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Cdubu52

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Happy New Year!

I agree a tech upgrade would be nice. I have been contemplating one of the Android radio CarPlay units that give you an upgraded 10in screen for either her birthday or Christmas but I have not pulled the trigger yet. I love mine in my ISF but the ones for that gen each seem to have some compromise you have to make depending on the brand. The worst part is that each compromise from each brand is different, and no one seems to have it all ironed out.
I agree. I dont like the options out there. With everything running through that screen, an upgrade seems difficult. I will search around on some forums and do some more research. I looked into it a few years ago, so Im sure there may be some upgrades. Its funny, I use Crutchfield for my research on a lot of things car audio and they have zero options for replacing the head unit.
 
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Xti04

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Nov 11, 2016
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I know there is a nice plug and play setup for 100 and 200 series landcruisers that does climate control, audio all in one unit. I thought the IS had something similar. When I was looking to buy my buddies IS he mentioned there was a nice plug in with carplay/ android auto etc. I.believe this it the one he was referring to

 
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Cdubu52

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I know there is a nice plug and play setup for 100 and 200 series landcruisers that does climate control, audio all in one unit. I thought the IS had something similar. When I was looking to buy my buddies IS he mentioned there was a nice plug in with carplay/ android auto etc. I.believe this it the one he was referring to

Thanks for that. I have looked at Hamilton for the 4Runner, I did not realize they had a Lexus conversion as well. And they are very local to me as well. That may be the way that I go for both.
 

cccoltsicehockey

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Apr 3, 2014
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Charlotte, NC
I know there is a nice plug and play setup for 100 and 200 series landcruisers that does climate control, audio all in one unit. I thought the IS had something similar. When I was looking to buy my buddies IS he mentioned there was a nice plug in with carplay/ android auto etc. I.believe this it the one he was referring to

This is a nice one. Might have to be an upgrade to her car in the future.
 
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Cdubu52

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Pittsboro, NC
I had a few hours in the shop right before we left on vacation, so I figured I would knock out my new hitting mat. I bought a cheap carpet on Amazon and backed it with the foam puzzle padding like what I already had on the floor below. I used some 3M spray glue and joined the padding to the carpet. Well, its temporary for now. I ran out of glue so I am going to go back and spray it again when it gets a little warmer.

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I had already bought a hitting pad, and just needed to cut out a spot for it.

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All complete and ready for some swings. Now, it just has to warm up a little in the shop to enjoy it.

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For Christmas, I bought my wife tickets to see The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere in Las Vegas. That trip was this past week. It was purely vacation and it was really nice to go out there and disconnect from our daily hassles. Of course, Im a terrible photographer, as I tend to enjoy the moment and always wish I took more pictures. My wife is the total opposite, but I dont have her pictures to post so you will just have to live with mine.

I will say the WOZ at the Sphere was unreal and totally worth it. I dont want to overhype it, but for a many years old movie, it was a wonderful experience in "4D". I would love to go back and watch a concert there. It is a one of a kind venue.

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Of course we made it down to Freemont street. I think we hit all of the casinos and had a blast spending an evening there.

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One of the unexpected, but very enjoyable excursions was to Arte Museum. It was a very immersive Art Show. I dont know how else to describe it. It was all projector and light, and was really cool. It was a great way to spend a couple of hours away from the casinos.

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Of course we had Scorpion shots! And yes, that is a pickled scorpion in the Tequila!

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It was a great vacation and good time away from the hustle of our everyday life. We are already planning our next trip out. We are thinking about taking our daughter out there next year for her 21st.
 
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Cdubu52

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Well, I didnt realize that I had not posted anything in over a month, make that almost 2 months. I will do a couple of posts to catch up.

