[Ooper]

Originally Posted by ssmith

So I am impressed with you all that do your own mowing and lawn care. My question is...where do you keep the mower and supplies? Do you have plenty of room in the garage for them?

Sure... keep the mower near the wall and the weed wacker with attachments hang on the wall above it!

[Jack&Pam]

Hi all,

We have recently bought a home in Pennecamp. For now, we will be coming down on vacations.

It seems like most of you are unhappy with the lawn care service. In view of our situation could you suggest some alternative or a trustworthy service.

We will be down the first two weeks in November and are looking forward to meeting our new neighbors.

Jack&Pam

[ipierce]

Originally Posted by Mikitv

We just got a Neuton Electric and for what we have now it works fine. We are going to downsize the lawn more with flower beds in the future. Compared to our last house with about an acre this is much easier.

We moved here almost 1 year ago, my dear husband edges, mows and blows in about an hour once a week. Our lawn looks great (never cut too short)....and we don't chance spreading disease from multiple yards over ours.
He purchases a Craftsman electric mower...and after a few "civil" words about the cord...the two of them seem to have come to a pretty cooperative arrangement.
He also uses a battery pack 2 way edger and a blower....no gas smell in the garage....

[BlueHeronFan]

Back north, all the lawn care services use nothing but walk behind hand mowers. I was surprised at the number of services in The Villages which use the turn on a dime riding mowers for even the smallest lawns.

There are a few services here in The Villages which only use the walk behind mowers. Of the homes that I have seen using these, their lawns look fantastic. The cost of one of the corner lots that I know, is only about $20 per month more, and it is worth the price.

[islandgal]

Try owner/operator Ron's Lawn & Maintenance Service, 352-557-1900.
He weeds, edges, trims trees & bushes, etc.
He uses either regular or riding lawnmower - your choice.
Reliable and very reasonable.

[rkstefano]

If interested in a Great Lawnmower, like new, I am selling mine. It had only been used 5 times, approximately 3 hours.
You won't need gas can with this one as it is an Electric/Cordless Black&Decker, 36V Rechargeable 19 Inch Mulching Rear Bag Mower, Model CM1936.
Reason for sale: My health isn't what it use to be, so I decided to have a lawn service mow my lawn for me.

You can call or E-mail me if interested. The original Cost was $429 and I am selling it for $325 .

Ray 352-633-0723 or rkstefano@yahoo.com

[Shimpy]

You got me thinking again which is unusual. Before moving here a year ago I never had anyone do my lawn. Now that I'm retired I figured have someone do it for me, but I get frustrated almost every time they cut it. At first they were OK, but gradually deteriorated. I heard that in the past year, they have almost doubled their customer base (I live in Buttonwood which has been growing every day) and still use the same crews. I didn't want to store a mower, edger, and blower, but am getting ready to. You need to cut it once a week in the summer, and can actually edge it the next day if you get tired, and in the winter hardly ever. I never mowed with electric but am going to investigate it as gas gets to be a pain when it won't start later on when it gets older.

[cookies]

We have been cutting the grass ourselves since moving down beginning of June; hubby does the trimmer, edger & blower and wifey mows the grass. The first week it took us about an hour and now we have gotten it down to about 45 minutes. Then we dive in the POOL! Can't beat the Villages lifestyle.
Yard looks great so far.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by Shimpy

You got me thinking again which is unusual. Before moving here a year ago I never had anyone do my lawn. Now that I'm retired I figured have someone do it for me, but I get frustrated almost every time they cut it. At first they were OK, but gradually deteriorated. I heard that in the past year, they have almost doubled their customer base (I live in Buttonwood which has been growing every day) and still use the same crews. I didn't want to store a mower, edger, and blower, but am getting ready to. You need to cut it once a week in the summer, and can actually edge it the next day if you get tired, and in the winter hardly ever. I never mowed with electric but am going to investigate it as gas gets to be a pain when it won't start later on when it gets older.

I too am having this problem.

[mrfixit]

Originally Posted by Shimpy

You got me thinking again which is unusual. if you . I never mowed with electric but am going to investigate it as GAS gets to be a PAIN when it won't start later on when it gets older.

Just a FYI. On ANY gas engine with a PULL start cord. Pull the starting cord very slowly until it get very hard to pull. Then let the cord back in......then pull the cord as if you were trying to start it. This method.... pull until it becomes very hard to pull....puts your piston at TDC.( Top Dead Center) .When you do the full pull ..you have a complete cycle of piston which SHOULD cause engine to start. IF you do not BEGIN at TDC..you risk getting too much fuel in the combustion chamber...which will cause "wet spark plug"...and hard starting.(i.e. many,... many pulls) ALSO.... please remember to Clean the Air Filter on your Mower. Restricted air-intake causes extremely hard starting. ALAS....the spark plug. A NEW ONE every Year. OK we covered it, adequate FUEL+ AIR+ SPARK= VROOM

[normgreg]

After bad experiences from 2 lawn services. I do my own, we bought a Ryobi battery trimmer/edger & Ryobi battery mower. Both work great, just charge them the day before cutting. Mower has power left after finishing the lawn on our designer. We save $70/month. Paying $70/month in the winter, when little was done was especially annoying.

