My manuel reel washboards everywhere at 1 inch HOC, and my rotary scalps in multiple places. Would like to purchase a powered reel for next season, but boy are they expensive.
Good stuff. Thanks for comparing! A few things to keep in mind however. The John Deere probably has an 11 blade reel, not ideal for anything higher than 0.25 inches really, that is why you are seeing some stragglers and would probably require a few more passes to clean up the cut. On larger commercial greensmower like toro GM1000, JD 226 or Jacobsen 526 you can get a lower count blade reel (ie, 7 or 8 blade reels) which are much better suited for "higher" HOC's around 0.5" to 1". Also, in order to get a good quality on a rotary at those low HOC's you better have a pretty damn leveled lawn, if there is any sort of undulation or dips in your lawn you will get a lot of scalping when any of the tires go into the low spots in the lawn. Keep it up!
I did what Connor ward did in one of his videos. He put washers over his blade to lower it. Tried it out in my backyard and it looked good. I was going to by a reel mower once I got my front yard leveled, but I think I'll stick with using the washers
Interesting my cheap 150-220 dollar troy built rotary mower on the lowest setting which is 1 cuts at .5 Second lowest setting 2 cuts at 1in 3 is 1.5 4 is 2- 2.25 5 is 3in than the top setting 6 is 4-4.25
i need a affordable reel mower or mower that will cut low enough for a putting green i installed last month,,any suggestions,,saw a remington rotary that will cut 3/4 inch from lowes for 129
@@Lawncology 500,,i have looked for some used actual greens mowers but none locally for sale..i been a mechanic for 50 years so if i could find a old one with issues at good price it would solve my problem...
Hey John, I came across a video Connor made a while back about dropping the height of cut on a rotary mower. He just used some washers between the blade and its mount to shim it down closer to the ground. Might be something to look at to keep your blades on the Toro level.
I have a gravely 260 I adjusted my deck down half an inch co when I cut customers grass I cut at 3” is really 2.5” at my house I pull the pin out and let it ride I think it’s at 3/4 to 1 inch but I cut it every other day or 3rd day by most
So it wasn’t my imagination the Toro looked unusually low to the ground. 😳 Pleasantly surprised the Toro won out in this type of comparison. Perhaps you can find some older Toro wheels that are compatible, but a little smaller and swap out the back wheels. 🧐
I’m seriously thinking of doing a mod to cut at 3/4” and leaving it there. Works really well but bagging will give the best visual result. The clipping get stuck when it’s that low on the recycle setting
Consideration is needed for sure. I've got an ego select cut and it does great at 2" on my lawn here in Lehi, but I had wanted to get a fiskars reel mower perhaps. That washboarding would definitely bug me so I don't know that the cleaner scissor cut is worth the cost.
Nice video John. If I keep a REALLY sharp blade on my Rotary, I can achieve a crisp clean cut Very similar to a powered Reel Mowers cut. I was contemplating purchasing a Manual reel mower , but the Wash-Boarding would drive me nuts.
dlvh007 How often do you sharpen your blade? I recall the Lawn Care Nut saying he sharpened his Toro once a month, but that was before he accumulated the current collection in his garage. I know I need to get into the habit of sharpening more. I bought the tools to do it, but a little afraid of using the angle grinder 😳
@@minoutv7347 I sharpen my blade about every 4-6th mow, and I cut my lawn every 3rd day. I use a Dremel tool with a Sanding Barrel attachment...it's really easy and quick.
dlvh007 I also mow twice a week 😊 I like the idea of using a Dremel, much less intimidating than an angle grinder. Is this the type of sanding drum you are suggesting? www.homedepot.com/p/Dremel-EZ-Drum-1-2-in-Rotary-Tool-Mandrel-for-Sanding-Bands-for-sanding-bands-408-432-445-EZ407SA/203077220 Many thanks for your help!
The area of my lawn that I mow with a reel mower gets driven on by service and emergency vehicles. Most of my lawn is a steep slope which I mow with a 4wd x595. I use a toro recycler professionally. I absolutely cannot mow the lawn any lower than second notch from lowest or it scalps all over. Why? Because the vehicles make my lawn bumpy, despite my leveling it with sand every spring after I scalp it. My Mclane doesn’t have this problem. Mows it with no scalping. That’s the big advantage here. I WISH I could mow at 3/4 of an inch with my x595 but that’s just not possible. I put hours and hours of work in each week on mowing the lawn. I do prefer the way a rotary mower sucks the blades up and cuts every single one but you really can’t mow as low with one without scalping, unless you have some perfectly flat lawn that no one goes on, just not reality for most folks. We use our lawn.
Have a little over 16000 SF to cut, use the Toro Time Master 30" Cut the Zoysia at 1.25 inches. Looking good but not as well as it can. Feeding the bio-pack to it, seen improvement from the first app. Just need to get the balance of the soil correct to see it at its best.
Don't forget that you can always mow with a rotary to get the grass blades up and then go back over it with a reel set slightly lower. I'm at least a year off from doing a renovation, but I'm curious about something. If I have a good 3 inches of rich top soil built up from nearly 30 years of never bagging clippings, leaves, etc, how far deep should I till that into the clay layer and would I need to bring in any compost. I want to get the soil right so that all I need to worry about is fertilization and water.
@@Lawncology thanks. I'm not worried about clay other than loosening it deep enough and keeping it loose enough for the roots to be able to penetrate deep enough.
You always seem to read my mind, John. I think about something lawn related, and days later, I see a video on the same topic, always with helpful info. I really like how you seem to have your finger on the pulse of “homer” lawn care. Keep it up!
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Put smaller wheels on the toro. Instant lowering kit. That way you’re not potentially dropping the blade below the deck height which could be dangerous if you add washers.
