Mowing lawn when wet?

[ripcord]

I mow when wet. You pretty much have to some times given our climate.

 

[alarmguy]

OK lawn experts, thoughts on mowing lawn when wet?

I know your not supposed to - the grass doesn't cut as clean, could cause a fungus to start, could compact soil.

I am about to do so anyway. I have a very limited window to get it done, its supposed to rain all weekend - were getting a tropical storm and the outer bands just started and I am gone the rest of week. Not worried bout clumping - its centipede grass so its pretty thin. But I don't bag, so maybe thats a bad thing.

What do the pro's do - go home when it rains? It rains here often.

I hear you!
Freaking weather the last two years. I try to avoid cutting when wet too but near impossible at times.
Actually I notice no difference in the cut when wet. (centipede grass) Sometimes I think it cuts better. I dont bag, our grass grows very lush though and any area that a lot of cut grass accumulates I hit with the blower to scatter it around.

As far as I am concerned the only difference is (and why I used to hate it) is grass would stick to the bottom of the mower. For some reason, my EGO mower with compost mower deck the grass doesnt stick, it amazes me. I also hate getting my sneakers soaked.
Fungus will grow under the right conditions yet, cutting the grass while wet wont matter anymore than if it rained the next day or hour.

For what it's worth our lawn is usually the talk of any community we lived in. Even again walking my dog I get stopped and asked what I do. With that said, I didnt get to cut it this weekend because of the storm, typically I cut every 5 days or so.
That is a job for me today and this community is built on swamp mud so the ground will still be mushy after over 3 inches of rain this weekend. It's taller than I like but I will use the blower to scatter any areas that have excessive grass clippings.

This is centipede, most our community it is yellowish. I tried to post a photo but constantly get error messages, two different types. This is the latest.

 

[brandon9715]

Mowing when wet is a last resort, but sometimes you have no choice. Definitely scrape off all the grass from under your deck afterwards if you don’t want the deck to rot out much faster. All that moisture held against it is asking for corrosion.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I've mowed when wet, grass turned out fine.

 

[cptbarkey]

The land is saturated all across central texas, had no choice but to mow wet yesterday before the next cell hit another hour later. The Craftsman Pro mower from 2018 only bogged on occasion but ran strong.

 

[50yr Street Mech]

I'm stickin to tall and dry. Tired of chipping away the cement on the deck

 

[Wylie6G72]

I do it when it can't be avoided. Haven't really seen a difference in the way it cuts other than having to slow way down in the thick spots. I do have to use the jet nozzle under the mower when I'm done.

 

[zzyzzx]

My push reel mower works just fine on wet grass with none of the bad parts already mentioned here, other then my shoes getting wet.

 

[facility1]

my Toro lawn mower just clogs up and or leaves clumps of grass. best done dry.

 

[50yr Street Mech]

My " Toy Built" just bogs down and starts to cry. Then I kick it " You piece of SH-T !!!!!.......Cover the engine with plastic, so not to get the flywheel & magnets rusty. Come back when the grass is dry.