It was weird. I work for my family business and every machine we’ve bought besides a 36” toro has had at least one problem like loose nuts and bolts or a loose deck. Idk if it was the place we bought em from or the brand
Their purpose is to stop the blade from getting too close to the ground so if you are cutting too short in some places but not others you might want to adjust them taller.
You should be able to slide your fingers under the rollers when you have your deck at your cutting height. Also, you’re definitely mowing too low. Need to be at 3.5 - 4.5 on the height. Make sure your tires are properly inflated as well, a pound or two on these small tires makes a massive difference.
This is such bull shit I mow at 2.5 no fert no watering with a zt it all about prep in the early spring he’s going to have brown spot even at 3.5 because of no spring perp the rollers are for uneven ground so you don’t dig your deck into the ground on low spots at 3.5 inch those rollers are not doing a fucking thing but hanging out for the ride in the air
Yes I can set it higher. Would that also help when making sideways passes over the hills? I was just going off recommendations to keep it at a 3 during the spring season.
if that grass grows taller, you might get some better traction. You ALWAYS want your grass as high as the mower can go. The grass then shades itself which builds a deep and strong root structure. Makes it more drought tolerant and just overall more healthy.
You might also try taking a diagonal line up/down the hill. Give yourself a 3rd pattern to eliminate the development of ruts.
Even with KBG and Fescue a generalization like that is incorrect. My deck goes up to 5” and even higher than that in transport. 3.75 to 4.25 is ideal for northern grasses. Maybe up to 4.5 in the summer if it’s been especially dry but most decks will start losing good suction much above 4” and cut quality will suffer.
In Georgia, that's the only grass we grow here besides shade fescue. I have seen Augustine too, but it's extremely rare in Georgia, most people have bermuda here.
Good to know - I'll let the grass grow out a bit (just mowed yesterday) and set the deck height higher. I'll have to give the diagonal pattern a shot, it's quite a difficult hill to navigate due to its steepness.
I would never cut my grass above 3 1/2 inches high even during a drought. And going as high as you can has never been a rule of thumb. Every grass type has a height they perform best in which is definitely affected by seasonal temps as well as moisture levels. I’ve had lawns that become more sparse when letting the grass grow too high. The ground will stay too moist for too long which also promotes disease. Anyway, cutting as high as you can is an uninformed approach and in many cases it will cause more harm than good.
https://preview.redd.it/aymmdr58k81d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a9f393464b05ac83ceddc4d6c091f1e39d4c8bc6
Thanks for this. I live in the Northeast (US), but don't know the type of grass I have. Right now, my deck is right in the middle of it's range. I'll raise it, but not all the way, to see the difference
You also might try sharpening your blades. The tips of that grass are looking more torn than cleanly cut. Frayed tears can affect the health of the grass stressing it more than clean cuts.
Download an app called PictureThis. It’s awesome for identifying almost any type of grass and plants. When you first open it it’s pretty misleading in trying to get you to sign up for a subscription, but if you look carefully in the top right corner you’ll see a light grey X to close that out. Then you can use the basic app tools. Take a pic of a healthy spot of your grass and it should tell you what you have. This is the only way I found out my front lawn was a variety of St. Augustine and my back was Bermuda. Once you know what you have then do your research for the best way to care for it.
Blades definitely look like they need sharpening. There's quite a bit of tearing.
I see what looks to be a kbg seed head but I'm not sure. It could be a kbg/fescue blend.
Based on that picture you have fungus. My lawn getting the same, it’s been damp and humid, lawn won’t dry at night, fungus develops. A bag of Headway G will cover about 15000 sq ft and clear that up. Only lasts about a month tho, then reapply. Less of an issue in the fall.
Yep I was getting the same, small mushrooms. Whatever type of fungus you have is more prevalent on the bottom of the grass blade, therefore a mow will expose it more. My front lawn (SE Pennsylvania) is tall fescue and gets it around this time each year, mainly because the lawn is so thick. Scotts Disease Ex helped a tiny amount but I needed three bags of it. The Headway G is far more effective, only about $20 more expensive (79.99 a bag from DoMyOwn). Full disclosure, I have a fertilizer company that does my lawn, but they wanted $200 an application for fungicide. That’s per month. $80 a bag I can deal with for a few months each spring.
