# Which GM has this feature?



## Jericho574 (May 24, 2017)

*I apologize in advance for not knowing the correct terminology.

Tru-Cut's are wheel driven and the speed is independent of the engine speed, thus you can feather it at full speed. I love this feature because on a very small or odd shaped yard it makes changing directions, stopping on a dime, or changing speeds often very easy.

My GM1000 has a traction control level that is either engaged or disengaged, no real explanation needed. The one time I used it (before it conked out) I felt like I was driving a manual transmission, constantly engaging and disengaging every few seconds.

That all being said, are there any greensmowers that have a roller drive like TC (or every rotary on the planet)?


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

On a greens mower, the reel and drum drive are geared together to control the clip rate. If the ground speed is independent of engine RPM/reel speed (like a Tru-Cut), the clip rate becomes variable. While this may or may not be an issue for a typical home lawn, it can cause quality of cut problems.


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## Jericho574 (May 24, 2017)

Ware said:


> On a greens mower, the reel and drum drive are geared together to control the clip rate. If the ground speed is independent of engine RPM/reel speed (like a Tru-Cut), the clip rate becomes variable. While this may or may not be an issue for a typical home lawn, it can cause quality of cut problems.


I see. It was worth asking, because the Baroness and JD GM's have separate hand levers that look like rotaries where the throttle is controlled by how hard you squeeze the handle. What are those handles out of curiousity?


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

If standing behind the mower:

Left lever= Parking Brake
Lower Right lever= Drive engagement 
Upper Right lever= Throttle


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

I can't speak for the Baroness, but the John Deere's are essentially the same as a Toro:










ETA: J_nick beat me to it.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Ware said:


> ETA: J_nick beat me to it.


Oh but yours looks much better


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Being able to ease up to obstructions is one thing I do miss about my Tru-Cut, but I do understand the reason greens mowers are the way they are.

And don't rule out running the greens mower at a lower RPM to make it easier to maneuver - mine cuts fine at nearly idle.


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## Jericho574 (May 24, 2017)

Ware said:


> I can't speak for the Baroness, but the John Deere's are essentially the same as a Toro:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ahhhh, I was thinking/hoping that the thin bar in the back (Operator Presence) was the drive engage lol

Thanks!


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## Iriasj2009 (Feb 15, 2017)

On my Jacobsen I can disengage the roller and push that thing wherever I wish without disengaging the reel. A feature I really like over my toro1000


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## M311att (May 22, 2017)

My Jacobsen hybrid is electric so the reel speed is constant no matter walking speed...however I haven't figured out how to run the reel without the drum rollers turning.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

M311att said:


> My Jacobsen hybrid is electric so the reel speed is constant no matter walking speed...however I haven't figured out how to run the reel without the drum rollers turning.


I would bet it still adjusts the reel speed based on your engine RPM/ground speed - I know my JD 220E (hybrid) does. The cool thing about the hybrids is because it is an electric motor, you can adjust the clip frequency to better match your HOC:








ETA: For the Jacobsen Eclipse, this functionality is discussed here and here.


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## Jericho574 (May 24, 2017)

Iriasj2009 said:


> On my Jacobsen I can disengage the roller and push that thing wherever I wish without disengaging the reel. A feature I really like over my toro1000


But is the walking speed fixed?...meaning you decide on the speed and then engage.

It sounds like all GM's only go one speed when the drive is engaged whereas rotaries and TC's can be changed on the fly.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Jericho574 said:


> ...It sounds like all GM's only go one speed when the drive is engaged whereas rotaries and TC's can be changed on the fly.


No, the ground speed varies with engine RPM. To change the ground speed, you adjust the engine throttle. This also changes the speed of the reel, ensuring that the design clip rate is preserved.


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## wardconnor (Mar 25, 2017)

Ware said:


> I can't speak for the Baroness, but the John Deere's are essentially the same as a Toro:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What is operator presence?

What lever or knob on that jd is equivalent to the reel engage lever on the tgm1000 that is down by the reel?

EDIT: Operator presence...DUH.. Sorry.. what is that thing metal ring close to operators belly?


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

wardconnor said:


> What is operator presence?


When you let go of it the reel and drum drive stops.

I'm not sure on the regular JD's. On my 220E, it is a toggle switch.


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## wardconnor (Mar 25, 2017)

so the drive/reel engage knob on the JD is the same thing as the lever knob near ground by reel on the TGM1000?


