lawns, moss and mowers

[Malandro]

Sorry that this is not really an allotment question....

Our crappy old electric mower can no longer cope with the amount of moss in our lawn!  The blade gets stuck after a few minutes as nothing makes it into the grass catcher and eventually the whole thing cuts out due to overheating!  Often have to wait around 20 minutes for it too cool down and this happens several times each time I want to cut the grass!

So my question is:

Would a more powerful petrol mower make a better job of things or should I pay someone to dig the lot up and start again?  And do those moss killers really work?  The lawn is about 25 metres square if that helps....

Thanks

[Tail End Charlie]

The mower should be able to cope with moss, is the blade sharp?
A large part of my lawn is moss and I just let it get on, unless you tackle the underlying problem you are fighting a losing battle. For that reason, I've never bothered with moss killers so can't comment on them.

[Malandro]

The blade seems fairly sharp though I will admit I've not sharpened it for ages.  The problem seems to be that once cut, the grass/moss does not enter the catcher....it just builds up round the blade until the whole things gets clogged up.  When pulling it out, it does seem to be fairly finely cut!

[Mrs Pingu]

Tried giving it a rake to get the worst of it out?

[Malandro]

Yes - given that the catcher is virtually redundant, I have to rake the cut grass up after mowing and this seems to pull up even more.  Perhaps I could rake it several times before cutting it again!  My back is already complaining!   

[Tail End Charlie]

.... but your waist line will thank you!! 

[Malandro]

Ha ha....I thought that was one reason why I cycled!

[Quisling]

Moss killers really do work, but if you don't get a good even coverage you'll get dead black patches which you'll rake out...and then be left with bare mud in which dandelions etc will grow.

If you want a bowling green - dig it up and start again.  If you want a better lawn, start with hiring a lawn scarifier to rake out all the thatch, moss etc and make sure you re-seed the bare areas at the appropriate time of year (not my expertise!)

As Tail End Charlie says - unless you tackle the underlying problem (too shady, poor drainage?) you're onto a losing battle with any solution.

[Malandro]

Thanks everyone.  All I really want is to be able to mow the bloody thing easily.  When mown it looks fine to me....I don't need a bowling lawn just less effort and less time in keeping it short.

Guess I will start raking!

[Quisling]

It's possible you answered your own question with the words

Our crappy old electric mower

If it's a hover mower they are pretty good at clogging up especially if the grass is remotely damp/lush.  Mowers with wheels/roller etc tend to be a lot better, including rotary ones.

[Malandro]

Its a Bosch electric with wheels....it used to be okay but there was definately less moss when we bought this place!

[pcolbeck]

Get a petrol mower. They cut through anything

I have a cheap petrol rotary mower and an old but really expensive self powered huge electric cylinder mower with a roller etc. The cheap petrol only stalls if I have it set too low and it hits a high bit of lawn and digs in. The electric stalls if gets a lot of moss or if the grass isn't dry enough - basically loads of things can make it clog.

[Malandro]

Excellent!  So a bit of raking and a petrol mower should solve this problem!

Brand of mower?  Anything with a Briggs and Stratton motor right?

[Mrs Pingu]

Hand scarifiers in Lidl right now apptly.

[pcolbeck]

Excellent!  So a bit of raking and a petrol mower should solve this problem!

Brand of mower?  Anything with a Briggs and Stratton motor right?

Yes or Mountfield. Not as good as Briggs and Stratton but there again our last one lasted 10 years before I needed to replace it and that was because the deck had rusted away, the motor was still fine.