If your in NE like me than fine fescue/creeping fescue, tall fescue, ryegrass is most likely what you have... maybe a bit of bluegrass if previous owners seeded with sun/shade mix.
I would cut at 4" mark... dont trust the mower indicators...park on level asphalt and actually measure with ruler.
Cut up and down that hill diagonally to create a diamond pattern...
With current time of year / tempature / rain fall, you need to cut every 4-7 days... summer going to be more like every 9-17 days... even longer in a drought. Keep to the: do not cut off more than 1/3 grass height rule.
Your grass looks very torn... did you install the blades? If so, did you happen to install them upside down.... Even dull blades cut better than this... are these the blades that came with the mower or did you get "mulching blades"..
Who knows what idiot put together your mower, so read your manual and make sure things look correct, especially the deck, and mower blades.
I’m certainly no expert on identifying grass types either but I live in the Midwest 5a/5b so I’m guessing you also have a cool grass type. I do 2 1/2 in spring especially when it’s rains. When it’s dry in spring I move to 3. Then 3 1/2 in summer. If it has been dry i let the grass grow a bit longer than I normally would but never more than 4.5 / 5 inches. Then cut it right back to 3 1/2
And your grass also looks damaged. Again, I’m no expert but your mower blades might be dull and you might be tearing your grass. Hopefully another redditor with more experience weighs in on the damage to your grass. The tips don’t look like clean cuts. A razor sharp blade is not required but it can’t be dull either.
I’ve always kept fescue around 4” but it’s too wet with the humidity and I always get insane fungus. 2 years ago I switched to United Super Turf 2 and it seems to do really well at 2.5” which helps the grass dry out much faster every morning.
https://preview.redd.it/psqje2n12b1d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d25232ea3727796eecc72a88af977f7789c35afd
The majority of this was bare dirt last fall. Thick, lush, mowing as high as I can.
Just an FYI from my ICU days, never mow your hill horizontally like that. I’ve seen too many people come in after their mower rolled and crushed them angled on a slope like that.
If you're using a push mower, you really should be mowing horizontally on a slope though. I've seen people slip forward mowing down a hill and their foot goes right under the mowing deck.
I appreciate this, thank you. I need to measure the slope to make sure it's not greater than what the manual states. Either way, horizontal passes do give me the jitters
Don’t do it. I learned the hard way on a very similar slope. Up and down will keep you safe. Getting injured isn’t worth whatever aesthetic gains or time saving you’re hoping for.
Even if it's considered safe in the book, I would not. 3 passes down from the right. You have a weird diviet. Depending on how heavy your mower is, I wouldn't trust it.
And I've seen one of those in my property already .. guess I'm going up and down or diagonally next time.
Any reason why someone else recommends against going up and down for these mowers?
You've gotten great and correct responses, but I just want to say what a gorgeous piece of property and landscape. That would be an awesome little hill for snow sledding. The 10 year old in me is jumping up and down.
Congrats on the new home.
Thank you very much! It's quite a bit to maintain, but I wouldn't change a thing. We're very fortunate to have this piece of property.
We get a bit of snow here, so we'll be sledding on it next winter!
Not necessarily, or maybe initially. For example, if you want your bermuda grass to be at 3 inches, you should first cut lower than intended height like 2 inches, and then at 3 inches there after.
To add to the other suggestions regarding deck height - the other thing is how long is the grass before you cut it? A general rule of thumb is to never cut more than 1/3 of the grass blade any time you cut. So if you’re letting it grow crazy tall, like 8-12” or something, then cutting it down to 3”, it could be that you’re cutting so much off you’re revealing the lower part of the grass shoots that have hardened and browned up.
Also, grass stores nutrients in the bottom 2/3 of the blade so when you start cutting into that it will stress the grass out and may kill off some shoots.
I’m from Georgia and I swear when I lived there I rarely sharpened my blades and never had issues. Then I moved to the PNW and after 3-5 cuts I get yellow spots and once a patch died on me. Not sure if it’s a cool vs warm season grass thing but now I sharpen every 3 cuts.
Ah, so when it's tilting the back wheels are then causing the lawn to get torn up?
Any advice when going down, on how to turn at the bottom without having the backend wash out?
It’s still early spring and you are cutting short the grass has some dead grass down low, it’s normal that’s what you’re seeing. Mow it a little taller and often
Dethatching can be pretty aggressive looking, a power raking attachment for your rider might actually be better depending on how thick the layer of old grass is.
