My grooming reel has arrived and with the burst of warm weather, I'm keen to get it into action this weekend. I'm going to take over the metal-room at work and get it set into my older 45 so I can use it this weekend. I really want to start a restoration on this unit so there will be a lot of reading on here before I go any further and I'll add my pics of the process..
The new Rover45 has picked up an issue in that it won't roll backwards and wants to take off as soon as the clutch lever is disengaged.. I'll open it up tonight if I can and have a look at the cork on the land roll clutch as it appears to be the most likely culprit. If not, the roller itself is the next likely cause and that will be a weekend job! Also need to work on timing a restoration as I'd like to refresh it too.
I'll bet London to a brick that it's got absolutely nothing to do with your cork but rather that your land roll clutch chain is over tight and is pulling at the pressure plate gear and thus grabbing the drive gear behind via the cork surface.
As far as using a groomer at this point in the season is concerned I feel that you are probably a tad early on that and it won't come into season until around early October. While I'm on this topic remember you'll have to remove the bed knife and leave the sole plate in place. Depending on your reel's blades you might even have to move your sole plate backwards by very accurately drilling new locating holes otherwise the blades will hit the sole plate. If I may ask, who did you get the reel from ?
I gather you have a couch variant ?
Keep an eye out for the green factor as once it brightens up you'll know it's coming into season. Scarifying, Scalping or Grooming too soon will do more harm than good in the long run.
I'm eagerly awaiting my SA Couch to come into season so I can start the Scalping / Top Dressing process ready for a good looking lawn again as currently it looks absolutely terrible as it always does over the winter months.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Appreciate the alternate diagnosis, so I'll attack the clutch chain first, then the cork, then the bottle of red, then the roller... The mower will roll back about a half turn and then jam up with a noticeable 'clunk' sound - but it's not the same spot each time.
I know I'm early for the Groomer, but I just want to see how it goes and I'm the most impatient person when I have a new toy!! It's couch, so I can't kill it right?
The reason for bringing it into work is to get the bed knife removed by guys who work with metal every day and it's a small break from the jobs we have on right now.. They'll be careful and I'll be looking over their shoulder to make sure they don't crack anything! Worst case is they'll have to create a new sole plate for me and I've told them it will have to be in 316! Will also take the opportunity to replace worn nuts/bolts/screws etc.
The Winter Green (WG) Couch will have its first mow for about 2 months this weekend and I'm not sure how low I'll go just yet. It's green bin on Tuesday so I'll see. A scalp and top dress could happen next weekend - which gives me a few weeks to clean the 2 machines up, and probably pull down and rebuild one of them. The turf has been down for 24 years and whilst it has been low(ish) mowed with a reel and cared for, buying the Groomer is my last effort in rejuvenating the area and pushing it further. If this season doesn't produce the result I want, then next year we'll be talking about whether to do Santa Ana plugs or rolls. Impatience may be the deciding factor! I saw your post and photos (Playground for all my Scotty's) and was very impressed and immediately went on the hunt for some, albeit without much success.
The Groomer came from Lincoln at Trident in WA, with bearings, washers and the key.
You're correct in saying that you can't kill it unless you are an Employee of the Tea Tree Gully Council that can't differentiate between Herbicide and Pesticide and then sprayed the whole Golden Grove Football Clubs oval and are now wondering why the complete ovals playing surface is completely dead.
The lawn can be crippled if it's cut back too soon, a bit like a person running around naked out in the snow for a lengthy period of time. There's repercussions for everything in life I guess.
The question I must ask here is............................................has it actually come back into season to date ?
As a side note you've made me share the following story,
If there's one thing I've learnt and that is impatient people generally make plentiful mistakes. I have a good mate that is the worst example and all I have to do is suggest something that he should do and he's off and impulsively running. I just love to stitch him up from time to time just to teach him a lesson of how to stop and take a deep breath. The last thing that I suggested was that the new "ZB Commodore" is a good looking car ...................................................................and you guessed it ???
Maybe I should suggest the New Apple iPhone Xs (10S) as he just got taken to the cleaners in buying a NOS iPhone 8 for over a grand. What a sucker indeed. As the old saying goes, a fool and his money are easily parted.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Don't worry - I care for my turf and we are good friends and I wouldn't harm it. I'm itching to see the groomer in action, nothing more than that.
Land roll chain was definitely way too tight, in fact ridiculously so. I backed it off so there is now about a half-inch of play. Didn't completely fix the issue, yet - should I back it off further? I pulled the large inter sprocket off quite easily and the cork lining was soaked and spongy. In the light last night I wasn't going any further. I'll have a good look in daylight on the weekend as it's probably now just minor adjustments to tweak the rig.
It sounds like you're on the case and have it sussed out. The cork shouldn't be spongy and it shouldn't be soaked either. I'd check to see that the centre alignment bolt is straight as.
Half an inch deflection is around the mark but if that bolt isn't perfectly straight you'll find there is a point in rotation that the chain will be slack and then it will become tight as the outer pressure plate is rotated.
I to am itching to get into mine as it's just looking terrible to my standards even though others say it's the best lawn in the street, but then my standards are pretty high, while others simply live a life of mediocrity.
I have to ask again, has your lawn come into season or is it still showing that it's dormant ?
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Lawn out back is in full sun 365 days and is active, whereas out front has hit the snooze button a few times. Noticed this morning a clover spreading it's leaves, so the grass can't be too far away.
Will add "bolt inspection" to my list of tasks for the weekend, thanks.
Grooming reels are basically used for thinning out the growth and cutting the plant vertically which will promote stronger growth.
Some are making them so that the blades protrude a bit more below the surface but for that the Sole Plate needs to be moved backwards a little as the blades used have slightly larger radius. This method is nearly at the point of scarifying but doesn't go as deep down as a conventional scarifier would do.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
I find it difficult keeping up with the theory; given that many makers use proprietary names. - like Vibra-Spiker and Verti-Cut on the machines I worked on in the day.
I guess Groomers are focused on the lawn, Scarifiers on lawn and soil, and Corers to the soil.
Yes a Verti-Cut would be the best explanation. "Groomers" is just a new trendy name from where I see it.
They've also become a trendy way of selling more old model 45's so that reel mowers owners will convert them. Basically it's created more demand in the second hand market which then drives up the price.
I'm also feeling that the wave of interest in Model 45's is somewhat waning again as there are plenty out there in the second hand market, with many at grossly inflated figures.
Anyway we'll see how it goes this season. I still want to build a Verti-Cut machine with all the junkers I have in the boneyard.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Turned out to a pretty easy job - the raft of posts here made it so easy to follow. A huge thanks to those that wrote their stories and for BB et al for their guidance.. Next step will be to give it a run to test and then break it all down again for a restoration..
And a few more pics of the transformation to a groomer...
