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McLane Reel Mower Questions

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#1 ·


Do you have a McLane reel mower and have a question about working on it? Do you have something to share? Ask or share here.​
 
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#2 ·
ooh, that's like mine...cept cleaner and less blades. Oh well, close enough. Lemme know if you have any questions or if I can help. Not an expert by any means but this will be my third year of using it and I've had the reel/bed knife off a few times to "clean up" nicks and bits. I Back lap it every 3 months during the summer and will try to help in any way I can.
 
#3 ·
Sweet, I thought everyone here had greens mowers. I have a 10 blade model. I picked it up from a guy in Edmond last fall.

Have you put a roller on yours? I was thinking about doing a DIY roller. I can't come to spending $150 on a roller for a mower that I paid $100 for. :)
 
#4 ·
MarkV said:
Sweet, I thought everyone here had greens mowers. I have a 10 blade model. I picked it up from a guy in Edmond last fall.

Have you put a roller on yours? I was thinking about doing a DIY roller. I can't come to spending $150 on a roller for a mower that I paid $100 for. :)
My buddy made a roller for $30, I'll try to get the instructions with pictures posted before the weekend!
 
#5 ·
lagerman72 said:
ooh, that's like mine...cept cleaner and less blades. Oh well, close enough. Lemme know if you have any questions or if I can help. Not an expert by any means but this will be my third year of using it and I've had the reel/bed knife off a few times to "clean up" nicks and bits. I Back lap it every 3 months during the summer and will try to help in any way I can.
I need to help a friend backlap his Mclane! If you could show me what bolts need to be adjusted for the bedknife to reel and how to spin the reel, I would be thankful!
 
#6 ·
Redtenchu said:
MarkV said:
Sweet, I thought everyone here had greens mowers. I have a 10 blade model. I picked it up from a guy in Edmond last fall.

Have you put a roller on yours? I was thinking about doing a DIY roller. I can't come to spending $150 on a roller for a mower that I paid $100 for. :)
My buddy made a roller for $30, I'll try to get the instructions with pictures posted before the weekend!
+1 - I would like to see that set up very much.
 
#7 ·
Redtenchu said:
I need to help a friend backlap his Mclane! If you could show me what bolts need to be adjusted for the bedknife to reel and how to spin the reel, I would be thankful!
You bet, I can definitely get some pictures. It's not quite as easy as what I hear the greens mowers are but with a little patience it can be done.
MarkV said:
Sweet, I thought everyone here had greens mowers. I have a 10 blade model. I picked it up from a guy in Edmond last fall.

Have you put a roller on yours? I was thinking about doing a DIY roller. I can't come to spending $150 on a roller for a mower that I paid $100 for. :)
I did buy the reel roller and love it. BUT, if you can get one made for $30, why not!!
 
#8 ·
Here is how I get the reel to spin backwards. Take off the chain guard, chain and front sprocket (allen key) and I just use a snug fit of tubing on the drive shaft clamped down onto drill (socket extension). You can use a hole saw bit with "teeth" cut into it onto the sprocket but I've never had much luck with the one I made staying on (see bottom pic).


To adjust there are three bolts on each side. The front two allow the reel to move up/down and the back one is the pivot point. I'd loosen all just a little bit and from there you can tap on the tab (you'll see it on the inside of the front bolt) to move reel slightly on each side. Keep slightly adjusting until it's even, tighten and start backlapping.



For reference, this is the 1 7/8" modified hole saw I tried to use when not taking the front sprocket off.


Hope that helps.
 
#9 ·
Lagerman covered it all. Awesome info man! I will be using my mcclane this year too on the outside and my "green" area. I like that setup you have! Thanks for the tip. I currently use the modified hole saw, but it took a bit of practice to get it to stay on. I will definitely look into the tubing. I love my mcclane except for adjusting the reel to bedknife which can be a PITA, until you get the hang of it. Now that I use a greensmower, I learned to really appreciate the manuveurability of it around tricky corners. I've had mine for 3 years (bought new) and engine works like new, and still cuts like new. This year I used it to help me scalp my lawn to bare dirt. I abused that thing, and all I had to do was adjust the reel to bedknife and it was cutting paper again. Oh and I did buy the roller for it. Totally worth it but if you can make your own, even better. However, the basket doesn't completely sit on the roller so it falls off of mine unless I put some bricks inside to hold it in place. Never had that problem with the caster wheels. But the extra weight helps it from bouncing around.
 
