Home > Lawn & Garden > Home Gardening > Equipment > Lawnmowers > Picking Up Lawn Waste [Image: grass catcher] Maintaining quality turfgrass sometimes requires that lawn waste be picked up. This trash can include leaves, pine needles and grass clippings as well as twigs, seed pods from trees and pine cones. How To Choose a Lawn/Garden Tractor - Engines [Image: vertical shaft engine] One of the factors that most affects both the capability of a lawn/garden tractor, and the price, is the engine. Adjusting Rotary Cutters [Image: rotary cutter] Many people use a rotary cutter (often referred to by the copyrighted name “Bush Hog”) to cut grass and weeds, but, in too many cases, the implement is not correctly adjusted. How To Choose a Lawn/Garden Tractor - Where To Buy You will save money in the short run at discount stores and mass merchandisers. You will pay more but get better quality equipment and service with dedicated lawn and garden dealers or farm equipment dealers.  more articles... Suspension Systems for Mower Decks on Lawn and Garden Tractors Mid-mount rotary mower decks are common on lawn tractors, garden tractors, subcompact tractors and smaller compact utility tractors. There are two ways that these decks can be mounted, and the mounting method affects adjustment and operation. Lawn Mower Blades [Image: zoysia] A sharp mower blade produces a prettier cut with less stress on the turf plant. Sharpening a reel mower blade assembly is difficult and best left to a professional, but sharpening a common rotary mower blade is not a big problem. Mow Like a Pro [Image: rutted turf] Varying your mowing pattern can cause you to spend a little more time mowing, but the result will be a greatly improved appearance in your turfgrass. Adjusting Finishing Mowers [Image: finishing mower] Finishing (or grooming) mowers typically have (two or) three blades and are designed for quality mowing of turfgrass. They have multiple gage wheels and rollers that allow a relatively low cutting height with minimal scalping. Safety Standards for Riding Mowers and Small Tractors Riding mowers, lawn tractors, lawn and garden tractors, and garden tractors are covered by several safety standards that are designed to protect you, the operator. How To Choose a Lawn/Garden Tractor - Quality Versus Price [Image: welded front axle] Do you get what you pay for when buying a mowing tractor? There is certainly a wide range of prices; in fact, you can easily pay twice as much for a lawn tractor at a major farm equipment dealer as you would pay for a lawn tractor with the same horsepower and mowing width at a discount store. What do you get for the additional money? Power Lawnmower Maintenance [Image: sharpening lawnmower blade] A power lawnmower requires regular maintenance if it is to provide reliable service. Most of the maintenance steps are easy and can be done by a reasonably handy homeowner. Power Lawnmower Features [Image: operator presence control] Power lawnmowers are available with a wide array of features. Some of the features are helpful; some less so. It can be a challenge to optimize both features and price. Preventing Overturns with Riding Mowers and Lawn/Garden Tractors [Image: Lawn tractor] You might think that riding mowers and lawn/garden tractors are small and low to the ground so overturns are not a problem. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Riding mowers and small tractors can overturn to the side or rear fairly easily. The Effects of Width and Speed on Mower Productivity [Image: finishing mower] It seems obvious that a wider or faster mower will cover a lawn faster than a narrower or slower mower, but this is not always true - and seldom will the increase in cutting rate be proportional to the increase in width or speed. More...