I moped around the house for a couple days and stayed in bed a lot. Then I got up and did some hard angry work.
I took out the 10" electric tiller that I bought a few months ago for work in small spaces and attacked the area where I want to plant 200 daffofdl bulbs. That didn't work out too well. The tall grass wrapped around the tiller blades. So I spent 15 minutes cutting and pulling them loose. Then took out my weed whacker and cut all the grass to ground level. Then went after the soil again.
That didn't work out any better. The ROOTS just wrapped around the tiller blades. So I removed THEM. It was rather therapeutic. Burned off some anger. I attacked them with a ground digger knife and pliers and by hand.
But the small electric tiller is obviously only designed for bare ground and flowers. So I pulled out the big gas one. Which wouldn't start. Old dried gas I suspect. I'll try it again tomorrow after some new gas has a chance to dissolve the old gas. And if that doesn't work, I can take apart the carburator. I learned a trick from a repairman about shooting spray carburator cleaner into the system that often works. Failing that, it goes to a local repair shop for real repair and tune up, and it has been a few years so it needs it.
I did get a lot of angry energy used up pulling on the starter rope.
The manual rotary mower wouldn't start either and I read online that that usually means the blade disengagement bar on the handle is stuck. I couldn't find anything wrong with it, so that has to go for professional work too.
I better check the snowblower too. When you need it is NOT the time to go looking for fast repairs.
I have a small cast iron Lodge grill good for cooking a couple of steaks at a time. I didn't use it for a couple of years. I stayed under my covered smoker grill, and with a cover of it's own. I pulled it out a few weeks ago and it was COMPLETELY rusted under 2 covers!
Perfect "angry energy" project! I wirebrushed that sucker for 3 hours. THAT got a lot of anger out. Still wasn't good enough. It will never be free of rust again. But I have a 1,000F temperature wood stove Rust-Oleum paint I can use on most of it.
According to online advice, the cooking surface will have to be soaking in 50% white vinegar and water for 4 hours, rubbed dry with a clean cloth, and then oiled and seasoned in a 300F oven like any new cast iron skillet. If that all works, I will buy a tightly sealed plastic bin to keep it in afterwards. If it doesn't, I'll buy a new one. Maybe I can just buy a cooking rack replacement.
I had a nice little steel one decades ago. Just the right size for 6 charcoal briquets and one steak. I wish I still had that. I can't find one like it. Some stuff just seems to disappear over the years. Maybe it burned through the bottom. I can't recall.
Still need some projects to burn off "angry energy". Maybe it is time to bring out the steel spade and start scraping under the roots of weedy grass in the flower garden. I still can't kneel well, but if I sit on the ground and push on the back of the spade with my feet, that should work.
Showing posts with label Rototiller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rototiller. Show all posts
Monday, November 14, 2016
Friday, September 18, 2015
The Yardwork
Summary: 5 weeks ago, I had 2 large trees removed. All the equipment tore up the front and side lawns. But I was planning excavation and lawn-raising work any a few days later, so I wasn't worried. That contractor begged off and I had to find another (who was booked for 2 weeks and would only do half the job). Before the 2nd guy could come out, the 1st one called and said they had a schedule change and were available for the whole job the next morning if I was still interested. I had them do the jobs. The work went beautifully, but of course all the equipment compacted the added soil in front, so I needed to rototill and level it. I got that done after several days work.
I know return to the story in progress...
-------------------------------------
The first priority was to plant grass seed on the raised front lawn. Because of all the rototilling, it took a LOT of raking to smooth it all. Plus I wanted loose soil to lightly cover the grass seed after spreading it around. One, it helps the grass stay in place; two, it keeps the grass seeds germinate; three, it hides the seeds from the hungry birds.
Second was to start watering the seeded lawn. You can't just set up a lawn sprinkler, the big drops of water land too hard and the heavy watering floats the grass seeds into uneven puddles. I had to water gently by hand. The first time went REAL slow. My showerhead wand puts out nice small drops but not much water at a time. And I had to walk on the seeded area to reach the farthest parts. It took 2 hours for just 2,000 square feet! And the experts recommend you water twice a day for the first week.
