Improvised "bushhog"

One of the nice things about a riding lawnmower is that the blades are not "direct drive" meaning that they are not directly hooked up to the shaft coming from the engine. The engine turns a pulley, a belt connects that to another set of pulleys, and the blades are attached to these. What that means is that if you hit something hard, like a tree stump you will not likely bend the shaft of the motor, though you may "booger up" a blade.

So I got to thinking the other day. My blades could use replacing so RUINING them is no big deal...why not see if I could "bushhog" that brush in the backyard. And I was pleasantly surprised with how well it went. I turned areas that look like this:

into areas that look like this:


Granted, this is not a before and after...just representative photos. The trick, now, is to keep all the brush and weeds down. That requires RoundUp, which has been sprayed, raking (later when everything dies), and sowing grass seed. Good healthy grass keeps weeds out, or only requires spot treatments.

I would love to have the whole backyard looking nice by this time next year.