Tip for the gardening professional: How to mow high grass on uneven ground?
Owners of dachas and houses out of town always have something to do. With the beginning of the warm season, it is necessary to download the fast grass. It is not easy to do this on uneven plots, but several effective devices have been invented. The choice depends on a person’s financial capabilities and the peculiarities of a particular place.
Signs of problem areas
If the site has many irregularities, there are various hills and slopes, then these characteristics make it difficult to work when mowing the grass.
The main problem is a significant difference in the height of the location. For this reason, the cutting part can come into contact with the stone on the tool, tripping on the dry can collapse.
In what case is it necessary to mow?
It is necessary to mow plants when they are growing. Grass grows fastest in late spring – the last decade of April and the first decade of May. Usually growth accelerates after rainfall.
Repeated operations should be carried out once every 1-2 weeks, with the frequency depending mainly on the activity of plant development. In addition, the weather is badly affected, for example, in hot weather – growth stops, as the low grass burns under the hot sunlight and develops poorly. During cool and humid times, the vegetation grows faster; mow at least twice a month. Move the last time in October.
Appliances and tools
A variety of appliances and tools are used to care for the lawn and fix the site.
- Hand broomsticks. They have been used since antiquity, but are still relevant. It is necessary to have skills to work with such a tool, otherwise a person will lose a lot of strength and can even hurt himself.
- Mower. It is used only for the maintenance of the lawn. For destroying wild weeds, you should not use the blades of such devices, which quickly blunt, and a large thickness of weeds will quickly deactivate the device.
- Mini-tractors (riders). Created for fencing large areas. They mow lawns that occupy more than 10 acres.
- Trimmer. Used on small plots.
- Motor blocks. Have attachments, under which there is a mower. Able to handle huge areas.
What to use for mowing, is determined on the basis of the permanent task and the capabilities of the owners of the area. A small patch of land overgrown with weeds, it is easier to clear a manual mower. To fix a decorative lawn, it is more convenient to use a lawn mower. To cope with heavily overgrown weeds, it is better to use a tractor for walking or at least a trimmer.
Manual
Some people now know how to work with a manual mower. Usually the grass is mowed and then dried to hay. Lawns are rarely leveled.
There are different kinds of scythes:
- Lithe. A common tool with a long and straight handle.
- Hunchback. The handle is curved, allows you to work in places with difficult terrain and in difficult places.
- Mini Scythe. Has a short handle and a blade, which is used for mowing weeds with hard discs (bushes, thickets from old grass).
Attention ! Handhold mowers must be handled with care, as the sharp blade will injure you immediately if you are not careful.
Special attachments
Not everyone can “swing with a scythe,” much less in a large area. For this reason, people have invented devices that make the work easier.
Mower. There are 3 types – electric, gasoline and battery-powered. They have almost no disadvantages, but it significantly increases the price of the device, for them it is necessary to pay a considerable sum when buying.
Lawn mower with an electric motor is the easiest to use.
Trimmer. The most mobile machine for cutting grass. The device consists of a gasoline or electric engine, a cutting tool or trimmer head. These are elements with the engine, they are connected by a rod, to which the handles and the control unit are attached. It is also conveniently equipped with a shoulder strap.
About how to mow uneven terrain with a mototrimmer, told in the video:
What is the best mowing tool?
The choice of tool depends on the conditions and the size of the overgrown area, with this in mind, the tool is selected.
High vegetation
Until now, this was possible only with a manual mower. Now there are improved tools – trimmers. The use of a productive wheeled mower is justified if you have to work on a large area. But the mower does not work on too uneven surfaces.
The mower requires the application of force, for this reason it will be very difficult for an unused person. A powerful gasoline trimmer will help you to handle any overgrown grass without much effort.
Smaller areas
If there isn’t much room to stretch out, a trimmer can also help you clear any size area. It’s easy to maneuver, so it can work in any area. Powerful gasoline mowers need electricity to work, while the cordless machine is suitable for the weaker members of the family.
Manual
Without cost and with minimal effort, you can mow the grass with the help of lawn shears. There are 2 variants of this tool available:
These devices are easy to use, they are used as household shears. They are suitable for mowing grass on small areas with any relief.
If you do not have a lawnmower, trimmer or a sensitive hand.
Regular shears won’t help with heavily overgrown surfaces or large areas. For increased productivity:
- Sickle;
- A large shredder or flatbed mower;
- Homemade mower.
The hardest, but also the easiest, to get rid of grass with a shredder. Basically, weeds in the garden are destroyed. It is easy to cut young vegetation with this tool. Developed rhizomes and coarse stems of old plants are difficult to cut.
Properties of the simplest tools:
- Knife . Practical is the one with a sharp and long blade. For mowing, the grass is gathered manually into a bundle and cut parallel to the floor. It is possible to mow with such a device for a very long time.
- Sickle. More effective than a knife, it cuts weeds with thick stems well. They work like a knife.
