Grass. Nature's carpet. The most wonderful and superior runway surface known to man.

Until I started flying, my relationship with grass was pretty strained. I was forced to mow it by my overlords, always a means with which to earn my room and board. I grew up farming hay in the summers-- I have carried and loaded more grass than most people. Ruined many pairs of pants by crashing into grass. Once I even skied on it with my snowskis.

But once I became a pilot, that all changed. It became the most sought after commodity in any area that I visited. Even today, once airborne, the quest is for grass and more grass. It never gets old, that feeling of smoothly touching down on a soft surface, the forgiving lateral slip that all taildragger pilots adore and appreciate. Even the bumpier grass strips feel nice.

Last fall I bought my first house, which has both front and back lawns. I bought my first lawnmower, a monumental step that cements your status as a homeowner. I don't hire people to work my yard-- I do it. This is partly because I enjoy it, but also because I have had a desk job for the last 15 years and doing light manual labor feels good. My favorite part is mowing the grass. I love my little 1/3rd acre lot, which is mostly lawn with a 1300 sq ft house in the middle, but the dream of owning 40 acres with an airstrip and hangar will never die. I will upgrade to a riding mower or a proper mower, the kind that runs on a PTO.



All this drivel has a point. I recent planted a few hundred square feet of new grass from seed to extend my lawn further toward the property line. I don't know why, but I am fascinated with the growth of new grass and how fast and aggressive it can rocket toward the sky. This stuff is amazing, and there are many different species, some tailored for specific uses and climates and resilience. Every time I'm on a golf course, I have only 2 thoughts: 1) I want to land here, and 2) I want to rip this on my dirt bike. Once a year, every year the Unadilla Raceway in New Berlin, NY opens for the motocross national race. The track is completely overgrown with grass and those guys get to rip it up!



It's all fresh and new, uncancered by moss and weeds, and had grown 3 inches in 2.5 weeks from seed! I can't help but think... what if this was my new runway I was building?



Grass is good...the best. As long as you have a lot of water.

Nuthin' wrong with ice, snow, and gravel either...

Gump

GumpAir wrote:Nuthin' wrong with ice, snow, and gravel either...

Gump

You can take the man out of Alaska but u can't take the Alaska out of the man

Yard work is always fun when you have power tools!

Zane, I lived in Fairbanks for a number of years.
I headed to Southern hemisphere each winter and on returning each spring, there, near my home was the neatest lawn ever seen.
Every year, seeded weeded, fertilized, watered, mowed, over and over again. Year after year.
One spring on my return, looking forward to seeing this brilliant gem in the neighborhood, I rounded the corner and there before my eyes, grass completely replaced with white rocks, in the centre of the ex lawn a stone plinth 4 ft high and proudly displayed on top was a gold painted lawn mower. The lawn ruled no more!

Zane - Cows like it too. The cows down in Texas would like to get some green grass about now. I guess the ranchers are starting to sell off whole herds because of the drought. Buying scarce hay is costing $100/month/cow & calf.

kevbert wrote:Yard work is always fun when you have power tools!

Wow, that's one heck of a treemower!

Zane wrote:Grass. Nature's carpet. Grass is good...the best. As long as you have a lot of water.

Here in Spanish Springs, (strangely named) it cost about the same to water an acre of grass as it cost to own and operate a decent C-310. My local aerodrome N86 has good old dirt. I've yet to operate there but I suppose it's in some way a close cousin to grass. Just, well, dirtier or something.

Zane:

Excellent choice in lawn care equip. Those Honda Harmony mowers are the cats ass arent they? I bought one for my wife 5 years ago, she runs the snot out of it. It always starts on the first pull, even if she leaves it out by accident in the rain. All of our small engines are Honda on all the pumps and gensets. We spit on the ground at the mention of Briggs/Stratton. Damn shame we cant build a small engine like the Japanese in this country.

my opinion only

JIm

I bought one for my wife 5 years ago, she runs the snot out of it. It always starts on the first pull, even if she leaves it out by accident in the rain.

Jim, Ha - did you get her a chain saw too? So she doesn't get to drive those Kubotas you buy?

Scouter wrote:Zane:

Excellent choice in lawn care equip. Those Honda Harmony mowers are the cats ass arent they? I bought one for my wife 5 years ago, she runs the snot out of it. It always starts on the first pull, even if she leaves it out by accident in the rain. All of our small engines are Honda on all the pumps and gensets. We spit on the ground at the mention of Briggs/Stratton. Damn shame we cant build a small engine like the Japanese in this country.

my opinion only

JIm

Jim,

I mowed that small patch of new grass this evening, and to start the Honda I always give it a very slow full pull on the starter as foreplay, then a full yank the second time for the start. Tonight though, I pulled on it really slow for that first pull and it fired up. Wonderful machine.

Jeremy, your stories always entertain.

Zane, I had the same delusional idea when I bought my house. I enjoyed mowing my lawn but after almost 30 years I'm thinking a condo with young girls running around in bikinis might be just the ticket..

Jaerl wrote:I'm thinking a condo with young girls running around in bikinis might be just the ticket..

American made of course!

Zane, I saw the title of this thread & thought that maybe you'd just got back from the big "hemp fest" in Seattle.

hotrod150 wrote:Zane, I saw the title of this thread & thought that maybe you'd just got back from the big "hemp fest" in Seattle.

Ha! In that case I would have mentioned all sorts of BS about it being a wonderfully versatile textile, and some stuff about "opening up your mind..."

Scouter wrote:All of our small engines are Honda on all the pumps and gensets. We spit on the ground at the mention of Briggs/Stratton. Damn shame we cant build a small engine like the Japanese in this country.
my opinion only
JIm

Some of the BS engines are pretty good. In my opinion, the biggest improvement in small engine design is the electronic ignition. In a damp machine shed, half the engines would not start in the spring until I cleaned the points. On the other hand, I fired up a BS engine the other day that has been sitting for 8 years in the shed. It fired up on the fourth pull. I've got an overhead valve BS on a mower that starts first pull as often as my Honda. For ease of starting, I think the most important factor is the type of ignition system and whether or not you drain all gas out before storage.

On the other hand, a guy that uses small generators to backup his solar power system has run out a number of engines, and his experience is that the old bargain basement BS engines were good for about 600-800 hours and the Hondas better than 2000.

The Honda costs 2X the BS, so depending on how much you plan to use it, the BS may be the best choice. But, like headsets and a lot of other things, pure economics may not be the most important criteria. I'd like to see more life data on the newer BS overhead valve engines.

tom

I got a Troy built snow blower powered by B&S. It starts really quick. You plug it into 117VAC house power and hit the start button. I don't care how cold it is or how long it's been since it's been run. It starts instantly.

Patrol guy John;

the little woman has her very own Stihl saw. She rarely uses it, and prefers me to do the sawing.
the latest Kubota is a 38 hp sweetheart. She will even mow the strip with it if I ask nice. It has a cab and radio that I dislike.
The sport of buying small tractors low $$ and selling them high has sure taken a hit with the economy. I have had to cut back on the hobby. I am down to 2 for sale
Everybody would buy a 18K used Kubota for 3K. I get a bit tired of those guys.

Jim

When I bought a small 2000 watt Honda genset a couple years ago, the dealer told me about an elderly couple who live out in the boonie here in Maine with no electricity. The woman is on some sort of ventilator 24/7, so they have backups to the backup gensets, and only use the 2000 watt to run the ventilator. They will run for 2.5 years continuous duty before failure, just shut down to refuel and change the oil. The dealer said the last 3 he has bought all failed within hours of the same mark. Good stuff from Honda

Jim

Small gas engines and my appreciation of them...