January was a strange month. We had a lot of family stuff going on. My uncle who was 85 passed away and I got to see my cousins for the first time in a couple of years. We spent a couple days hanging out and it was good to catch up, considering the circumstances. Then the weather turned and it got real cold. After our vegas trip both my wife and I stayed sick with that upper respiratory virus that was going around everywhere. That took a good 2 weeks to get over so I did nothing for 2 weekends but sit on the couch and catch up on TV shows and Football and Basketball games.
Then the snow came to NC!

The one thing nice about the colder temps, I fired up the wood stove again. The last couple of years we have not had enough extended cold to go through the trouble of keeping it going. That stretch in Late Jan and early Feb, with temps staying in the teens at night and highs barely in the 30's, I decided it was the perfect time for wood heat.
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Obligatory early snow pics. I think it had only been snowing for an hour or so. I had gone out to the shop to tinker and there was nothing and when I was done in there, this was on the ground.

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Later that night we went out riding in the Gladiator.

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First time in the snow with the Gladiator since buying it this summer. It went good, 5 stars, would recommend.

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I did manage to take care of one project, and Im glad it was inside. Our faucet had a crack in it somewhere. It was one of those where water would just appear at the base of the fixture randomly depending on which way you swung the spout. We managed it for a couple of months and then I was just tired of it so afternoon indoor project time!

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Because of the prolonged freezing temps, I did have a couple of casualties out in the shop. Although, I thought I had winterized my wash station well enough, I was wrong and learned a very important lesson. At the bare minimum, disconnect all water hoses from the pressure washer. Not only did I have a crack in my pressure washer that is pictured below, I also lost the hose reel. It froze at the water connection and had to be replaced. That is the second one of those.

Dont worry, I have made a mental and actual physical note to make sure to unplug all water connections if a freeze is expected.

My pressure washer is the Active 2.0 and I reached out to their customer service and they do sell replacement parts. I am actually still waiting for the part to be delivered, but they offered the part for only $40 and will take it back if it does not work. And, if there is no solution for repair, they offered me a "substantial" discount if I have to purchase a new unit. That is their words not mine, so I hope I dont have to learn what substantial means.

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Cdubu52

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Always nice to see customer service come through, It's not always this way
I agree, I was pleasantly surprised with that response. I told them that this was completely my fault, but they still checked it against any defect recalls and warranty issues. They had me send in the serial number and a photo of the unit. I will be sure to buy from them again.
 
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Cdubu52

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Pittsboro, NC
This post will be in stark contrast to my last post.

I have been looking at some storage ideas and decided to go with the current trend of building a tote storage wall. I used a plan i saw online. I dont know why I used a plan, I could have figured this thing out without a plan, but I thought it would make my life easier. I was wrong, kind of.

I went with a plan that used standard 27 gallon totes, but this plan used a sideways orientation, instead of a long ways orientation. in other words the totes fit in with the longer sides facing out, which make the rack wider but shallower on the wall. Not a big deal, but I wanted to preserve floor space. The plan was nice, because it suggested spacer blocks and they helped to speed up the process. Thats really why I was using the plan to begin with, speed and efficiency. Because thats my middle name!.

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And here is where I hit a snag. So, the plans laid out the bottoms and tops at 93.5 inches, so just a few inches short of a standard 8ft 2x4. I built it and put it all together and did not take any photos of this part, because who cares, I will just post the final. Well, once I put it all together and stood it up, I called my wife out to show her the final project coming together, and when I went to put the totes on the rack, they didnt fit. And when I say they didnt fit, I dont mean it was a tight squeeze, they were inches off. I looked at my bins, 27 gallon, I looked at the plan, 27 gallon. Mine were black with yellow tops. The plans showed black with yellow tops. Mine were from Lowes, because its only 6 miles from my house. The plans were from Home Depot. And here lies the problem with assuming all 27 gallon totes are the same. So as the steam started to rise, no photos were taken. As you would know based on that SOB Murphy, the Lowes totes are 30.6 inches and the HD totes are 28.6 inches in length. And for the first time in my life, I was an inch to big. And then the next issue, once you add in a little wiggle room for fitment, 8ft 2x4s are now too short! So back to Lowes we go, for 10 footers. What an epic headache and now you see why I didnt take any more photos. This was supposed to be a simple quick project. Spoiler alert, its still not done.

