a couple others I can't remember. Also planted blueberries in those corners, which bees apparently love.

I got my tiller put together today and it was a sonnabitch to hook up. Once I did the pto shaft was too long, so I had to use the cat 2 quick coupler I had and it worked fine. It was too wet but couldn't stand it and tilled my garden. My tractor might have not go slow enough in hard ground or I'll have to ride the clutch, which is a bad idea.

We'll see. I'll start turning dirt as soon as it dries up. I hope to do 25 gardens or so this spring at least.

Painting hive boxes tomorrow and going to try to get my bee yard ready. A lot of my fruit trees are blooming already so that will be mostly over when ,y bees get here in a couple of weeks.


I got the ends cut off of a propane tank....I'm going to weld them together and make a globe fire pit that should be around 4-5' diameter. I'll post that process and final result.

How deep are you going in hard ground? Can you go shallow once over then deeper after it's broke up? If not you may have to see if you can get like a 2 shank ripper or something. How slow will it go?

I don't know...my assumption is most people will want gardens turned 4". I don't plan on doing a whole lot of adjustment at each stop. If I need multiple passes I'll do it. I cover quite a bit of garden pretty fast with 6' based on today's attempt in a wt one.

If the wind blows tonight and we miss the rain I'm going to do 2-3 tomorrow and I'll have a better idea of how it's going to work. I need to tune up the governor so I can get the RPMs up a little bit I wish it went half as fast as it does. In real hard soil I'll either turn it with my plow first or stop and go to get thrown it. I'll figure it out.

Wait, what? Isn't the depth controlled by your 3 point height?

Nutsedge sucks. It grows two feet high in two days and grows in clusters. You have to nip it in the bud before it gets well established or it will continue to spread year by year and it is very hard to get rid of once its established and it looks like shit even after you spray it. Nutsedge is the debil