The next day, I used a fan sprayer. Wow, I did not realize how much more water that one sends out! And with so many small holes in the fan, it falls gently. AND reaches to the farthest spots without me standing on the seeds. I've done that twice a day since Tuesday. And as a test, I planted some grass seeds in a pot indoors to see when the grass would sprout in perfect conditions...
Third, I set my sight on the backyard where the ridge was removed. That area has better soil (well, softer at least). But it is lousy with gravel and small stones (to baseball size). First, I rototilled it. More stones and gravel... Then I tried raking them out. That was like trying a sweep a dirt road clean! After I moved 4 wheelbarrow loads of that behind the toolshed, I realized I could fill a pickup truck and not make much difference. So the surface will stay gravelly.
Fortunately, most of the backyard bare area (about 3,500 square feet - really, it's 70x50') is going to become a flower meadow. I have coneflowers, lysimachia, goldenrod, and black-eyed susans to transplant there. I have a dwarf (3') butterfly bush to take cuttings from and multiply and a dwarf rose (Knock Out) for the same multiplying. In between them, I'll spread perennial wildflowers and leave a curvy path through the middle.
But I've gotten ahead of myself. Rototilling the back area left deep furrows. And with all the gravel and stones, I didn't want to have to rake the whole area smooth by hand. So I stood on the deck staring at the furrowed soil and thought for a bit (with a beer for inspiration). And I had an interesting idea...
Tomorrow, "A Solution"...
I know return to the story in progress...
-------------------------------------
The first priority was to plant grass seed on the raised front lawn. Because of all the rototilling, it took a LOT of raking to smooth it all. Plus I wanted loose soil to lightly cover the grass seed after spreading it around. One, it helps the grass stay in place; two, it keeps the grass seeds germinate; three, it hides the seeds from the hungry birds.
Second was to start watering the seeded lawn. You can't just set up a lawn sprinkler, the big drops of water land too hard and the heavy watering floats the grass seeds into uneven puddles. I had to water gently by hand. The first time went REAL slow. My showerhead wand puts out nice small drops but not much water at a time. And I had to walk on the seeded area to reach the farthest parts. It took 2 hours for just 2,000 square feet! And the experts recommend you water twice a day for the first week.
The next day, I used a fan sprayer. Wow, I did not realize how much more water that one sends out! And with so many small holes in the fan, it falls gently. AND reaches to the farthest spots without me standing on the seeds. I've done that twice a day since Tuesday. And as a test, I planted some grass seeds in a pot indoors to see when the grass would sprout in perfect conditions...
Third, I set my sight on the backyard where the ridge was removed. That area has better soil (well, softer at least). But it is lousy with gravel and small stones (to baseball size). First, I rototilled it. More stones and gravel... Then I tried raking them out. That was like trying a sweep a dirt road clean! After I moved 4 wheelbarrow loads of that behind the toolshed, I realized I could fill a pickup truck and not make much difference. So the surface will stay gravelly.
Fortunately, most of the backyard bare area (about 3,500 square feet - really, it's 70x50') is going to become a flower meadow. I have coneflowers, lysimachia, goldenrod, and black-eyed susans to transplant there. I have a dwarf (3') butterfly bush to take cuttings from and multiply and a dwarf rose (Knock Out) for the same multiplying. In between them, I'll spread perennial wildflowers and leave a curvy path through the middle.
But I've gotten ahead of myself. Rototilling the back area left deep furrows. And with all the gravel and stones, I didn't want to have to rake the whole area smooth by hand. So I stood on the deck staring at the furrowed soil and thought for a bit (with a beer for inspiration). And I had an interesting idea...
Tomorrow, "A Solution"...
Monday, September 7, 2015
Rototillering the Back Yard
Well, the back yard was sure a change from the front! The front was delivered "topsoil", the backyard was existing soil from the ridge. What a difference in quality, and not the way you would think!!! The ridge in the backyard was better soil...