I did decide to paint it black, and ran out of paint.

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As the storage rack is still sitting in the shop waiting for its final install and lipstick, I went on my annual spring golf trip!

We went to the Myrtle Beach area, actually Sunset Beach and did a stay and play at Sea Trail. Again, I get distracted by my good golf and flowing libations and forget to take photos. Here are a couple of them.

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This course is covered in gators. This one got real close to our golf carts. I took a video as we were driving by. He was not happy about it!

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I rushed back to get in a mow.

Here is the before!

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During:

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And After:

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I had to cut it twice. I started at 4", but the mower kept bogging, so I raised it as high as it would go for the first pass and then lowered it back to the 4" on the second pass. It was much quicker since it was the main yard and not all of the edging around the trees and other landscaping. Got it all done just as the sun was setting. Im going to put out my spring fertilizer this week along with a preemergent. Then I hope to spray my post emergent later this week or early next week.

Im wide open with High School Softball again this season and that takes up 3 days during the week and then usually some maintenance at the field on one weekend day.
 
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turbowoodworker

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Mar 18, 2012
Messages
3,520
Location
Apex NC
Well, Chris, I can see why you had not posted in a few weeks. Busy guy!
Snow here was fun but those three weeks of very low temps, for NC at least, was unusual.
What course had the gators?
HS sports! More fun. My son is playing varsity baseball at Seaforth. How are you liking the 4A, 5A realignment? At least they preserved the Seaforth Northwood rivalry games.
Glad all is good and you are back posting.
Rick
 
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Cdubu52

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Pittsboro, NC
Mmmm mower stripes. Nothing better.

Impressed with things I have read online about Actives support. Seems like a solid company.

Replacement part has arrived, and looks good. I just need to install it and test. We will see if it holds pressure.
Well, Chris, I can see why you had not posted in a few weeks. Busy guy!
Snow here was fun but those three weeks of very low temps, for NC at least, was unusual.
What course had the gators?
HS sports! More fun. My son is playing varsity baseball at Seaforth. How are you liking the 4A, 5A realignment? At least they preserved the Seaforth Northwood rivalry games.
Glad all is good and you are back posting.
Rick

Thanks Rick. We are in 3A now. Its crazy to think that as SF has gotten bigger, NW has gotten smaller. Yeah, the AD's are really pushing for us to play all county schools where possible. We only have 6 teams in our conference so we have room to play locals schools out of conference. And it doesn't hurt our strength of schedule.

There were gators at all 3 of their courses, but it seemed like Sea Trail Jones had them on almost every hole. Wherever there was water, there was a gator.
 
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Cdubu52

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Pittsboro, NC
Not a lot of shop stuff this weekend. We go down to our beach house every year for St. Patricks Day. North Myrtle does a big St. Patty's celebration. Its a ton of fun and we had to partake in the festivities!

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When we got home the replacement part for the pressure washer was talking to me. I figured I had a few minutes and knocked it out. Here is a look at the damage.

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And the replacement.

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It was a simple fix. It was starting to rain as I was finishing up, so I did not get a chance to test it out, but i put it back on the shelf and will test it next weekend. This week is going to be a busy one. One big storm today, then 3 softball games, and I have to try and get a mow in at some point.

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Cdubu52

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Update on the pressure washer and hose reel. Both have been repaired/replaced and are back in action. I was able to wash 3 cars on Saturday and everything works as it should.

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Got out for another round yesterday. No fancy course, just a local muni, but for an 80 degree day in March it was hard to find tee times.

