# JRS 9572 TIFGRAND ADVENTURE 2021



## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

So this spring has been weird. I've always waited until some significant warm up to really go hard on the yard. The midlands of SC has had a weird spring. We haven't hit 90 degrees for a day time high yet. My power bill last month was under $170.00. Lowest power bill in 6 years of living in the home. That tells you how mild it's been.

I've been cutting regularly. Mid April I did lay down some 10-10-10 with fungicide (fighting off dollar spot), and bug/grub killer along with pre-emergent. The usual. I also scalped at 1/2" with 5/8" being where I'm going to maintain. Just couldn't get it to really green up where it usually stands.

I also bought the Sun Joe. Well I got a little antsy and went after the front yard with the Sun Joe verticutter in two directions and then took the McLane to it in two direction at a 1/2". As the groundskeeper at LSU says. "You have to beat it up, and make it look ugly, in order for it to look great. Hopefully we're heading in that direction. I pulled a ton of material out.


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

When you get a text from the company that does the aeration of your yard that they're coming to do it in less than 24 hours. Any you haven't done the verticutting in your back yard yet. And with the heat index its a good 110 degrees. No rest for the weary. Game on!


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Had a lawn service do the aeration. Since the plugs are mostly clay bricks when they lay on the lawn and dry I try to get as many of them up and out the yard as possible. I rented a walk behind blower. I makes getting these up much more organized. It still takes energy, but not near as much as raking it up.

So the whole yard has been verticut, and aerated. I also scalped the whole yard one more time. Not sure if I'm going to get sand top dressed. I have my only son (only child) headed off to college in the fall. Seems like that money is better spent on his schooling right now.


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Upgraded and washed away some frustration. I'm going to make one good McLane out of the 3 problem children I have as a back up. It worked really great on the first run of the back yard hill. Thanks @Reelrollers


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## monsonman (Dec 9, 2020)

How has it recovered from the verticut and aeration? Purty new red mower too!


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Yes it has. Very well. I'll get pics in soon!


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Except for fighting the dollar spot. The turf has recovered well from the verticutting, and aeration. The tru-cut cuts real well. Need to adjust the height of cut. I have one of the tools to measure where it is. The Tru-cut manual doesn't show what each "rung on the ladder" equals when it comes to height adjustment.


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Got some pics this morning after a good 2 1/4" of rain yesterday from Elsa. 4 days since last cut. Being maintained at .7"


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Since the tru cut I seem so scalp a lot. I'm sure it's because it needs leveling. 27" deck seems to expose it as opposed to a 20". Still loving the tru-cut. Less time, more power, and cuts clean. This was from the morning of July 15th.


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## HungrySoutherner (May 29, 2018)

It looks like your mower is cutting uneven to one side. Is the weight on these unequal or is it possible the front roller is not parallel to the back wheels?


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

The engine is over the middle. It's not like the McLane where the weight is to one side. I bought one the height of cut tools. So when I measure it there are a couple of places that I measure the height of cut. The bar seems to be level from the wheels to the front roller. 
I'm not arguing, and I appreciate you offering advice sincerely. I really think the McLane 20" has been cutting that yard for 5 years. It's made it's own "ruts" so to speak. The tru cut is 27" so I'm not traveling the same "lanes" so to speak. I leveled a couple of times after we moved in. But in retrospect I didn't throw enough material each time. 
I'm going to raise the height of cut one level, and there will be a 1/2" of sand thrown down to level next spring. 
Appreciate the input. It's a good point.


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## HungrySoutherner (May 29, 2018)

JRS 9572 said:


> The engine is over the middle. It's not like the McLane where the weight is to one side. I bought one the height of cut tools. So when I measure it there are a couple of places that I measure the height of cut. The bar seems to be level from the wheels to the front roller.
> I'm not arguing, and I appreciate you offering advice sincerely. I really think the McLane 20" has been cutting that yard for 5 years. It's made it's own "ruts" so to speak. The tru cut is 27" so I'm not traveling the same "lanes" so to speak. I leveled a couple of times after we moved in. But in retrospect I didn't throw enough material each time.
> I'm going to raise the height of cut one level, and there will be a 1/2" of sand thrown down to level next spring.
> Appreciate the input. It's a good point.


