Field and Brush Mower - David Mathre Photography

Sunday (14-August-2022) — New Jersey

Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed in my backyard: White-breasted Nuthatch, Song Sparrow. Note, I spent the morning using a brush mower to cut back the weeds and didn’t spend much time looking for birds. I only saw one Ruby-throated hummingbird, but wasn’t able to capture an image.

Birds of the Day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Time-lapse video “Using a Brush Mower to Attack the Weeds”. Images taken with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera, and processed using PhotoShop and PreimerPro.

Daily Electric Energy Used (59.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (68.5 kWh) from Sense. Sunny. Surplus of 8.8 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (588 kWh) from Sense. Weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (446 kWh) from Sense. Deficit of 142 kWh. It finally started to cool down the last two days of the week, generating more electricity than I needed to cool the house.

Tuesday (26-November-2019) — New Jersey

Some Assembly Required.

Snow is forcasted for early next week, and I still have some outside end of season projects that need to be completed. While using the DR-Power Field and Brush mower a couple of weeks ago, two bolts holding the disk brake pads fell off. Since it was only the 2nd time I had used the mower, the company sent me replacement parts. I needed to get this fixed so I can install the snow-blower attachment. I also needed to make a custom attachment to connect the DR-Power Lawn Vacuum to my John Deere lawn tractor. They provide a generic attachment that needs to be cut to fit my mower. Some assembly required. I spent the afternoon in the garage working on these two projects and used a Garmin VIRB-360 camera to make a Little Planet view Time-lapse video. Tomorrow, I will connect the lawn tractor to the leaf vacuum and make sure it works.

Daily Electric Energy Used (70.1 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (30.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Overall a net deficit of 39.5 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Wednesday (16-October-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nature in New Jersey

Before it started raining, I used the DR Field and Brush mower to clear more of the wildflower meadows and sections next to the house. I left the section with the Marigold flowers and Lemon Mint flowers as there are still bees and bumblebees working the flowers. Also the deer ignore these plants. Later in the afternoon, it started raining followed by heavy winds.

Daily Electric Energy Used (54.1 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (7.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Heavy clouds and rain, not much solar power. Overall a net deficit of 46.6 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Saturday (12-October-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Outdoor Yard Projects.

Day two with the DR Field and Brush mower. Cleared the south-east wildflower meadow in the backyard. Ordered new V-belts for the roto-tiller. Need to repair fence poles the deer broke, and put down some cover crop seed. Some of these activities were recorded on a Garmin VIRB-360 camera for a Time-lapse video.

Daily Electric Energy Used (56.8 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (38.8 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun than yesterday. Overall a net deficit of 18.0 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

powered by Ambient Weather

Friday (11-October-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Outdoor Yard Projects.

The DR Field and Brush mower arrived yesterday. The truck driver left the pallet containing the mower at the top of the driveway. Some assembly required. The mower deck is pretty heavy. I moved everything in front of the house. Attached the deck to the power unit, fitted the drive belt, filled the engine with 5W-30 oil, and the filled the gas tank. Once I figured out where the gas shutoff valve was, the motor started right up. One of the reasons I chose this model is I can remove the mower deck and install a snow blower attachment. Once the unit was running, the first task was to burnish the brakes and clutch before taking it back to mow a section of the back yard. I also go the Roto-tiller to work on one of the wildflower meadows for next year. Didn’t get much done as the forward v-belt seems to be loose. Some of these activities were recorded on a Garmin VIRB-360 camera for a Time-lapse video.

Daily Electric Energy Used (53.3 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (25.8 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Less sun than yesterday. Overall a net deficit of 27.5 kWh.