Bermuda lawn Mowing at 1.5” with a 21” rotary push mower – Zone 8a.
My lawn is pretty flat but obviously there are small dips in the lawn causing my mower to bottom out but this seems to be excessive. I have tried walking slower and it makes no difference. I’m trying to keep my cutting height low but might have to bump it up a notch.
I’m looking for ways other than leveling my yard with sand as that will take much more time and effort than I want to spend this season.
I’m thinking of trying a growth regulator like TNEX or Anderson Governor G to slow down the growth and hopefully prevent these half circles.
I’m also trying to use this as an excuse to get a zero turn but my wife is not buying it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
by Ben4bama
33 Comments
Mow higher
Sharpen your blades
Mow higher and make sure your blade is balanced.
Mow higher or you have to level it. No other options unfortunately
Balance you blades and sharpen them
Mayb check how much lower the front of the mower deck is compared to the back.
You’re definitely mowing it too low. As you mentioned, the yard is uneven, so the blade is literally slapping off the sod.
Mow more often so you’re not cutting off as much
I deal with the same when I go diagnoal or north and south in my front yard. Happens in the back too, but dont care as much about it there…kids are always doing something to it :D.
I decided this weekend im going to try raising the front wheels a notch. In my head, that should help the bottoming out.
Blade isn’t balanced
Cut Bermuda grass more often. Eventually you’ll be able to cut at a lower level.
Also, it doesn’t hurt to add top soil mixed in with mason sand to help level.
Cutting to low. Gotta raise the deck! Or buy a reel mower
Mow height will make the circles less noticeable, but it will not make it stop. The circles are happening because the blade isn’t balanced, it may be dull, and the ground may be uneven. Make sure the blade is sharp and balanced. And if you have the time and money, may want to look into mason sand to level out any uneven spots in the ground.
Mow more often, or mow higher if you don’t want to mow as often as you would like, and make sure to level your yard.
Cut higher.
Cut ever other day
Check your wheel height. Is one side lower than the other?
Drink less alcohol before mowing.
sharpen those blades . It will help even if you do mow low
mow higher, readjust deck, check for bent blade, sharpen blades.
Roll your lawn flat or mow higher.
level it and consider a reel mower.
You need a Reel mower if you want your grass under 2 inches. I like mine longer, I usually start out at 2.5 but towards the end of summer I’m up to 3 inches. The longer you leave Bermuda the darker green it gets and I like it dark
It’s not as flat as you think. Bermuda also has ‘legs’ so it’s brown towards the bottom. Also can happen if you aren’t mowing enough. Bermuda grows fast AF so following the 1/3 rule at 1.5 inches probably means mowing every other day.
Bermuda often needs a scalp,to kind of reset the ‘legs’ so generally mowing on the lowest setting all of the time doesn’t work well.
Raise the mower up to 2in and you’ll be fine.
So, you could invest in a Reel mower(Look on Craigslist etc for a Trucut or Cal Trimmer or whatnot, sometimes you can find really good deals on the used marketplaces, I wouldn’t personally purchase a new powered reel mower unless it was electric), or invest even more in a roller drive rotary mower like the Massport Rotarola or the Toro ProStripe, Allet has one too but it’s a bigger machine, while still walking behind I think it has a 48″ deck, not your average homeowner mower.
Leveling your lawn with sand etc is really only an afternoons work if you put your mind to it, better if you can buy some beers and food for a friend or 2 to get help. Might be slower with help and beers, but it’s more fun.
Or, you could look at putting some modifications on your current mower. Other people have mentioned balancing your blade and sharpening etc, double check your spindle or drive shaft isn’t bent and there is minimal play, maybe do a once over of the whole thing and tighten any motor mounting points etc, or locktite if you want to be extra sure.
Other things to think about, widening the drive tires if possible, I’ve seen people set up weighted PVC pipes with bike tires glued to them and stuff, this will mess up your stripes a little, but it will slowly help to even out any dimples and ruts in your pattern, and the PVC sleeves can be removed when you want.
You can also look at doing a Front Roller to replace the wheels,
See this still has the height adjustment function, all you need to do is build a bracket and buy a stainless steel roller that’s 19″ or so, for a 21″ mower. This will also slowly over time help level and reduce the bumps in your lawn. Push mowers don’t weigh that much though, so don’t expect immediate perfect flat lawn.
Rollers and wider tires also help reduce the dipping into holes because they can span the gap on either side. Same thing with taller wheels(not a recommended mod, but you can buy big/tall wheel mowers) the larger a wheel is, the lower rollover resistance when encountering a bump, and the larger gap a wheel can span without dipping significantly, this is why mountain bikes get bigger and bigger wheels year by year.
There’s a ton of ways you can go about this, but getting a reel mower or putting a roller on the front would be the first I would do in your situation. Even better a reel mower with a roller already.
Is the deck level? Are the tires at proper psi?
I’m pretty sure Bermuda lawn maintenance is similar to Zoysia. In the spring, when you’re greening up, you should scalp the lawn to reset your HOC. You want to cut it 1 or 2 notches lower than your maintenance height in summer. This promotes new growth (green) from a point that is lower than what your normal cut height is in the growing season. So in April you could cut at 1”, so that when cut at 1.5” in summer you won’t scalp.
See your state’s agricultural university’s website for Bermuda lawn maintenance.
You are cutting too low and your blade is probably imbalanced. The deck itself might not be level.
Level your lawn.
Check the air pressure in your tires, raise the deck
Put on highest setting so the summer sun doesn’t burn it and no circles!
Have you checked your spindles? Grab the blade(mower off) and wiggle up and down. It shouldn’t have play in it
Blades out of balance maybe, but that looks like they would have to be bad
Almost looks like the deck itself is bouncing around or something. Weird
Mow higher
Sharpen the blades
Make sure the blades arent on upside down