Soil Ripples in fairways and rolling them out Cancel The title field is required!

1. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   7/14/2017 1:07 PM

   Has anyone used rollers to remove the ripples in fairways caused by the fairway mowers? if so what size have you used and were they vibratory rollers?
   
   Is the cause from the mowers due to not enough spring pressure on the reels or maybe too much spring pressure? It sure seems like I am getting a lot more of them this year than in years past and golfers are starting to complain about them now.

   
   
   
   
2. Melvin Waldron

   

   43 posts
   
   7/14/2017 2:07 PM

   James Smith said: Has anyone used rollers to remove the ripples in fairways caused by the fairway mowers? if so what size have you used and were they vibratory rollers?
   
   Is the cause from the mowers due to not enough spring pressure on the reels or maybe too much spring pressure? It sure seems like I am getting a lot more of them this year than in years past and golfers are starting to complain about them now.

   
   
   I see some of that on some of my bigger tees, and I've had to wonder if part of it was thatch build up? We're pretty aggressive fertilizing tees to get them to fill in from winter play (Bermuda, I need to probably start targeting tee fertilization a little better, skipping tees that don't get beat up as much)
   
   But would be interested in what comments you get about the reels set up
   
   Mel

   
   Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO
   
   
3. Keith Lamb

   

   3 posts
   
   7/14/2017 4:07 PM

   Circle cut them James.

   
   
   
   
4. Alan Fitzgerald

   

   0 posts
   
   7/15/2017 4:07 AM

   Mowing a few times at a different angle (ideally 90*) should take care of it. Rolling will help but the mowing is the better option.
   
   It usually occurs from the mowers travelling too fast but turf conditions also have a hand in it. Once it starts it only gets worse - just like waves in a bunker from a sandpro.

   
   
   
   
5. Michael Wagner

   

   0 posts
   
   7/16/2017 10:07 AM

   I've seen some rippling in fairways up hear in the north as well. I attribute it to 2 things. The first is thatch build up and the second is mower speed. By slowing the mower down we have completely eliminated all rippling in fairways. Thatch is definitely a factor and rippling is more pronounced on things with a lot of thatch.

   
   
   
   
6. Mark Van Lienden

   

   14 posts
   
   7/16/2017 10:07 AM

   Drag something like a cyclone fence or old greens drag to stand up the grass then mow again and or in different directions.

   
   
   
   
7. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   7/19/2017 10:07 AM

   Maybe this will give you a better idea of what I am dealing with
   [url=http://s458.photobucket.com/user/TheRandini/media/IMG_6076.jpg.html">[img">http://i458.photobucket.com/albums/qq301/TheRandini/IMG_6076.jpg[/img">
   
   
   cutting circles will not help this out at all and simply cutting on angles will not either

   
   
   
   
8. Corey Eastwood

   

   80 posts
   
   7/19/2017 11:07 AM

   Wow that's the worst I have ever seen. Rotate the direction every cut like greens. That will cure it. I would say way to much speed caused this.

   
   Corey Eastwood CGCS, Stockton Golf & CC, Retired
   
   
9. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   7/20/2017 8:07 AM

   That may be the reason. I know we have seen more of it when we switched to wrapping the fairways instead of stripping them. We had to do this because we were scalping so bad in one direction it was becoming impossible to see where your line was to cut. once we started wrapping they cleared up drastically. by doing this it also took away the directional changes in our cutting. I plan on aerifying them and soaking them down and rolling them to try to take out the ridges. if that does not work then we will need a heavy roller. What's really odd is we have been cutting at the same speed for the last 12-13 years. never messed with the machine since it was new.

   
   
   
   
10. Michael Wagner

    

    0 posts
    
    7/21/2017 9:07 PM

    That is pretty bad. If it was me I would do this: Start only mowing opposite direction of ripples. Slow the mower down to 5 mph or less if you can. Aerate it with the biggest tines you can, soak it to saturation and roll it with a heavy roller opposite direction of ripples. Repeat if it doesn't make it completely disappear. Once the rippling disappears mow regularly in at least 3 different directions alternating each time and keep the speed down.

    
    
    
    
11. Holley Tiffany H

    
    8/22/2017 11:08 AM

    We had this happen when one of the rollers on then reels was messed up.