When you come up with a hack like that I wonder to myself, "why didn't I think of that?" It is crazy how handy you are. I loved it! Have a good week you guys.
@@SSLFamilyDad - Heck yeah it's a good idea. Especially if you throw some Gator high lift mulching blades on there. The pros do it all the time, with a chute flap. Mulch up first, with flap open. Sometimes they go in circles, shooting inwards to consolidate, then go back and forth over them, chute closed, with emphasis on backing over, which grinds them up better, and they turn to dust. Also, can do back and forth, rather than circles, with chute open, trying to make rows of mulched leaves, then close chute, run over a few times to make dissappear.
Here’s a tip for mulching. Instead of going back and forth, keep going around with the chute point inwards. That way any leaves that blow out from under the deck will be hit on the next pass.
Very cleaver! Autumn leaves are GOLD! They're so valuable for building up the soil. I cringe when I see folks put piles of leaves out for the garbage service to take away. :-\ Thanks for sharing your innovation. :-D
Been doing this for years...and I mulch ALL of my leaves. I plug the discharge chute like in the video, and do it every week from when the leaves start falling until they’re all down. It’s much easier to do it a little at a time than trying to plow through 8 inches of leaves at the end of the season. Then on the last mowing of the year, I go over it twice and the leaves are ground up so small that they just disappear between the blades of grass to the point where you can’t tell my lawn from a freshly raked one. A couple of the other commenters had good advice too, like mowing clockwise so the stragglers that escape the mower go where you’ll be making your next pass...and mowing in reverse, which works the best of all if you don’t mind looking over your shoulder that long. But...great video...and great idea. Your lawn will reward you by being lush and green...and much more able to withstand drought.
I transformed a garden of blue clay into a thriving garden by using a mulching mower and doing the final cut on my lawn and many neighbors. I had a 40/60 blend of grass to leaves, all chopped up, to toss on my garden. I faced zero resistance when I told my neighbors that I wanted to mow their lawns. The impact on my garden was immediate, and by the 3rd year people were convinced I cheated and removed all my clay and filled it with mulched soil. I had dozens of worms in every shovel full! I later moved and left a great garden for the next guy.
I'm watching and thinking to myself, "I wonder what sort of mounting bracket he's going to use? Maybe some modified pieces of angle iron or something?" Then he just busts out a handful of zipties = DONE!! I nearly did a real life spit take. LOL
I picked up the same tractor this year & after a lot of maintenance it's awesome. You might want to do what I did and change the oil in the drive then burp it. Works perfect.
Growing grass is to overrated, I have some and enjoy it but clover and being picky about grass is overrated and the bees need clover anyway. It's works, it's cheap, and I'll say it might be copy with a plate of steel with lots of half inch holes ( or larger if needed ) and used only on dry lawns. It's a great thing to have a thought of which no one has taught you and apply it and solved a problem ! Thanks for the teaching Sir. You must have a upgrade video and I will enjoy seeing how it compares to mine.
I just pile leaves in my garden, too. Mulch and then composted material. To mulch the leaves, I mow without the bagger attached and blow into piles as much as I can, then use the bagger to pick them up and dump in my garden beds.
I love the lab! I owned a chocolate and a black. Purebreds. Have one of the chocolates sons and the momma. Run over them with the mower, it reduces the size easier to move.
Sure it makes the dogs smaller, but is that really something you want to do? They move just fine on their own if you don't run over them with the mower.
15K views, in less than a week. Nicely done. I agree with your outlook on just about everything. Way to squeeze every nickle out of that POS tractor. Hope it throws the rod on the next outing. Thanks for posting.
I took the discharge chute off the Mower, slightly modified the mulch plate with some gaskets. I mulch the grass. In the Fall I mulch the leaves, then put lime down to neutralize the acid in them, and to help with the breakdown.
If the leaves are very deep you will have problems. The leaf catchers on the market are very good and will make the cleanup easy. For those who don't want to add the wood to the side, there are mulching blades available for most riding mowers.
I wish the leaves in my yard were that dry.I'm in southern Maine,and it's been a really wet fall so far.We just can't seem to get a long enough spell without rain for things to dry out.