When I finished the first 2" tilling of the front packed soil, I was worried about the backyard because they drove the equipment around there a lot more than in the front. But when I finished the 2" tilling of the new front soil, I did one experimental row through the back.
The back soil is WONDERFUL! In spite of all the equipment driven over it, it is (relatively) soft, loose, and fertile-looking. The surface seemed also hard, but the rototiller just went through it like a spoon through flour... That part is going to be so easy that I feel better about having to spend time on the front.
Hurray for an easy part to the project!
Planting in the backyard is going to be easy.
The important part is deciding what to plant. The front yard is easy - lawn (keeps the neighbors happy). The backyard is more important to me and the cats. We live THERE when outside. And we like bugs and butterflies and birds and bees.
So, I want a small meadow of native flowers that will support locals bugs and etc. I think there will be an edging of 3' shrubs (some to each flower in Spring, Summer, and Fall) and 2 pieces of 225 square feet (21 square meters) meadow (separated by a mowable path). I have some suitable plants I can divide and plant in clumps (coneflowers, black-eye-susans, goldenrod, and I will buy a large packet of native meadowflower seeds to scatter among them in 1 patch .
The other patch will be the Lysimachia Firecracker that has been bedeviling me in the regular flowerbed. In a patch I can finally mow around, it won't spread easily. I love the purple leaves and the yellow flowers, it just isn't a friendly neighbor to other plants. So it gets it's own spot where it can be controlled.
For the Spring Summer, and Fall blooming shrubs, I am choosing Azaleas for Spring, a Rhododendron for Fall, and I'm not sure about a small Summer-blooming shrub, but considering Knock-out Rose and or a dwarf butterfly bush. Suggestions for USA Zone 7 are welcome.
When I measure the new area for a scaled layout, I'll post it.
----------------------
I do have to add a minor accident. I was guiding the rototiller along the edge of the drainage easement in the front yard yesterday and I hit a rock. The rototiller tilted, and of course it tilted in the direction of the drainage easement. You know how somethings tilt and, just for one brief movement all is seemingly balanced? And then it falls...
In the wrong direction, of course.
Before I go further, I should mention that it seems to me that everyone has some particular problem that happens to them more often than to others. One of mine is that gas equipment doesn't like to stop when set to the "stop" position. They just sputter and cough along refusing to actually stop. My regular lawn mower does that and I have to use a screwdriver to short-circuit the spark plug to the chassis to stop it. My gas chain saw does that (when I can get it to start at all). The rototiller has the same problem.
So there it was, balanced on the digging parts trying to fall into the drainage easement. It succeeded! My first thought was DAMN! My second was "I hope nobody saw that"! But I set the lever to the stop position and it wouldn't stop. Of course...
At least the lever that disengages the digging blades (tines) worked. So there I was with the rototiller on its side in the drainage easement, sputtering. And besides, in trying to hold the thing up out of the drainage easement, I fell into it myself.
Need I mention that there are brambles along the edge of the drainage easement at that ONE spot? Probably not, what else would be there with my luck? So I picked myself up out of the muddy bottom, pulled the rototiller upright, and got it into reverse and backed it up the side of the drainage easement side.
It's OK to laugh. I wouldn't be telling you about this if I was easily embarrassed by the occasional failures in daily life. After I had the rototiller back out of the drainage easement (and turned off), I sat down and laughed too.
If you can't laugh at yourself, you have a problem... LOL!
When I finished the first 2" tilling of the front packed soil, I was worried about the backyard because they drove the equipment around there a lot more than in the front. But when I finished the 2" tilling of the new front soil, I did one experimental row through the back.
The back soil is WONDERFUL! In spite of all the equipment driven over it, it is (relatively) soft, loose, and fertile-looking. The surface seemed also hard, but the rototiller just went through it like a spoon through flour... That part is going to be so easy that I feel better about having to spend time on the front.
Hurray for an easy part to the project!
