RyanShort1
Final Approach
I'd bet there is SOME way to get an exemption... or a rule change. Gotta make the case that the shed is going to look nice, not ruin the neighborhood, and address theft issues.
Anybody using robotic lawn mowers?
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You are getting ripped off paying that much. There is a Honduran guy who does my yard when I am away and he charges half that. Very reliable guy and he does an excellent job.
Check around Lewisville for one of those guys...
Juliet Hotel
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Juliet Hotel
It keeps the area in compliance with someone's particular definition of nice. That's not necessarily my definition of nice. The only thing worse than HOA's are 'designated historical' neighborhoods where the local government gets to decide for you what color you need to paint your house and/or what kind of material you need to use when you replace the roof.
JOhnH
Touchdown! Greaser!
How big is your yard?
I have around a half acre and I pay $120/month. (Same guy for many years and he never raises prices to existing customers, even though I urge him to).
He comes in with his industrial strength tools (riding mower, blower, edger, hedge trimmer) and does my whole yard in about an hour, including edging around a whole mess of landscaped islands my we created and around all the sidewalks on two sides of our corner lot and the driveway. It would take me all day, or maybe two, to do that and it wouldn't look near as nice. Besides, I am retired and I just have way too much to do to waste time doing all that boring stuff every week.
SixPapaCharlie
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Sixer
I hate the Effing HOA.
They can do all sorts of nasty things if you cross them. I only pay 250/yr.
supposedly that pays for keeping the area around the neighborhood mode and I know they put up a new brick wall cuz I just started to fall down and other such things but mostly they'd send you letters showing you that your trash cans were on the curb a day earlier or a day late.
Right now I'm trying to build a pergola in my backyard I have to send them the design for type of wood the color all sorts of information about what I want to build and then they have 21 days to approve or decline it. If they decline it I may move.
They can do all sorts of nasty things if you cross them. I only pay 250/yr.
supposedly that pays for keeping the area around the neighborhood mode and I know they put up a new brick wall cuz I just started to fall down and other such things but mostly they'd send you letters showing you that your trash cans were on the curb a day earlier or a day late.
Right now I'm trying to build a pergola in my backyard I have to send them the design for type of wood the color all sorts of information about what I want to build and then they have 21 days to approve or decline it. If they decline it I may move.
JOhnH
Touchdown! Greaser!
For those of you that don't like your HOA's, were they created after you bought your house?
SixPapaCharlie
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Sixer
2/3 acre lot.
I had one guy mowing my yard but it would take him two or three hours as well the problem is I have dogs and so I have to have a mowing company that can come at a specific time so I can leave them in the house.
I've gone through multiple lawn mowing companies that were only charging me $25 a pop but in the middle of a random Wednesday I would get a text message saying we're in your backyard and your dogs are barking at us and I'm like what the hell dude I thought you were coming on Saturday morning.
They always say well we were in your area so we decided to mow it today. All of the companies that can mow it in 15 minutes using 10 guys on riding mowers are like that
FormerHangie
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I cut my own as well. When I broke my leg I had a service doing it and they managed to break a limb off of a tree. I'm really not sure how they managed to do that, but it persuaded me to go back to doing it myself. Also, the lawn service wants to use riding equipment and it does an uneven job. I try really hard to avoid doing it on the weekend, I try to save that for bigger projects or something fun. I can cut and string trim the lawn in a couple of hours unless it's gotten overly long, like after an extended period of rain where I can't cut it for two weeks. I use a 21 inch self propelled rotary mower, but I've got to replace it. We have Zoysia grass and it's crazy thick. Our yard is hilly and I need the self propulsion turned on to go downhill. I can't think that any battery powered mower could get the job done.
My current mower is about worn out, and I'm thinking of going with a reel mower. Supposedly Zoysia will do better being cut with a reel.
Our HOA mostly maintains the pool and tennis court. I'm the chairman of the architectural review committee, and we're pretty chill about what you want to do with your house. The only real dispute we've had was when someone got permission to put a shed on one part of their property, found that it wasn't a suitable location, and got a board member's informal approval to move it. The homeowner whose house was next to the shed took exception to it and demanded it be moved.
Yeah, seriously. I seen men who have teenaged sons cutting their own grass, or worse yet, paying someone else to cut it. What's up with that? Once I got to fourth grade, my father didn't cut any grass.
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3G
So you’re paying a little extra for a little extra effort? You know the drill, cost, schedule, quality.