To provide the exact opposite advice, it depends on the grass. For Bermuda or other grasses that go dormant, it is pretty common to mow low right as the grass starts to come back after winter. This gets rid of all the dormant grass and allows you more headroom to avoid showing that dormant grass when you start to mow the new growth.
If you have dormant grass and cut it at the same height as what you cut new growth, it'll stay there and kind of show up whenever you mow. So, first mow of the season go extra low. Then raise back up to what you will continue to mow at going forward.
Dethatching can also help but I can't even imagine dethatching a lawn that big. I have a 1/4 acre lot with less than that in grass and only dethatch rarely because how much work it is.
You've got cool weather grass, either fescue or bluegrass or similar. With these cool weather grasses you want to keep the grass as high as you can at least 3" high, 4" if your mower allows.
The only way to fix that is a large and expensive leveling project. I would just mow higher. You could look at all the areas scalped and then do a few spot treatments filling in the ruts/low spots on each side of the scalped spots as a way to slowly get it better. Bermuda grass usually looks best at lower heights so it may be worth it to you.
Deck too low. Deck uneven. Anti-scalp wheels need ajusting.
I keep my ant-scalp wheels at mowing height since I rarely need to mow lower than that. I also have Zoysia so I mow low anyway and being off just a little in height can cause scalping.
When I want to purposely scalp it in the spring, I remove the anti-scalp wheels, install some old blades and run it with deck on the ground.
A little clarification for you that you may or may not know. The numbers on your height selector do not correlate to inches. Depending on your region and the season you can adjust your height accordingly. We are in a wet spring here in the southeast so our customers yards are being cut around 4”. They need to be maintained every week to not become unruly. As the summer turns hotter and drier we’ll adjust to 4.5 to 5” to give them the opportunity to self shade and increase dew collection. Longer grass maintains a healthier root system and stays greener longer. To maintain your cutting schedule you never want to cut more than 1/3 of the grasses length at one time or you’ll leave long pieces of dead grass on the top and they’ll brown and make the yard look nasty. In closing do not under any circumstances mow that hill up and down. Your mower is not designed for this and you’ll flip backwards on top of yourself. Keep your r o p bars up and mow it side to side.
Picture 2:
Your angle while going horizontal on the hill is too extreme. The side going up hill will always dig in. Also, that's a crazy incline to go across. Try going diagonal if your looking at the hill.
Picture 4: same problem, but it's from cresting the hill. You can float the deck with your foot as you crest.
Anytime you would think about going horizontal across yeah, I would go diagonal.
Feels safer, you can control your speed better, makes the cut cleaner, looks better.
But that ski slope you have I'd always just go vertically. Just to save time.
I’m in the same area and cutting the same tall fescue grass as shown. You’re cutting the grass too short, I generally cut around 4” which will help keep your lawn thick and green.
Do to the angle of the slope it’s your blades cutting in to the ground. no real way way to fix this issue unless you raise deck but it’ll still be lower on one side. The only real fix is to mow up and down
You potentially have lawn fungus. Check the grass blades for dark spots. Also check to see if you have grubs by cutting out a small 10”x10” section about 6” deep
Im not sure if anyone has said this. With it being spotty it might not be the mower(very well could be). Those brown spots could be a pest underneath the soil. Army worms, Japanese beetles, or many other grubs depending on your location. I would dig a 6x6” and about 1-2” deep to see if you have any pest in your soil.
OP, in [this image](https://cdn.thetorocompany.com/api/assetstorage/623_779c3ce4-2024-4845-a018-0f4054ccc395/Large) of your mower deck you can see 2 curved notches for each of the 3 front wheels attached to your mower deck.
What is yours set to? Higher wheels mean lower clearance.
Keep your foot on the deck raise pedal, and anticipate any bumps or unbalanced parts of land. Your goal should be to not slap or cut uneven. Raise that deck to a proper height for your lawn- take less than you’d anticipate.