Leaves are a God-supplied free agricultural product. Commercial compost is expensive as hell. I'm grinding mine and my neighbor's up for my country garden.
How do you feel about leaving whole leaves on the lawn? I'm wanting to smother the grass in preparation for garden beds. My first thought was to put down cardboard, but just raking leaves into place seems like a lot less work and potentially more beneficial for the soil. Thanks!
Great video. Dumb question maybe, have you checked the hydro fluid and filter and there must be a way to do a front end alignment on the tractor ? lol Thumbs up.
I will mess with the tractor next year, I fix a little each year to keep it going. The steering adjustment screw is so worn out I can't tighten it anymore, I need a new front assembly which is way more than it is worth for this tractor. If I get a welder I might be able to just weld it though
Your leaf raking partner wasn't much help but was a lot of fun watching! Try using a snow blade on your leaves next time it really works good! NO Raking
Please do not do that to your mower. That's an easy way to destroy it. My family switched from farming to professional lawncare in the 1970s. I have over 20 years of experience. All the grass under the deck gets pushed to the right to discharge. The blade on the left cuts the same amount, but the blade on the right ends up dealing with the grass/leaves from both blades. That will wear out the spindle bearings and belt much faster while putting excess strain on the engine. There are special blades and baffles you have to get to safely mulch mow. Instead, I'd use the side discharge but alter mowing pattern. Pick a section of yard to cut that has a manageable amount of leaves. Outline the area blowing inwards until you have enough room to turn around fully on cut grass. Mow the center part blowing all the leaves outwards. Once the center is cut clean, reverse direction. Mow outwards while blowing inwards. That'll leave everything cut and the leaves shredded decently. Go back over as much as needed to get leaves shredded/disbursed to desired consistency.
If you need help with jury rigging/fixing mower equipment, I have tons of experience. I have a number of project ideas that I can't do anymore. I've become partially disabled in the last two years so I can't anymore. Let me know if you're interested.
To fix the setup as is, drill 1/2 inch holes in the baffles all around. Ok, I just saw him to a bit of that. Try mowing at a high setting at first, then lower it on a second time over. That reduces the density of debris under the deck. If you do decorative hardscapes, please don't use landscape fabric. It's pointless. Mulch needs to be turned every 6 weeks to avoid mold and insect infestations. I recommend a decent looking gravel. Go on the larger side. It's a bit expensive at first but never needs replacing if cared for. Occasionally blow debris out to keep it weed free and clean looking. The larger gravel usually won't blow out of the bed with use of a blower.
Please DONT use gravel. It’s a mess and does nothing for the soil except compact it! and once you get weeds growing through it and seedlings it’s ugly.
@@1MSally1965 It's a matter of what you want to deal with. Mulch is messier with run off and is difficult to clean debris out of. He was talking about hardscapes, not farming, so soil will mainly be compacted were plants aren't growing. When planting anything in a hardscapes, you dig a rather deep whole and use amended soils. Depending on where you live, especially the upper Midwest where much of the soil was scrapped down to clay 16k years ago by glaciers, then your soil will already be compacted. The land that isn't typically has been tilled and amended for years. I'm not an expert on farming, but I absolutely am on hardscapes and turf-grass. I was the third generation in my family involved in the family business. I was a licensed chemicals applicator, and the number one recommended company for lawn renovations by the largest local distributor. The idea is to use 2"+ rounded river rock. Being a hardscape, there would be minimal traffic over it. That reduces the impact of soil compaction. My guess is that he'll fill it with decorative bushes, large grasses, and fill in with flowers and such. Mulch HAS to be changed yearly to prevent insect and mold infestations. The only exception is if you rake/turnover the mulch every 6 weeks to provide oxygen to any throughout. You could push it to every few years this way. I have nearly 20 years of commercial experience, and learned from my grandfather who has 49 years of commercial landscaping experience. I was commenting directly on the video, because if he reads this, he's experienced enough to know the basics I didn't include in my post.
