I am totally organic and have a fantastic lawn, the envy of my neighbors!

I mow with a Sear's Craftsman rotary 22" self-propelled mower. I have
a spare blade and keep a very sharp blade at all times on the mower.
I have the mower set at it's highest setting, about 4", I'm guessing.

My problem is that I have to push the mower as the self-propelled speed
is not adjustable and it moves too fast for a clean cut. Even pushing it
slowly and overlapping by half, I still have blades that just won't cut. I
mow in one direction and then reverse the direction to cover the area pushed down by the mowers tires and I go back over it at a 45 degree
bias. Nothing seems to give me a real clean cut.

I also have a problem with runners, the mower just passes over them and I've gone to actually pulling the larger ones out by hand. The lawn is 100% St Augustine and extremely healthy. I've actually converted several people to organic as a result of my success.

I'm totally frustrated with this problem and need some help!
As a side note, I also have a lake cabin with St Augustine where I use
a riding mower (Snapper) and have the same problem although not as bad.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide.
Regards,
Bob Lawrence
Bedford, TX

It sounds like you have a crummy mower. St. Augustine cuts great even when too high. Ck Consumer Reports for mower ratings as to cutting ability. Also (this may sound dumb), make sure your blade is on the correct way (not upside down) and the mower is at full running speed when mowing. A push mower should cut better than a rider, not the other way. Good luck.

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The "soap" you use is normally chemicals, etc. Use real SOAP !!