Does anyone stripe like this?

Rob89

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2019
Threads
10
Messages
46
Hey guys-

I'm just a newB so please don't shoot me if this a completely stupid idea but I want to get some nice, defined stripes in my lawn. I'm in Western North Carolina in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I have several types of warm season grass in my yard as well as my fair share of weeds (which I am working on removing). I'm mowing at 3.5 inches right now and am thinking about going up to 4 inches. The lawn looks like it wants to stripe but it's just not quite happening. The quality of cut is there but no real stripes. The deck of my mower is pitched back 1/4 inch.

What I was thinking about is if I cut at slightly different lengths, would that help with making defined stripes? What if I mowed at 3.75 inches going towards the street and then mowed at 4 inches going away from the street? Was just something I was pondering but wanted to ask on here before I did it and potentially wasted my time.

Thanks for any advice.
 

7394

Lawn Addict
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Threads
84
Messages
4,608
If the rear of your deck is 1/4" lower than front you are "heeling" the grass. Should be set 1/4" lower in front.

Many have made a stripe kit with a mud flap or hunk of rubber. The taller the grass the easier to see the stripes.

I never tried changing heights for every other row, I think my head would explode, trying to remember what was last.
 

Darryl G

Lawn Addict
Joined
Apr 5, 2017
Threads
27
Messages
1,685
Warm season grasses don't stripe very well because they're fairly stiff and don't lay over the way cool season grasses do. Different cutting heights sounds a bit wacky.

I double cut most of the front yards on my accounts to get the stripes to stand out more and I run the same direction each time I run my stripes in that pattern (I usually alternate between straight at the front of the house, parallel to the house and one of the 45 degree angles). Follow the light colored stripes from a previous cut to burn them in better. The down side is that you can end up having tire ruts from running the same places all the time.

@7394: Bob-Cat mowers seem to cut best heeled but Bob-Cat claims they cut best level. I run mine heeled too.
 
Last edited:

7394

Lawn Addict
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Threads
84
Messages
4,608
Thanks Darryl, Learned somethin new...
 
Top