(OT) Yard Care Advice, Please?

OK here's the situation:

I have a very big yard here, and in some spots the grass grew very quickly.
I've been cutting it down bit by bit with a scythe. It's about 80% done now,
and the last of it is right in the center of the backyard.

But I'm not fast enough to please a couple of the neighbors, apparently, so
they complained to city hall and city hall says I must have it all cut
within a few days or else get fined.

(One complainer is a guy who's been wanting to buy part of my lot for many
years, the other is across the street and wants to mow it for a fee.)

Problem is, I keep getting huge blisters on the palms of my hands when I'm
out cutting. The last one was the size of a quarter and took a week to heal.
Got another like it today.

Wearing gloves doesn't prevent them, either.

If I use only one hand to cut, I tire too fast, along with getting a blister
on that hand, too. I can hardly do anything with my hands when there are
huge raw spots on the palms.

I've been using comfrey salve on them and I think without that the healing
would be taking even longer.

One thing I haven't tried yet is wrapping the handle of the scythe in
high-density foam like you find on the handles of some exercise equipment.
Do you think this would be effective? If so, where to get the foam?

How can I make the blisters heal faster so I can meet this deadline? They
are absolutely too painful to just go ahead and do the work anyway.

Anyone got a good idea that I haven't already tried? Please don't tell me to
buy a power mower, I wouldn't use one of those if I was paid to.... Don't
know which aspect I hate the most - the smell, the noise, or the way it
massacres the plants.

I've got an old reel mower that I bought from the people who gave me Abelard
but it needs a lot of repair before it will work even on short grass. I'll
get around to fixing it eventually, but meanwhile I've got to find a way to
keep the grass cut without constantly wrecking my hands.

If you have that big a yard, you will have to get a power mower.
Vermont Country Products has an electric power mower that wouldn't smell
or be noisy. you have to consider that you will need to cut this grass
quite a few times this summer. Go to http://www.drowner.com


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

Pat wrote:
OK here's the situation:

I have a very big yard here, and in some spots the grass grew very
quickly. I've been cutting it down bit by bit with a scythe. It's
about 80% done now, and the last of it is right in the center of the
backyard.
But I'm not fast enough to please a couple of the neighbors,
apparently, so they complained to city hall and city hall says I must
have it all cut within a few days or else get fined.

(One complainer is a guy who's been wanting to buy part of my lot for
many years, the other is across the street and wants to mow it for a
fee.)
Problem is, I keep getting huge blisters on the palms of my hands
when I'm out cutting. The last one was the size of a quarter and took
a week to heal. Got another like it today.

Wearing gloves doesn't prevent them, either.

If I use only one hand to cut, I tire too fast, along with getting a
blister on that hand, too. I can hardly do anything with my hands
when there are huge raw spots on the palms.

I've been using comfrey salve on them and I think without that the
healing would be taking even longer.

One thing I haven't tried yet is wrapping the handle of the scythe in
high-density foam like you find on the handles of some exercise
equipment. Do you think this would be effective? If so, where to get
the foam?
How can I make the blisters heal faster so I can meet this deadline?
They are absolutely too painful to just go ahead and do the work
anyway.
Anyone got a good idea that I haven't already tried? Please don't
tell me to buy a power mower, I wouldn't use one of those if I was
paid to.... Don't know which aspect I hate the most - the smell, the
noise, or the way it massacres the plants.

I've got an old reel mower that I bought from the people who gave me
Abelard but it needs a lot of repair before it will work even on
short grass. I'll get around to fixing it eventually, but meanwhile
I've got to find a way to keep the grass cut without constantly
wrecking my hands.

Since you say you don't want a power mower, and you seem to enjoy the manual
labor (but not the blisters), maybe a reel mower? As a kid, one of my
friend's parent's had one for their teeny-tiny back yard, and it was fairly
easy to use.