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I had to mow both Saturday and Sunday. It had been 2 weeks since my last mow. We went to the beach last week and it was raining when we got home so with my busy softball schedule this week, no mow last week. I mowed at the top deck height on Saturday, let it dry out, and then on Sunday lowered the deck to 4". I was hoping to prevent a ton of grass clods. This new high grass is very healthy and wet. That along with the amount of weeds mixed in really clogs up the mower. I have to go back with the blower and lift all of the heavy clumps.

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I sprayed my post emergent about 10 days ago and with the temperature fluctuations, its just now starting to show. The weeds are starting to yellow and you can really see how bad they were this year.

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fouckhest

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Greer, SC
Lawn looks great! This weather has been wild, although I am jealous of all your fescue that is already green, regardless of weeds!
 
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Cdubu52

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What filtration setup is that?
On the pressure washer? Its just a simple home filter that I got from Lowes. Nothing fancy, I just wanted a sediment filter to make sure that there was a little bit of filtration before it got to the pressure washer. We are on a well, and although its not terribly bad, there is still some mineral and sediment that gets through the lines. I have 2 of the same under the house filtering the house water so I figured adding another in the shop off of the hosed lines, would just be a little more insurance. And, it seems to work to keep the water spots to a minimum without adding any super expensive filtration.
 
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Cdubu52

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Lawn looks great! This weather has been wild, although I am jealous of all your fescue that is already green, regardless of weeds!
Thanks, It must have been due to the fall fertilizer and the wet February. I didnt get my spring fertilizer out until 10 days ago, so its just starting to take hold. The ground temps are rising, which is good for fescue, but I also mix in perennial rye, so that is probably what has come in so green. I like it because, its usually a darker green than a traditional rye and blends well with fescue, especially in my hard to grow areas.
 
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Cdubu52

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Glad to hear the repair part fixed your pressure washer setup. Lawn is looking great as always.
Thanks, me too. I was not looking forward to having to replace it. Its working good so far, I have a small leak in one of my hose connections, but that should be an easy fix. I had to replace all of the fittings since I changed the hose reel. This reel was different than my previous ones and had different fittings all around. I just have to find the drip.
 

Blackbyrd

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Nov 28, 2020
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TN
@Cdubu52 I do something similar. I use those in line water filters they sell for rv's and camping. Threads onto the end of a spigot on one end and the hose on the other. Cheap and replaceable.

Ive looked into the spot free rinse bead resin kits several times. We have fairly harsh water and im concerned useful life is gonna be pretty short. That was my experience with a product griots used to sell anyway.
 
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Cdubu52

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@Cdubu52 I do something similar. I use those in line water filters they sell for rv's and camping. Threads onto the end of a spigot on one end and the hose on the other. Cheap and replaceable.

Ive looked into the spot free rinse bead resin kits several times. We have fairly harsh water and im concerned useful life is gonna be pretty short. That was my experience with a product griots used to sell anyway.
yeah, I cant justify the cost of the Deionizer's. I will stick to the simple filters and blow dry after washing. Its been working so far.
 
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Cdubu52

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As many of you know, I am a high school softball coach. I spend a lot of time working on our field and dont really document that on this forum. This is a small exception. We have a very nice cage complex. That complex was built 10+ years ago and we do our best to keep adding to our facility and maintain it as best as we can. Earlier this season, we did a bullpen project, that I dont have any pictures of. It was a parent donated project. They provided the materials and the labor to install. That included a dump truck load of dirt and screenings. This project was completed while I was out of town and is great. The problem that I had to deal with is the location of the dirt that was left once the project was done. The dirt is ours and we will use it when we need it, but when the truck dumped it, they put it right in the middle of the drainage ditch that was put in to divert rain water around the hitting complex. We have had a couple of big rains and this dirt is causing water to move away from the ditch and directly into our cages and float our turf and mats. I didnt get a great shot of how much water was standing just above the dirt pile, but you can see how the water was draining directly into the cage.

