Checkmate Lawn Striping Kit Review
Checkmate Lawn Striping Kit by Big League Lawns Review
Checkmate Lawn Striping Kits are in stock and ready to ship. Shipping was fast as we received this kit in about 3 days. As a lawn care addict, I have always been curious about the Checkmate Lawn Striping Kit. My BadBoy zero turn lays some decent stripes from the factory. Once we bolted the striping kit onto the mower we were impressed with the heavy-duty materials that the striper is made from. Most importantly, once tested, the lawn stripes were more consistent and dramatically enhanced.
How it works
Stiping your lawn can definitely draw some eyes to your outdoor living space. You don’t have to have perfect grass, but it does have to be decent grass. This particular lawn I mow has clover and weeds but it still looks terrific with stripes. Striping is achieved by mowing each path in a different direction. The Checkmate Lawn Striping Kit is heavy, weighing in at 45lbs. This additional weight helps to fold the grass in the direction that you are mowing. The sunlight reflects off the folded grass making the stripes more visible.
Quality
Immediately when I lugged the box into the garage, I said wow, this thing is heavy. Heavy is exactly what is needed to lay the grass down and enhance the stipes. The weight comes from the robust construction of The Checkmate Lawn Striper. Constructed from heavy-duty rollers and heavy-duty steel, this kit is built to last and handle the abuse of bumping into things that normally occur while mowing.
The Checkmate Lawn Striping Kit is fully serviceable in the event something breaks and all of the parts are available from the USA manufacturer. Having replacement parts readily available is an important consideration for anyone investing in a long-term ownership product like The Checkmate Lawn Striping Kit.
Installation
Instalation is simple. The directions included QR Codes that bring you directly to installation videos. Watching the videos before the installation helped me better understand the task. The Checkmate Lawn Striping Kit was mounted to my BadBoy lawn mower by removing two existing bolts and adding additional bolts and hardware for the attachment. For my installation, there was no drilling and it took about 45 minutes. Installation can be different on each machine, but Big League Lawns has good customer service and does an excellent job of providing installation support for almost all lawn-mowing machines, including walk-behind and residential push models.
Mowing Considerations
The Checkmate Lawn Striper hangs about 10″ from the rear tire to the front of the roller on my machine. This measurement is important and should be considered if you have a lot of obstacles in your yard. This distance most likely changes depending on which machine you are installing it on. I have a well and a few other items that I have to maneuver around. Although this kit hangs back 10 inches, I find it to be minimal and it didn’t affect my mowing at all, but it is something to be aware of.
The Checkmate Lawn Striper is secured to the machine by two mounting arms. Zero-turn mowers frequently change from forward to reverse. Being secured by two mounting points is critical because it makes the striping kit follow the mower evenly and be more stationary. This is especially helpful when backing up. Some competitors offer a single-arm attachment which is prone to jackknifeing and can be more problematic while mowing.
Testing Results
As I mentioned before, my zero turn does lay down some stripes from the factory setup without a striping kit. We tested this kit for several mows. However, once we bolted The Checkmate Lawn Striper onto the mower, the stripes were more consistent and dramatically enhanced. In my opinion, the bolder the better. I am always looking for a deeper stripe, so I was impressed with the results.
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Conclusion
Although there are other striping kits available, The Checkmate Lawn Striping Kit is clearly in a league of its own. Having two connecting arms prevents jackknifing. However, most importantly this roller system is heavy. The heavy weight gently lays the grass down enhancing the stripes. In addition, The heavy-duty construction of The Checkmate Lawn Striping Kit will provide for a long service life of regular use. I mowed several lawns with The Checkmate Lawn Striping Kit attached and it really elevated my final product by enhancing my stripes.
Buy it now
The Checkmate Lawn Striping Kit can be purchased directly through the Big League Lawns website. This particular kit costs $385 with about $38.00 shipping for a total cost of $423.00. Depending on what machine you have, the actual cost will vary. Most kits are in the mid $300 range, while push mower kits are around $110. Although this kit is not cheap, the quality of construction makes The Checkmate Lawn Striping kit a good value. The Checkmate Lawn Striping kit will provide exceptional stripes and an overall higher quality finished product.