@@1MSally1965 A little more. If you're going to do large decorative beds, you'll need to treat it with herbicides that you wouldn't use on crop land. You begin with an early pre-emergent in the beds just as the ground temps raise. You'll do second round in May/June. If applied correctly, it bonds to the surface of the soil below the rocks with minimal run-off. It prevents seed from germinating by filling in the pours on its surface that air/water penetrates. You'll need to do spot spraying of a non-selective herbicide for the few weeds that do pop up. By spraying a light mist over each weed, you get minimal if any run-off. This is needed once every few weeks to maintain a commercial quality appearance. If the pre-emergent was applied correctly, there will be very minimal spraying needed. I'll give another tip. Mow your grass at a tall height if you can help it. It'll help to choke out most weeds naturally. Idea height is 3.5"-4" for long fescues and related grasses. I'd do 3" for Bermuda grass and other shorter grass related lawns. If you have poor clay soil, try Dallas grass. It's a hardy grass that expands out in clumps. In most lawns, it's invasive if you want something like Kentucky Bluegrass. As the main grass, it's idiot proof. It is fibrous, so I'd mow it closer to 4" to reduce clumping.
1MSally1965 I’ve done that too but compost can be used by the lawn immediately whereas shredded leaves need to rot, compost can level the lawn and doesn’t smother the grass.
David Gough where I live the leaves are so small that they rot over the winter while the grass is dormant. We have very light loamy soil and a real problem with moles and voles. I try to make sure I don’t leave any extra protection for them.
When you come up with a hack like that I wonder to myself, "why didn't I think of that?" It is crazy how handy you are. I loved it! Have a good week you guys.
lol, not sure this was a "good" idea but it did work!
@@SSLFamilyDad - Heck yeah it's a good idea. Especially if you throw some Gator high lift mulching blades on there. The pros do it all the time, with a chute flap. Mulch up first, with flap open. Sometimes they go in circles, shooting inwards to consolidate, then go back and forth over them, chute closed, with emphasis on backing over, which grinds them up better, and they turn to dust. Also, can do back and forth, rather than circles, with chute open, trying to make rows of mulched leaves, then close chute, run over a few times to make dissappear.
Leaves are the best! I collected TONS of them from my neighbors for use in a massive composting system.
beat day with the dog ever!!!!!! got to love the fur babys
The dog was the best bonus to this video lol! Great info, thanks!
Here’s a tip for mulching. Instead of going back and forth, keep going around with the chute point inwards. That way any leaves that blow out from under the deck will be hit on the next pass.
I do that too! My neighbors think I’m nuts!
My Dad had a Simplicity mower like yours for 30 years. He "retired" it to be the snowplow Lol, and it and the new one are going strong.
I came for the mulch tip....But stayed for the dog. Awesome pet and great video.
That dog is a trip😂
Very cleaver! Autumn leaves are GOLD! They're so valuable for building up the soil. I cringe when I see folks put piles of leaves out for the garbage service to take away. :-\ Thanks for sharing your innovation. :-D
I love my yard it looks like a natural golf course
LOL!!! reminds me of my dog when I am carrying branches. He helps me so much lol
Nothing like an honest days work.
Ain't it good when simple works! Bless from England
Been doing this for years...and I mulch ALL of my leaves. I plug the discharge chute like in the video, and do it every week from when the leaves start falling until they’re all down. It’s much easier to do it a little at a time than trying to plow through 8 inches of leaves at the end of the season. Then on the last mowing of the year, I go over it twice and the leaves are ground up so small that they just disappear between the blades of grass to the point where you can’t tell my lawn from a freshly raked one. A couple of the other commenters had good advice too, like mowing clockwise so the stragglers that escape the mower go where you’ll be making your next pass...and mowing in reverse, which works the best of all if you don’t mind looking over your shoulder that long. But...great video...and great idea. Your lawn will reward you by being lush and green...and much more able to withstand drought.
So is the tarp-fetching dog the hack, or is it the tractor? 😁
Yes. Leaves are great for the lawn.
I transformed a garden of blue clay into a thriving garden by using a mulching mower and doing the final cut on my lawn and many neighbors. I had a 40/60 blend of grass to leaves, all chopped up, to toss on my garden. I faced zero resistance when I told my neighbors that I wanted to mow their lawns. The impact on my garden was immediate, and by the 3rd year people were convinced I cheated and removed all my clay and filled it with mulched soil. I had dozens of worms in every shovel full! I later moved and left a great garden for the next guy.
