inventor needed

[Tim Lamb]

We have arrived at the time of year for Autumn fertilising the lawn.

Out comes the trusty wheeled spreader and the digital scale to calibrate the flow rate.

All well and off to the grass which I had deliberately not mown to allow the wheels to make a mark. Did they! You could just about see the marks where the grass was laid away from the eyes: the last but one trip!

Can some ingenious person design a device which can be given a kick on passing such that the return route is clear?

So far, all I have come up with is several pairs of short lengths of bamboo/metal spike joined by a cord. However, this would involve bending to re-position several times across the width of our lawn.

[F Murtz]

May be you could add a thing like they mark the lines on a tennis court with :)

[Nightjar]

Attach the spreader to one of these:

The necessary grass marking paints are here:

[Brian Gaff]

So you want to not veer off is that what you mean, and want a thing that leaves no marks.

You obviously need three laser beams then. Three photocells might be more cost effective. Only when the middle one is active and triggering a light or whatever are you on cours, if the other lights come on you are vereing off. Laser pointers are pretty cheap nowadays. If you hate bending down, fit a right angled handle on them.

I don't know some people. Brian

[Tim Lamb]

Used to be a slurry of lime last time I played tennis:-)

[Tim Lamb]

Yebbut. The whole purpose is to *avoid* striping!

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[Capitol]

Why do you want to make grass grow faster? I'd prefer to do it the other way round!

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Brian Gaff writes

I suppose parallel working with no underlap/overlaps is more the requirement.

Big boys gps toys fitted to agricultural tractors might do but a bit overkill:-)

Not so much hate as age restricted.

I always believed an engineer could solve any problem provided he knew what the problem is.

[Tim Lamb]

Not so much faster as replacing nutrition carried off in mowings. Ps and Ks mainly. Low fertility encourages weeds (also known as wildflowers) which would otherwise be smothered by grass.

[The Medway Handyman]

I'm sure it could be solved with global positioning equipment or similar

- how much are you willing to pay?

[spuorgelgoog]

Longer lengths of bamboo/metal would mean you wouldn't have to bend down so far. Or traffic cones.

Alternatively use radio-control cars or small children which will self-propel under your direction.

Owain

[F]

Many moons ago I had a spreader that had a spike on a sprung lever behind each wheel. The springs made sure the spikes made good contact with the lawn to leave a mild but visible scratch across it.

[meow2222]

Mowing kills ~99% of them.

Why not just stick a thin stick in the ground?

NT

[alan_m]

Tow the spreader behind the lawn mower. The cut grass is where you have been.

[Tim Lamb]

Agricultural wages?

[fred]

Like your style :-)

[Tim Lamb]

Get run down by the applicator though. Have to have them on the centre line to work as a leading mark.

Yes. I did once get the wife to protect her herbaceous border with a plastic sheet while I did some spraying. Who is volunteering for the other end?

[Tim Lamb]

That sounds practical although the ideal mark would be on the centre line. Seed drills have a disc on a lifting arm to mark the centre of the next bout.

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[Andy Burns]

Can of shaving foam duct-taped to the side of the spreader?

[F]

With the spikes marking the wheel tracks you just run one of them along the mark left on the previous run...