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This picture shows how far the water was getting into the cage complex. What you cant see is how wet the turf was. When you would walk on it water would seep through the turf. It was holding a ton of water.

Our School bought a mini tractor last year and it came in clutch for this project. It is a little under powered, but did great.

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It was a soupy mess, but I did not get the tractor stuck. I will have to go back and clean it up, but my main mission was to keep the water from pooling and draining the wrong way. I got the drainage situation fixed and the pile moved. I can make it pretty later.

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We had a little gravel left in surplus, so I did my best to fix the driveway/parking area from all of the ruts. Once it dries, I will be able to get back in there and clean it up.

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Back to the house and a new project there. Since I use the hose at the back of the house for the pressure washer, I have been thinking of adding a hose reel and making that a nicer looking unit. Decided to get a new reel and instead of mounting directly to the house, I used a 4x4 post as the mount.

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Post leveled and about to use the expanding foam to set the post.

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Had to mow again while I was waiting for the foam to set up.

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Reel in and complete. I will wait another day or two for the foam to get fully cured and rigid and will cut the excess and fill it in. New reel works great and looks pretty good too.

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cccoltsicehockey

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Great work with the tractor. Always a fun project in my mind, but in the mud, definitely a little less enjoyable.

The lawn is really getting full now. Those are some vibrant stripes. Love it!

That hose reel setup looks really nice. A post for a reel was something I overlooked in my breezeway. I am thinking I might buy the Eley freestanding reel instead vs digging up my pavers to put in a post for one. A post, though, would keep me from sitting something on my pavers to stain them.
 
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Cdubu52

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Great work with the tractor. Always a fun project in my mind, but in the mud, definitely a little less enjoyable.

The lawn is really getting full now. Those are some vibrant stripes. Love it!

That hose reel setup looks really nice. A post for a reel was something I overlooked in my breezeway. I am thinking I might buy the Eley freestanding reel instead vs digging up my pavers to put in a post for one. A post, though, would keep me from sitting something on my pavers to stain them.
Yeah, I loved it. And I really want a tractor at the house so this was a good trial run. It was just too sloppy to get it dialed in. The dirt on the back side of the ditch is going to have to wait. It was on the hill side and could only get to it from one direction. I was doing too much damage to the parking area.

I like the hose reel so far. I was going to mount it to the house, but then decided on the post. I wanted it a little closer to the house, but the gravel around the foundation and under the patio kept me from getting too close to either. That was the only place I could get 2 feet deep.
 
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Cdubu52

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Got a ton of yard work done, but didnt take pics. Im really bad about putting on an audiobook and just going about my business. I swapped out my mulching blades for some new high lift blades. I talked with a landscaper buddy and he told me that for the really high wet new spring fescue, the mulching blades were not the best to use. Apparently, they cause way more clumping and the high lift will cause more of a suction and throw the clippings out of the deck. After the first cut, they really did as advertised.

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Also, that snowball bush is blowing up again. What's crazy about that plant is when I bought it, the nursery said that it would only get to 8 ft max, that it would be 8x6 at its max. That's why I planted it in that spot. Well, its closer to double that.
 

HogDude

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Dec 25, 2020
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Nebraska
Got a ton of yard work done, but didnt take pics. Im really bad about putting on an audiobook and just going about my business. I swapped out my mulching blades for some new high lift blades. I talked with a landscaper buddy and he told me that for the really high wet new spring fescue, the mulching blades were not the best to use. Apparently, they cause way more clumping and the high lift will cause more of a suction and throw the clippings out of the deck. After the first cut, they really did as advertised.

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Also, that snowball bush is blowing up again. What's crazy about that plant is when I bought it, the nursery said that it would only get to 8 ft max, that it would be 8x6 at its max. That's why I planted it in that spot. Well, its closer to double that.
What brand/model of mower and what brand of high lift blade? Just dove into my first zero turn. First mowing was on Easter. Still learning the ins & outs.
 
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