I'm watching and thinking to myself, "I wonder what sort of mounting bracket he's going to use? Maybe some modified pieces of angle iron or something?" Then he just busts out a handful of zipties = DONE!! I nearly did a real life spit take. LOL
Thanks for the video, great hack for mulching.
Mate, I love your dog. Much harder with it around but gee you get a laugh.
Beautiful leaves
I picked up the same tractor this year & after a lot of maintenance it's awesome. You might want to do what I did and change the oil in the drive then burp it. Works perfect.
I am going to try that, it seems like it is slipping or maybe has air in it great idea
Such a good doggie!
The dog was great!
Now that's my kind of ingenuity! All we really need is duct tape and zip ties... Am I right? LOL 😁👍🙏
I have a mulching mower with a bag that helps me chop and gather my leaves. I dump them where I want my garden next year. 👍🏼
This is awesome and SO funny!!!
Growing grass is to overrated, I have some and enjoy it but clover and being picky about grass is overrated and the bees need clover anyway.
It's works, it's cheap, and I'll say it might be copy with a plate of steel with lots of half inch holes ( or larger if needed ) and used only on dry lawns.
It's a great thing to have a thought of which no one has taught you and apply it and solved a problem !
Thanks for the teaching Sir.
You must have a upgrade video and I will enjoy seeing how it compares to mine.
I just pile leaves in my garden, too. Mulch and then composted material. To mulch the leaves, I mow without the bagger attached and blow into piles as much as I can, then use the bagger to pick them up and dump in my garden beds.
I love the lab! I owned a chocolate and a black. Purebreds. Have one of the chocolates sons and the momma. Run over them with the mower, it reduces the size easier to move.
Sure it makes the dogs smaller, but is that really something you want to do? They move just fine on their own if you don't run over them with the mower.
@@andreafalconiero9089 Ya beat me to it.
Well done!
Hey Dad, any improvements or idea designs for this years mulching? Thanks
Job well done...
15K views, in less than a week. Nicely done. I agree with your outlook on just about everything. Way to squeeze every nickle out of that POS tractor. Hope it throws the rod on the next outing. Thanks for posting.
Lol, I kind of do too!
I haven't seen leaves put in the chicken coup, I think it's a great idea. Once they start drawing worms your chickens will have a blast
We did the same thing at our camp but we used the small ½ mesh it let air blow out so It sucks the leaves in
no I put it in a pile and in the spring I spread it where I want it
You can fix the tow out on the tractor rather easily
When you buy that new Mower, Consider using Gator G6 Blades. They do a great Mulch Pass on Leaves and Grass. JMO
Grass is also good resource. Your yard is big enough to produce plenty of grass for your compost
Love the video! 😂
I took the discharge chute off the Mower, slightly modified the mulch plate with some gaskets. I mulch the grass. In the Fall I mulch the leaves, then put lime down to neutralize the acid in them, and to help with the breakdown.
We never tried that hack. Nope. But we should have!!!!! Lol 😂
If the leaves are very deep you will have problems. The leaf catchers on the market are very good and will make the cleanup easy. For those who don't want to add the wood to the side, there are mulching blades available for most riding mowers.
I wish the leaves in my yard were that dry.I'm in southern Maine,and it's been a really wet fall so far.We just can't seem to get a long enough spell without rain for things to dry out.
Puppy just wants to play.
Don't worry about the holes in the tarp duct tape will fix it.
Like the music
[ Leaf Mold ] Should put in your Garden around your Trees
Leaves are a God-supplied free agricultural product. Commercial compost is expensive as hell. I'm grinding mine and my neighbor's up for my country garden.
How do you feel about leaving whole leaves on the lawn? I'm wanting to smother the grass in preparation for garden beds. My first thought was to put down cardboard, but just raking leaves into place seems like a lot less work and potentially more beneficial for the soil. Thanks!