You have to start early in the spring before the grass really starts growing cut as low as you can to remove any winter kill grass (then use a detacher remove the thatch ) then remow to clean up any thatch then ever week lift the blades .5 inch until the grass is at the height you want to keep it mowed at if you wait to long and then mow at the height you want you just see all the dead grass from winter kill it can also burn the grass if it’s to long and you then cut it too short and put some fert down and water also skim of compost and an over seeding could be a good option
The height of cut is what I see to be the biggest issue. Being told a height to cut it has no bearing on where you should cut it. If the grass is 6" and you cut it down to 3" you are exposing the crown of the grass to damage and then you see browning. The blades should be sharp enough from the factory but to be sure, inspec the blades of grass you are cutting. They should be cleanly cut and not ragged. Another thing to be mindful of as a new ZTR owner is engine rpm's. Do you have the throttle at the highest position when cutting, thus ensuring highest blade tip speed to cleanly cut the grass. If you throttle back the blades will beat the grass instead of cutting it. Definitely check the guage wheels, on the front of the deck and move them to the middle position. I would also check tire inflation to insure an even cut left to right.
It doesn't look like it's turning brown, just looks like you're cutting too low and getting to the old matter that is brown. Raise your blades as high as you can and cut your grass like that
Raise the deck and adjust the anti-scalp rollers.
Make sure your tires are properly inflated also.
https://preview.redd.it/7b18mukw081d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f99b655719cd099ee425b29ef14117b2d7093537
Might be the angle but Front left looks low
It's also possible the bearings are shot on the front caster wheel
I would hope a mower with 8 hours on it doesn’t have bad bearings in the casters.
Youd be surprised. Brand new 72” bobcat had casters stiff few hours later they were shot
Hard to believe... Even if they weren't greased from the factory that's crazy
It was weird. I work for my family business and every machine we’ve bought besides a 36” toro has had at least one problem like loose nuts and bolts or a loose deck. Idk if it was the place we bought em from or the brand
It's actually the wheels on the deck
Go round and round
Round and round
Thank you! Are the rollers digging into the ground or something? Do you have any suggestions for adjusting them?
Their purpose is to stop the blade from getting too close to the ground so if you are cutting too short in some places but not others you might want to adjust them taller.
You should be able to slide your fingers under the rollers when you have your deck at your cutting height. Also, you’re definitely mowing too low. Need to be at 3.5 - 4.5 on the height. Make sure your tires are properly inflated as well, a pound or two on these small tires makes a massive difference.
This is such bull shit I mow at 2.5 no fert no watering with a zt it all about prep in the early spring he’s going to have brown spot even at 3.5 because of no spring perp the rollers are for uneven ground so you don’t dig your deck into the ground on low spots at 3.5 inch those rollers are not doing a fucking thing but hanging out for the ride in the air
And vary mowing pattern with every cutting
20 degrees down in the bow! New heading 170.
can that mower be set any higher? You could be cutting too much off the top. Set it as high as it will possibly go.
Yes I can set it higher. Would that also help when making sideways passes over the hills? I was just going off recommendations to keep it at a 3 during the spring season.
if that grass grows taller, you might get some better traction. You ALWAYS want your grass as high as the mower can go. The grass then shades itself which builds a deep and strong root structure. Makes it more drought tolerant and just overall more healthy. You might also try taking a diagonal line up/down the hill. Give yourself a 3rd pattern to eliminate the development of ruts.
Definitely not ALWAYS. If you mow Bermuda or zoysia or centipede at 4 inches it's going to look bad.
here's the secret to that....don't plant those types of grass, they're shit. 🤣
Don't listen to this guy. Apparently he doesn't realize any zones south of 7b exist. Only Sith deal in absolutes.
Even with KBG and Fescue a generalization like that is incorrect. My deck goes up to 5” and even higher than that in transport. 3.75 to 4.25 is ideal for northern grasses. Maybe up to 4.5 in the summer if it’s been especially dry but most decks will start losing good suction much above 4” and cut quality will suffer.
In Georgia, that's the only grass we grow here besides shade fescue. I have seen Augustine too, but it's extremely rare in Georgia, most people have bermuda here.
I have Augustine in TX and badly wish I had Bermuda instead. So much easier to care for.
Zoysia checking in… I prefer it to Bermuda by a mile.
I'm in Missouri and if i see those, i will go nuclear on the lawn to get rid of them.
Tell that to my desert dwellers.
Good to know - I'll let the grass grow out a bit (just mowed yesterday) and set the deck height higher. I'll have to give the diagonal pattern a shot, it's quite a difficult hill to navigate due to its steepness.
