SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/506886
34 SportsTurf | May 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com TOOLS & EQUIPMENT F irst designed by Edwin Budding in 1830 and licensed for manu- facture by Ransomes (now part of Jacobsen), the reel mower still provides the best quality-of-cut on most types of grasses. For sports turf managers consistently cutting at or below 2 ¼ inches, especially on warm-season grasses, reel mowing will provide far superior results. Rather than chopping the grass like a rotary blade, reel mowers use a scissor-like action that shears each blade of grass. The result is a superior after-cut appearance and health- ier plant tissue. Reel mowers are inherently more sophisticated than rotary models and require more maintenance, monitoring and adjustment. The scissor-like action of a reel mower is created by two main components: the reel cylinder and a bedknife. The bedknife is a long blade that stands up the grass before the cylinder blades swing through and shear it. It is critical that the reel and bedknife are both sharp and the space between them is uniform and consistent. Industry standards call for between .001" and .003" clearance between the reel and bedknife. Quality-of-cut issues most often arise from dull reels and/or bedknives. Sharpness should be at the top of your mower maintenance list and be viewed as a starting point for proper setup. "Going out to mow with dull reels and bedknives is like running a stock car race with improperly inflated tires," said Lynn Westbrook, principal engineer at Jacobsen. "You'll never get the perfor- mance you need and the results will be less than perfect. It's amazing how many guys out there either forget or neglect reel and bedknife sharpness." Most sports field managers will reg- ularly send out their reels to be ground and sharpened. But reels can come out of adjustment during transport, daily service or mowing. So how do you know when it's time to bring in your reels for service? "Reel issues will almost always show themselves in the grass," says Greg Walker, technical training manager for Jacobsen. "Take a close look at the grass after a fresh mow. If you're seeing an uneven cut, defined lines or marking in the grass after mowing, you may have an issue. Also, take a look at the clippings: are the blade edges nice and straight or ragged and torn? The latter result may indicate a need for more frequent service. "One simple maintenance practice that shouldn't be overlooked is back- lapping," adds Walker. "It's easy for any operator or field manager to do in just a few minutes at the end of the day. You just spread some compound on the reel and set it to backlap mode, which spins the reel in reverse at a low RPM. It's a quick and easy way to stay sharp with every mow and extends the life of the reel and bedknife and the time between grinds." In a pinch, sharpening the front face of a bedknife with a facing tool or hand grinder will provide great results in an emergency. PROPER REEL MOWER MAINTENANCE CRITICAL TO FIELD QUALITY Editor's note: This article was supplied by Jacobsen. Left: A "paper test" is a quick and easy check that will let you know if your reel and bedknife are cutting properly. To conduct a paper test, sim- ply insert a piece of paper between the reel and bedknife and rotate the reel slightly to see if it cuts the paper cleanly. Right: This photo shows a new 5" diameter reel on the right and a used 5" diameter reel on the left. Notice the diameter of the left reel has been reduced significantly from excessive wear, making the reel essentially useless.