Planting in the backyard is going to be easy.
The important part is deciding what to plant. The front yard is easy - lawn (keeps the neighbors happy). The backyard is more important to me and the cats. We live THERE when outside. And we like bugs and butterflies and birds and bees.
So, I want a small meadow of native flowers that will support locals bugs and etc. I think there will be an edging of 3' shrubs (some to each flower in Spring, Summer, and Fall) and 2 pieces of 225 square feet (21 square meters) meadow (separated by a mowable path). I have some suitable plants I can divide and plant in clumps (coneflowers, black-eye-susans, goldenrod, and I will buy a large packet of native meadowflower seeds to scatter among them in 1 patch .
The other patch will be the Lysimachia Firecracker that has been bedeviling me in the regular flowerbed. In a patch I can finally mow around, it won't spread easily. I love the purple leaves and the yellow flowers, it just isn't a friendly neighbor to other plants. So it gets it's own spot where it can be controlled.
For the Spring Summer, and Fall blooming shrubs, I am choosing Azaleas for Spring, a Rhododendron for Fall, and I'm not sure about a small Summer-blooming shrub, but considering Knock-out Rose and or a dwarf butterfly bush. Suggestions for USA Zone 7 are welcome.
When I measure the new area for a scaled layout, I'll post it.
----------------------
I do have to add a minor accident. I was guiding the rototiller along the edge of the drainage easement in the front yard yesterday and I hit a rock. The rototiller tilted, and of course it tilted in the direction of the drainage easement. You know how somethings tilt and, just for one brief movement all is seemingly balanced? And then it falls...
In the wrong direction, of course.
Before I go further, I should mention that it seems to me that everyone has some particular problem that happens to them more often than to others. One of mine is that gas equipment doesn't like to stop when set to the "stop" position. They just sputter and cough along refusing to actually stop. My regular lawn mower does that and I have to use a screwdriver to short-circuit the spark plug to the chassis to stop it. My gas chain saw does that (when I can get it to start at all). The rototiller has the same problem.
So there it was, balanced on the digging parts trying to fall into the drainage easement. It succeeded! My first thought was DAMN! My second was "I hope nobody saw that"! But I set the lever to the stop position and it wouldn't stop. Of course...
At least the lever that disengages the digging blades (tines) worked. So there I was with the rototiller on its side in the drainage easement, sputtering. And besides, in trying to hold the thing up out of the drainage easement, I fell into it myself.
Need I mention that there are brambles along the edge of the drainage easement at that ONE spot? Probably not, what else would be there with my luck? So I picked myself up out of the muddy bottom, pulled the rototiller upright, and got it into reverse and backed it up the side of the drainage easement side.
It's OK to laugh. I wouldn't be telling you about this if I was easily embarrassed by the occasional failures in daily life. After I had the rototiller back out of the drainage easement (and turned off), I sat down and laughed too.
If you can't laugh at yourself, you have a problem... LOL!
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Rototillering The Front Lawn Soil
My Troy-Bilt Pony rototiller is the type with the digging tines at the rear. The first kind I bought 25 years ago was a front-tine tiller with free-moving wheels, and those are AWEFUL. The front-tines jump over everything and you mostly have to hold it back to let the tines dig into the soil (It's like making a mule go backwards). 30 minutes of that, and you have put in a full day's work!
The Troy-Bilt (and this is not an ad for them - I'm just really happy with it) has geared wheels and the digging tines behind them. So the wheels have a set speed and actually prevent the tines from pushing the whole thing forward (mostly). So you are steering it more than horsing it around.
There is also a sled-like bar under the chassis that controls how deep the tines can dig down. Trust me, when the soil is hard it sure is easier to let the tines dig down just 2" rather than trying for 6".
So I went over the entire front area 1-2" deep for a first shot today. The area is about 2500 square feet (232 square meters). It took 1.5 hours. It was difficult to break down the track treads, but I got most of them turned into pellets. I stopped for the day. I was exhausted...