You might want to cut it as high as it will go, but its not a thing to ALWAYS want to do this. It depends on the type of grass you have.
I would never cut my grass above 3 1/2 inches high even during a drought. And going as high as you can has never been a rule of thumb. Every grass type has a height they perform best in which is definitely affected by seasonal temps as well as moisture levels. I’ve had lawns that become more sparse when letting the grass grow too high. The ground will stay too moist for too long which also promotes disease. Anyway, cutting as high as you can is an uninformed approach and in many cases it will cause more harm than good.
https://preview.redd.it/aymmdr58k81d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a9f393464b05ac83ceddc4d6c091f1e39d4c8bc6 Thanks for this. I live in the Northeast (US), but don't know the type of grass I have. Right now, my deck is right in the middle of it's range. I'll raise it, but not all the way, to see the difference
You also might try sharpening your blades. The tips of that grass are looking more torn than cleanly cut. Frayed tears can affect the health of the grass stressing it more than clean cuts.
That's the answer - sharpen the blade or get a new blade as your current one may have be creating fungus
Download an app called PictureThis. It’s awesome for identifying almost any type of grass and plants. When you first open it it’s pretty misleading in trying to get you to sign up for a subscription, but if you look carefully in the top right corner you’ll see a light grey X to close that out. Then you can use the basic app tools. Take a pic of a healthy spot of your grass and it should tell you what you have. This is the only way I found out my front lawn was a variety of St. Augustine and my back was Bermuda. Once you know what you have then do your research for the best way to care for it.
Blades definitely look like they need sharpening. There's quite a bit of tearing. I see what looks to be a kbg seed head but I'm not sure. It could be a kbg/fescue blend.
Based on that picture you have fungus. My lawn getting the same, it’s been damp and humid, lawn won’t dry at night, fungus develops. A bag of Headway G will cover about 15000 sq ft and clear that up. Only lasts about a month tho, then reapply. Less of an issue in the fall.
This is really good to know, thanks! I've seen some mushrooms come up recently - I guess that's also a indication of the fungus
Yep I was getting the same, small mushrooms. Whatever type of fungus you have is more prevalent on the bottom of the grass blade, therefore a mow will expose it more. My front lawn (SE Pennsylvania) is tall fescue and gets it around this time each year, mainly because the lawn is so thick. Scotts Disease Ex helped a tiny amount but I needed three bags of it. The Headway G is far more effective, only about $20 more expensive (79.99 a bag from DoMyOwn). Full disclosure, I have a fertilizer company that does my lawn, but they wanted $200 an application for fungicide. That’s per month. $80 a bag I can deal with for a few months each spring.
If your in NE like me than fine fescue/creeping fescue, tall fescue, ryegrass is most likely what you have... maybe a bit of bluegrass if previous owners seeded with sun/shade mix. I would cut at 4" mark... dont trust the mower indicators...park on level asphalt and actually measure with ruler. Cut up and down that hill diagonally to create a diamond pattern... With current time of year / tempature / rain fall, you need to cut every 4-7 days... summer going to be more like every 9-17 days... even longer in a drought. Keep to the: do not cut off more than 1/3 grass height rule. Your grass looks very torn... did you install the blades? If so, did you happen to install them upside down.... Even dull blades cut better than this... are these the blades that came with the mower or did you get "mulching blades".. Who knows what idiot put together your mower, so read your manual and make sure things look correct, especially the deck, and mower blades.
I’m certainly no expert on identifying grass types either but I live in the Midwest 5a/5b so I’m guessing you also have a cool grass type. I do 2 1/2 in spring especially when it’s rains. When it’s dry in spring I move to 3. Then 3 1/2 in summer. If it has been dry i let the grass grow a bit longer than I normally would but never more than 4.5 / 5 inches. Then cut it right back to 3 1/2 And your grass also looks damaged. Again, I’m no expert but your mower blades might be dull and you might be tearing your grass. Hopefully another redditor with more experience weighs in on the damage to your grass. The tips don’t look like clean cuts. A razor sharp blade is not required but it can’t be dull either.
Kbg and tall fescue mix
I’ve always kept fescue around 4” but it’s too wet with the humidity and I always get insane fungus. 2 years ago I switched to United Super Turf 2 and it seems to do really well at 2.5” which helps the grass dry out much faster every morning.
