# TruCut/Zoysia Questions



## ReelCarolina (Mar 12, 2018)

This is my first post to the board... I've been browsing a while and love the site. I wanted to kick things off with an issue I've been fighting for a while with my TruCut and Zoysia lawn.

I sodded my front with Royal Zoysia in the summer of 2016. I immediately bought a new TruCut C-27 shortly thereafter and was absolutely stunned by the cut. It was incredible. This was my first experience with a reel and my lawn was stunning. It looked like carpet. In the offseason I took the mower to the dealer I purchased it from for service. It took close to 4 months to get it back! They claimed the sharpening machine was down and they were waiting on parts. The bill I got was outrageous too. It was about 1/6 of the price of the mower. Needless to say it wasn't a good experience.

When I finally got the mower back it was already into the growing season and I couldn't get the HOC I wanted because I was starting to cut so late. After cutting about a month I started noticing the quality of cut deteriorating. The grass was being ripped and not cut. I adjusted the reel to bed knife spacing to pass the paper test and sill a poor cut. I even backlapped to no avail. My zoysia looked awful because it developed brown tips on the grass blades and made my whole yard look white.



My concerns are 1) Could the reel be warped 2) Does it need a proper sharpening 3) Does it just not cut my zoysia well. I have a small patch of TifGrand in-between my bed and sidewalk I sodded the year prior and it cuts that like a dream. I maintain it at a very low HOC and the cut appears clean and no brown tips. My variety of zoysia is fine textured similar to emerald, but the blades seem to be more coarse and the whole yard is extremely dense. Is it possible that this grass just dulls the reel very rapidly? I have a Swardman due in this week which I am very excited about for many reasons, but I haven't decided what to do with the TruCut. Regardless of weather I decide to keep it or not I want to get it right like when I first purchased it.

Sorry for the long post! Look forward to reading your comments.


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

I'm assuming you might have a warranty still on the Tru-Cut? If you do, take it back and get them to verify that your reel is concentric. Other "reel wizards" (no reference to the other wizard intended) will chime in, and probably shed more light on the subject. That pic looks like it was beaten up.

BTW, welcome to TLF!


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

@ReelCarolina I know what you are going through. Yes, this grass is so tough bladed that it is hard on the cutting surfaces. I will typically adjust the reel-to-bedknife at least once a month (and sometimes more) and backlap to keep the cut quality high. Based on the pic you posted, it is clear that you were only mashing the blades and not cutting them. I also picked up a fixed blade dethatcher to use during the growing season to help keep the canopy thinned out.

I am curious about the "service" you received. That should have been sufficient, but if something wasn't adjusted correctly, then I could see why you started having issues. If the reel or bedknife has become misshapen, then grinding them will be your only option to restore the cut quality.

I'm interested in your thoughts on the Swardman. Specifically, I'm curious if it has enough weight to keep the cut even and if it handles slopes (I don't know if you have any).


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

The no relief spin grind only system will work on Bent and Bermuda greens mowed every day. The other thing needed for no relief reel maintenance is a hardened reel as is used on a Toro or John Deere greensmower. A Tru-Cut reel is made of extremely soft steel. Local shops have bought into the No Relief horse shiz without reading into the part of reel hardness and type of grass. Most maintained lawns in Hawaii are some kind of Zoysia. No relief works for about 20 minutes, then it starts to shred every blade of grass in the lawn. One of my side businesses is to relief and then backlap homeowner reel mowers. As long as the person does not hit rocks or nails or twigs, their mower stays sharp and cuts well for at least 6 months.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

ReelCarolina said:


> This is my first post to the board... I've been browsing a while and love the site. I wanted to kick things off with an issue I've been fighting for a while with my TruCut and Zoysia lawn.
> 
> I sodded my front with Royal Zoysia in the summer of 2016. I immediately bought a new TruCut C-27 shortly thereafter and was absolutely stunned by the cut. It was incredible. This was my first experience with a reel and my lawn was stunning. It looked like carpet. In the offseason I took the mower to the dealer I purchased it from for service. It took close to 4 months to get it back! They claimed the sharpening machine was down and they were waiting on parts. The bill I got was outrageous too. It was about 1/6 of the price of the mower. Needless to say it wasn't a good experience.
> 
> ...


