Like most other people here, I agree that using an actual lawn aerator is the way to go. Lawn aerators are going to pull out much better plugs and nice deep plugs help get the water, air, and nutrients down to the roots of your grass. The shoes with spikes don't pull plugs and the hand held devises just don't go as deep, and it take forever to do too. I can't imagine doing a whole yard with a hand help plugger. We used to get our lawn aerated in Colorado for $30 because there were so many companies going around doing it. A lot just went door to door. Here in Austin, the going rate is more like $75. Either way though, it's well worth the investment. Helpful Info on Lawn Aeration

ajones, I think this post will answer your question... posted by: ggoyeneche on 07.10.2006 at 07:20 pm in Lawn Mowers Forum McLane 20" and 25" used a fixed cutting bar and rotate the reel in or out relative to the cutting bar. The reel bearings are supported by two bearing plates which pivot on bolts toward the rear of the frame, The front bolts tighten in slotted holes in the side frames. By moving the front of the bearing plate up or down, the reel is positioned further or closer relative to the bed knife. Before you loosen or change anything, scribe match marks on each side frame along the bearing supports. This will allow you the get back to your starting point. I prefer to backlap by hand with Clover compound, starting with a medium-coarse grit (#120) and finishing with a fine (#280). McLane sells a backlapping attachment for power backlapping ($90) but I don't recommend. The actual rotating of the reel takes about 5 minutes by hand and 2 minutes with the engine, so you only save a few minutes. Preparation, setting, and clean up will take you an hour or so. Trimmer and Tru-Cut tap the end of the reel and sell a crank handle which threads into the reel. Although McLane only sells something similar for their 17", you can use a large pair of vise-grip pliers to grab the sprocket and spin the reel. Start by adjusting the reel so that it is just barely making contact with the knife. Make sure that you are even all the way across. Tighten up and then spread the coarse Clover across each reel blade. Now start to turn the reel backward (hence term backlap) for a couple of minutes. If you are no longer making contact, move the reel closer another few thousands and repeat. Next wipe off all compound, reset to slight contact, and apply fine Clover. Crank the reel, check and reset as required, and then wipe clean. Now you need to clean the reel and bedknife thoroughly of any compound. Suggest you use spray solvent and a garden hose. Use a brush with the solvent to ensure you remove everything. Make sure you don't point your water stream directly at the bearings. Now you need to set do a final set of the reel to the bedknife. Move the bearing plates until you almost have contact. In this case you don't want metal to metal, but rather want .002 or .003 clearance. When you've got it right, tighten up. Now take strips of newspaper and be sure that each reel blade cuts like a scissors at three or four points against the bedknife. Done properly this should be good for one or two seasons of homeowner use, unless you have a very sandy and abrasive environment. You shouldn't have to get an actual regrind of the reel and bedknife for 5 years or so. When you do get reground, make sure you get a "relief grind" on the reel. Good day, Dan

If you had measured a JD at Home Depot, don't know if they sell the same model, you'd likely have seen the same poor interface you got a Sears. That's part of why buying from a dealer cost more, you get better/knowledgeable interfaces. In my case I don't want any help or home repair, albeit I'd not object to a warranty repair, never had one on 40+ years of yard maintenance,the last 20 with over 3 acres of mowing, plus all the other stuff... I am about 95% Sears/Craftsman, and that included my wood shop and auto tools too. While I was disappointed in Sears dropping its extensive catalog business (guess that's been more than 20 years, some of the young types on this forum didn't have any experience with that), and was again disappointed when K-Mart (of all the companies) bought Sears. My last tractor purchase was a DYT4000 in 2005, and while it has a much more flexible frame than my still in use 1993 GT6000, it is a great lawn mower. About to replace my 20 year old Sears self propelled lawn mower with a Walmart Yardman with a Honda GVC160 engine, so that'll be a break with Sears on may years of using their lawn mowers. Sears, like all other business, have to win customers every day, but I am a lost when I read complaints about Sears in the Past...I've been and continue to be happy with their products, and couldn't care less if the salesman knows anything beyond filling out the purchase order.

I love your bismark palm. Yours is a very fine specimen. I have seen these things growing in Lake Havasu AZ where it gets 120F and they get very little water so are drought tolerant. They can take down to 20F or so. I have had one in a pot for 3 years. It is doing really well so far -about 5ft tall now. I have left it outside during the winter here in NE FL and it got into the teens last winter and it was fine. I also grow medinilla in a large pot. I put orchid mix, perlite, and potting soil in there. I give it afternoon shade. It is pretty most of the year. It likes to be very well drained. I read that they are actually epiphytic shrubs in thier natural habitats. I have to put it in the greenhouse for the winter here. They are really easy to care for. I have the coral one and it is more finicky and less cold hardy than the other one.