Do you get as many mowings as you want for $200 or is every other week for $200, or is it twice a month for $200?
We’re in the SAT area on a 1/2 acre. I’ve had a company in before and it’s been $50-$75 a shot to mow & bag, edge, and trim the hedges, etc.
Higher than I’d like, but when my time is worth more than that, it’s a deal.
AggieMike88
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The original "I don't know it all" of aviation.
Agree. Pay Jack $40 per week for a job done properly and he'd be thrilled to have the cash. Plus learn some responsibility.
Banjo33
Line Up and Wait
Yep, I live on about a 2 acre lot. The front 2/3 is all flat with no obstacles, except a hill along the road. I told my wife that beginning this summer, I’ll continue to cut along the road/hill, but our son was doing the rest. She’s not happy about it, but she doesn’t cut the grass either, lol. It has to be done every week and is an almost 2 hr job, even with a ZT mower.
Banjo33
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Or pay the lower fee for the unscheduled lawn company to just do the front yard and have your son do just the back with the dogs?
DaleB
Final Approach
We pay under $150 per year in HOA fees. I don't think that's quite going to cover mowing the yard, and I certainly wouldn't want the HOA managing that anyway. They maintain the common areas, entrances, and the park.
1/3 acre, 22" push mower. Still not half a day, though. I can trim and mow in 1-1/2 to 2 hours, depending on how badly I want to be doing something else.
No. We bought the house knowing that the covenants would expire in a few years, and I was willing to put up with the BS restrictions until then. What I did not expect was that they would get enough support to extend the covenants (and with them the HOA) by an additional sixty years, over my strenuous objections.
I am seriously considering this year to start paying one service to scoop and remove dog poo and another to do the trimming, grass, trees, etc. We've been watching the crew that does our neighbor's house across the street, and I want them doing my lawn too. I'll use the extra time to fly, exercise, and work on this Mustang I just picked up.
JB1842
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I find nothing more relaxing than putting in my earbuds, cranking Metallica, jumping on my rider, and getting to work. 2 beers (30-45 minutes) later and I'm done, depending if I bag or not that week.
gdwindowpane
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SoonerAviator
I think I was about 9 or 10 when I helped my father mow the lawn a few times. It became my job after that until I went to college, lol. It was the only "chore" that I got paid for, though.
simtech
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I don't live in an HOA..I live out in the country on 15 acres which is still too small. I grew up in mesquite, TX in a zero lot line subdivision. Growing up in that I knew it was not for me and there wasn't and still is not an HOA there.
DaleB
Final Approach
On the subject of robotic mowers... the idea is a little bit appealing, but I have very, very little confidence that one would work well enough for our yard to make it worth the expense. We've got enough flower beds, slope, etc. that I'm pretty sure I'd spend more time getting a robo-mower unstuck or covering the areas that it won't/can't do than I would mowing myself.
Part of this is based on my experience with robotic vacuums. When they work, they're OK. Problem is, they don't work a significant percentage of the time. One that I bought new needs enough money spent in upkeep and repairs to replace it every couple of years. The other works OK, but is incapable of vacuuming the area for which it's responsible without intervention at least once or twice when its sensors fail to perform as they should. It's quicker and less hassle to just do it myself.
If robots became self-aware today, they're dumb enough that they'd probably all just get government jobs.
Part of this is based on my experience with robotic vacuums. When they work, they're OK. Problem is, they don't work a significant percentage of the time. One that I bought new needs enough money spent in upkeep and repairs to replace it every couple of years. The other works OK, but is incapable of vacuuming the area for which it's responsible without intervention at least once or twice when its sensors fail to perform as they should. It's quicker and less hassle to just do it myself.
If robots became self-aware today, they're dumb enough that they'd probably all just get government jobs.
Juliet Hotel
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Juliet Hotel
Move. Don't you live in Texas where they're all about freedom and whatnot? And someone else gets to dictate what kind of wood you're allowed to buy to build a pergola on your own property? Move. Seriously. Move.
jimhorner
Line Up and Wait
Pay? Pay? Wow...
I started mowing our acre lot when I was 10 behind a regular old push mower. No self propelled stuff or anything like that. I brought up the subject of payment with my dad exactly once. He said sure. The going rate at that time (1976) would have been about $5. So, once a week, $5.00. Sounds good. Then he brought up the going rate for room and board. He’d be happy to pay me for doing my chores as long as I paid him for food, rent, transportation, and for the gas to fill up the mower.
For the record, I never paid my son to do his chores either.
