# Anyone tried the "birdie bar" for a height of cut gauge



## silvercymbal (Sep 17, 2018)

Saw this https://www.parbarcompany.com/

Looks pretty cool, and this place is very close to me. I might be getting my reel sharpened there and saw they sell their own gauge.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

silvercymbal said:


> Saw this https://www.parbarcompany.com/
> 
> Looks pretty cool, and this place is very close to me. I might be getting my reel sharpened there and saw they sell their own gauge.


Looks nice. Did I miss the price somewhere? I'm browsing on mobile.


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## drenglish (Jun 22, 2018)

@Ware $219 for their Birdie bar 1 "best seller"...does anyone use budget or diy ways to measure their bench HOC. I just picked up a JD 220A and am going to go all out with the reel madness but don't want to spend more on the gauge than I did the mower.


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## adgattoni (Oct 3, 2017)

drenglish said:


> @Ware $219 for their Birdie bar 1 "best seller"...does anyone use budget or diy ways to measure their bench HOC. I just picked up a JD 220A and am going to go all out with the reel madness but don't want to spend more on the gauge than I did the mower.


I use a piece of slotted angle aluminum with a bolt through one of the slots. Then I just use a ruler to measure the distance.


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## Reel Low Dad (Jun 1, 2017)

@drenglish I picked up a piece of steel and did the budget HOC bar build. Works well for me since I can pull the cutting unit off and put it on my workbench.


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## drenglish (Jun 22, 2018)

@adgattoni @Fistertondeluxe I may have myself an upcoming weekend project then


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Budget HOC gauge

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=42


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## adgattoni (Oct 3, 2017)

drenglish said:


> @adgattoni @Fistertondeluxe I may have myself an upcoming weekend project then


It works, and it's dirt cheap! I think around $10 all in.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Has anyone compared a homemade HOC gauge to an actual HOC gauge to see how much they are "off"?


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Mightyquinn said:


> Has anyone compared a homemade HOC gauge to an actual HOC gauge to see how much they are "off"?


I would like to see this experiment. I bet I know some guys who could make it happen.

Here is the suggested tolerance chart that came with my Accu-Gage.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

I usually shoot for no more than .005" when I'm adjusting my reel.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

5 thousands? That's the thickness of a hair (average). Why? Unless you are using more than one reel at once (triplex) I dont see how it 0.05in matters.

For example, you desire is 1/2in, and you assume you set it to 1/2in, but it is really 0.52in. Who will notice 0.02in difference? If you wait a day, it will grow that much.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

While not necessary, my experience with the Accu-Gage has been that it's just so easy to dial the HOC in within a few thousandths that there really isn't any reason not to.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Ware said:


> While not necessary, my experience with the Accu-Gage has been that it's just so easy to dial the HOC in within a few thousandths that there really isn't any reason not to.


+1 :thumbup:


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## 95mmrenegade (Jul 31, 2017)

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1129&p=20452#p20452


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