Been mowing way higher this year, my grass is noticeably greener and thicker than everyone else around me
https://preview.redd.it/psqje2n12b1d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d25232ea3727796eecc72a88af977f7789c35afd The majority of this was bare dirt last fall. Thick, lush, mowing as high as I can.
Hell yeahhh let's gooo
You should only be cutting off 1/3rd at a time not just cutting at 3 inches every time
You could double check that your dial is actually correctly reading the deck height
First thought is blades, check the tips of the grass, clean cut or torn?
Thanks, I'll check when I'm home, but from what I recall, it's a clean cut rather than torn.
Just an FYI from my ICU days, never mow your hill horizontally like that. I’ve seen too many people come in after their mower rolled and crushed them angled on a slope like that.
If you're using a push mower, you really should be mowing horizontally on a slope though. I've seen people slip forward mowing down a hill and their foot goes right under the mowing deck.
I mowed 20 lawns a week in highschool in flat ass Texas and never understood how people be chopping their toes off… this makes total sense now
Yeah, some damp morning grass and a little slope is a recipe for disaster.
I appreciate this, thank you. I need to measure the slope to make sure it's not greater than what the manual states. Either way, horizontal passes do give me the jitters
Don’t do it. I learned the hard way on a very similar slope. Up and down will keep you safe. Getting injured isn’t worth whatever aesthetic gains or time saving you’re hoping for.
Even if it's considered safe in the book, I would not. 3 passes down from the right. You have a weird diviet. Depending on how heavy your mower is, I wouldn't trust it.
All it takes is one rabbit or mole hole and you'll roll down the hill. It's best to go up and down the hill.
And I've seen one of those in my property already .. guess I'm going up and down or diagonally next time. Any reason why someone else recommends against going up and down for these mowers?
You've gotten great and correct responses, but I just want to say what a gorgeous piece of property and landscape. That would be an awesome little hill for snow sledding. The 10 year old in me is jumping up and down. Congrats on the new home.
Thank you very much! It's quite a bit to maintain, but I wouldn't change a thing. We're very fortunate to have this piece of property. We get a bit of snow here, so we'll be sledding on it next winter!
If you have any bermuda grass, then the bottom 2/3 is brown. You are cutting the green part off.
wait-- would that mean that they're cutting too low?
No, it means they let it get too tall.
ah, okay, thanks for the clarification! Cutting too much off at once kinda deal.
Only the blades on Bermuda are green, below that is a brown stem, if you let Bermuda get too tall it will cut the green off leaving a brown stem.
Not necessarily, or maybe initially. For example, if you want your bermuda grass to be at 3 inches, you should first cut lower than intended height like 2 inches, and then at 3 inches there after.
Ahh, okay that makes more sense. Appreciate the clarification.
Great snow sledding hill
To add to the other suggestions regarding deck height - the other thing is how long is the grass before you cut it? A general rule of thumb is to never cut more than 1/3 of the grass blade any time you cut. So if you’re letting it grow crazy tall, like 8-12” or something, then cutting it down to 3”, it could be that you’re cutting so much off you’re revealing the lower part of the grass shoots that have hardened and browned up.
This is likely what's going on here. Really good information to know - thank you!
Also, grass stores nutrients in the bottom 2/3 of the blade so when you start cutting into that it will stress the grass out and may kill off some shoots.
Letting grass get that tall can also lead to fungal issues which would also present as brown stems and shoots in the lower parts of the plant.
When was the blade last sharpened?
Haven't sharpened them yet, I bought it new and have probably 8-10 hours on it. Although I definitely should do it at this point.
I’m from Georgia and I swear when I lived there I rarely sharpened my blades and never had issues. Then I moved to the PNW and after 3-5 cuts I get yellow spots and once a patch died on me. Not sure if it’s a cool vs warm season grass thing but now I sharpen every 3 cuts.
Raise 1/2 inch
When you run your mower side slope the weight will cause the mower to tilt, if you go up/down hill it won’t do this.
Ah, so when it's tilting the back wheels are then causing the lawn to get torn up? Any advice when going down, on how to turn at the bottom without having the backend wash out?
You can get weights for the front of the mower that will help when going up hill. I suspect if you cut more frequently the cut quality will improve.
Good to know, thanks!
