I like the design of this fitting

This:

The upper part is a hex fitting, designed to be turned with a wrench. That's the NPT side obviously, the National Pipe Thread side.

The lower part is a round fitting, designed to be turned by hand. That's the GHT side, Garden Hose Thread.

I use a wrench sometimes on garden hose fittings, but only because arthritis makes my grip sub-par. Took me a while to learn this secret: NEVER TIGHTEN GARDEN FITTINGS TIGHT WITH A WRENCH. With a wrench, just a hint of snug will do. If it still leaks, change the rubber washer.

Yeah, I don't like the price too much, but I like the design.

I'm trying a different rule

I can't go by that "cut off no more than one-third" rule when I mow. I'm trying a different rule: If I mow once every four days, I don't get piles of clippings that make the lawn look bad.

Even this rule is difficult to follow. But I'm trying.

I figured it out

I've seen it said, a couple places on the internet¹, that when you mow the lawn you should cut off no more than one-third the length of the grass. So for example, if you mow when the grass is 3 inches tall and you cut it down to two inches, you cut off one-third of the original length.

Yeah. But a lot of my lawn is in a low, wet area, and it grows as much as an inch a day. So I cut my lawn to two inches tall, and the next day it's three inches tall and ready to be cut again.

To follow that "cut off no more than one-third" rule, I'd have to mow my lawn every day!


Note:
1 -- It might have been one place on the internet, which I found more than once. Can't rightly say.

Documenting differences in QC fittings: True Value and Harbor Freight

Based on one set of each brand. Hopefully these differences are consistent.

Preferences: Shut-offs

This isn't bad, because I can tell that the water is on. Both valve handles are in line with the water path, so both outlets are on. If the handles were crossways the water would be off. I can tell at a glance. Are those screws rusty?
This isn't good, because I can't tell at a glance if the water is on or off. Similar to the connector above, but the valve handle doesn't indicate "in-line" or "crossways".
This is better. Instead of a "valve handle" this shut-off has what the packaging calls a "large easy to use knob". I like it. I know the water is turned on because the knob's grabber is in-line with the water path. Turned 90 degrees -- crossways -- the water would be off.
This one also: I can tell from the position of the knob whether the water is on or off. I find this type much easier to use, this and the one before this, easier to use than the first two shown above. Maybe because the handle is more accessible. Maybe because pressure is applied on both sides of the pivot screw when I open or close the valve. Both those things, I think.
Same story here. Hey... I wonder if the knob would fit on those first two fittings... or on other fittings that give me grief. Hmm...

The latest (and greatest!) in multi-language labeling

Lookin for some "soaker hoses" to help me water my landscape & garden plants. I found a good one at Northern Tool. Below the image of the hose they ask: "What do you think of our product images?" Kind of an odd question, no? So I looked at the blowup of the package:

I'm too old to think highly of the multi-language product labeling that is so common nowadays. But this Gilmour label is certainly one I can live with.

Dethatcher with Achilles wheel

Couple years back a friend told me a "dethatcher" might be good to use on the lawn once in a while.

My tractor's a Husqvarna. They offer two different dethatcher models: front-mounted, and rear-mounted, made by Agri-Fab. The rear mount didn't make sense to me as I figured I'd dethatch and mow and bag the clippings all in one operation. The bagger occupies the rear, so the dethatcher has to go in front.

Image from the Agri-Fab Owners Manual

So that was my plan. But it turns out the front-mount dethatcher costs about $200 more than the rear-mount one. Nice, huh? Well, you know I struggled with that decision, then went ahead and spent the extra money for the front mount model. I got the thing during the winter so I'd be all ready for Spring.

//

Spring came at last. I used the thing once, for maybe an hour. Hit a soft spot in the lawn. The wheel and the dethatcher tines sunk in the mud, and before I could stop the tractor, it rolled up on top of the dethatcher. The cheap plastic wheel couldn't take the tractor weight. Bent the wheel so bad it had to be replaced.

To buy a new one was $40 -- for a plastic wheel that's practically worthless. I so I spent the rest of dethatcher season shopping for a 7-inch wheel.

The 7-inch wheel is a common size. But this one takes a 5/8" axle, unusually large for a 7" wheel. And apparently the only one manufactured, in this solar system, is the $40 one. Eventually I broke down and bought the damn wheel. I installed it and put the dethatcher away, ready for Spring.

//

Spring came again this year. I put the dethatcher on and set to work. I have to say, the bagger catches a nice mix of dead grass and powdery soil, and I love adding that to my compost pile. It'll give me some impressive volume, too, if I can ever get the whole yard done.

But it is slow going, because I don't want to buy another flimsy $40 wheel.

//

Well, it was good for maybe an hour before the thing got stuck in mud and the tractor climbed on top of it again. And I was crawling slow. Damn tractor only has to go a few inches after the dethatcher gets stuck, and that's all she wrote. This time, though, I had an idea.

Images from the Agri-Fab Owners Manual

With the 7" wheel installed on the funny bent axle, I had a little over half an inch clearance above the wheel. So an 8-inch wheel should fit. I went to Harbor Freight and looked a their 8 in. Solid Rubber Tire with Polyethylene Hub (item#61706). That's the one that says its maximum working load is 1100 lbs. It's an eight-dollar wheel. The first time I saw that "1100 lbs" I thought it was a typo for 100 or 110 lbs. Even so, if it can support 100 lbs, that's better than the original wheel without a doubt. And $8 instead of $40.

The wheel measures 7³∕₄" diameter at the tread face. Just under 8": a little forgiveness there; I may need it. It's a rubber tire on a plastic rim, but the rim is thick plastic, not paper-thin like the original wheel. I bought two.

Harbor Freight #61706

The original wheel used about 1¹∕₂" of the axle. The new wheel is about 2", 2¹∕₈" wide at the axle. The axle doesn't provide that much room to fit the wheel on.

However... As you can see in the picture, surrounding the axle bore hole the hub is inset about ³∕₈", which means the wheel occupies less axle space. There's an inset like that on both sides of the wheel, so the wheel only uses about 1¹∕₄" of the axle. It'll work!

I put one of the original washers back on the axle, far as it would go. Then I put the Harbor Freight wheel on, far as it would go. It was stopped by the washer. I had about half an inch of axle sticking out past the inset.

The axle didn't come out past the wheel enough to install the hitch pin that keeps the wheel on. However... There was enough axle sticking out that I could get an axle cap nut on it. The brim of the axle cap is smaller than the inset diameter, so the cap nut goes on okay. And you should have seen how pleased I was with myself then!

//

I used the dethatcher the same day I fixed it. No problem. And I used it longer that day than all the time I had used it before. And the wheel is still good. And I was gaining confidence and going faster, so that dethatching my lawn may be a less endless task than I thought.