Pitch of blade on greensmowers Cancel The title field is required!

1. Flanagan Darren C

   
   10/3/2012 6:10 PM

   Hola Mecanicos!
   
   I have a question for you, how do you ensure the pitch of the bedknife is the same on all mowers when the reel wear is different? I have flex 21's and want to make sure my temp guy is doing this correctly I am currently hiring a tech and have a window period without anyone.
   
   Any thoughts, advice would be greatly appreciated.
   
   Darren Flanagan
   Cabo, Mexico

   
   
   
   
2. Flanagan Darren C

   
   10/3/2012 7:10 PM

   Hola Mecanicos!
   
   I have a question for you, how do you ensure the pitch of the bedknife is the same on all mowers when the reel wear is different? I have flex 21's and want to make sure my temp guy is doing this correctly I am currently hiring a tech and have a window period without anyone.
   
   Any thoughts, advice would be greatly appreciated.
   
   Darren Flanagan
   Cabo, Mexico

   
   
   
   
3. Michael Posey

   

   0 posts
   
   10/3/2012 9:10 PM

   Best I can do: http://www.toro.com/customercare/commercial/education/pdf/09168sl.pdf

   
   
   
   
4. Dinger Greg

   
   10/4/2012 11:10 AM

   I dont have the exact document, but Toro, somewhere, had listed some specs on ALL DPA cutting units including Flex, a variance of only 3* from new to used reel stock, with regard to bedknife attitude.
   
   I would focus on keeping the bedknife as long as possible by doing most of the grinding on top, and only touching up the face, and also make sure all of your bedbars are the same, as there are options there as well. (see attached)
   
   If you want to know where your at, set your height, and place a flat bar across the rollers, use an angle gauge to get a reference, and then measure the bedknife the same way, the difference is your attitude.

   
   
   
   
5. Henry Heinz

   

   0 posts
   
   10/4/2012 6:10 PM

   When the reel wear is different you can grind the bedknife more or less and check the attitude of the bedknife as Greg mention. The other method is to measure all your reels then grind them to match the smallest one, and then keep your bedknives all the same. Really measuring and grinding in sets and taking as close to the same amount off on all the units will help maintain the same bedknife attitude. Some cutting units have eccentrics on the rollers that you can adjust, some take shims, and with the newer Deere heads you can adjust the roller brackets, reset HOC and then check your angles and then keep adjusting until desired degree. On Jacobsens your going to need to do it through grinding square/straight bedknives and a true cylinder grind on your reel and keep them sized the same. In the process of matching sets right now. Grinding heavy on some, and very little on others to get my sizing and sets as close to same as possible. Replacing all bedknives at the same time too, so that we get matched sets on fairway, triplexes, and all walking units. Hope this helps, and yes it does take a little work and time but once you get them there they are easier to maintain and keep them matched up.
   
   Regards,

   
   
   
   
6. Dinger Greg

   
   10/4/2012 8:10 PM

   To concur with Skip, do you have, if not get, a pi tape. You may find your "suspect" reels are only a few thou apart, or, in dire need of replacement. SIP sells a great one, and also has a video and tutorial and paper download on their site. If nothing else, they have a great rep in Phoenix who can walk you through proper measuring.
   
   As Skip says, very important in sets, but with your Flex's you may find you have some wiggle room.
   
   2cents.

   
   
   
   
7. Justin Solsvig

   

   0 posts
   
   10/4/2012 9:10 PM

   Darren,
   This is from our equipment manager & former mobile mechanic with Jerry Pate Toro:
   The flex's have Fixed back roller needs no attitude adjust. The angle of the pivot relationship to the reel means knife keeps same angle throughout it's life.
   Hopefully that can help you a bit.
   Cheers.

   
   
   
   
8. Dinger Greg

   
   10/4/2012 10:10 PM

   Justin Solsvig said: Darren,
   This is from our equipment manager & former mobile mechanic with Jerry Pate Toro:
   The flex's have Fixed back roller needs no attitude adjust. The angle of the pivot relationship to the reel means knife keeps same angle throughout it's life.
   Hopefully that can help you a bit.
   Cheers.

   
   
   Post '07ish. '06 and prior (I may be a year off) rear rollers adjustable for attitude based on HOC and other variables as well as leveling adjustment on right side.

   
   
   
   
9. Flanagan Darren C

   
   10/5/2012 9:10 AM

   Guys
   
   I really appreciate you taking the time to communicate your ideas with me. I use to backlap, setup and service my own equipment 12 years ago but it has been a while and like anything, technology has advanced as has equipment.
   
   Thanks again and I look forward to futher dialouge.
   
   Darren

   
   
   
   
10. Henry Heinz

    

    0 posts
    
    10/5/2012 4:10 PM

    Bedknife angles change constantly throughout the life of the knife and reel as they both wear. Aggressive would be 8 and up to say like 13 degrees. Aggressive bedknife attitude pulls/rakes more grass into the reel & bedknife, and a lot of times means more of those white overlap lines. Less aggressive is 4 to 7 degrees and means the bedknife runs flatter to the turf, and less chances of digging in on the edges of the knife form undulating areas. Size of rollers, bedknives, and reels all determine bedknife attitude. There are many ways to adjust it to get them approximately the same. Jim Nedin, spelling is probably wrong, but has done a lot of testing and studies for Toro and puts on an awesome seminar on this very topic, of adjusting and reel setup for quality of cut and after cut appearance. Just my 2 cents
    
    Regards,