OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Reel-Type Mowers Scott Bonnar 45 17" Verticutter/Groomer Mod

Hello all.

Update re my SB17 Verticutter/Groomer modification. Don't know if this section is appropriate to post and the Admin can can delete if not appropriate. I don't want to steal the thread or anybodies thunder.

A little bit about me. This will be my 2nd season with SB mowers and I have Santa Anna Couch. While the couch is 8 years old (laid) I've only gone the manicured look these past 2 seasons.

I saw SimRices YouTube vid (assuming is same person) and got a little inspired.

Not knowing a great deal of the terms (sorry if i get some wrong) I'm replacing the reel with a modified reel. I have purchased 35 6" 170MM Wood Circular SAW blades with 12 teeth. They are carbine tipped so all up $202 delivered.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/291535340485?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Thanks to advise from a PM to SimRice I contacted Katrina at GolfandBowlingMachinery.com and have purchased a Hex 17" Shaft for $140 delivered. I could have also got 35-ish spacers at $2.50 each but I'm going to cut some PVC pipe so see how I go.

I will also be getting a HEX cut into the blades that I've bought.

From what I have read I will (Well actually the mechanic I will pay) need to remove the bed knife and soleplate. I don't exactly know what these parts are but Im guessing the bed knife is what the normal reel cuts against. I'm not sure what a soleplate actually is but I'm reading generally that they are hard to get and expensive if you damage it in the removal.

Sorry no pictures of the mower, it is in getting some minor repairs. If people are interested in the picture I'll post in the future.

So all up the original SB17 cost me $20 (yes that is right) and is in perfect working order and looks lightly used. Everything is original, the pull cord is being replaced. So if the saw blades = $200, Shaft = $140, Labour $300-400 I should get a groomer $600 - $800.

My other SB17 will be the dedicated mower and I'll have a separate groomer.

Note it will only be used as a groomer only and not a verticutter. I'll source another SB17 in the future and get the funds together for another mod.

There are lots of cheap ones around where I live for some reason in the order of $100 - $300.

In Summary I'll let you know how I go and the problems and issues that come up in the build. Some keen eyes will probably spot disasters waiting to happen with what I've written already.

Wish me luck!!!

Matt Daum

Is the shaft that you're getting from G&B complete pre-fabbed and ready to go? If so that is a really good price.

You may be able to get those blades laser cut for the correct hex arbor, I assume the G&B shaft is 27mm AF?

The soleplate is the iron casting to which the bedknife is mounted.

It's the biggest bit shown in this pic:


The thing is, it has to come out to dismount the bedknife, to permit use of the grooming reel. Then it has to go back in - it's an essential part of the chassis structure.

Regarding the TCT groomer/verticutter blades, there seems to be only a couple of major suppliers of these, both in the US.

JRM, http://www.jrmonline.com/

Woodbay DynaBlade http://www.woodbayturftech.com
Blade pics are at http://dynabladesupplies.com/purchase-blades/ but don't give centre hole size.

Both of these companies list Oz agents; Golf & Bowling Machinery have JRM.

The shaft I'm getting from G&B is complete pre-fabbed and I will add the blades and the spacers.

G&B also will do a reel complete assembled with the blades and the spacers for $750 and a small charge for freight. Katrina said that blades they use are a lot better than the ones I will have and the ones I got will go blunt quicker. Also she said the way that their blades cut for grooming would also have been somehow better for the cut and also the way the cutting would go into the catcher. She did try to explain but I suppose that it was hard to explain to a novice like me.

I'm only going to be using this machine as a groomer, see how I go and then make another SB45 17" as a dedicated verticutter which I guess I'll only use say twice, once in spring and once in summer. But this will probably be reserved for the 2017/18 Spring and Summer.

Going for lower than last season hence when I found out about the groomer mods in this forum I really became interested.

I have a fun video I made of last years season with some basic tips to help my friends not that I'm an expert.




Regards

Matt Daum

Cheers Gadge for those links

Matt Daum

Ah Gadge thanks again for the soleplate info. Looks a heavy duty bit of kit and hence, essential.

Hello all.

I have just got the prefab shaft delivered from G&B. Serious bit of kit!!!

Just waiting on the blade and a family member will be putting the hex centre on those for free. It's all coming together nicely. Feeling lucky so far.

Pictures are below. The last picture is the SB Mower that it will be going into.

Regards

Update:

Although the blades have not arrived yet my Uncle Fred will be doing all the fabrication and assembly for free. He'll be cutting out a steel plate for the washers (think he mentioned 10mm) to a 32" hole for the hex. He said that this was a better option than PVC pipe for the spacers because it is easier to get the blades square with the steel plate option.

He has also made a template for the (turns out to be 28.4mm hex) which he'll use to guide a carbine tipped grinder to cut the circular 25.4mm bore of the blades to the appropriate hex.

He's going to Tasmania for a holiday for 3 weeks and will start on his return.

I'll post some pictures of the process when that happens.

Guessing I wouldn't need to use the groomer till about late October as the lawn will be scarified and aerated on 3rd September and hence will need time to grow through the sand top dress to fill in the cores and level up the low parts of the area.

Small hiccup. Only got sent 19 blades in my order and the seller has refunded me back the other 16 blades which didn't make it. Will have to get the rest from GolfandBowling.

Will be assembling it in about a fortnight.