You should be further away, in the golf industry I've met tons of mechanics that have lost fingers doing this too closely to the reel. If it grabs the brush, your instinct is to pull back, but you can't, it'll pull the brush in and stop the reel when it gets clogged. But your fingers are holding that brush.... If you use a longer brush, you'll give yourself time to realize what's going on and let go.
@@reelrollers lol! Thanks for the awesome video! Let’s get a TruCut demo next please! Adjusting the reel is a real pain on them, so to see the pros do it would be beneficial!
Bought my kit for McLane last year. 👍works great! So I am scalping a section of my yard to reseed. I assume it's best to back lap after the scalp, is that correct?
You're absolutely correct, Julian! You can use the prior year's dull blades to scalp (because scalping will ONLY dull your blades) and then follow up with a backlapping. You should have a few weeks to knock it out too as it'll take a little while for your grass to rebound! We appreciate your business!
Great question! A grind at home would be difficult. There are special machines that one would need to possess to get a proper grind to a cylinder. However, if you stay diligent, and backlap frequently enough, you may never need to take your machine in for a grind!
Helpful video-thanks for posting! I ordered your back lapping compound today, both 80 and 120. Question: You said you ran it “for a couple of minutes.” Is that all it takes? Is there a general rule-of-thumb for the time? I have a Cal Trimmer I’ll be back lapping soon. I’m also restoring a 1961 Locke Triplex that came with the rare, hard to find back lapping hand crank. Should be fun!!
Do you have a video or tip for when the adjusting bolts are free spinning. I think I'd have to take the reel off completely to fix the problem but I'm just curious.
Agreed. Admittedly, this is an older model, and the manufacturer has since changed the design of the adjustment to the reel. However, one thing to note is this; practice makes perfect. More more you do something, the more you learn, and the better you can become! After enough experience, even the most difficult machines can become very easy to work with.
I guess Im randomly asking but does anybody know a way to get back into an instagram account?? I was dumb forgot my password. I would appreciate any help you can give me
@Sincere Roger thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff now. Seems to take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
How much contact between reel to bedknife because it seems to me like if you have a little more contact the paper cut test will always be very good but perhaps not good for the machine. I have seen some video from Reel Rollers before where it says you should not have any touching between reel to bedknife and test with card stock ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZvMzCcuyry0.html which made it impossible to cut with regular paper test. I think that information seems to be the most inconsistent out there.
Thank you for the reply. The California Trimmer, Tru Cut, and McLane mowers all have a relief grind which you commonly backlap between full grinds. That’s what this video was showing. The video link referenced from before was for a Swardman mower which is a spin ground reel (flat edge vs relief). Swardman reels (flat edge) are different even though the videos both came from reel rollers. Relief grind = backlap more contact with reel to bedknife. Spin grind for swardman reels = little to know contact. Sorry for the confusion, but great question.
@@reelrollers Thanks for the reply! I have a McLane and bought your backlapping kit last year. It is still very confusing to me how much touching you should have between the reel and bedknife and I just don't see that guideline anywhere. If I have it a little tight, it will cut paper great but is a little too noisy because of too much contact. If I have it not tight enough, it won't cut paper very good but cut cardstock great and not too noisy. From your video, it seems like it is tight.
For the McLane, paper test and it should not be “tight”, but be able to spin by hand. If you can’t cut paper by turning reel by hand, you may need to backlap more or need a need relief grind. Good news, if you watch Ryan Knorr’s you tube channel we’ll have a video with him out in a week where we show how the largest reel mower service shop in the country adjusts and laps reels! Hood that visual/ video will help
@@reelrollers Look forward to seeing that video. In the McLane when I say "tight", I can still "spin" the reel by hand but not spinning it. I think if it spin freely w/o touching the bedknife, I will never be able to cut paper :). I guess the trick is how "tight" should I allow the contact to be? Is there an actual measurement?
@@butette I hate to say it, friend, but it's a "feel" thing! As you spin the reel manually with your hand, (when you're loosening for a backlapping) you should both listen and feel- listen for a very slight touch, and feel for a slight grab against the bed knife. When tightening after the backlapping, do the same- listen for contact all the way across, and feel for tighter contact with the knife. If you find that it's very difficult to move the reel with your hand, it's too tight. It takes time to get the technique down, so we typically instruct folks to continue to work with it, get to know the oddities of the machine! You'll get it!