Let me know if you don't get it sorted out. I have a little experience with reels, although not the Tru-cut specifically. I'm local to you (Simpsonville, work in Greer) and would love a first hand look at that Swardman when you get it.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

First of all, I would not go back to that existing service person, obviously. Secondly, I'd see if you can just return the TruCut and or sell it. You're not gonna get the HOC out of it that you want. I have Zeon Zoysia and am down near Charleston. I'll look around and see if anybody sharpens reels down this way, if its only once in awhile, it might be worth the trip  (or ship it)

When I spoke with Prairie Turf, where I have purchased a Toro GM1600 from (ps, they have more available, in A+ condition!), what they told me in regards to sharpening, backlapping, etc. is that I should regularly ensure that the gap between the reel and the bedknife is 0.002" (2 thousandths). If there is contact it will dull the blade immediately, and if the gap is larger than that, it won't cut the grass.

If you can't cut paper on the reel, it sounds like they either didn't it sharpen it right, or they did sharpen it right, but they and or you didn't adjust the gap correctly and it got blunted already.

Just my $0.02 I'm far from an expert.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Is that no contact also with no relief angle on the blade? According to the Toro specs, it calls for a 30* angle ground it such that the contact surface is less than 1/2 the thickness of the blade. It also calls for the blades to touch slightly but not be tight. I run my mower over 1000s of sq ft of Zoysia per week and I still marvel at how the blade feels a little sharper after it is run over a lawn. Only times my reel starts to get dull is when I allow the clearance between the reel and bedknife to increase to where there is no contact at all. When I do adjust clearances, that is followed by lapping in the blades with 180 grit lapping compound until the blades are barely making contact.

The no relief no contact method of reel mower maintenance has been sold to mower shops as well as golf courses. It comes from Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, where they do not have to mow the likes of Zoysia. Their grasses are not nearly as abrasive, so there is not a need for the blades to hone themselves in operation. I have seen reel mowers from those countries in person and have adjusted a Masport.. The Masport was not particularly durable having to mow Zoysia. I observed no relief angle on the blades. I believe the Swardsman mower is ground the same way.


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## ReelCarolina (Mar 12, 2018)

Thanks for your comments. It's frustrating when you have so much invested in your turf, but equipment issues set you back. I sodded TifGrand in the backyard late last year and cut it a few times with no issues at all. I guess it's much more forgiving and easer on the mower than the zoysia.

I would definitely like to see if my reel is concentric. If it isn't I hold the dealer responsible. At this point the issue is above my head. It's clear from reading TLF that this shop is nowhere near experts on reels. I would love to find someone else to look at it.

@SCGrassMan I saw some pics in another thread of your Zoysia and it looks awesome! That's really what I want to achieve. This variety is able to be maintained as low as .5, but I doubt I'll ever get that low especially with the equipment issues. I wouldn't be opposed to traveling a bit just to get it to someone who knows what they're doing. I usually make it down your way once or twice a year. It'd be interesting bring my reel along for vacation .

Going to do some searching to see if I can find another shop in the area. In the meantime it looks like the Swordsman is due in this week so I'll be anxious to give it a spin. Got the verticutter and dethatcher cartridges as well. I'm going to verticut the zoysia first to try to thin it a bit. Also have a topdressing project coming up to smooth the turf out a bit and hopefully firm it up. It's very soft in spots. I'll throw up a review once I have used it a few times. @MasterMech I can't turn down an offer to have someone come mow for me :lol: anyone in the area is welcome to come give it a whirl.


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## Topcat (Mar 21, 2017)

@ReelCarolina and @SCGrassMan there is a shop in Mt Plesant that sharpens reels. STI Turfcare. They did my TruCut last year and they did a fantastic job. The reel was sharp enough to slice my fingers while doing the paper test to check their work out.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Topcat said:


> @ReelCarolina and @SCGrassMan there is a shop in Mt Plesant that sharpens reels. STI Turfcare. They did my TruCut last year and they did a fantastic job. The reel was sharp enough to slice my fingers while doing the paper test to check their work out.