I was helping another TLF member work through similar issues with his machine. Tifgrand looks good regardless


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

@HungrySoutherner I'll take a second look. Thanks


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Put PGR down last week. I realized that last year I was supposed to put down a .25 ounce per 1000 sq ft. I was actually putting down .2 ML per 1000 sq ft. I had a small syringe to draw out of the large t-nex bottle.

I bought one of the smaller bottles of T-Nex this year where you can squeeze in an amount of .25 of .50 ounces. It's about 8 times more than what I was using last year. :lol:

So with this larger amount I put down liquid 7-0-0 with Iron from Greene County on the front and side yard. Had to do the back Sunday when I had a window of dry weather/no thunder storms. But man it tightened right down now that I'm putting enough down.

Here's some pics from Saturday afternoon.







VANITY STRIP! :lol:


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## Keepin It Reel (Feb 20, 2019)

It definitely should not be scalping like that. I used a 27" TruCut when I started reel mowing and while they aren't as precise as a Greensmower the cut quality should be better than what you're experiencing.


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Appreciate it. I'll look into it further.


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

A couple of pics after my cut last evening. The light spots are from the pressure washing we had done so my wife can have the shutters painted, and we had the driveway pressure washed. It's always something, but I'm sure it'll come back.


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

@JRS 9572 Nice color on the TifGrand! :thumbup:


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

PGR really darkens it up.


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Disease pressure. That's what I want to call this summer. The struggle is real all around.
It's been a summer that I haven't had as much time to dedicate. But I still enjoy it, and it looks pretty good overall.


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## Brodgers88 (Feb 26, 2017)

@JRS 9572 Looking good even with the disease issues! It has certainly been a challenge with the amount of moisture this season. The new mower is awesome by the way. How are you liking the 27"?


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

I really like it. Takes much less time, and it takes the hills no problem. There's some uneven cutting. But I've checked that everything is mounted level a handful of times. I think a major leveling in the spring will cut the issue down considerably. the 20" McLean handles it better. But since the sod was laid 6 years ago the McLean has made the paths, and it doesn't scalp. Take the same lane to 27", and it's a different cut.

Yeah disease pressure is everywhere. It is what it is.


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Took these last week. Been super busy and just now getting them up. The more PGR. The more it tightens up. Haven't mowed it for one week and it doesn't look as if it needs cutting. The last pic of a sprig from Thursday is pretty impressive. At least I think so. TifGrand does so much better where I am when we get some 68 degree nights and high 80's low 90's days like we've been having since Labor Day.


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## Brodgers88 (Feb 26, 2017)

@JRS 9572 looking good man. I always enjoy the look of the turf in early fall, seems to always be shade greener.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

The last pic ....YES, it's a much thinner blade! Great way to provide some context to one of it's micro features


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

@jayhawk I think it shows the compaction of shoots from the PGR as well.


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Just got back out of town late last night. Just some early morning pics.


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Mid to high 80's during the day, and low 60's at night last week. Took this Friday after finishing cutting of the shrubs.


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Here's some rare snow pics. From this past weekend. 2.5". 1st recordable snow fall in almost 8 years.


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

Just adding on the 2021 Journal. Haven't posted much. The TifGrand hasn't done as well this summer. But we had some temps become mild lately (Mid to High 80's during the day, and 60's at night) and it's really helped the quality of the turf.

Plus I raised the height of cut from roughly 1/2" to 3/4" that's seemed to make a huge difference in quality. I'm not worried about raising height at this point late in the season. I'll just scalp it all in the spring.


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