Garden Tillers are Essential for Preparing the Soil for Planting

Written by Darren on April 9, 2011 · Leave a Comment

If you have ever been faced with hard, rocky soil that turns away the most committed hand garden tool, then you understand how helpful a garden tiller can be. Garden tillers are essential when preparing the soil for a garden, shrubbery, or even general landscaping. Most are equipped with a heavy-duty gasoline engine that rotates blades or tines into the ground. This rotating action breaks up and turns the soil, make it more workable.

Garden tillers are rated in horsepower. The rating will refer to the actual power of the gas engine. To make sure your tiller will be able to handle the job, you need to match the power of the tiller to the hardness of your soil. Just purchasing any tiller will not magically prepare your soil. For example, small machines would be no match Texas clay soil hardened by persistent drought.

Tillers are equipped with different kinds of tines. Bolo tines are designed for deep tilling. They are capable of turning unworked soil into something more manageable for planting. If your landscape area is rocky, then you would need to use pick and chisel tines. They are designed to break up the soil and make it easier to remove rocks and stones before planting. Finally, slasher tines are made to mow through heavy vegetation in advance of additional soil preparation.

Garden tillers are made in two basic varieties. Rear-tine tillers require less work from the operator. The blades are positioned behind the motor giving the tiller a more favorable balance. Front-tine tillers have the blades positioned just below or in front of the engine. Front-tine tillers are best for use on soil that has been tilled before. They will require more arm strength to control.

Garden tillers are not the easiest power tools to handle, especially compared to something like a string trimmer or leaf blower. However, they are a huge improvement over manual methods of preparing the soil for planting.

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Keeping Your Lawnmower in Top Ready-to-Mow Shape

Written by Darren on March 25, 2011 · Leave a Comment

It can be very frustrating trying to deal with a balky lawnmower. When you are ready to begin mowing your lawn, you don’t want to be stopped with a lawnmower that refuses to run properly. If you spend hours trying to get the mower started or keep it running, you’ll use up all the time you had planned for mowing. The cool part of the day will be wasted sweating over a reluctant power tool.

There are a few things you can do between mowing days and even during the off-season to keep your mower in top shape and ready to go when you are. First of all, make an effort to store your mower inside. Next, if you are storing the mower for more than a month, empty the gas tank or add fuel stabilizer. Finally, you should clean or replace the spark plug and air filter at least once a year. Let’s see how these activities will keep this important lawn tool in ready-to-mow condition.

Store your lawnmower inside. The weather is not kind to tools of any kind. Wind, rain and blowing dirt can wreak havoc on a gasoline powered lawnmower. Many homes have an outside shed for storing garden and landscaping tools. If that isn’t an option for you, then perhaps you have a garage with enough room to keep the lawnmower inside. If all else fails, you can buy a small plastic storage unit that will be large enough to keep your lawnmower covered and protected.

Empty the gas tank or add fuel stabilizer. If it will be some time before your next mowing day, try to empty the fuel tank. The easiest way is to just let the motor run until the fuel supply is used up. Otherwise, you can add a bottle of fuel stabilizer to keep the gasoline from breaking down into components that will end up clogging the fuel system.

Clean or replace the spark plug and air filter. At least once a year, you should remove the spark plug and either clean it or replace it. You should also clean or replace the air filter. Foam filters can be washed, dried and put back in the mower. Paper filters should simply be replaced. You can either do this before storing the mower for the off-season or right before mowing season starts again.

By following these three easy practices, your mower will always be eager to start and ready to run.

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Advantages of Buying a Used Riding Lawn Mower

Written by Darren on February 16, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Buying things new is fun. But we all know that new things are priced at a premium. Riding lawn mowers are no exception. The latest models are rarely discounted. Plus, the newest mowers don’t have a track record of performance and durability. You are really paying extra to take a chance on the unknown. One way to avoid this expense and uncertainty is to buy a used riding lawn mower. Let’s take a look at some of the advantages when you buy your next riding lawn mower used.

Of course, the big advantage to buying a used riding lawn mower is cost savings. Brand new riding mowers are priced at a premium. Buying the latest model usually means paying the highest price. However, when you buy used, you can often get not just a good price, but a great one. Many people who are selling their mower have already purchased a new one, plan to purchase, or they are moving and don’t want to take their current mower with them. It’s usually a good idea to ask why they are selling. But you will almost always save a lot of money compared to the price of a new riding lawn mower.

