Commercial cutters sharpen their blades once a week with a professional blade grinder to ensure a healthy lawn. A dull blade tears the grass rather then cutting it; this can make your lawn more susceptible to disease. If the tips of the grass blades are brown, this is an indication of a dull mower blade. Always try to cut no more than one – third of the grass blade at once. Also, try keeping the grass on the longer side, typically at 3-31/2 inches high. Longer grass grows slower than shorter grass.  By keeping the grass length on the long side you can save up to 20 percent of the mowing you do annually, that could add up to 8 hours a year for an average yard. Most weeds won’t germinate in longer grass, which will help you save money on herbicides. A sharp mower blade will promote a healthy lawn and increase performance in your lawnmower, causing lower fuel consumption.

A. Tiller blades are also known as tines. The tine cultivates and moves through the soil. There are three types of tines: Bolo, Pick and Chisel, and Slasher.  The standard tines that come with most machines are Bolo tines. These are used for deep tilling with little clogging. On the other hand, Pick and Chisel tines are slightly curved and used for hard or rocky soil. Yet, these tines can easily clog in vegetation. For heavy vegetation or soil with roots, you will want to use the Slasher tine. These tines are short and sharp. It is important that you keep your Slasher tines very sharp in order to obtain good results. Stop by if you would like to see a demonstration or need to order Honda tiller parts.

How Hard Does that Engine Work? 

“Commercial” VS “Residential” 

Now let’s compare a small engine running at 3600 RPMs to a car’s engine running at 3600 RPMs.  Traveling down the highway, with the car’s engine running at 3600 RPMs, it would be traveling approximately 90 miles per hour.

Now that example should remind us how hard a small air cooled engine works. Some people think that maintenance is expensive and unnecessary. The commercial cutter has learned that maintaining their equipment properly saves time and money by reducing costly repairs, preserving equipment valve and minimizing unproductive downtime. Once the value and necessity for maintenance is understood and appreciated, an action plan needs to be created to make it happen.

 The first step is to find the information pertinent to your particular equipment. Owner’s manuals and maintenance schedules inside them are often overlooked and seldom read carefully; they are a great resource and the best place to start. Manufacturers are generally very detailed and comprehensive about the maintenance that is best for their equipment and most often a thorough reading of these documents is all that you’ll need to create a maintenance schedule for your equipment. If you would like more information, the Service Manager at your equipment supplier is another good place to look.

To get started we will need an action plan. I will share with you my action plan that I use when I perform my lawn mower maintenance in the early spring.

 Action plan:

Five things you should do before you start cutting grass: 

• Change the spark plug.
• Change the air filter.
• Change the engine oil.
• Sharpen the blade.
• Add fresh gasoline.

Note. The first thing I recommend to do is to remove the spark plug coil wire to insure your mower won’t accidentally start while performing the maintenance. The last thing you should do when you have completed your maintenance is to reinstall the spark plug coil wire.

A. When the end of the tines are worn to a point and no longer till the ground.

First, determine your power requirements. Typical priorities include the sump pump, furnace and refrigerator/freezer. Power failure of these things creates more than an inconvenience. It can cause very costly problems within your home. Other items like ventilators, well pumps, lights and televisions should also be considered – either for necessity or convenience. It is important to realize that products with electric motors generally take about three times the amount of power to start up as they do to run, so be sure your backup source can handle the starting requirements.

Next, decide whether you want to run multiple items at once or if you will switch from one item to another. More powerful generators can handle most of the essentials of your home without switching from circuit to circuit. A smaller generator will require some manual work on your part, but will still be able to run most items individually. If you choose to use a larger generator for convenience, a good rule of thumb for calculating size is to add the start-up wattage for the two highest-requirement appliances and the running wattage of everything else that you want to run simultaneously. This will give you a number that you can be confident won’t trip the circuit breaker.

Next to consider is the type of generator that best fits your circumstances. Portable generators are relatively low-cost and can be transported to multiple locations (you can help out your friends and family when they are in a bind – or use it on a camping trip). Wattages of these units vary from 1000 to 6500 watts. This is usually powerful enough to run almost everything in a typical home. Home standby units are stationary units that are more expensive, but offer the convenience of running on natural gas. They are generally available in higher wattages than portable generators and can power your entire home, including central air conditioning units.

In addition to factors such as size, portability, run time, low oil warnings, etc., the most sought-after feature in a generator is unquestionably sound level. The nature of most power outages requires that your generator run all night long, so the noise level is a real consideration. After all, it’s not very satisfying to spend hard-earned money on a generator and then have it keep you (and your neighbors from two streets over) up all night. Quietness is most often near the top of the list of features to consider.

