Whether you grind your own reels or send them out, there is nothing like that sharpened fresh cut feeling, and with a little time and attention throughout the season, it will stay that way.
Enemies to a good cutting unit are many; debris, lack of grease, bearing wear, and over adjustment, are just a few of the things that affect a quality cut. All this can be avoided with a little time at the end of each day.
Grass clippings and debris can cause a lot of problems, especially for your cutting units. As the grass decays, it doesn’t take long for it to eat through paint and the metal itself. Take time at the end of day to either blow or rinse the grass off the cutting unit. Check for wire or other items that may have gotten wrapped up in the reel.
With that done, give all the grease zerks a few pumps of fresh grease, this will push out any moisture or debris that might have found its way into the bearing. Check your rollers for end play or loose mounting hardware. Fairway units usually have rollers with locking nuts on each end; check these often for they can come loose, and lead to the bearings failing prematurely, in addition to effecting your height of cut. Spin your reel by hand, (with the unit off of course) often problems can be found this way. You will feel if the reel is binding against the bed knife or a bearing that is getting rough. Listen for any abnormal noises; a good cutting unit is virtually silent.
In time the cut will start to go away as the bed knife loses its edge, and begins to wear. Now we need to take a little more time to put a new face on our bed knife. It is important to use a facing tool to bring a flat cutting edge back to the bed knife before trying to back lap the reel. Back lapping without facing just wears away metal on both the reel and bed knife, without any real improvement to the cut. After you have faced the bed knife, and adjusted the cut, use a 120 grit lapping compound and back lap the reel for just a couple of minutes. Now your reels should be back in good cutting shape.
For your rotary mower, sharpen them in the manner they came from the factory. Smooth out any large nicks and also make sure the blade hasn’t gotten bent. Clean off any debris and balance the blade, this will reduce the load applied to the motor driving it, decreasing the chance of premature motor failure. Routinely clean the underside of the cutting decks, this will allow proper lift and discharge of clippings.
With just a little bit of time and attention, you will be a “cut above the rest”.
Professor
Proseed