keeley, I've had the exact same problem w/ a Sears version of your mower. I think it's an issue w/ the weigh & design of the mower and the levelness of your lawn (my guess). My mower would bounce up when it hit dense Bermuda or when it hit a bump in the lawn. The rear wheel design along w/ the light weight of the mower contributes to this bounce. I think NEWORLEANS suggestion on the Mascot sounds good as it's a heavier mower and its design has a roller on the back very close to the blade so bouncing is minimized. You might also consider the Fiskars Momentum as it is also heavy, but I think you would need to raise the cutting height as I'm guessing by your problem that your lawn may be a little bumpy to cut that low. Check out the thread below for a review of the Fiskars. Here is a link that might be useful: Reviews of several push reel mowers

I have since use my Mantis for dethatching. I LOVE IT!!! It pull so much stuff out of the lawn it fill up a 40 gallon can and more....stuffed. The lawn looked nice right away, not like what other people warn me that it will look bad for 2 weeks. It does not beat up the lawn at all. It immediately look better right after. I end up re-dethatch few weeks later again and the grass looks very good now. Mantis as tiller....not so nice!!!! Jump to much, really not a substitude for even a cheap front tine tiller. I still use my cheap Poulan front tine tiller. Cultivator is a joke. It jump a lot more with the tine reverse for cultivation. I know it will work better if pulling backward. BUT, cultivating usually done around plants which is in tight space, where do you find space to pull backward. I tried for 2 minutes, it throw dirt all over the place, made a big mess, I quit end up using my hand roll cultivator instead. If you think of buying it as a cultivator around flower beds, think again!!! Get it from Mantis direct so you can return within one year free shipping. I am surprised very few people use it for dethatching. It work so well, no jumping, I can't imagine the Blue Bird can do much better, just wider so you dethatch a wider path. The tine look to be high quality that can stand up to use even commercially.

We need more information. Have you taken soil samples and submitted them for analysis? Where are you located? What type of soil do you have? What have you applied to the grass this year so far, if anything? Fertilizer, herbicide, etc. What did your lawn look like at the end of last year? What has the weather been like in the past month? How much rainfall have you had in the past month? Porvide us with as much information as possible. I suspect that the zoysia just needs more time to green-up, as it is slow to develop in the spring. When you hit those 90 degree temps, it will take off and be fully green if it has been cared for properly.

Results for seeding are almost always in line with soil prep efforts. TF does not build a thatch layer as it tillers and does not rhyzome (root spread). The 'thatch' you see is likely to be dried, mown grass clippings which will decompose much easier than a thatch layer will. Still, anything between seed and loosened soil will reduce soil contact and lessen germination. You are looking to make nooks and crannies (like the inside of an English muffin only on a smaller scale). The seed then nestles in, 1st watering covers seed with a thin film of soil. Keep that first 1'4" of soil moist for as short as a week (Ryes) and as long as 3 weeks (KY blues) and VOILA! Once seed germinates completely (mixes can take as long as 3 weeks as suggested above) allow for heavier and more infrequent watering to keep seedbed watered to a greater depth (new grasses do not have a lot of roots yet). In the Fall, there is always a point where cool, wet weather makes watering moot.