- Chopper. Instead, it is acceptable to use ploskrezers, which must be “optimized” before work – the blade is sharpened at a different angle. The plosecutter is sharpened at an angle of 5-7 degrees. Chopper 10-15 degrees.
Top list of devices
| number | model | weight | food | cutting width | Average cost |
| 1 | Bosch Art 26 SL Weeu 06008a5100 | 1.8 kg | Electrics, mains | 26 cm | 2600 R |
| 2 | Al-Ko GTE 450 Comfort | 2.8 kg | Electrics, mains | 28 cm | 5600 R |
| 3 | Greenworks G24LT30MK2 | 3.13 kg | Electric, cordless | 30 cm | 9000 R |
| 4 | Krüger ETK-20000 | 5 kg | Electrics, mains | 38 cm | 6000 R |
| 5 | Huter GGT-1900S | 7 kg | petrol | 42 cm | 8500 R |
Why is it important to choose the right mowing option?
The optimum blade length depends on the type of lawn being mowed. For example, the lawn in our climate cannot be shortened by 1-2 cm as in Europe. Our lawn dries out quickly or is hard. The optimal height of mowing is 3-4 cm.
Decorative grass should be cut to 4-7 cm, the same applies to functional lawns – designed for picnics and outdoor recreation.
In dry and hot weather, the grass is left a little longer so that the lawn does not dry out.
Conclusion
Which device is suitable for mowing the grass depends on availability, the height of the grass and the nature of the place. In fact, it is acceptable to use any suitable method and choose those devices that are available on the farm.
Here’s how to mow tall grass: the most appropriate tools and useful tips
Sometimes, after a long absence of the owners, the grass on the plot grows to a size greater than usual.
Especially if the weather at this time is conducive to lush growth: sunny days and plenty of rain.
Mowing tall grass requires special equipment.
After all, its density and its behavior are very different from the same parameters of decorative or lawn vegetation.
Below we will tell you:
- What tools are suitable for mowing tall grass;
- Whether you can mow tall, tough grass with a lawnmower or a manual gasoline sensu and how to do it properly;
- How to retrofit a lawn mower or trimmer so that they mow thick grass effectively.
What kind of grass is considered tall?
There is no clear definition of the term “tall grass,” so we suggest a conditional division into 3 categories:
- Shin-deep (15 cm or more);
- deep up to the knee (about 60 cm and higher);
- up to the waist (more than a meter).
What is the difference between tall grass and ornamental grass?
Each plant increases in height and thickness as it develops, but when they are close together, their stems and leaves often intertwine and form a kind of carpet.
As the thickness of the stem increases, its strength and stiffness increases, so conventional lawn mowers are ineffective.
Finally, the blade is behind the front wheels, which means that the front of the device pushes the vegetation down.
In addition, the stems of such grass is not enough just to cut, they still need to be shredded or removed from the working area of the cutting device, otherwise they will accumulate around the mowed grass and further mowing will be very difficult.
For this reason, most petrol and especially electric trimmers as standard (i.e. with a fishing line) are not good for mowing such vegetation.
Tools
Here is a list of tools that are suitable for this task:
- assembled carousel and segment mower;
- Mowers (front mower);
- Shared disc and freewheel cutters with forward-backward motion;
- Hand-held gasoline trimmer with line and blade (free cutter);
- Gasoline lawn trimmer.
Assembled mower.
These tools cope well with vegetation of any height, because the tractor has enough strength and maneuverability to overcome resistance so that the green mass does not fly away.
Therefore, segmented finger mowers are used for haymaking, and if the surface needs to be cleared of weeds, equipment with cutting tools that work forward and backward is the best choice.
In addition, loosened devices can be used in conjunction with a tractor of walking behavior. The efficiency when mowing grass is slightly lower, but you can get by with just your equipment.
Heufeld
Agricultural machine manufacturers offer power tillers with a segmented mower already installed, calling this tool a haymaker.
The advantage of this tool is its versatility, because once the power tiller is removed, it can be used for transportation or other attachments can be installed on it.
Thus, the haymaker is a versatile tool that is suitable for many tasks, which means it is not a waste of money.
Black shears
Mowers equipped with a saw or saber cutter are designed in such a way that they remove areas from shrubs or young forest, but end up with tall grass.
Despite the high efficiency of such devices, rammers are used only when it is necessary to remove an area for subsequent processing or construction, as they significantly disturb the stems of the plants, which are therefore unsuitable for harvesting hay.
Trammer Customers
Installing a knife or fishing line on a gasoline trimmer makes it an effective tool for mowing tall grass, as it not only cuts but also throws back plant stems.
The advantage of a knife or line trimmer is that even with very tall grass, mowing and some shredding requires a break to maintain good fitness.
Wheeled cutting edge.
All modifications of the gasoline disc mower are suitable for mowing tall grass.
Nevertheless, even devices with a fishing line easily cut plant twigs, but this leads to accelerated wear and tear of the line, which must be replaced frequently.
In addition, models without a blade or disc are much worse at returning back, cutting the mowed vegetation. Therefore, you often have to use rakes and forks when working.
