Bedknife grinding angles Cancel The title field is required!

1. Bradley Frunchak

   

   24 posts
   
   5/11/2017 11:05 PM

   What angles are Toro bed knives best ground at?
   I was taught the following:
   
   Top face: greens- 7
   tees- 9
   fwys- 9
   
   Front face: all reels 95
   
   These numbers are also on the bernhard grinder.
   
   I have come across the Toro chart and what they recommend is fairly different. A lesser angle on the top face and a steeper angle on the front face.
   
   Just looking for some clarification.

   
   
   
   
2. Frank McQuiggan

   

   2 posts
   
   5/12/2017 5:05 AM

   Brad,
   
   I grind all my Toro knives at 7 front and 7 top face, no after cut appearance problems

   
   
   
   
3. Dave Depp

   

   3 posts
   
   5/12/2017 6:05 AM

   I came to be an equipment manager after 35 yrs in the automotive industry. I was taught
   7 & 7 my current super has let me experiment and I've been grinding 11 top & 17 face. I run
   a bed knife buddy file across the face when doing my daily checks and will frequently go 4 to 5
   days without having to click the adjustment. I am also more aggressive with my tee mowers and
   the fairway mowers with similar results.
   
   Dave Depp
   Equipment manager
   Glen Echo CC

   
   
   
   
4. Michael Kriz

   

   0 posts
   
   5/12/2017 7:05 AM

   They are all different. Once you've ground a knife use a digital protractor to verify you are getting the angle you set your grinder at, you may be surprised.
   
   Use this chart for reference
   https://cdn2.toro.com/en/~/media/Files/ ... D998B55215

   
   
   
   
5. Ron Bradley

   

   63 posts
   
   5/12/2017 7:05 AM

   I grind my greens mower knives at 7 on top and 15 on the face ( toro mowers) and fwys are 10 and 15. I have not had any after cut issues at all. I do not have to adjust after every mowing on greens or fwys with no contact.

   
   
   
   
6. Bob Pruneau

   

   5 posts
   
   5/13/2017 7:05 AM

   Same as Mike . I even bought Toros bedknife angle bracket for digital gauges .

   
   
   
   
7. Bradley Frunchak

   

   24 posts
   
   5/13/2017 6:05 PM

   That is the chart I was looking at.
   
   According to the chart the grind on the bed knives I run for greens:
   
   Triplex mower(3100), 21" tournament cut Edgemax blade:
   
   topface 3 degrees
   front face 13 degrees +/- 4 degrees(meaning anywhere between 9-17 degrees)
   
   
   
   am I reading this correct??

   
   
   
   
8. Michael Kriz

   

   0 posts
   
   5/14/2017 9:05 AM

   That's where I run mine, and red is new to me this past year. Just match your part number on the chart for sure

   
   
   
   
9. Anthony Lewis

   

   1 posts
   
   5/14/2017 2:05 PM

   Michael Kriz said: That's where I run mine, and red is new to me this past year. Just match your part number on the chart for sure

   
   
   What's interesting is that Toro says 3 but new knives from them are around 7.

   
   
   
   
10. Roland McPhearson

    

    9 posts
    
    5/15/2017 6:05 AM

    Bradley Frunchak said:
    
    topface 3 degrees
    front face 13 degrees +/- 4 degrees(meaning anywhere between 9-17 degrees)
    
    
    
    am I reading this correct??

    
    
    Yes. If you adjust your grinding wheel to that new Toro bedknife so that its scraping across the entire top face that will be 3 degrees. Your grinder may indicate a different angle. That's because of the arcs and compound angles involved with a large round wheel on a tilted grinder head, and the fact that the angle of the stone changes as it wears.
    
    That's the way I see it.
    
    Also worth noting, according to a JD source the "steeper" front face angle on a greensmower bedknife may prevent grabbing or scrubbing at very low HOC. In other words, a sharper angled front face will skid or glide accross the turf better. The lower the HOC the more important that will be.

    
    
    
    
11. Lee Medeiros

    

    0 posts
    
    3/9/2018 4:03 PM

    We grind our knives 7 degrease on the top and 5 degrease on the front. We can mow as low as .80 with excellent results.

    
    
    
    
12. Christopher Thuer

    

    101 posts
    
    3/10/2018 5:03 PM

    Varys depending on machine according to what the manual for each machine states. I did not do the front face this winter on any of them as our equipment dealer tech, who has been doing golf equipment tech work for decades, said that grinding the front face isn't necessary but always grind the top. He said the front face doesn't bow and warp when being mounted like the top does. We will see.

    
    Chris Thuer, CGCS, Bear Slide Golf Club, Cicero, IN
    
    
13. Stephen Tucker

    

    0 posts
    
    3/12/2018 6:03 AM

    Chris in regards to grinding the front face my concern wouldn't be the bowing / warping it would be the distance from the pivot bolt to the center line of the reel, so that the grass is positioned the same from end to end when it is stood up to be cut by the reel. Here is an example of what I am talking about toward the end of the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGo2jm11s4I
    
    In regards to bedknife angles I would always suggest starting with the manufacturer's recommendations but you have to change that depending on reel wear, bedknife attitude, turf conditions, bedknife type, etc. When in Dallas we had to run tournament bedknives on the fairway mowers during a Tour event due to the amount of grain we had in the fairways. The thinner knife minimized the drag which allowed us to cut the fairways at lower heights until they could get the grain under control. We also ran steeper front face angles to help with that as well. Just wanted to throw some more variables into this lol.

    
    
    
    
14. Christopher Thuer

    

    101 posts
    
    3/12/2018 5:03 PM

    Thanks Stephen, interesting. We'll see how it goes.
    
    After the equipment dealer tech told me that I thought back on the 1,000+ bedknives I have ground in the last 30+ years and the front face has always been nearly consistent from the pivot bolt holes and the factory grind always seems to be a few degrees more aggressive than what the manual says. The top has always been a different story and I have rarely seen one that didn't need to be trued in.
    
    We had a tech at the course for a few years that insisted on doing all grinding and that there was no need to grind bedknives because they were factory ground. We argued often about it. The mowers cut like crap for weeks in the spring until after a backlap after every mowing for weeks until the knives and reels were matched up.
    
    I have a short video on the Bear Slide Golf Club Grounds Maintenance facebook page showing a bedknife I was grinding and how warped it was.
    
    I use a black wide tip sharpie to color the grinding surface before doing every bedknife.

    
    Chris Thuer, CGCS, Bear Slide Golf Club, Cicero, IN
    
    
15. Bob Pruneau

    

    5 posts
    
    3/17/2018 4:03 AM

    Same as Stephen Tucker. That front face knife is very important. Some really low budget courses is their only option is to keep the front face angle and sharp till the next time the reels are sent out for a grind .