LOL I shouldn't laugh, but that sounds like my luck. Appreciate the recommendation!


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

ReelCarolina said:


> @SCGrassMan I saw some pics in another thread of your Zoysia and it looks awesome! That's really what I want to achieve. This variety is able to be maintained as low as .5, but I doubt I'll ever get that low especially with the equipment issues. I wouldn't be opposed to traveling a bit just to get it to someone who knows what they're doing. I usually make it down your way once or twice a year. It'd be interesting bring my reel along for vacation .


Those are off season pics - you should see it in full bloom!

And I dunno if I'm someone who knows what they're doing, but by all means, come down, bring your reel to that shop Topcat mentioned, and we will show you some lowcountry hospitality complete with food and beverages!


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

@ReelCarolina concur with the feedback you've seen. My zeon/emerald will let me know immediately when the cut isn't optimal. you see a white/yellow haze etc.....my tifgrand is an easy cut (where i have my h20 as low as it will go) so it doesn't seem to care. It's true, the tensile strength is higher on zoysia.

keep that TifGrand short......so it doesn't look like any other bermuda


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## ReelCarolina (Mar 12, 2018)

@SCGrassMan that low country offer sounds hard to pass up :thumbup:

@jayhawk I love my TifGrand. Did my whole backyard very late last year. Just scalped as low as the TruCut would go. Really excited to see it this summer. I wish I would have gone that route in the front. I had my mind made up for TifGrand in the front, but my landscaper sold me on the Zoysia being the "Cadillac" of grasses. This was before my turf obsession so I conceded and went with the Zoysia. Don't get me wrong when it is cut properly it is killer, but I can see keeping my reels sharp is going to be a task for sure!

On a side note... does anyone know if TruCut reels come with a relief from the factory? I looked yesterday and it doesn't look like I have a relief. That may explain why my backlapping hasn't had much effect.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

ReelCarolina said:


> @SCGrassMan that low country offer sounds hard to pass up :thumbup:
> 
> @jayhawk I love my TifGrand. Did my whole backyard very late last year. Just scalped as low as the TruCut would go. Really excited to see it this summer. I wish I would have gone that route in the front. I had my mind made up for TifGrand in the front, but my landscaper sold me on the Zoysia being the "Cadillac" of grasses. This was before my turf obsession so I conceded and went with the Zoysia. Don't get me wrong when it is cut properly it is killer, but I can see keeping my reels sharp is going to be a task for sure!
> 
> On a side note... does anyone know if TruCut reels come with a relief from the factory? I looked yesterday and it doesn't look like I have a relief. That may explain why my backlapping hasn't had much effect.


Come on down! I'm doing levelling this weekend, hopefully... As for the TruCut I doubt they are relief ground, its probably just a single edge grind. Although you could probably have that done.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

My TruCut has a relief grind. I'm not the original owner so not sure if they come out of the factory like that.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

J_nick said:


> My TruCut has a relief grind. I'm not the original owner so not sure if they come out of the factory like that.


They certainly do have a relief grind. It steams me when a shop then takes that mower and grinds off all of the relief then gives it back to the homeowner that way. That is when the drive chain for the reel blows if it is set tight to the bedknife or if set loose , the cut is U G L Y.

I have yet to see a reel that was made worse by following Toro's specs for a reel. Even a single 30* relief so that the contact area is no more than 50% of the blade thickness works very well on a Tru-Cut.


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## ReelCarolina (Mar 12, 2018)

I bought my C-27 new but it definitely does not have a relief now. I can't recall if it did from the factory but I am starting to suspect the dealer grinded it off. Before I was very familiar with reels the reel to bedknidfe was tight. Knowing what I know now that would have been a red flag. I think this shop made things much worse.

I have a line on someone that sharpens in my area. Going to get in contact with him in the next few days. I will request a relief to be put back on the reel.


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