Mowing on uneven ground
The main problem on uneven terrain is the large height differences, which can cause the cutting tool to hit rocks or the ground, causing damage to the blade.
Therefore, only use tools on such sites that are protected from contact with the floor or are not afraid of it.
To protect folding devices, they are equipped with shoes or plates that are lowered a few centimeters under the cutting tool. Such a design effectively preserves the blades, as the shoes or plates are the first to come out of the uneven surface.
After hitting an obstacle, the mower is assembled so that the cutting edges do not hit the floor.
The disadvantage of this protective method appears only in areas with small differences in height, where the rise and fall of the terrain is smooth and extends over a large area.
If the height difference exceeds 2-3 cm, then only rotary and saber devices with a small diameter of the cutting tool (30-50 cm) are suitable for installation on a tractor.
If there is no tractor or the terrain of the site is too difficult to use such equipment, cut vegetation with a hand or wheel cable, which is equipped with a head with a fishing line. Keep in mind that a disc or knife is very susceptible to such areas, as a collision with a soft floor will also shade the cutting edge, and a large rock can bend the tool.
What’s the best tool to pump a thicket in a large area?
The best tools for clearing large areas are scythes that are mounted on a tractor or walking tractor, as their use involves much less physical exertion and greater mowing speed than working with a trimmer.
If such devices are not available, use a bicycle or hand trimmer, the latter only if it is not possible to buy or rent a wheeled machine.
Do not use an electric (mains) trimmer for this job, as the cable may get under the blade or get tangled in your feet when the grass is high.
A cordless trimmer is also not suitable for mowing, as mowing tall grass with thick stems leads to a rapid discharge of the power supply, so you have to buy either additional batteries or stretch for several days or weeks.
Can this job be done with a lawn mower?
This is a question often asked by lawn mower owners and potential buyers who have seen the valuable words “for tall grass” in the device description.
In this case it means that the height of the vegetation exceeds the maximum mowing height by 5-10 cm. Therefore, if the plot is overgrown with “bare” grass, the device will mow.
But when the green mass has grown to the knee or waist, the lawnmower is of little use.
Theoretically it will still cut soft fresh grass, but it doesn’t need to be rolled across the plot, and you have to break through a continuous carpet of plants, which the front of the mower will press on the floor and the effectiveness of the blade is greatly reduced.
In addition, even the cut greenery must first be turned into mulch, on which it will fly on the staff, which is why lawnmower loses its main advantage over the trimmer more comfortable working conditions of the operator.
Therefore, it is possible to perform such work with a lawnmower, and, most likely, you can even clear a small area, but the forces will spend much more than for mowing with a power tiller.
How to mow tall grass with a chainsaw?
If you have a power tiller and have to clean an area with overgrown weeds, a few tips will come in handy:
- Carry out mowing in 2 levels during the first cut the vegetation at a distance of 5-10 cm from the floor with a disc or knife during the second cut off this place with a fishing line.
- If your device is not equipped with a good suspension system, buy it, the cost of such a suspension is 1-2 000 rubles and evenly distributes the weight of the petrol mower on both shoulders, which reduces the rate of significant fatigue collection.
- Be sure to use protective equipment: goggles or mask, headphones, long pants and thick women’s shoes.
- Choose the right cutting tools, take into account the properties of the grass at the construction site and the presence of bushes, trees and rocks.
- Listen to the sound of the engine during operation and increase the throttle or drop to get the optimal RPM (just below maximum).
What attachment should I choose for my gasoline-powered trimmer?
To choose the right nozzle, consider the following points:
- The thicker the line, the better it will handle overgrown weeds, but its cross section should be matched to the reel. Too thick is not suitable. Therefore, when working with a large line, the bobbin must be changed. This is especially true for automatic and semi-automatic heads, which we talked about here. Despite this, even a thin line will effectively cut even thick stems of perennial grasses and weeds. The only disadvantage is that it needs to be changed often, but installing an automatic or semi-automatic head solves this problem.
- A saw blade is inferior to a fishing line when working with soft grass, and also ineffectively throws off the cut stems. Therefore, use them only where you need to cut thin shoots of bushes or trees together with weeds.
- Two- and three-blade blades are most effective when mowing tall grass, as they cut and discard it well, but they cannot be used there.
Useful videos on the subject of the article
In the video, the author talks about what is the best way to mow tall and thick grass, namely, what attachment – a fishing line or a disc:
How to mow tall grass with a chainsaw:
Conclusion
The strength and stiffness of tall grass is several times higher than decorative or even groomed grass. Therefore, lawn mowing equipment is ineffective in areas overgrown with weeds or weeds.
The most popular tool for clearing such areas is a gasoline trimmer. However, if you need to do the work quickly and with maximum comfort, use articulated mowers for tractors and power tillers.
From the article you learned what petzotrimmer with what attachment is better to mow tall grass – with a fishing line or a disc, as well as how to do it correctly to avoid the benzotrimmer to blockage and how exactly do they work on a large area.
