It's a jungle out here

I've learned from the neighbors that once the house was foreclosed, of the 5.1 acre lot, HUD contracted a lawn service to mow exactly 1 acre.  So the grass on the remaining 4.1 acres was pretty out of control.  There were some weeds that were as tall as I was, which is pretty impressive, considering I'm a strapping 5' 9".  I managed to wreck my weed wacker within the first 15 minutes of trying to cut some of the brush down. 

 The girls enjoyed the long grass.

This provided a great opportunity, and excuse, to get a serious man's tool . . . a Stihl (I'm told it's pronounced steel). I received some awesome recommendations from my friend Jason at Black Swamp Equipment, and by later that day, I was chopping down weeds like it was butter and a hot knife.  My son wanted to try it out too, so I gave him a safety lesson, and let him go.  I was hoping he'd just do it all for me, but it only lasted about 15 seconds and then he was done.

We had a tremendous amount of help.  We never would have gotten the work done without my brother, Justin, and his sweet Kubota Tractor, or my brother-in-law, Seth, and his zero-turn mower. My mom and dad, sisters, Chelsea, and Anna, and Aunt Vicki all joined in the "fun."

And here is the completed project.  We've  still got a few weeds to pull around the pond, but the yard is mowed.  It took a total of two days to get it all done.  There were so many grass clippings, we used a hay rake to scoop them into rows.  Seth is able to use it for the mini horse they have.

This all happened last weekend.  It's already time to mow again. Hopefully, it won't take as long this time! I am going to need to buy a lawnmower for next year, and I'd love to buy something that can double as a snow blower.  What I want is a tractor like my brother's, but this house renovation is taking most of my resources to be able to make a purchase like that.  If you have any recommendations or ideas for multipurpose lawnmowers, please post them in the comments below.

Thanks,
Chris