When you buy a used riding lawn mower, you have access to more reviews. New lawn mowers that have just been introduced to the market are often untested and untried. You really have no idea how long they will last or the problems to which they will be prone. You can trust brand names somewhat, but even the best brands sometimes turn out a dud. Buying a used mower gives you the advantage of checking up on the history of a model. Not only will you find more actual user reviews, you can also check directly with the current owner to see if there are any problems. You will be able to get good information about fuel usage, maintenance needs and more.

By purchasing a used riding lawn mower, you can compare your needs with the experience of the current owner. You will get a much better idea if a particular model is right for your situation or not. Compare lawn sizes and types of vegetation. If there is a good match and if the current owner is happy with the mower’s performance, then chances are good you will be satisfied as well.

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Five Types of Walk-Behind Mowers

Written by Darren on January 13, 2011 · Leave a Comment

The self-propelled gas mower provides the greatest ease and convenience. This type of mower is perfect for larger yards. If your lawn is too big to consider using a push mower, but not quite large enough for a riding lawn mower, then a self-propelled mower will likely do the job. These mowers have different speed settings to account for grass type and your fitness level. You can usually outfit these with various mulching and bagging attachments. For people who aren’t ready for a riding mower, this is usually the most popular choice.

The gas-powered push mower requires more effort to use, but is usually fine for medium-sized lawns. With this type of mower, the engine spins the blades and you provide the motive power. If your lawn is hilly, the push mower could give you quite a workout. Smallish level lawns are perfect for the gas-powered push mower.

Corded electric mowers are easy to use and environmentally friendly. Mowers that you plug in usually provide mowing power comparable to gas mowers.  They are available in self-propelled and push mower configurations. The only drawback to a corded mower is, well, the cord. You have to stay plugged into the main power supply. If you have a large yard or few outside outlets, the corded mower could be less than convenient.

Cordless electric mowers provide more flexibility than corded versions. You don’t have to plug these mowers into the wall, but you do have to keep the battery charged. There is the possibility the battery will completely discharge before the job is done. Some cordless mowers are now available with solar charging, making them the ultimate green solution among powered lawn mowers.

Manual reel mowers often used for very small lawns. If you want to go totally green, you could opt for a manual reel mower. When these are properly maintained and sharpened, they provide excellent results. However, if you have anything larger than a very small lawn, you probably don’t want to work this hard.

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Benefits of a Cordless Leaf Blower

Written by Darren on December 20, 2010 · Leave a Comment

When leaf blowers were first introduced, it almost seemed like cheating. You didn’t have to sweat for hours with a rake. Instead of scratching every square inch of your lawn, you simply used a column of air to effortlessly gather leaves into a pile. Once there, you could easily dispose of them. Leaf blowers have evolved over time. One of the best innovations was the cordless leaf blower. What are some of the benefits of using a cordless leaf blower?

The most obvious benefit of a cordless leaf blower is avoiding that wrestling match with 100 feet of extension cord. Corded leaf blowers are excellent tools. They are both quiet and powerful. But they were limited to use where you had access to electricity. Depending on the size of your yard, that meant you were constantly wrangling long extension cords. You had to keep them from getting tangled in the shrubbery. Really long cords actually added a fair amount of weight to deal with. Although it was better than raking, using a corded leaf blower meant constantly dealing with staying plugged in. Cordless leaf blowers free you up to move around your landscape as needed.

Cordless leaf blowers are available in both gas and electric models. Gas models are more powerful and are the preferred option for many professional lawn care companies. You can use it as long as necessary throughout the day. You never have to recharge it; you just keep it filled with fuel. However, gas leaf blowers are noisy. You really need to think about the time of day before you begin disturbing the neighborhood with your leaf blowing activities. Gas-powered blowers also add harmful emissions to the atmosphere.

Cordless electric leaf blowers have no harmful emissions and are very quiet. However, most electric models can’t match the power of gas blowers. You also have to recharge electric blowers, usually after each use. In fact, some large yards may be too big to clean up with a single charge.

To sum up, cordless leaf blowers have simplified the task of gathering fallen leaves and disposing of them. Whether you choose gas or electric will depend on the size of your yard and how often you need to clean it up.

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