Nothing wrong with some physical labor. Great way to teach a young person how to work hard and contribute. Plus, lawn mowing can be a pretty good way for a young person to make some money. I financed my social life during high school from the money I made mowing lawns, painting houses, and doing other odd jobs for people. It also convinced me that I did NOT want to do physical labor for the rest of my life.
You got a kid 10 years old or older? Have him/her do the yard work. Builds character.
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OkieFlyer
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Dude, you have a son. You're mowing days, or paying for mowing should be done for several years. I was mowing about 5 acres at his age, free of charge, except when my grandma forced me to take her money. It's good for 'em.
I have 3 sons. In about 3 years, I'll have personal lawn care specialists on staff for about 12 years, free of charge, except of course for providing them everything they need to live on the earth. It's gonna be glorious!
I have 3 sons. In about 3 years, I'll have personal lawn care specialists on staff for about 12 years, free of charge, except of course for providing them everything they need to live on the earth. It's gonna be glorious!
JOhnH
Touchdown! Greaser!
Everybody keeps talking about sons mowing the lawn? What is wrong with expecting girls to mow lawns? I think I have only seen one reference to "he/she" in this thread. No wonder women are bad at math. When I was a kid mowing our lawn I used to do arithmetic in my head. eg: it takes 20 seconds to go east to west, each path is about 18 inches wide, it is 180 feet front to back. How long will it take me to finish? Then; how long would it take me if I do inward or outward spiraling squares? Anything to kill the time because we didn't have Ipods back then.
Juliet Hotel
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Juliet Hotel
The only math most kids would be doing today is calculating the quickest way to get CPS to bring child abuse charges.
OkieFlyer
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For my part, it's because Bryan doesn't have a mowing age daughter, and the reference to my sons doing the mowing is because I only have sons.
And lastly, Bry is my good friend, and he knows everything I say is in jest....mostly.
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FormerHangie
En-Route
1. You're the only person who has ever mentioned that he used lawn mowing to practice math.
2. My wife attempted to cut the grass in our yard once. Once, she said never again. Boys are usually physically stronger, so they get the more physically demanding chores. I don't ask my daughters to cut the grass for the same reason I would not suggest a career as a diesel mechanic to them, there's a physical strength component to the job and they're not up to it.
jimhorner
Line Up and Wait
Not a single thing. It doesn’t take a whole lot of physical strength to push a mower around on a flatish yard. My sister certainly took her turns mowing. The families in my neighborhood in Tennessee in the 70’s and 80’s who only had daughters certainly had their daughters doing that. Where I grew up, people expected their kids to contribute to the household chores and work.
Okay, really? In my career as an electrical engineer, I’ve worked with many women engineers and other professional women who excelled at math. My mom was a math teacher. My first calculus teacher was a woman. I remember that many/most of my female classmates in school were way better at math than most of the males.
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JOhnH
Touchdown! Greaser!
I should have put a smiley next to my statement
.
Leslie was a math major in college and is better at math than I am, and I did quite well at Ga. Tech (about a hundred years ago
)
jimhorner
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ElPaso Pilot
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ElPaso Pilot
1954 Homeko lawn mower.
Old news. You're late to the trend of the future.
And another 20 or so here: http://cyberneticzoo.com/early-domestic-service-robots/
Old news. You're late to the trend of the future.
"Want to lie in your hammock and mow the lawn in repose? The Homko Robot mower can be maneuvered by a remote control panel, one lever for forward, stop and reverse, and another for right and left. Since the cord that attaches this brain to the mower is 40 feet long, you can mow 40 feet in any direction without getting up. You get exercise just the same—mental-from trying to keep the thing from cutting its own cord."
And another 20 or so here: http://cyberneticzoo.com/early-domestic-service-robots/
The old joke is:
Success is paying someone to mow your grass so you have time to play golf for exercise.
DaleB
Final Approach
Our kids all mowed while they were at home. Our neighbor across the street has a mowing-age son, a mowing-age daughter, and another daughter who will be old enough to take over in a year or two. They have a crew that comes and does ALL their yard work. Can't figure that out.
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The old joke is:
Success is paying someone to mow your grass so you have time to play golf for exercise.
Ha! There is a gym I used to belong to, it has a parking garage across the street. Lower level is street level, upper level one has to walk down the steps back to street level. You wouldn't believe the number of people who would keep circling the lower parking waiting for a free spot so they wouldn't have to walk down the steps to go inside and do their workout. Insane!
