SHARP practice!
• Avoid the “mower doesn’t cut so I need to tighten it down a bit” syndrome! If you can avoid it, you will see dramatic improvements and savings on many fronts.
• Simply touching up the front face of the bottom blade every week on greensmowers, every two weeks on tees and monthly on fairway mowers will go a long way toward extending the functional life of a quality grind and save time by forestalling the need to lap.
• Grind groomers regularly for sharpness and uniformity, to ensure the health of the
crown and horizontal stolons. Dull groomers act like crowbars, smashing through the rhizomes.
• For the same reasons mentioned above, sharpen verticut cylinders to reduce load and minimise mechanical damage to rhizomes and root hairs. The side edges of groomers and verticut blades should be dead square. That’s where the cutting actually takes place.
• Consistency across the green is as important as consistency from green to green. Imagine a triplex
greensmower with one set of rollers “square”, one egg- shaped, and one properly round. One unit would hop- hop-h
the middle one would wobble-w
the third would roll-r Spin-g
hop across the green, wobble-w
wobble and roll-r
roll. grind grooved or wiehle
rollers to true them up for uniformity. You can also have it done at a machine shop if you don't have a spin grinder. Important: After grinding grooved rollers, put a half-
round file on each groove to dull the edges of each roller section.
• Reface bed bars to align new bottom blade properly. Truing up a bedbar can save half the life of a tournament bottom blade.
• Reconsider the timing of your cylinder sharpening. Sharpening cylinders just prior to high stress periods can reduce disease conditions.
20
www.pitchcare.com/re
41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76