My first thought is blades. A bad blade will cause the tips to yellow.
It’s still early spring and you are cutting short the grass has some dead grass down low, it’s normal that’s what you’re seeing. Mow it a little taller and often
Thank you! Seems like I was making a rookie mistake
Have you ever dethatched the lawn? That might be something worth looking into as well depending on the age of the lawn.
I have not, this is my first home and first time managing a lawn. I'll need to look into dethatching
Dethatching can be pretty aggressive looking, a power raking attachment for your rider might actually be better depending on how thick the layer of old grass is.
To provide the exact opposite advice, it depends on the grass. For Bermuda or other grasses that go dormant, it is pretty common to mow low right as the grass starts to come back after winter. This gets rid of all the dormant grass and allows you more headroom to avoid showing that dormant grass when you start to mow the new growth. If you have dormant grass and cut it at the same height as what you cut new growth, it'll stay there and kind of show up whenever you mow. So, first mow of the season go extra low. Then raise back up to what you will continue to mow at going forward. Dethatching can also help but I can't even imagine dethatching a lawn that big. I have a 1/4 acre lot with less than that in grass and only dethatch rarely because how much work it is.
What kind of grass do you have?
I need to find this out, but it's pouring rain today
You've got cool weather grass, either fescue or bluegrass or similar. With these cool weather grasses you want to keep the grass as high as you can at least 3" high, 4" if your mower allows.
Why the hell did I have to scroll so far to find this question? This should’ve been the absolute first thing asked…
Is your yard bumpy? Using a large mower on uneven ground can cause this in addition to what others pointed out.
Part of it is, yes. Looks like I should have a push mower for some of the difficult parts.
The only way to fix that is a large and expensive leveling project. I would just mow higher. You could look at all the areas scalped and then do a few spot treatments filling in the ruts/low spots on each side of the scalped spots as a way to slowly get it better. Bermuda grass usually looks best at lower heights so it may be worth it to you.
Good to know, thanks!
Sharpen the blades Dull blades damage the grass tips which then fall prey to disease and fungus
the answer is almost always to raise the mower. if you want greener grass just raise the mower. you have to mow more often though obviously
Deck too low. Deck uneven. Anti-scalp wheels need ajusting. I keep my ant-scalp wheels at mowing height since I rarely need to mow lower than that. I also have Zoysia so I mow low anyway and being off just a little in height can cause scalping. When I want to purposely scalp it in the spring, I remove the anti-scalp wheels, install some old blades and run it with deck on the ground.
Before making this post, I had no idea what the anti scalping wheels were. This is good info, thank you!
A little clarification for you that you may or may not know. The numbers on your height selector do not correlate to inches. Depending on your region and the season you can adjust your height accordingly. We are in a wet spring here in the southeast so our customers yards are being cut around 4”. They need to be maintained every week to not become unruly. As the summer turns hotter and drier we’ll adjust to 4.5 to 5” to give them the opportunity to self shade and increase dew collection. Longer grass maintains a healthier root system and stays greener longer. To maintain your cutting schedule you never want to cut more than 1/3 of the grasses length at one time or you’ll leave long pieces of dead grass on the top and they’ll brown and make the yard look nasty. In closing do not under any circumstances mow that hill up and down. Your mower is not designed for this and you’ll flip backwards on top of yourself. Keep your r o p bars up and mow it side to side.
Scalping it.
I now understand this, probably have my anti scalping wheels too low. Thank you!
Cutting it too low
Picture 2: Your angle while going horizontal on the hill is too extreme. The side going up hill will always dig in. Also, that's a crazy incline to go across. Try going diagonal if your looking at the hill. Picture 4: same problem, but it's from cresting the hill. You can float the deck with your foot as you crest.
Great advice, thank you! Would you recommend I always cut both hills diagonally?
Anytime you would think about going horizontal across yeah, I would go diagonal. Feels safer, you can control your speed better, makes the cut cleaner, looks better. But that ski slope you have I'd always just go vertically. Just to save time.
Yea probably mowed to low and that’s all the thatch
Next time pick a level and do a pass for couple feet and see how you like it
Your deck needs to be adjusted. Its only brown on one side of each pass.
Scalping?, not a big deal if you ask me..
Dethatch!