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## Iriasj2009 (Feb 15, 2017)

Jericho574 said:


> Iriasj2009 said:
> 
> 
> > On my Jacobsen I can disengage the roller and push that thing wherever I wish without disengaging the reel. A feature I really like over my toro1000
> ...


If I'm understanding this correctly, yes it is fixed to however fast or slow I'm walking. I can completely disengage the roller drive. Basically maneuver it like a rotary. To slow or speed up the reel, you simply run up the rpms. The only thing I don't like about my jake is that it only goes up to like .45" but eventually I will keep it below that so that won't matter lol.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

wardconnor said:


> so the drive/reel engage knob on the JD is the same thing as the lever knob near ground by reel on the TGM1000?


No, they have a reel engage lever of some sort too (H in the diagram below). Lever C does the same thing as the lever on the right side of the Toro console.


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## Jericho574 (May 24, 2017)

Iriasj2009 said:


> Jericho574 said:
> 
> 
> > Iriasj2009 said:
> ...


I totally am not interested in reel speed. For the sake of this thread, I'm only concerned with walking speed.

For the Toro, you set the engine speed (which kinda pre-sets the roller speed) and then engage the lever. So if you set the engine speed at low, then the roller speed with be low...they are directly correlated to one another and to change roller speed you must change the engine speed. The walking speed is fixed to whatever you set the engine at, there is no changing on the fly without disengaging the roller, changing throttle, and then re-engaging. I just wanted to verify that all greensmowers are this way.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

I can only speak on the Baroness but it is similar to the TC in the respect that it has a clutch that you can squeeze harder for more engagement. You basically have the handlebars and a lever on the front and the back. The throttle is on the front and the clutch(engages the reel and the roller) is on the back, so you basically squeeze them together to operate it. The harder you squeeze the faster you will go but it does allow you to kind of ease up to something once you get the hang of it.

*Not sure if I am explaining this very well but if you need more clarification just let me know


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## Jericho574 (May 24, 2017)

MQ- So basically the speed is controlled like a rotary/TC where you can control walking speed by how hard you squeeze the clutch. It sounds like I need a Baroness! Of course I have a TC and GM1000 and both are currently out of commission...I dont think the wife would be too happy.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Jericho574 said:


> ...The walking speed is fixed to whatever you set the engine at, there is no changing on the fly without disengaging the roller, changing throttle, and then re-engaging...


This is not true for Toro or JD. To change your walking speed while mowing, just adjust the throttle - I do it every time I mow. No need to disengage. :thumbup:


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Ware said:


> Jericho574 said:
> 
> 
> > ...The walking speed is fixed to whatever you set the engine at, there is no changing on the fly without disengaging the roller, changing throttle, and then re-engaging...
> ...


+1 I do it every time I mow also. At idle the thing barely creeps along.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

wardconnor said:


> What lever or knob on that jd is equivalent to the reel engage lever on the tgm1000 that is down by the reel?


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## wardconnor (Mar 25, 2017)

Thanks Ware. Still confused by operator presence bar. So is that like the kill switch like on a cheap walk behind rotary where you have to hold down that bar or the engine dies? You said that jd has a lever like the engage lever like on right side of tgm1000. If jd has a lever like tgm1000, and a reel engage lever near ground then what the use for operator presence?


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

wardconnor said:


> Thanks Ware. Still confused by operator presence bar. So is that like the kill switch like on a cheap walk behind rotary where you have to hold down that bar or the engine dies? You said that jd has a lever like the engage lever like on right side of tgm1000. If jd has a lever like tgm1000, and a reel engage lever near ground then what the use for operator presence?


Here you go...


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Jericho574 said:


> MQ- So basically the speed is controlled like a rotary/TC where you can control walking speed by how hard you squeeze the clutch. It sounds like I need a Baroness! Of course I have a TC and GM1000 and both are currently out of commission...I dont think the wife would be too happy.


Yes, you can basically control the speed of the mower with out taking your hands off the handle bars.


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## wardconnor (Mar 25, 2017)

Ware said:


> wardconnor said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks Ware. Still confused by operator presence bar. So is that like the kill switch like on a cheap walk behind rotary where you have to hold down that bar or the engine dies? You said that jd has a lever like the engage lever like on right side of tgm1000. If jd has a lever like tgm1000, and a reel engage lever near ground then what the use for operator presence?
> ...


Thanks


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