Not a good idea, leaves will trap moisture and lead to rot and disease
)
Great video. Dumb question maybe, have you checked the hydro fluid and filter and there must be a way to do a front end alignment on the tractor ? lol Thumbs up.
I will mess with the tractor next year, I fix a little each year to keep it going. The steering adjustment screw is so worn out I can't tighten it anymore, I need a new front assembly which is way more than it is worth for this tractor. If I get a welder I might be able to just weld it though
@@SSLFamilyDad, I hear ya, if you can get another year out of her, that would be awesome !
My grandma used to do this but she also put mulching blades on. I don't know what difference they would make but thats how she did it.
I was watching DYI vlog he’s in Michigan and has extra roosters that are great for cold weather just seeing if you need any
Dyiffent
By mulching them with my tractor makes nice grass
I have a 2004 tractor it has no PTO motor in runs on belts
The dog could get more done if you weren’t so playful🤣
PLEASE consider a vintage garden tractor with a sleeve hitch!!!! You won't regret it.
Yes you will
Only after the third one in the collection
Most mowers have doors.
I have Gator mulching blades on my tractor with a mulching kit that I bought from TroyBilt
So baling didn't work. What about just using the tractor and hay rake to rake them into windrows that you can hand rake onto your tarp?
You'll have to watch that video:)
Next purchase shouldn't be a nice tractor, but a robot mower. These things do exactly the same with the leaves, it works great 😙🎶
I really want one of those!
@@SSLFamilyDad choose wisely. Everything except Husqvarna's are junk IMHO.
th-cam.com/video/_f-4J98EWrI/w-d-xo.html
Sometimes it's the simple things....a boy and his dog... 🤣 😁
You should try a mulching blade
That is a thing
Our grass they sell a mulching kit
I am watching hoping you will get your mower with a bagger to pick up those leaves. Mulching works too I guess.
I wish I had a "piece of junk" like that.
I have to use an old push mower.
i wish i have "an old mower"
i use hands and bags.
thing is, we gotta be thankful of what we have. praise the LORD
Nice camera shot with the leaves. Too bad it wasn't in 3D.
If they are dry make leaf logs and burn them.
Your leaf raking partner wasn't much help but was a lot of fun watching! Try using a snow blade on your leaves next time it really works good! NO Raking
well least you did it before today, I didn't now its all covered in snow :\
I would try this but ther is
a foot of snow wher i live. lol
Mow backwards to mulch the leaves, then mow from the inside out, why waste natural fertilizer
I mulch my leaves I don't move them anymore
Won't duct tape instead of drilling stuff do the trick?
Why don't you fix the mower so it runs right????????????
I don't do anything special for the yard
Please do not do that to your mower. That's an easy way to destroy it. My family switched from farming to professional lawncare in the 1970s. I have over 20 years of experience. All the grass under the deck gets pushed to the right to discharge. The blade on the left cuts the same amount, but the blade on the right ends up dealing with the grass/leaves from both blades. That will wear out the spindle bearings and belt much faster while putting excess strain on the engine. There are special blades and baffles you have to get to safely mulch mow.
Instead, I'd use the side discharge but alter mowing pattern. Pick a section of yard to cut that has a manageable amount of leaves. Outline the area blowing inwards until you have enough room to turn around fully on cut grass. Mow the center part blowing all the leaves outwards. Once the center is cut clean, reverse direction. Mow outwards while blowing inwards. That'll leave everything cut and the leaves shredded decently. Go back over as much as needed to get leaves shredded/disbursed to desired consistency.
If you need help with jury rigging/fixing mower equipment, I have tons of experience. I have a number of project ideas that I can't do anymore. I've become partially disabled in the last two years so I can't anymore. Let me know if you're interested.
To fix the setup as is, drill 1/2 inch holes in the baffles all around. Ok, I just saw him to a bit of that. Try mowing at a high setting at first, then lower it on a second time over. That reduces the density of debris under the deck.
If you do decorative hardscapes, please don't use landscape fabric. It's pointless. Mulch needs to be turned every 6 weeks to avoid mold and insect infestations. I recommend a decent looking gravel. Go on the larger side. It's a bit expensive at first but never needs replacing if cared for. Occasionally blow debris out to keep it weed free and clean looking. The larger gravel usually won't blow out of the bed with use of a blower.
