Honda 21" Height Adjust Choices and Bermuda Grass

[LoneRanger]

New Honda 16VLA 21", the entry level self-propelled they make for Home Depot. It has six choices of cut height adjustment. The two in question for my particular application are 2.5" and 3". There is no setting in between. My lawn is Bermuda, that creeping weed masquerading as grass that spreads by sending out rhizomes (creepers) that shoot down roots along their length for new stalks. Came with the house. Many thanks to the developer for that (sarcasm). So anyhow, 2.5" is too close and causes scalping in spots. 3" is almost too tall and the cut doesn't have the same smooth/clean top off that the trusty old MTD Craftsman put on it @ 2.75" height. Hard to believe 1/4" can make that much difference, only to a bitoger I guess.

Bermuda can look pretty good if you keep it healthy and keep it frequently cut. It's also trim intensive thanks to it's creeping action. Looks like [censored] in winter though, brown and ugly.

 

[CT8]

I love Bermuda it is hardy and is green . It dies out in the winter only like magic come back to life before summer. Try 3 inches for a season.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I would keep it at 3". We generally like to cut grass shorter than we really should for it to remain healthy. There are some exceptions to that, and some grass really does thrive when cut short. Bermuda is pretty hardy grass, and I generally like it. In North Carolina, we had the bane of any grass enthusiast: centipede. I hated that stuff. It was never really super green, it would creep along the ground and never grow "up", and it'd grow slow at that. Perfect for folks who hate mowing the lawn. It was miserable for me. Now that we live in Virginia, I've got a wonderful fescue/bluegrass mix that I just love to cut. In NC, I'd mow once every 10-14 days or so, and struggle to see my cut line because I really wasn't cutting much off. Now I've got to mow once a week, and some of it gets pretty long in between. I love it.

I moved my mower setting from about 2" to about 4". Centipede liked it short. Fescue likes it longer.

 

[JTK]

I too would keep it at 3". It's better for the lawn and easier on the mower. Plus you're less likely to whack something non-mowable with the blade.

 

[LoneRanger]

I researched and it looks like specifically I have Tifgreen 328 Bermuda. If I keep this mower and I likely might, this wintr I may remove the height cams for each wheel and see if a metal shop with a laser cutter or whatever (metal shop ignorance showing...) can cut in an adjustment notch precisely in between the 2.5 and 3" ones. I think that would duplicate where the MTD Craftsman's height was set, which left a really good manicured look after mowing. The Honda @ 2.5" scalps, and at 3" the top looks a little shaggier than the way the Craftsman cut it.

Could be the blade just needs sharpened, too.

 

[TWG1572]

I did a double take when I saw your location. I wasn't aware bermuda was hardy in the midwest? The cultivar you are mentioning is only hardy through zone 7. I'm guessing you must have moved?

 

[m21bmr]

I have a Bermuda lawn, and in early spring, I usually scalp all the dead grass away (and bag the clippings).
It's been my experience with Bermuda that once the grass is accustomed to a particular height during a growing season, it will look scalped when cut shorter. I usually start out cutting low and go up a couple of increments on my lawn throughout the Summer. I have been cutting at 2.25", but just moved to 2.5" this last mowing due to waiting a few more days than usual to mow and not wanting to scalp it down.
You might try leaving your mower at 3" for the remainder of this year, then next year once the growing season starts and you scalp off the dead grass, you may be able to stay at 2.5" and have the lawn look fine at that height as long as you mowed often enough.
Good luck with it.

 

[alarmguy]

I cut my Bermuda at 1.5 inches.
Care of Bermuda Grass

 

[DuckRyder]

Not that it appears to make any difference for the mowing height, but is this a VKA or a VLA?

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
So anyhow, 2.5" is too close and causes scalping in spots.


That don't make much sense because Bermuda likes to be cut real short; like 3/4 - 1 inch.

But then again, you're using the wrong mower for Bermuda.

Correct Mower Here

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Scalping is a deck/mower issue...

 

[freshcopedawg]

That mower should work just fine at 1.5"-1.75" which is a reasonable height for bermuda if you don't have a reel mower. That is assuming your yard is level and not bumpy.

 

[funflyer]

Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
I researched and it looks like specifically I have Tifgreen 328 Bermuda. If I keep this mower and I likely might, this wintr I may remove the height cams for each wheel and see if a metal shop with a laser cutter or whatever (metal shop ignorance showing...) can cut in an adjustment notch precisely in between the 2.5 and 3" ones. I think that would duplicate where the MTD Craftsman's height was set, which left a really good manicured look after mowing. The Honda @ 2.5" scalps, and at 3" the top looks a little shaggier than the way the Craftsman cut it.

Could be the blade just needs sharpened, too.




You could always resize the tires. I did this once with an aftermarket set of drive wheels that were 1/4" too tall. I used a bolt/nut as a spindle and chucked them up in my drill press then hit them with a belt sander. Took only a few seconds and they were perfect.

 

[LoneRanger]

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Not that it appears to make any difference for the mowing height, but is this a VKA or a VLA?


VLA

 

[LoneRanger]

I've noticed that if I try to mulch setting at 2.5" when the lawn is tall with this mower, the mulch process starts to fall apart and clumped clipping trails are left where the wheels track, requiring extra passes over those tracks to re-mulch the clippings.

I may have to refund this mower and look at coughing up more $$ for a Toro Super Recycler. $150 more (including s/h) online. Return may be problem now though because last time I cut, scraped the bottom flange lip of the deck against the brick veneer of the house when trying to get too close and scratched up the paint.