RyanShort1
Final Approach
Probably because if you do a hard workout, it's not walking in that's the problem, it's walking out...
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SoonerAviator
Lol, our weight room in high school was "below ground" in the gym, and had a pretty good set of stairs to exit towards class. Getting up those steps after a heavy leg session was an exercise in determination, lol.
I keep hearing about this Gym guy. Never met him...
Last I heard he was in a tent in Kandahar... Seems to move around a lot.
Last I heard he was in a tent in Kandahar... Seems to move around a lot.
Gerhardt
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I've run a landcare business for 20some years and a few of my clients used to have robotic systems. The cheaper ones have wire around the boundary. The better and more expensive ones use GPS and you set the perimeter via an app. Like everything else, the more money you spend...the better the system. For the cost of a family cruise you can get a good one that you won't even know is there. There are pluses and minuses.
They don't trim, edge and blow, so you're still on the hook for that. Sensors keep them from running over pets, but won't keep them from hitting things below the grass line, like golf balls or landmines left by Fluffy. When the battery hits a certain level it will return itself to the charging port, charge, then get back to work. They are super quiet.
The big down side is that you don't get stripes.
The models on the market 2 years ago weren't available last year. Last years models have already been replaced - truly, the quality of products on the market is advancing so fast that by the time you read this... People love them though.
I have a few clients who used to have them. In talking with them they say:
1. They missed the stripes. Appearance means everything to many people.
2. They missed watching the grass grow. This one struck me as odd, but because the mower is working on a regular basis they never got to see the lawn at varying heights. Whodathunk this would be a thing, but when you think about it I guess there is something to it. Kind of like when music CDs came out (before you were born) there were people who missed hearing the pops and crackles they'd grown used to. (I kid you not, that was a thing.)
3. They missed having someone handy to pick up tree limbs, trim shrubs, mulchwork, etc. Those things can be hired out, but if you're a regular customer you get it done for a miniscule fraction of the price I'd charge someone who pulled my name out of a hat.
4. Fenced back yards are a problem if you don't want to leave the gate open, or move the docking system.
The good systems are some serious coin, they have a shelf life, and they're not maintenance free. Find a decent lawn care company, leave a cooler with some Diet Coke in it with a note on top, and pay the $1200-1400 year.
They don't trim, edge and blow, so you're still on the hook for that. Sensors keep them from running over pets, but won't keep them from hitting things below the grass line, like golf balls or landmines left by Fluffy. When the battery hits a certain level it will return itself to the charging port, charge, then get back to work. They are super quiet.
The big down side is that you don't get stripes.
The models on the market 2 years ago weren't available last year. Last years models have already been replaced - truly, the quality of products on the market is advancing so fast that by the time you read this... People love them though.
I have a few clients who used to have them. In talking with them they say:
1. They missed the stripes. Appearance means everything to many people.
2. They missed watching the grass grow. This one struck me as odd, but because the mower is working on a regular basis they never got to see the lawn at varying heights. Whodathunk this would be a thing, but when you think about it I guess there is something to it. Kind of like when music CDs came out (before you were born) there were people who missed hearing the pops and crackles they'd grown used to. (I kid you not, that was a thing.)
3. They missed having someone handy to pick up tree limbs, trim shrubs, mulchwork, etc. Those things can be hired out, but if you're a regular customer you get it done for a miniscule fraction of the price I'd charge someone who pulled my name out of a hat.
4. Fenced back yards are a problem if you don't want to leave the gate open, or move the docking system.
The good systems are some serious coin, they have a shelf life, and they're not maintenance free. Find a decent lawn care company, leave a cooler with some Diet Coke in it with a note on top, and pay the $1200-1400 year.
Gerhardt
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And for those who don't recall, 6PC's objection to hiring it out isn't the price. It's coming home to the smell of natural gas permeating the neighborhood's atmosphere because someone backed into the gas meter with a ZTR. And having someone pick up used condoms left on top of the turf.
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Tom-D
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Tom-D
Watch what happens here when you ask a simple question?
over two pages of what?
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SoonerAviator
I'm pretty sure stripes on the yard isn't tough to replicate (just need a roller), but I'd imagine you'd have to be able to program the robot mower to mow in a specific pattern so that the stripes were predominant on the yard. Probably a lot more difficult. Seems like a great option would be to "manually" mow a few times with the robot in a learning mode for GPS geo fencing and mowing pattern. Then it could just replicate the learned pattern each time, or run half one day, recharge, then run the second half.