Please DONT use gravel. It’s a mess and does nothing for the soil except compact it! and once you get weeds growing through it and seedlings it’s ugly.
@@1MSally1965 It's a matter of what you want to deal with. Mulch is messier with run off and is difficult to clean debris out of. He was talking about hardscapes, not farming, so soil will mainly be compacted were plants aren't growing. When planting anything in a hardscapes, you dig a rather deep whole and use amended soils. Depending on where you live, especially the upper Midwest where much of the soil was scrapped down to clay 16k years ago by glaciers, then your soil will already be compacted. The land that isn't typically has been tilled and amended for years. I'm not an expert on farming, but I absolutely am on hardscapes and turf-grass. I was the third generation in my family involved in the family business. I was a licensed chemicals applicator, and the number one recommended company for lawn renovations by the largest local distributor. The idea is to use 2"+ rounded river rock. Being a hardscape, there would be minimal traffic over it. That reduces the impact of soil compaction. My guess is that he'll fill it with decorative bushes, large grasses, and fill in with flowers and such. Mulch HAS to be changed yearly to prevent insect and mold infestations. The only exception is if you rake/turnover the mulch every 6 weeks to provide oxygen to any throughout. You could push it to every few years this way. I have nearly 20 years of commercial experience, and learned from my grandfather who has 49 years of commercial landscaping experience. I was commenting directly on the video, because if he reads this, he's experienced enough to know the basics I didn't include in my post.
@@1MSally1965 A little more. If you're going to do large decorative beds, you'll need to treat it with herbicides that you wouldn't use on crop land. You begin with an early pre-emergent in the beds just as the ground temps raise. You'll do second round in May/June. If applied correctly, it bonds to the surface of the soil below the rocks with minimal run-off. It prevents seed from germinating by filling in the pours on its surface that air/water penetrates. You'll need to do spot spraying of a non-selective herbicide for the few weeds that do pop up. By spraying a light mist over each weed, you get minimal if any run-off. This is needed once every few weeks to maintain a commercial quality appearance. If the pre-emergent was applied correctly, there will be very minimal spraying needed. I'll give another tip. Mow your grass at a tall height if you can help it. It'll help to choke out most weeds naturally. Idea height is 3.5"-4" for long fescues and related grasses. I'd do 3" for Bermuda grass and other shorter grass related lawns. If you have poor clay soil, try Dallas grass. It's a hardy grass that expands out in clumps. In most lawns, it's invasive if you want something like Kentucky Bluegrass. As the main grass, it's idiot proof. It is fibrous, so I'd mow it closer to 4" to reduce clumping.
Should’ve used wire mesh
I don't understand what you are doing, just tie a board?
Leave them leaves alone 🤪😜
Putting the stripes down son
don't you have a bagger for your lawn mower I just mow my lawn for the last time and bag it all
You take nutrients from the soil that way.
Russian NPC Bot exactly what I was gonna say!
Irritates me also to see all the raking and dragging it to the curb,mulch,mulch,mulch,gods fertilizer,i use to mold a old coffee can over discharge
Why not just shred them in the yard to feed the grass? Waste of time and good fertilizer.
I think you’re better composting and spreading the compost.
David Gough disagree. I leave them in my yard every year and even though it has weeds I have the prettiest lawn in the hood. Lol.
1MSally1965 I’ve done that too but compost can be used by the lawn immediately whereas shredded leaves need to rot, compost can level the lawn and doesn’t smother the grass.
David Gough where I live the leaves are so small that they rot over the winter while the grass is dormant. We have very light loamy soil and a real problem with moles and voles. I try to make sure I don’t leave any extra protection for them.
Automatic drive
Give the dog a rake
I'll bet money your not raking today!! I bedded the cows twice with leaves this fall.
I have used leaves in the past for pig and goat bedding also and it works really well
I'm just here to tell you everything you're doing wrong! ;)
Lol
Villa Nova Farms Welcome to TH-cam; so is everyone else, it seems!
lol, thanks so much:)
burn my leaves
My pet python does the same thing when I’m out cleaning up leaves.