Fairway Quality of Cut Cancel The title field is required!

1. Chuck Barber

   

   0 posts
   
   8/8/2011 7:08 AM

   Gentlemen: I have marcelling in fairways I can't seem to get rid of. Our mowers are sharp and set at .425 on princeville bentgrass. We mow with baskets, we set a decent speed for the speed control on Jac 1880's (2) and 3400's (2). Are there bedknife issues I should consider? Should we be grinding reels/bedknives more than once yearly? Should we be swapping bedknives?
   
   At this point we only mow when dry (which isn't that frequently anymore in Chicago). We don't have the time/equipment right now to vertical mow fairways. We do run the steel drag in a half and half pattern to stand up the turf and improve quality of cut but with the summer we've had it's been about 6 weeks since that last happened. I am not a good technician so that's why I'm a lousy superintendent. Any advice on the top 1, 3, 5, 10 things to do to improve the qoc of fairways would be awesome.

   
   
   
   
2. Matt Falvo

   

   0 posts
   
   8/8/2011 7:08 AM

   Here is some info to help you troubleshoot your issues. Different make of equipment but the theory is still the same.
   
   
   Bret Hart
   Equipment Manager
   Turning Stone Resort

   
   
   
   
3. Chuck Barber

   

   0 posts
   
   8/8/2011 9:08 AM

   Thanks, that covers everything!

   
   
   
   
4. Henry Heinz

   

   0 posts
   
   8/8/2011 9:08 AM

   Are you running any contact? What is your ground speed with those units? How many blades? I ran 11 blades with my 1880's in Florida, at a speed right around 4.5mph. I run deere units now on bent and bent/poa with 11 blades and run at 4mph. When I had Jac 3400's, I ran light contact on them. You may try setting them up with contact, and then give just 1 to 2 minute lap with 120 wash off and double check your cut, you should be good to go. The only time I ever had problems with the 3400's was when the turf was growing very aggressively, and the traction unit was going faster than the reel could keep up with. A lot of what is in the doc's that Bret posted, you wont be able to do with a jac cutting head. The only way of changing attack angels or bedknife attitude is by changing bedknives, to thinner, and extended, or different size rollers. Making sure the reel is a perfect cylinder, and the bedknife is straight are also needed.

   
   
   
   
5. Baker Daniel

   
   8/8/2011 2:08 PM

   If you havn't had problems until now, I would think your setup is fine and you may have grass issues. Have you tried mowing in circles at a slightly lower mowing height? That seems to be the ticket for me in mid-late summer on my 419 fairways. They get puffy and nasty and need a good trim.
   
   This comes from another terrible mechanic that grows grass

   
   
   
   
6. Chuck Barber

   

   0 posts
   
   8/12/2011 10:08 AM

   I don't know the ground speed but I use the speed control levers. Two of the machines we mow with (3400's) were purchased used this spring so we're sort of working out the bugs so to speak. I thought of going to a lower height too but haven't had the balls to pull the trigger yet. I may go higher and see if we can find the balance between travel speed and FOC. I will keep you posted.

   
   
   
   
7. Nowakowski Michael J

   
   8/13/2011 6:08 AM

   Daniel,
   Curious to know how you cut circles. How big...from edge of fairway to other edge or smaller?

   
   
   
   
8. Christopher Strong

   

   0 posts
   
   8/13/2011 8:08 AM

   deleted

   
   
   
   
9. Christopher Strong

   

   0 posts
   
   8/13/2011 8:08 AM

   Too fast a traction speed is the most common thing that causes marcelling. If you're mowing much over 5 or 5.5 mph,you're mowing too fast. We run 3 1880's,and I don't care how fast Jac says you can mow. Keep it slow and you'll be better off.
   BobQuaif
   EquipTech
   Country Club of Troy
   Troy N.Y.