That doesn't mean I wasn't pleased with the results. The hard-dried track-tread marks were all ground up, and that was all I hoped for on the first run-through. Tomorrow, I will set the depth sled-bar another 2" lower and see how that works.
I would LIKE to get the new soil tilled up loose to 6" deep (the maximum depth my hand-managed rototiller will allow) so that the grass will grow deep roots and hold the ground against heavy rains.
There will be some annoyances. I already discovered there is a large rock firmly in the ground (meaning I couldn't pry it out with a shovel). And there are a few places where the rototiller just jumps up suddenly suggesting others I don't see yet.
In hindsight, I wish I had just had the contractor dump the 2 truckloads of soil and spread it out myself. Spreading the soil by rake and shovel would have been easier than the rototillering. But it seemed a good idea at the time.
But it will all get loosened enough for planting lawn grass while the weather is warm, so all will work out in the end even if I have to do more after-work than I expected. Looking at the most positive view of this, I'll just say "Who can't use a bit more exercise"? LOL!
More tomorrow...
The Troy-Bilt (and this is not an ad for them - I'm just really happy with it) has geared wheels and the digging tines behind them. So the wheels have a set speed and actually prevent the tines from pushing the whole thing forward (mostly). So you are steering it more than horsing it around.
There is also a sled-like bar under the chassis that controls how deep the tines can dig down. Trust me, when the soil is hard it sure is easier to let the tines dig down just 2" rather than trying for 6".
So I went over the entire front area 1-2" deep for a first shot today. The area is about 2500 square feet (232 square meters). It took 1.5 hours. It was difficult to break down the track treads, but I got most of them turned into pellets. I stopped for the day. I was exhausted...
That doesn't mean I wasn't pleased with the results. The hard-dried track-tread marks were all ground up, and that was all I hoped for on the first run-through. Tomorrow, I will set the depth sled-bar another 2" lower and see how that works.
I would LIKE to get the new soil tilled up loose to 6" deep (the maximum depth my hand-managed rototiller will allow) so that the grass will grow deep roots and hold the ground against heavy rains.
There will be some annoyances. I already discovered there is a large rock firmly in the ground (meaning I couldn't pry it out with a shovel). And there are a few places where the rototiller just jumps up suddenly suggesting others I don't see yet.
In hindsight, I wish I had just had the contractor dump the 2 truckloads of soil and spread it out myself. Spreading the soil by rake and shovel would have been easier than the rototillering. But it seemed a good idea at the time.
But it will all get loosened enough for planting lawn grass while the weather is warm, so all will work out in the end even if I have to do more after-work than I expected. Looking at the most positive view of this, I'll just say "Who can't use a bit more exercise"? LOL!
More tomorrow...
Saturday, September 5, 2015
New Soil Harder Than I Thought!
I got outside to prepare the bare front yard for new grass seeds, and the condition of the new topsoil wasn't as good as I thought! It seemed loose enough when the contractor left on Tuesday, and I thought the track-tread of the spreader was light enough to not compact the soil, but I was wrong.
Yesterday, I realized the new soil had hardened like cement and there were deep tread-tracks embedded on it. YIKES! I sure can't plant grass on THAT.
Well, I had expected to have to haul out my old Troy-Bilt Roto-Tiller anyway.
I did that today. I hadn't used it in many years, and equipment that sits around unused for 5-10 years doesn't like to start up right away. But I filled up the gas tank, checked the oil, set the lever to "choke" (that's a good thing, if you don't know), set another lever to "start", and pulled the starter cord.
Nothing! 20-30 tiring pulls later, nothing! No big surprise, but I had hoped to get lucky. I'm no expert with gas engines, but I know some basics. So... I checked the levers to make sure they seemed to be working. They were. I checked the spark plug wire. It was firmly attached and clean. So I removed the spark plug itself. Naturally, my socket set didn't have the right size cushioned spark plug socket, but fortunately it is slightly raised (sensible design) and I could loosen it with a regular wrench.
