Home Improvement Today?

Home depot discount?!? What? My wife works for Home Depot.com we don't get any discounts :-(

 

Fyi, as a former turf care company owner and "bermuda enthusiast" (reel mow mine at 0.5"), overseeding with winter rye isn't really good for the bermuda. It slows down the transition from dormancy in the spring and robs the nutrients the bermuda stores for winter dormancy. Plus if you fertilize the winter rye at all, excess nitrogen in the soil can lead to diseases such as spring dead spot and require more chemicals to combat them. As much as I'd love to have green grass year round. I kinda like having the winters off from mowing grass considering I'm mowing every other day in the peak of summer growth.

 

My neighbor across the street is some sort of a regional manager and was able to get me a discount. We are always helping each other out with projects and tools that are needed.

 

I have a 20" tru-cut with a front roller. My yard is pretty small so the 20" is fine for me.

Got it off craigslist a few years ago for $300. Put the roller on it and got a relief grind done. I'm due for another relief grind this year.

If my yard were any bigger I would go with a 27". I had a 27" back when I had my turf care company. Sold it when i was selling off my big equipment.



Once you cut with a reel, you'll never go back to a rotary again. There's really no comparison.

Here's mine up against my neighbor's.

 

I wonder if he gave you a military discount or something. They told her that no one gets employee discounts. My father in law just started with HD last week and they told him the same thing. "Their prices are already so low" lol

 

I think they only make manual reel mowers. You'll need a powered reel for bermuda. If you mow it regularly at < 1" it's going to get super thick like a carpet. I don't think a manual reel mower will be able to cut through that and I'm not sure they'll even go that low.

You can score a used mcclane for < $300 all day long on CL. They're decent mowers.

Try to score a tru-cut if you can. They use clutches for the drive mechanism so you can slip the clutch to go slow. With a mcclane (and other drum driven reels) you're either moving or you're not.

For any reel you buy, make sure you find a local mechanic that has the equipment do a true relief grind. If they tell you they only do spin grinds or backlapping, just walk away. I have a relief grind (should cost ~$100) done every other year and in off years i'll do a backlap at the beginning of the season. Every year I backlap about halfway through the season. Keeping that reel super sharp is key to a clean cut and healthy turf.

I backlap myself. It's super easy and inexpensive.

 

That's the exact thing my college roommate always told me also.

 

I get a contractor's discount

 

Same. I cam't speak for Home Deput but I know Lowes will give you discounts on certain things if you ask. For example when buying baffles I this k they were 2.50 a piece I asked for a discount and they gave them to me for 2.25. Pus and knobs for the kitchen cabinets .50 cents off.

 

If the spigot is dripping a little go to Home Depot to the garden hose section. Get a plastic hose cap for $1.98 and screw it on the water heater spigot. I saw the suggestion in Family Handyman magazine so it's legitimate. It worked great for me.

Here's a link to the product:

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/plastic-hose-cap/972713

 

...sadly, ...I have perfected this...

 

Had a chance to rig up a 1/2" birch plywood adapter ring so I can use my 32 gal Brute trash can with my new Veritas Cyclone lid

 

You running that with a shop vac I presume?

I picked up an oneida dust deputy separator for my shop-vac last year and it works great. It really extends the life of the filters and keeps the suction strong. Very little dust makes it into the vac now.

 

Will be yeah , 6hp Ridgid

 

is the veritas lid a new product?... don't remember seeing that when I was shopping for dust extractor 6 months ago - I too went w/ the Oneida dust deputy..

 

No , not new

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=30282&cat=1,42401

 

So Pete, had a chance to run it yet for a review on performance? I'm torn between this and the Oneida Dust Deputy. For my needs, I envisioned making a compact system (sans vac portion) fit under my rollaround bench.

My challenge is size. I need nowhere near the volume of a brute trashcan, but I like this very low profile lid. Trouble is finding a short bin that is strong enough and wide enough to fit even the smallest diameter Veritas cyclone (16.5 is fat too big for a 5-ga pail). Looking online for small steel trash cans and drums now.

Dust deputy is so damn tall, but will fit a 5-ga pail. So if I went that route, it would need to be a separate from the bench and a tall-and-narrow profile to minimize storage footprint.

 

No I haven't run it yet but will do this week , my home project schedule got screwed up but I do believe the smaller Veritas lid fits the Brute can that is one size smaller than the one I have , that should fit under a bench

I'll measure my can and lid to give you a better idea on height , hang on

 

That should work nicley for you.

 

So with the larger Brute I have , it's 32" from the floor to the highest point of the lid and you would probably want an inch of clearance or so to lift the lid or slide out the can

So I would assume the 20 gal size would work for you