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Sorry to start a new "any ideas" thread within two weeks of my last one. I've been bitten by the creative bug again, wanting to home-fab something functional and cheap. I want to add lawn striping capability to a small MTD LT that has little space (maybe 4 inches) between the deck and the right rear tire; I don't think I'd be able to mount a roller in such a tight space. I have plenty of room to work with between the deck and left rear tire, however.
I'd like to try mounting a "flap" at the trailing edge of the deck rather than tow something behind, as I have to frequently back up to work around trees and kid structures in the back yard. I have a piece of a truck mud flap that might work if I get the mounting concept down. We'll see what time allows for prototyping. When I back up, I'd expect the flap to curl under, but the idea is to not be so long as to contact the blades.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I have seen flap type systems work ... sort of...
There is nothing like a roller system, but without room in front of the rear wheels... you might look tight in behind the rear wheels. That would take a bit of fabrication but it is doable. Around a 4 inch multi part roller should work well, but unless you are regularly watering your grass, we are about to get out of the frequent rains of spring and into the dryer part of summer... stripers work best on fast growing watered lawns. KennyV

KennyV said:

we are about to get out of the frequent rains of spring and into the dryer part of summer... KennyV

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From your mouth to God's ear, we had 2 more inches last night (June total now exceeds 10") and 3 tornados within 15 miles of home. A coworker told me this morning that he was moving to Seattle where it rains less often. :laughing:

We now return you to the lawn striping thread...

KennyV said:

I have seen flap type systems work ... sort of...
There is nothing like a roller system, but without room in front of the rear wheels... you might look tight in behind the rear wheels. That would take a bit of fabrication but it is doable. Around a 4 inch multi part roller should work well, but unless you are regularly watering your grass, we are about to get out of the frequent rains of spring and into the dryer part of summer... stripers work best on fast growing watered lawns. KennyV

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Appreciate you weighing in with some good ideas!

How about just buying a used Simplicity. We have been stripping the yard for over 50 years with them and would not buy anything else.:biggrin:

Made this couple weeks ago. Seems to work ok.

Leisure67 said:

Made this couple weeks ago. Seems to work ok.

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Nice job on the mounting arms. Appreciate the pics- looks like your system is effective.

Hi AcadGrad 81



Hi
Just wondering what lawn stripping does for your lawn? Is there a reason we do this or is this for looks only?Does that level out the hight spot or something, it look like you lawn does not need and thing done to it looks good and even.This might be a dumb question ,by i live in the country and i would not want to do that over 4 acres every time i mow i think i could wear that out very quickly.

Might try boat trailer rollers. The kind that the boat rides up on,and sits on. Three (3) or four (4)
would be enough to go across the back. With a little adjustment they wouldn't be able to go under
the rear tires.
Just an idea.
T.J.

Noma, I could be wrong, but this is just for looks. It gives a very posh and manicured look to the grass. I'm sure someone will correct me if there is another benefit.

noma said:

Hi AcadGrad 81


Hi
Just wondering what lawn stripping does for your lawn? Is there a reason we do this or is this for looks only?Does that level out the hight spot or something, it look like you lawn does not need and thing done to it looks good and even.This might be a dumb question ,by i live in the country and i would not want to do that over 4 acres every time i mow i think i could wear that out very quickly.

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x 2 on the appearance reason and a matter of personal preference. If you invest in your lawn, take it seriously and want to give it a manicured look like a professional lawn care service or a ball diamond crew, a striping system on your mower can help, provided you're growing lush, well-watered and weed free grass. I've read in a number of places, that for the best striping effect on a residential lawn, you'll want to keep it longer, in the 3.0-4.0 inch range to give the grass more "bend" when you stripe it. Here's a good review of how striping works: http://www.scag.com/lawnstriping.html.

For what it's worth, I just posted five pics of a recently finished lawn striping system in an album on this site, and I suspect it might be an evolving design.
Crossbar material is an old automotive roof-top rack, I scrounged a discarded bagger frame which had matching hole patterns for the battery box and I had a piece of a 1/4" thick fiber reinforced semi-truck mudflap that is heavy but flexible. The only things I had to buy were two 90 degree brackets, two springs and fasteners and a new 3/8" drill bit; I already had the threaded rod laying around.

Some of the design features:
Mounting arms pivot on a threaded rod between washers and double nuts.
Reverse "lock-out" bolts to prevent it from contacting the rear wheels when moving forward or jamming under the rear wheels in reverse.
Crossbar is 1" clearance from rear wheels, there's not a large overhang when backing up near trees or fences, etc.
Spring loading for downforce and adapting to uneven terrain.
Flap overlaps into the rear wheel tracks but is only 24" wide x 11.5" high.
Hand-tool assembly- no welding needed.

Now, I have to work on the yard and invest in some weed-n-feed. I'll only post pics of the yard if they're not embarrassing!!

No, that's about it. But if you have a lawn that size, then you're going to be putting a lot of time and effort into it, and there's nothing wrong with wanting it to look as beautiful as you can.

Nice addition, I'm sure it works well.

Mike

AcadGrad81 said:

Sorry to start a new "any ideas" thread within two weeks of my last one. I've been bitten by the creative bug again, wanting to home-fab something functional and cheap. I want to add lawn striping capability to a small MTD LT that has little space (maybe 4 inches) between the deck and the right rear tire; I don't think I'd be able to mount a roller in such a tight space. I have plenty of room to work with between the deck and left rear tire, however.
I'd like to try mounting a "flap" at the trailing edge of the deck rather than tow something behind, as I have to frequently back up to work around trees and kid structures in the back yard. I have a piece of a truck mud flap that might work if I get the mounting concept down. We'll see what time allows for prototyping. When I back up, I'd expect the flap to curl under, but the idea is to not be so long as to contact the blades.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

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Checkout Big League Lawns - CheckMate - Lawn Striping System - Professional Lawn Striper they have a great universal lawn striping unit

Nice job on the striper, but I can't help but stare at that beautiful 318! Nice machine. :thumbsup: