reply by theodocus struck me as coming from the desk of the ad agency of MTD. No mention of the actual operation that involves rolling over uneven terrain and jarring action from bumps and uneven spots and the fragile fabricated axles that bend and crack easily. Oh, there is also the bushings used in place of ball bearings: bushing use requires higher horsepower to move the newer units. The Deere has points and condenser; cost $5.00 and 9.00 respectively and the sears is a solid state igntion. Newer technology is wonderful as long as it is coupled with quality assemblage in a product. I have a 1968 Sears GARDEN tractor with a 12HP Tecumseh Heavy duty cast iron engine with ball bearings and cut with a 42 inch deck and also have a 1976 John Deere GARDEN tractor with a cast iron 10 HP engine with ball bearings and cut with a 42" deck and use both alternately for mowing two acres and for tilling and moving earth, etc.. Each has cast iron axles and mutli-speed hi-lo transmissions and EACH is used for plowing, snowblowing, tilling earth, hauling 1100 lb loads in attached large carts. EACH will run circles around the new 20 plus HP light LAWN tractors made today. Spend 5,000.00 and you will have a comparable heavy duty GARDEN tractor. By the way, good luck on getting even 10 years of use with the new wonders.

I have a slope like this, been using cordless mowers for 12 years, went through at least 3, if not 4 of them... if you don't mind replacing the batteries every 2 years it's fine. The problem is the battery will be 50% of the original cost of the lawnmower and sometimes they are hard to find. My current one is down to $150 but I know it's only going to last 2 more years, so what's the point? I just bought a gas lawn mower for 2 reasons, 1st, even though it is lighter you can use RWD on those steep slopes with a heavier lawnmower. Also, the cordless will take you 2x as long as a gas mower because it will constantly stall in wet or thick grass and you will still need blade sharpening. My issue with it is also that since it's cordless, doesn't need gas, oil etc., people naturally think they just have to slap in the battery and off they go, but then after 2 years they notice that they only get 10 minutes out of a charge after awhile. Cordless are fine for very small lawns if you have time to mow 2x per week and it doesn't rain. But gas mowers are really worth the money especially if you give them proper TLC.

" 1-2 hours of direct light a day " You will not get any variant of any type of grass to grow successfully under these conditions that will ever please you. It'll sprout. It'll grow for a while. Then struggle. Then die. 1-2 hours of sun per day is deep shade to mostly shady. All grasses are at least part sun--absolute minimum and strongly prefer part shade to full sun. People will tell you that you can grow grasses in lower light conditions. This is sort-of-correct, with massive amounts of care and constant coddling. Sometimes. But tree edges aren't conducive to that, and it usually involves a lot of northlight and/or reflected light. You don't seem to have that. My advice? Embrace things like bleeding hearts and other very pretty low light plants that are beautiful and appropriate to moist, low-light areas. Or embrace the moss (edit to remove incorrect info). Fun fact: Moss killing is really reliable if you're out spraying your lawn with iron sulfate. Your standard 2-4 oz per gallon solution, sprayed on moss, will take it right out. Dish soap...not so much unless reasonably highly concentrated, enough so to be an issue for other plants (salts will desiccate many other plants as well as mosses, particularly younger and more tender ones). Save a plant, green it with a light dose of iron instead of wasting the Dawn in the yard for that particular purpose. I use a quick shot of iron in the gardens in fall and let the moss bodies decay over winter, a warning to other mosses to beware. :-) Plus I get a little moss on the north face where the hose sits. No biggie, but if I'm standing there...

You may not even need to lime. PNW soils tend to be only slightly acidic so pretty much at the same pH most turf grasses prefer. And it won't kill the moss anyway so could be a wasted effort. Just dethatching or a good raking will bring up the moss. By then it will be time to apply the first fertilization. FWIW aerating and fertilizing will go a long way in discouraging the moss, but if the lawn is in too much shade or the soil stays too moist, it will be back. It is very hard to avoid in our cool, damp climate.