Good LORD above, I've had it. It rained all last year and it looks like this year is going to be a repeat. The lawns are saturated. I get stuck in a lawn EVERY DAY. I just got my back in shape again and I have to pull a 1100 lbs mower through mud like a friggen mule.

Today, I thought I was seeing some light at the end of a long, dark and pissing-me-off tunnel but NO! A downpour catches me with 3 lawns to go. I found myself in my truck smashing my Thermos into the air vent, breaking the vent louvers into about 50 pieces. My only hope was that I'd get struck by lightning and die immediately.

I need to find a new line of work. I really can't go through another one of these years. It's just non-stop.

Dude, sometimes it’s not as bad as we make out.

Tomorrow Christians celebrate Good Friday. It was anything but good for Christ you had to endure an agonizing execution on a cross until death. That there’s a bad day.

You on the other hand can choose to purchase a different type of mower or invest in a winch.

I'm sorry to hear it, Mark! Hoping Mother Nature decides to switch gears.

Sorry, guys, this belongs in "What's Your Deal!".

Hang in there!
It'll dry out soon...

Just 3 days ago 2 different little slickee holes in my lawn were giving me the fits, not with a rooster tail from the mower, but a MUD tail and tracks-across-the-melting-tundra mud, with the grass all toodamnLONG.....

Then the sun came out.

Yes, we are sometimes focused on the little shit in our lives.

The normal joy-O-mowing returned yesterday & the need for order & completion of chores in my personal estate-management list remains intact once again.

Good luck with yours.-

Maybe some humorous stories will help.

I rented a tractor with a Bush hog to knock down some overgrown lots in my subdivision. I started my first pass on the first lot by going to the back and getting the tractor stuck in a drainage ditch. The first pass wasn't wide enough for my new truck, so I went back to the rental place and rented a T300 Bobcat to pull the tractor out. They warned me they didn't have anything bigger to pull the Bobcat out with. Fortunately, it didn't come to that.

Many years ago, while driving around a subdivision that had only had the roads put in, my buddy got his '69 Bronco stuck in some mud at the bottom of a hill. In my attempt to pull him out with my CJ7, I wound up next to him and had to unzip my driver soft top window because his passenger side mirror was sticking in it. We were pulled out by another friend with a compact utility tractor and enough rope and chains to reach us from the paved road.

I was working for a FBO in Danbury, CT. The owner asked my to fuel a couple airplanes that where tied down in the grass. He warned my that because of all the rain, it would be too soft to drive the fuel onto the grass and told me to keep it on the pavement. 18 year old me walked out on the grass and decided it would be fine. It wasn't. I drove 45 minutes home, got the CJ7, drove back, and pulled the fuel truck out from the pavement.

We’ve all been there before. I couldn’t handle a job that depended on the weather. I used to have friends that were farmers and they could lose an entire crop with a change in the weather.

Good luck and good weather to you!

Thanks for the encouragement and for letting me vent.

Sounds like it’s time to expand and just manage those doing grunt work for you!

Sorry man, I really am.

God above knows I’ve had those days, and I ended up leaving my last company because I knew there was no end in sight.

Hope it gets better.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
Thanks for the encouragement and for letting me "vent".

Quotes added - I see what you did there . . . .

My business is a little weather dependent too. Some days it's best to just say screw it and go home early because the weather is bad, and come back the next day. A lot of times it works out better and you're not fighting it every step of the way.

That's a pretty righteous rant, including the truck vents. We moved to MS 2 years ago and it's rained ever since, so I can completely get the frame of reference. Hope your world dries out soon, know this affect not just your back but your wallet as well.

Out of concern for your back AND your customers, what in the world possesses folks to drive one of those mowers into a yard that is known to be wet/hold water without first taking 5 minutes to check it out first?

I'm assuming if you're so stuck you had to drag it out the lawn is trashed like some teenage hooligans have been trenching it, except someone actually paid for that damage.

You seem like a guy who probably circles back and repairs the issue, but I've had to discuss this at least 5 times with our dude. Not burying it up to axles, but in the yard when it's wet enough to be spinning up turf and dirt leaving a trail of tracks all through the yard. It's a mystery I tell ya, but I guess now I'm happy he's only tearing up my yard and not injuring himself. He's a nice guy.

Have you thought of investing in a set of traction boards??
MAXSA 20333 Escaper Buddy Traction Mats for Off-Road Mud, Sand, & Snow Vehicle Extraction (Set of 2), Orange https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A..._api_i_TpDUCbN3RPEWW

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
I found myself in my truck smashing my Thermos into the air vent, breaking the vent louvers into about 50 pieces. My only hope was that I'd get struck by lightning and die immediately.

Without disappointment you cannot appreciate victory.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
That's a pretty righteous rant, including the truck vents. We moved to MS 2 years ago and it's rained ever since, so I can completely get the frame of reference. Hope your world dries out soon, know this affect not just your back but your wallet as well.

Out of concern for your back AND your customers, what in the world possesses folks to drive one of those mowers into a yard that is known to be wet/hold water without first taking 5 minutes to check it out first?

I'm assuming if you're so stuck you had to drag it out the lawn is trashed like some teenage hooligans have been trenching it, except someone actually paid for that damage.

You seem like a guy who probably circles back and repairs the issue, but I've had to discuss this at least 5 times with our dude. Not burying it up to axles, but in the yard when it's wet enough to be spinning up turf and dirt leaving a trail of tracks all through the yard. It's a mystery I tell ya, but I guess now I'm happy he's only tearing up my yard and not injuring himself. He's a nice guy.

Yeah, the customers trust me to fix anything that I tear up. Concerning checking the lawns first, they are already 18" high, I've already skipped them two or three times. I can't let the customers get code enforcement fines and if I skip a lawn that money is gone, there's no way to make up the work. Also, that one spot that's soft can sneak up on you, it's fine until you hit that one spot and if it's a 2% grade you're suddenly going backwards even though the wheels are spinning forward.

These lands are so wet they actually flow back to flat. I've only had to let them dry and rake in some seed. I don't think it's going to dry any time soon though.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Have you thought of investing in a set of traction boards??
MAXSA 20333 Escaper Buddy Traction Mats for Off-Road Mud, Sand, & Snow Vehicle Extraction (Set of 2), Orange https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A..._api_i_TpDUCbN3RPEWW

Amazing idea. Thank you!