I was at Walmart today getting an all-metal impact sprinkler and a bulb planter that has an adjustable diameter--nifty. Of course, I couldn't resist looking at the new bags of grass seed. Most of the bags were printed with an appropriate 2012 or 2013 "Sell By" date or "Use By" date, but I saw some bags from Scotts that had a sticker placed over their original "Sell By" dates! When the sticker was peeled off, you could see that printed on the bag itself was a 2011 "Sell By" date, but the sticker covering the bag had a 2012 Sell By date! I don't know if these were last year's seeds or, hopefully, just this year's seeds in last year's bags? Kinda shocked me. The stickers were so plainly visible. Just needed to lift them up in order to see the bag's original hidden Sell By date. My faith in corporate ethics has been forever shattered--LOL. In fairness, I should say that most of the Scotts bags had appropriate 2012 and 2013 Sell-By dates. Only a few bags had the conspicuous stickers covering a date from last year. And again, maybe, those were this year's seeds in last year's bags. Sure hope so.

Well that was a dud deal. Turns out it had more hours than what was advertised. He had paperwork saying a brand new engine was installed at the 1960 mark and is why i was told 40hrs. The meter had nearly 2000 hrs on it. In anycase i didnt buy it dealer said not to. So back to the drawing board.. Oops sorry I just seen this. Sorry it did not work out, but I knew something was wrong, as a good used one should be more like $15,000 to $18,000

Start with a good, reliable soil test. Contact your local OSU Cooperative Extension Service office for assistance about this. They will send your samples to either Penn State or the University of Kentucky since the soil testing lab at the university has been closed, but the results you get will be good. This soil test will tell you about your soils pH (for a lawn that should be in the 6.0 to 7.0 range) and the levels of Phosphorus, Potash, Calcium, and Magnesium. Then you can dig in with these simple soil tests, 1) Soil test for organic matter. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains� too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. to see what else your soil might need to become a good healthy soil that will grow strong and healthy plants. Once you know what the soil you have is now then you can begin to plant what you will need to do.

@danielj_2009 and others around the stove, I got to thinking about what you said about speed of lime and particle size. Besides any physical leaching due particle size, I wondered if particle size and speed and amount of change might be the biggest influence on quantity of lime that gets recommended. The quotes you gave above refer to 25lbs for some limes but warn against exceeding bag rate for the "new fast acting" limes. Is the grind that big of a factor? I had my doubts. So I did a search to find the chemical analysis of lime products. To my disappointment, most products don't provide one. Most just say "derived from limestone." That could include a lot of different components. Finally, I found this: http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/41/417ecb06-d1a5-40cb-975a-78de1d1028f2.pdf PENNINGTON ® FAST ACTING™ LIME Plus AST ® GUARANTEED ANALYSIS Calcium (Ca)............................................................................................. 24% Magnesium (Mg) ...................................................................................... 6% Calcium Oxide (CaO) ............................................................................... 30% Magnesium Oxide (MgO)......................................................................... 15% Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) ................................................................ 55% Magnesium Carbonate (MgCO3) ...........................................................30% Moisture (maximum) ................................................................................ 1% Calcium Carbonate Equivalence (CCE) .................................................... 90%* Neutralizing Value 90% Calcium Carbonate Equivalence (CCE) Derived from dolomitic limestone F525In Florida, this product requires 2000 pounds to be equal to one ton of standard liming material. That is a fair amount of calcium oxide (quick lime) and magnesium oxide. Both are extremely caustic, meaning among other things, they destroy living tissue. I know from personal experience that quick or "hot" lime will burn the heck out of your skin. I think the oxide content of the Pennington fast acting lime might help explain some of the difference in lime amount recommendations (from 6 up to 100lbs) and why the manufacture of this product advises 6-10lbs. Makes me question what the other fast acting (or other) lime products contain when the say "derived from limestone." Just another brick for the wall even if it doesn't clear things up. Update: http://www.espoma.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/LightningLimeFactSheet1.pdf http://encap.net/lawn-mineral-nutrients/fast-acting-lime/#tab-id-3 http://www.solu-cal.com/media/pdf/msds-sheets/11010%20Solu-Cal%20Calcitic%20Lime%20SDS%202015.pdf http://www.acgmaterials.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Product-Data-Sheet-MINI-PRILLED-LIMESTONE-112116.pdf http://www.jonathangreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/magicallabel.pdf http://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Documents/limestones.pdf