The final factor to consider is how to connect the generator to the items that need power. There are only two safe ways to provide power from a generator: use highquality extension cords or install a transfer switch. The extension cord option is selfexplanatory; just make sure to use heavygauge extension cords, especially if it is a long distance from the generator to the appliance. It is important to note that the only safe way to connect a generator directly to your home electrical system is through a transfer switch.

People ask us about back-feeding power through their home and we strongly urge customers not to do that. It is dangerous to power line workers, can damage the generator and can cause fires. It’s just not worth the risk, regardless of the precautions that you take, to back-feed power from a generator. A transfer switch isolates the generator’s power from these hazards and creates a convenient way to switch from line power to generator power. While someone with basic electrical skills can figure out how to install a transfer switch, a licensed electrician is highly recommended.

 Our salespeople are experts in helping customers make educated decisions about the generator that is right for them. Stop in or give us a call and we can help you through the process.

A. Yes. The Toro Company makes a product called T-150. It is a liquid spray that can be applied to snow thrower chutes, lawnmower decks, and garden tools to reduce build up of snow, ice, grass, and dirt.

1. Read and understand your operator’s manual before each season or use.

2. Check all safety features and make sure they are intact. If a guard, shield or safety device including warning decals are illegible, missing or lost. Repair or replace them before use.

3. When using an electric snow blower, use an outdoor power cord and an outlet that has a ground-fault-circuit interruption protection. Always know where the power cord is at all times, and be sure to replace worn or damaged power cords.

4. Inspect the area where the snow blower will be used, remove any objects that might be picked up and thrown by the snow blower. Newspaper, dog chains and Christmas lights are very common items to be picked up by snow blowers and thrown, even becoming clogged in the snow blower.

5. Stay behind the handles, keep your face, hands and feet or any parts of your body even clothing away from the moving-rotating parts. Before leaving the operating position if the unit becomes clogged, turn the engine off on a gas powered machine or unplug the electrical cord on an electric power snow blower. Wait for all moving parts to come to a complete stop, and then use a (snow cleanout tool), never use your hands or feet to remove a clog.

6. Keep children and pets far away when the snow blower is in use.

7. Do not touch the engine while it is running or soon after it is shut off, you could burn yourself. Make sure the snow blower is outdoors and cooled down before add gasoline to the engine.

8. Never run your gasoline snow blower in a enclosed area, exhaust fumes are very dangerous.

9. Before adjusting, cleaning, inspecting, troubleshooting or repairing your snow blower, stop the engine and remove the key. For gasoline units, disconnect the spark plug wire and keep it away from the spark plug to prevent you from accidentally starting the engine while performing the needed repairs.

10. Perform only those maintenance instructions described in your operation manual and the ones you are comfortable performing. . For all other repairs contact your authorized service dealer.

 A. First, load the tractor facing towards the front of the trailer, this will ensure that the wind does not open or damage the hood. Second, lower the mower deck all the way down to the trailer bed, relieving stress on the mower link. Third, tie down the tractor on all four points. That way if one tie down comes loose, you still have the tractor tied down on three points. Forth, turn off the on / off valve for the fuel, if the engine has one.

We recently concluded our 2nd Annual Mow Down Hunger matching funds campaign to benefit Gleaner’s Community Food Bank (and other food banks in areas that we do business). We are excited to say that this year’s campaign was a huge success and raised $204,000 to help with the backpack program to feed hungry kids. We are proud that our customers, vendors, friends and neighbors were so generous in helping this wonderful cause. We would also like to thank the many media outlets that promoted the campaign. It is team efforts like this that can make a significant impact on people’s lives.

We are blessed to be part of such a wonderful community and your response to this campaign has shown your awesome generosity. We love that we can be a part of sharing our resources with some of the great organizations that serve those who can use a little helping hand. It is part of our mission as a business and we thank you for being a part of it. We look forward to building on this momentum for the 3rd Annual Mow Down Hunger campaign next fall!

• Vaccuums are available in push or self-propelled
• Wheels large in diameter will make push vacs easier to use
• Push vacs are popular for use in parking lots, while self-propelled are more popular for lawn applications
• Hose kits are available
• Hoses are useful for smaller areas such as shrub beds
• Adjustable snouts are very useful when switching between different surfaces
• Many vacs come with a chipper option
• Light limbs can be fed into the chipper while the vaccuum picks up other debris
• Chippers and shredders are useful for cutting up debris
• Some units come with a tow bar for easy travel