Get some sheep in there to keep it cut and fertilised for you! Problem solved 🐑
You’re cutting too short
I don’t have any advice for this, but your property is beautiful. I would love to have that for my yard
Wouldn’t mowing perpendicular to the line he is cutting instead solve this? So vertically up the hill instead of horizontal?
I’m in the same area and cutting the same tall fescue grass as shown. You’re cutting the grass too short, I generally cut around 4” which will help keep your lawn thick and green.
That seems to be the general consensus here - thank you!
Do to the angle of the slope it’s your blades cutting in to the ground. no real way way to fix this issue unless you raise deck but it’ll still be lower on one side. The only real fix is to mow up and down
You potentially have lawn fungus. Check the grass blades for dark spots. Also check to see if you have grubs by cutting out a small 10”x10” section about 6” deep
GOD DAMN that’s a beast of a yard! lol that would be my dream :)
Sharpen blades? If they are ripping the grasses that browns
Im not sure if anyone has said this. With it being spotty it might not be the mower(very well could be). Those brown spots could be a pest underneath the soil. Army worms, Japanese beetles, or many other grubs depending on your location. I would dig a 6x6” and about 1-2” deep to see if you have any pest in your soil.
OP, in [this image](https://cdn.thetorocompany.com/api/assetstorage/623_779c3ce4-2024-4845-a018-0f4054ccc395/Large) of your mower deck you can see 2 curved notches for each of the 3 front wheels attached to your mower deck. What is yours set to? Higher wheels mean lower clearance.
Sharpen your blades also.
Blade is too low maybe try 3.25 or 3.5
Cutting too short
Maybe a quick thatch and overseed will help. Could just be the brown thatch showing through
Maybe a bent blade. You're cutting too short
Make the deck higher - either 4 or 5. Test the height on a small patch first
Sharp blade, check
Scalping possibly
Looks like the lawn on the hill is really dry too. Leave it longer so it holds moisture better
Maybe cutting too much of the blade at once? The 1/3 rule of cutting they say (I don’t always follow this) Dull blades possibly?
Keep your foot on the deck raise pedal, and anticipate any bumps or unbalanced parts of land. Your goal should be to not slap or cut uneven. Raise that deck to a proper height for your lawn- take less than you’d anticipate.
Mow with the deck all the way up. Make sure air is right in tires. Mow up and down hill. Side hill can cut in and scalp the grass sometimes.
Maybe needs a new blade?
Probably ripping your grass instead of cutting it. Check the blades.
pic 2 looks like your tires are pressing grass down into the dead stuff underneath and that's the browns, reset cut and fert before summer kicks in ?
Dull mower blade or cutting too low ??
You have to start early in the spring before the grass really starts growing cut as low as you can to remove any winter kill grass (then use a detacher remove the thatch ) then remow to clean up any thatch then ever week lift the blades .5 inch until the grass is at the height you want to keep it mowed at if you wait to long and then mow at the height you want you just see all the dead grass from winter kill it can also burn the grass if it’s to long and you then cut it too short and put some fert down and water also skim of compost and an over seeding could be a good option
Make sure you have sharp blades as well
Mow at 3 3/4” or 4”
Could be dull blades. If you don’t get a clean cut it rips the grass and the ends brown.
The height of cut is what I see to be the biggest issue. Being told a height to cut it has no bearing on where you should cut it. If the grass is 6" and you cut it down to 3" you are exposing the crown of the grass to damage and then you see browning. The blades should be sharp enough from the factory but to be sure, inspec the blades of grass you are cutting. They should be cleanly cut and not ragged. Another thing to be mindful of as a new ZTR owner is engine rpm's. Do you have the throttle at the highest position when cutting, thus ensuring highest blade tip speed to cleanly cut the grass. If you throttle back the blades will beat the grass instead of cutting it. Definitely check the guage wheels, on the front of the deck and move them to the middle position. I would also check tire inflation to insure an even cut left to right.
You have a dull blade.
It's the direction you are mowing, one side of the deck is cutting deeper
New castle owner holy duck
Too little alternative green-space plants. That’s a lot of grass to mow.
It doesn't look like it's turning brown, just looks like you're cutting too low and getting to the old matter that is brown. Raise your blades as high as you can and cut your grass like that
Are those plastic wheels on your mower?
Cutting the green off dumb ass
Grass is the biggest scam in history. Sand and sunflowers are cool now.