Reel Sharpening

Jay – posted 24 July 2005 14:07

How do I know when it is time to sharpen my reel on my TruCut? My tifway bermuda lawn cut at 3/4″ is not looking as green and nice as it did a 3 weeks ago. I am mowing about every 3 days. We have had a lot of rain in Atlanta, so with so many variables I dont know what has caused the sudden decline.

cohiba – posted 24 July 2005 16:06

Jay,

As long as it is cutting paper (two strips of newspaper) your in good shape. If not you may be able to adjust the reel-to-bedknife distance to get it to cut better. If not, back lapping and/or grinding may be in order. Is the quality of cut causing your decline or some other issue. Is the turf bruised and not cut on the ends? Or is it turning brown elsewhere on the leaf?

Food fot thought……………….

Jay – posted 24 July 2005 17:11

Cohiba

It seems to cut newspaper, notebook paper, and a business card just fine. The grass tip look cut fairly clean. Maybe just a few milimeters are brownish. The rest of the blade looks fine. Do I need to raise my cutting height a 1/8″ to stop it from browning, or do I need to cut every other day?

cohiba – posted 24 July 2005 18:50

Jay,

I cannot imagine that you are taking off enough that it would be browning out. Three times per week with a reel mower and your lawn should look like a fairway. The HOC seems great to me. How are you with fertilizer? And what about a little Iron to green it up a little more.

I am a cool season turf guy….grasping here……

Ted?…..

Ted?…..

Good Luck………….

Jay – posted 24 July 2005 20:24

Cohiba,

Thanks. Been applying 1x per month per my soil sample reccomendations 34-3-8 slow release. Maybe I over did it. I looked at the turf again tonight after I cut this afternoon, definetly browning in certain areas. It will be green again though in two days. I had this problem before I moved to a reel mower and before I topdressed to level. I cant figure it out. I’ll kepp experimenting. I really dont feel as though I should have to raise the HOC.

jay

proudx – posted 05 July 2007 10:11

I am curious if you ever solved the problem? If your mower was cutting some spots of the yard at 1/2″ you might need to mow every other day or raise the height to 7/8 to 1″.