I fully expected it to be fouled with old oil or needing to be cleaned and gapped, but it looked perfect! Damn... One always hopes for easy problems to fix.
Well, whenever I have repairmen around, I watch them carefully. The last time I had a guy here to get a different piece of equipment (lawn mower) running, he said the fuel line/carburator was probably gummed up. Now, you can either take the parts off and clean them, or get them running sneakily and they will clean themselves. He did a "sneaky".
He took the air filter off (exposing the carburator) and sprayed a (flammable) cleaning solvent into it. It loosened a stuck part and the lawn mower started right up on the next try.
Well, I don't have any fancy cleaning solvents, but gasoline is a basic solvent for old gasoline. I took the air filter off to add a little gasoline into the carburator. But I sure couldn't just pour gasoline from a big 5 gallon can into that small hole when I only wanted about a tablespoon of gasoline.
I could have gone back into the house and gotten an actual tablespoon. But I like to be resourceful. So I decided that the socket that didn't fit the spark plug would work as a small container if I kept my finger tightly on the bottom. It took a little work to splash just a small bit of gas out of the can, but I managed. Then dribbled it into the carburator. Puttng the air filter back on I pulled the starter cord. Nothing. Damn...
A second pull, and I'LL BE DAMNED, IT COUGHED A COUPLE TIMES, TRYING TO START. ANOTHER PULL AND IT STARTED... I had to play with the choke lever for a minute, but it settled down running smoothly. I could barely believe it!
Since it was running, I decided to use it on the hardened soil in the front lawn. More about that tomorrow...
Yesterday, I realized the new soil had hardened like cement and there were deep tread-tracks embedded on it. YIKES! I sure can't plant grass on THAT.
Well, I had expected to have to haul out my old Troy-Bilt Roto-Tiller anyway.
I did that today. I hadn't used it in many years, and equipment that sits around unused for 5-10 years doesn't like to start up right away. But I filled up the gas tank, checked the oil, set the lever to "choke" (that's a good thing, if you don't know), set another lever to "start", and pulled the starter cord.
Nothing! 20-30 tiring pulls later, nothing! No big surprise, but I had hoped to get lucky. I'm no expert with gas engines, but I know some basics. So... I checked the levers to make sure they seemed to be working. They were. I checked the spark plug wire. It was firmly attached and clean. So I removed the spark plug itself. Naturally, my socket set didn't have the right size cushioned spark plug socket, but fortunately it is slightly raised (sensible design) and I could loosen it with a regular wrench.
I fully expected it to be fouled with old oil or needing to be cleaned and gapped, but it looked perfect! Damn... One always hopes for easy problems to fix.
Well, whenever I have repairmen around, I watch them carefully. The last time I had a guy here to get a different piece of equipment (lawn mower) running, he said the fuel line/carburator was probably gummed up. Now, you can either take the parts off and clean them, or get them running sneakily and they will clean themselves. He did a "sneaky".
He took the air filter off (exposing the carburator) and sprayed a (flammable) cleaning solvent into it. It loosened a stuck part and the lawn mower started right up on the next try.
Well, I don't have any fancy cleaning solvents, but gasoline is a basic solvent for old gasoline. I took the air filter off to add a little gasoline into the carburator. But I sure couldn't just pour gasoline from a big 5 gallon can into that small hole when I only wanted about a tablespoon of gasoline.
I could have gone back into the house and gotten an actual tablespoon. But I like to be resourceful. So I decided that the socket that didn't fit the spark plug would work as a small container if I kept my finger tightly on the bottom. It took a little work to splash just a small bit of gas out of the can, but I managed. Then dribbled it into the carburator. Puttng the air filter back on I pulled the starter cord. Nothing. Damn...
A second pull, and I'LL BE DAMNED, IT COUGHED A COUPLE TIMES, TRYING TO START. ANOTHER PULL AND IT STARTED... I had to play with the choke lever for a minute, but it settled down running smoothly. I could barely believe it!
Since it was running, I decided to use it on the hardened soil in the front lawn. More about that tomorrow...
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