[Shimpy]

Originally Posted by mrfixit

Just a FYI. On ANY gas engine with a PULL start cord. Pull the starting cord very slowly until it get very hard to pull. Then let the cord back in......then pull the cord as if you were trying to start it. This method.... pull until it becomes very hard to pull....puts your piston at TDC.( Top Dead Center) .When you do the full pull ..you have a complete cycle of piston which SHOULD cause engine to start. IF you do not BEGIN at TDC..you risk getting too much fuel in the combustion chamber...which will cause "wet spark plug"...and hard starting.(i.e. many,... many pulls) ALSO.... please remember to Clean the Air Filter on your Mower. Restricted air-intake causes extremely hard starting. ALAS....the spark plug. A NEW ONE every Year. OK we covered it, adequate FUEL+ AIR+ SPARK= VROOM

mrfixit, Thanks, what you say make sense. What I'm refering to for hard to start is during the winter when the mower, or any small engine that isn't started often, and the gas gums up the carb. Had that problem with generator, pressure cleaner, and edger in the past. Used stabile and am not sure it really works that good. With ethonal I use the marine stabil, but have never had trouble with electric except the bother of the cord. I'm not sold on recharageable as past experience with drills is that the batteries don't last long and replacement cost as much as a new drill.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Originally Posted by Shimpy

mrfixit, Thanks, what you say make sense. What I'm refering to for hard to start is during the winter when the mower, or any small engine that isn't started often, and the gas gums up the carb. Had that problem with generator, pressure cleaner, and edger in the past. Used stabile and am not sure it really works that good. With ethonal I use the marine stabil, but have never had trouble with electric except the bother of the cord. I'm not sold on recharageable as past experience with drills is that the batteries don't last long and replacement cost as much as a new drill.

Shimpy - Are you draining the gas out of the carbs on your various machines when you put them away for storage? Do they have fuel shut-offs on them? If a gas tank is above the engine (no fuel pump) and there isn't a shut-off valve, the fuel will constantly be keeping the carb fuel bowl full. Even with fuel stabilizer, you can have some problems if fuel is constantly in the carb over long periods of time.

Also something to consider - use some 'fogging oil' spray prior to storage. Light bodied spray oil that comes in an aerosol can. It'll have the little plastic wand for the sprayer. Always available at any boating supply place - can also be found in many auto parts departments with the chemicals, etc. It will coat all the innards of the intake, combustion chamber(s), and exhaust with a bit of the oil to ward off rust/corrosion. It's REALLY helpful in moist, humid environments like FL.

To use: Take off whatever is necessary to gain access to the carb throat, start the engine, have access to the throttle control, then start spraying the oil into the carb. The oil will want to stall the engine out - keep it running by giving it a bit of throttle. Regulate the throttle and the spraying to keep the engine going. When you're ready to stop, kill the engine with the oil. Doesn't take a whole lot of the oil to get the whole job done. (Do this outside of your garage as the burning oil stinks and makes a nice cloud of blue smoke!! ) Once you're done, shut off the gas, drain the carb, and you'll be good-to-go the next time you want to use the equipment (use fresh fuel). I've NEVER had a problem with starting ANYTHING up after extended storage if I do these things prior to putting them away.

Maybe I'm covering territory with which you're already familiar - sorry if that's the case!!! Just trying to help - - -

Bill

[Shimpy]

Bill, where there is a petcock, I do shut it off and let the engine run dry, but never went to the trouble of draining and spraying oil since I wasn't really storing it for a long winter, just a couple months at most. I just learned to start and run each motor every 4 or 5 weeks as the repair shop suggested. Now living here I only have a pressure cleaner to start every month. I keep a gal can with marine stabil in it and when it gets about 2 months old empty in into the cars gas tank.

[normandy]

Originally Posted by elevatorman

I was just wondering if anyone is mowing their own lawn. I have had different lawn services over the last year and am not impressed by them. I am thinking of doing it myself. Time is not a problem I figure a few hours a week. Before I invest in equipment I thought it would be a good idea to ask for the pros and cons. Pros-- better looking lawn, a small amount of exercise, save $45 per month. Cons-- $300-$750 equipment investment (mower, edger, gas can,), gas and storage of same, heat stroke, equipment maintenance and storage.

IF YOU SERIOUS ABOUT DOING YOU LAWN, I JUST STARTED DOING MINE, DOCTOR STOPPED ME, I HAVE A ALMOST NEW LAWN MOVER SELF PROPELLED GAS AND A TRIMMER/EDGER GAS AND A GAS CAN TOO. FOR ONLY $265.00, IF INTERESTED CALL ME 751-5812 NORM.