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/reelmowers.html

Also available at Lowes

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...reel %20mower

And Home Depot

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS...m.0& MID=9876

On Thu, 18 May 2006 17:25:53 -0500, "Pat"
wrote:

OK here's the situation:

I have a very big yard here, and in some spots the grass grew very quickly.
I've been cutting it down bit by bit with a scythe. It's about 80% done now,
and the last of it is right in the center of the backyard.

But I'm not fast enough to please a couple of the neighbors, apparently, so
they complained to city hall and city hall says I must have it all cut
within a few days or else get fined.

(One complainer is a guy who's been wanting to buy part of my lot for many
years, the other is across the street and wants to mow it for a fee.)

Problem is, I keep getting huge blisters on the palms of my hands when I'm
out cutting. The last one was the size of a quarter and took a week to heal.
Got another like it today.

Wearing gloves doesn't prevent them, either.

If I use only one hand to cut, I tire too fast, along with getting a blister
on that hand, too. I can hardly do anything with my hands when there are
huge raw spots on the palms.

I've been using comfrey salve on them and I think without that the healing
would be taking even longer.

One thing I haven't tried yet is wrapping the handle of the scythe in
high-density foam like you find on the handles of some exercise equipment.
Do you think this would be effective? If so, where to get the foam?

How can I make the blisters heal faster so I can meet this deadline? They
are absolutely too painful to just go ahead and do the work anyway.

Anyone got a good idea that I haven't already tried? Please don't tell me to
buy a power mower, I wouldn't use one of those if I was paid to.... Don't
know which aspect I hate the most - the smell, the noise, or the way it
massacres the plants.

I've got an old reel mower that I bought from the people who gave me Abelard
but it needs a lot of repair before it will work even on short grass. I'll
get around to fixing it eventually, but meanwhile I've got to find a way to
keep the grass cut without constantly wrecking my hands.




Pat,

I have used the sponge insulation that goes around water pipes to
cushion handles in the past. Secure it w/duct tape. They are cheap and
usually easy to find!

Patti

But I'm not fast enough to please a couple of the neighbors, apparently, so
they complained to city hall and city hall says I must have it all cut
within a few days or else get fined.

Pat, would an electric line trimmer (aka week whacker or weed eater) work?
How many days do you have?

Dan

I have used the sponge insulation that goes around water pipes to
cushion handles in the past. Secure it w/duct tape. They are cheap and
usually easy to find!

Thanks Patti! I've got some of that stuff already and will try it out.

Pat, I checked the dr catalog and they have a NEUTON cordless electric
mower for $359. It will run for up to 1 hour on a single battery
charge. If you call 1-800-376-9637 you can ask for a catalog.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

On Thu, 18 May 2006 17:25:53 -0500, "Pat"
wrote:

OK here's the situation:

I have a very big yard here, and in some spots the grass grew very quickly.
I've been cutting it down bit by bit with a scythe. It's about 80% done now,
and the last of it is right in the center of the backyard.

Define "very big". I have a big yard (about two acres) and can't
conceive of trying to keep it mowed without a large (23 HP) garden
tractor mounted mower (50 inch) - even then it takes almost four hours
and nearly four gallons of gasoline. Five acres and up would be what
I call "very big".

Before mowers were invented, lawns were dealt with by rolling the
grass down with a heavy roller (I have a 400 pound (water filled), 48
inch wide one that I pull behind the tractor to mash down the mole
runs).

You can also hire someone to cut your grass - somebody other than the
complaining neighbor.

--
T.E.D. )

Thanks Mike. I've actually seen that catalog. The NEUTON is quiet and
doesn't stink, but still uses a rotary blade, which is really bad for the
grass.

Aside from that it's a nice machine, but pricewise it may as well be
$359,000.

On 2006-05-18 19:22:18 -0500, (---MIKE---) said:

Pat, I checked the dr catalog and they have a NEUTON cordless electric
mower for $359. It will run for up to 1 hour on a single battery
charge. If you call 1-800-376-9637 you can ask for a catalog.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

Why not a push mower?

http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/s...rchid=inceptor