# Finally Delivered JD Greens Mower



## atc4usmc (Apr 1, 2017)

First, let me say thanks to everyone who has shared their knowledge and info on this and "the other" forum. Guys like Ware, RED, and DFW have inspired and taught me a lot about lawn care and greens mowers. Thanks fellas!

Well I finally have taken delivery of a JD 180B greens mower. It arrived today and once I was able to get it off the pallet, I added some fuel, checked the oil, plug and air filter, and fired her up. It runs great. I began testing it out without the reel engaged to get a feel for how it operates. Man, these things are much different than a standard rotary mower in terms of maneuverability. After a few mins I was confident enough to begin mowing. I had scalped my lawn on Sunday after being away for the last year and having a landscaper maintain it while I was away. It was almost 2.5" when I scalped it. My JD is set at 3/4" and when I cut it today, it didn't seem to cut much off. Definitely didn't break the 1/3 rule, especially since i had done so on Sunday.

Now just waiting to have the grass green up and see how this looks. BTW - I sanded the lawn back in March to help level it some more, I probably need to do so again as it still isn't as good as I would like (although its much better than before).

As always, critiques are welcome!


----------



## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

No critique here. That is a beautiful looking mower! Reminds me of my last reel which was a 220SL. Congrats! :thumbsup:


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Congrats on the new mower! It looks great! There is definitely a bit of a learning curve in maneuvering a greens mower (they are really designed to be operated on wide open greens), but you'll get the hang of it. :thumbup:


----------



## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

Congrats on the mower, your lawn looks super smooth!

They are a learning curve, with my JD220 it's almost impossible to pull backward, but an 180-degree spin is easy.

I do have a critique: What is your desired HOC, 0.75 or 1.0? Make sure you scalp below that HOC, so the grass can grow into the gap between your scalp and your desired HOC. If you don't do this, you'll be cutting off all the green growth and it'll be brown for a long time.


----------



## ericgautier (Apr 22, 2017)

Redtenchu said:


> I do have a critique: What is your desired HOC, 0.75 or 1.0? Make sure you scalp below that HOC, so the grass can grow into the gap between your scalp and your desired HOC. If you don't do this, you'll be cutting off all the green growth and it'll be brown for a long time.


Does this work for cool season grass also?


----------



## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

ericgautier said:


> Redtenchu said:
> 
> 
> > I do have a critique: What is your desired HOC, 0.75 or 1.0? Make sure you scalp below that HOC, so the grass can grow into the gap between your scalp and your desired HOC. If you don't do this, you'll be cutting off all the green growth and it'll be brown for a long time.
> ...


I don't know about CS grasses. I'm sure Pete or WardC can confirm or debunk this for CS.


----------



## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

Redtenchu said:


> I don't know about CS grasses. I'm sure Pete or WardC can confirm or debunk this for CS.


It does, but I don't think you can be as aggressive as bermuda with it. You can gradually go lower than desired HOC and then raise it back up. I'm not sure if I would chop it all off in one pass.


----------



## atc4usmc (Apr 1, 2017)

Redtenchu said:


> I do have a critique: What is your desired HOC, 0.75 or 1.0? Make sure you scalp below that HOC, so the grass can grow into the gap between your scalp and your desired HOC. If you don't do this, you'll be cutting off all the green growth and it'll be brown for a long time.


When I scalped it, it was lower than what I just cut with the JD, although not by much. I put out some fertilizer and have been watering daily.


----------



## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

atc4usmc said:


> When I scalped it, it was lower than what I just cut with the JD, although not by much. I put out some fertilizer and have been watering daily.


Awesome, sounds like you're on the right track!


----------



## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

Congrats on the beautiful new mower!


----------



## atc4usmc (Apr 1, 2017)

Thanks!


----------

