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 Home>Lawn & Garden>Commercial Horticulture>Equipment>
[Image: irrigate]Tune up Landscape Irrigation
A properly designed and operated irrigation system will ensure that the critical factor of soil moisture will be there to sustain healthy plant growth.
[Image: vertical shaft engine]How To Choose a Lawn/Garden Tractor - Engines
One of the factors that most affects both the capability of a lawn/garden tractor, and the price, is the engine.
[Image: Granular Spreaders: Selection, Calibration, Testing, and Use (1999)]Granular Spreaders: Selection, Calibration, Testing and Use (1999)
The information should make it easier for anyone using a fertilizer spreader to select an appropriate type of spreader and to obtain optimum performance from the selected spreader. This bulletin summarizes 24 years of design, study, research and teaching about fertilizer spreaders. (PDF format only)
[Image: belt drive to mower deck]How To Choose a Lawn/Garden Tractor - Power To Implements
A mower deck can’t cut grass unless it is connected to the tractor engine. This is usually done in one of two ways, with some possible permutations.
[Image: new compact tractor]Old Farm Tractors as Alternatives to Compact Utility Tractors
Although there are some imported compact tractors available under $10,000, most compact tractors from major manufacturers are in the $10,000 – $20,000 range. Older farm tractors can be a less expensive alternative to compact tractors.
[Image: mower discharge chute]Safe Operation of Riding Mowers and Lawn/Garden Tractors
Riding mowers, lawn tractors, lawn and garden tractors, and garden tractors are large and powerful. They can be dangerous if not used safely.
[Image: chain guards on rear]Thrown Objects Safety With Rotary Cutters
All rotary cutters are inherently dangerous. The thrown object hazard is not fully recognized by everyone, yet it can cause injury, blindness or even death.
[Image: hard chrome coating]Alternative to Hard Chrome for Hydraulic Cylinder Rods
Hydraulic cylinder rods have traditionally been coated with highly polished hard chrome. This surface provides reasonable corrosion resistance and good sealing in hydraulic cylinders, but the material can corrode. An alternate approach now used on some new equipment, including loader cylinders on compact tractors, is a sprayed-on tungsten carbide coating.
Renting Lawn and Garden Equipment
It is not necessary to buy all the equipment you need for your lawn and garden. In many cases, renting can be a practical option.
[Image: landscape bed shaper]Selection and Use of a Landscape Bedshaper
Some companies now offer landscape bedshapers designed specifically to lay out and maintain landscape beds. These machines are generally heavier, more powerful and more versatile than turf edgers.
[Image: API symbol]Engine Oil for Lawn and Garden Equipment
Oil is the lifeblood of any engine. Neglecting your oil can be a costly mistake.
[Image: spreader test stand]Spreader Setting Recommendations
When you buy a bag of fertilizer or granular pesticide to spread on your lawn, it will usually have a label on the back of the bag with settings for several common fertilizer spreaders. Do you know where those settings come from, how they were developed or how reliable they are?
[Image: spreader pattern]Distribution Patterns from Homeowner Rotary Spreaders
Some rotary spreaders can deliver a reasonably uniform distribution pattern with some products, but not with others, and some homeowner rotary spreaders don’t deliver a good pattern with any product.
[Image: left port closed]Rotary Spreaders With Pattern Cut-Off
Rotary spreaders offer the advantages of wide, fast coverage and forgiving patterns, but they are not well suited to working along turf edges. Some spreaders offer a pattern cut-off mechanism to address this problem.
[Image: Lawn wheelie]An Easy Herbicide Sprayer That Works Like A Spreader
Lawn fertilizers and pesticides are more easily applied as granules rather than liquids, but broadleaf herbicides need to be sprayed in many cases. A push-type walk-behind sprayer that resembles a spreader meets this need.
[Image: external fuel filter]Oil and Fuel Filters for Small Engines
One of the most important things you can do to maintain your small engines and tractors is to service the oil and fuel filters as needed.
[Image: utility vehicle]Utility Vehicles
Utility vehicles are popular and handy. They are making inroads on the use of ATVs for hunting and can also be used for many chores around a small acreage (or a large farm). Utility vehicles are somewhat similar to the small vehicles used on golf courses for decades, but use ATV components to provide more power and versatility.They aren’t cheap, but they are useful and fun to use.
[Image: ZTR mower]Zero Turning Radius Mowers for Home Lawns
Zero Turning Radius mowers have separate hydraulic pumps driving the left and right tires, and each side is controlled separately. One tire can be turning forward while the other is turning in reverse, thus the mower can pivot around its own center. This feature allows amazing versatility in trimming while mowing.
[Image: air filter and prefilter]Zero Turning Radius Mower Maintenance
Zero Turning Radius mowers, like all lawnmowers, operate in a dirty environment. Proper and regular maintenance is needed to keep your mower operating at top efficiency and minimize costly repairs and downtime.
[Image: ZTR mower with ROPS]Safety Standards for Commercial-size Riding Mowers
Commercial-size riding mowers, including the popular zero turning radius mowers, are covered by a safety standard promulgated by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Even though many of these mowers are used by homeowners, those that are designed primarily for commercial use are considered commercial machines and they fall under a commercial mower standard.
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