#10 ·
I'm new to the forum! Here is my Mclane 17' Greens mower. The only thing i dont like about the mower is how hard it is to adjust the reel to bedknife! So any tips would be appreciated!


This mower had my old yard looking great.


We are now in a new home and this will be my second season working with the new lawn. Late last summer i raised the flower beds and spread the leftover sand throughout the yard. The builder did a horrible job at sodding and leveling the yard. Here is a current pic.
 
#11 ·
If you didn't know, www.reelrollers.com makes high-quality reel rollers for all major homeowner model Reel mowers. They start at $150 + S&H and significantly increase the overall quality of cut you'll get from a reel mower. Unfortunately, this can often cost more than a used reel mower...

I wanted to share how a friend of mine made a front roller for his Mclane Reel mower for less than $30!

Things you'll need.
A spring loaded conveyor roller.
Grinder, Hacksaw or other metal cutting tool.
Power drill.
Hand tools.
Welder.
Paint or primer.

Step 1: Remove the front caster wheel bar


Step 2: Remove the middle caster wheel support and reattach it to the end of the support rod. It's critical for this to be attached at the end of the rod for proper function of the HOC adjuster.


Step 3: Cut and remove this caster wheel support.


Step 4: Cut and move this caster wheel support being extra careful that you have the correct amount of space fro your roller to fit.


Step 5: You should have something like this.



Step 6: If needed, drill the caster wheel support holes out to match the roller pin. As you can see here, his didn't fit and needed a little more room to fit the hole.


Optional - Step 6A: Add a few tabs to ensure the roller only spins via the installed bearings of the roller.


Step 7: Reassemble and enjoy!
 
#12 ·
brettm1103 said:
I'm new to the forum! Here is my Mclane 17' Greens mower. The only thing i dont like about the mower is how hard it is to adjust the reel to bedknife! So any tips would be appreciated!
Welcome to the forum!

I've only seen a few pictures of a Mclane with a stock roller, very cool!!

I will be helping a friend sharpen and adjust his Mclane soon. If we figure out anything to make the adjustment easier I'll pass them along!
 
#13 ·
The Mclane offers different cutting widths (17, 20 and 24?). Be certain to purchase a roller that fits correctly between the 2 supports. The final distance between the caster supports in Step 4 is critical for a proper fit!

The picture below shows how the roller is measured by the manufacturer. A 20BF (linked in the original post) is 20in Between Frame.
 
#17 ·
Redtenchu said:
front roller for his Mclane Reel mower for less than $30!
Thanks for posting that walk through Red. The Mclane that I have is just one that I picked up in a deal with a edger(for $60). I was thinking about adding the DIY roller because the wheels on the mower are kind of shot and might hurt my chances of selling the mower when I decide to. I also don't have a roller on my TruCut and would like to see it's benefits even if it's on the Mclane.
 
#20 ·
Just checking to make sure my thought process was correct.

I was worried about scalping with the drop in HOC but I'll probably have less scalping with the roller.

Lagerman72 if you will, what is the distance between the two holes on the arms and the size of your roller? Thanks.
 
#21 ·
MarkV said:
Just checking to make sure my thought process was correct.

I was worried about scalping with the drop in HOC but I'll probably have less scalping with the roller.

Lagerman72 if you will, what is the distance between the two holes on the arms and the size of your roller? Thanks.
It's 4" between holes on the arms and a 2 1/2" diameter roller.
 
#23 ·
Oh snap! Look who's getting a roller on their McLane.

This guy right here. ------------------------------------------------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I have a guy in the neighborhood that can do the welding for me. It will be a few days before I get it on probably.

 
#26 ·
Just need to paint it and make it pretty. A guy in my neighborhood has a welder on his work truck and come over and did all the hard work. Took a couple of hours from start to finish but there was some BS time in there.

I haven't mowed with it but it seems to function just fine. I think I need to make one of those tools to measure the bed knife height now since the new roller is a lot smaller than the stock wheels.

I think the roller was about $23.

 
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