Cutting very heavy grass - how do you do it?

KatyMac

Not something I've every done before, but today I tried to cut a garden for a neighbour. The grass was so heavy that the mower kept clogging. I have a basic rotary mower and was just wondering if there is a technique for dealing with this sort of thing. I ended up moving a few feet at a time, stopping and waiting for the mower to sort of clear itself by throwing grass away from itself and then moving on another couple of feet. It took me ages and the garden was only a little bit bigger than a half acre. I certainly wouldn't like to have to do a couple of acres! Is there a knack?

Oldtree

regular mowing keeps the grass at an easily cuttable level. If it is too long to begin with then strim it, leave for a few days and begin mowing on a regular basis. It may well need once a week mowing.

kneemos

Leaving the box off might help,it may throw out the grass more easily.

KatyMac

Neighbour used to have a donkey but it died sometime last year hence the garden getting into such a state. I just thought I was doing something stupid. Maybe going into the garden in the first place was the stupid thing!!

KatyMac

kneemos wrote: »

Leaving the box off might help,it may throw out the grass more easily.

I'm talking about mowing with a tractor and a rotary mower not a garden mower

Oldtree

Being kind is not a stupid thing.

Oldtree

replace the donkey? and/or a few sheep?

jt65

KatyMac wrote: »

I'm talking about mowing with a tractor and a rotary mower not a garden mower

very low gear and high engine revs

Sam Kade

With the amount of grass it grows it's no wonder the donkey died

Farmer

jt65 wrote: »

very low gear and high engine revs

...and a fresh set of flails.

Reggie.

Farmer wrote: »

...and a fresh set of flails.

Or after given the blades a run of the grinder

just do it

Reggie. wrote: »

Or after given the blades a run of the grinder

With a topper have you a handy way of tipping it up so you can get a the blades? Bear in mind I haven't a front loader

Reggie.

just do it wrote: »

With a topper have you a handy way of tipping it up so you can get a the blades? Bear in mind I haven't a front loader

I just tighten up the top link and lift it as high as it will go on the arms and work from the rear of it with the grinder. Mines an offset topper

just do it

Reggie. wrote: »

I just tighten up the top link and lift it as high as it will go on the arms and work from the rear of it with the grinder. Mines an offset topper

I just don't like getting under it that's all. This is how I've done it as well.

Reggie.

just do it wrote: »

I just don't like getting under it that's all. This is how I've done it as well.

You don't get under it the blades on mine do reach to the edge of the topper do when I lift the back flaps the blade is right there. Then just spin it to get at the other one

Milked out

I use a chain instead of a top link on the topper so if I need to sharpen the blades I drop the back of the topper on to a concrete trough in the yard shorten the chain then lift up and pull out has it high enough to work on. I also put a strong stake under it in case the lift arms drop a bit while the tractor is off

Damo810

Your mower shouldn't be clogging, no matter how long the grass is, how fast were you going and what mower are you using? Might be time to replace the blades..

Edit, is your tractor dying out when mowing? And when it clogs, does it just stop cutting or what?

KatyMac

I was in low first with high revs. I could hear the stress on the engine by the sound it was making. the first time it happened I didn't know what was happening, so got off to have a look. The drum further away from the tractor had the grass wrapped round it. I turned off the tractor and had to pull hard to get it released.
The mower is a very basic rotary ( have it so long can't remember the name, but I do remember the manual was in Polish so was useless to me!) I changed the flays as I will be cutting more this coming week and they are perfect - until I hit a stone!
This is the first time I ever had such trouble.

KatyMac

Just thought I'd let ye know I saved 30 small bales of hay off this garden! Just got them into shed before the heavens opened and soaked everywhere!

Base price

Well that is good news at least you got something for your troubles
Rotary mowers such as PZ's need continuous forward movement at a reasonable pace, to prevent the grass from wrapping around the drum. You don't have to driving like a lunatic but you do need to move on a bit with a good rev to keep the drums cutting properly and leave the cut grass behind.
I use both a drum mower (old PZ) and a disc mower (Lely) to mow and I using prefer the disc mower.