# Uneven reel cut



## Passat774 (Oct 9, 2018)

I am trying to determine why I am getting an uneven cut, is it my yard or is it the mower? Do I need to raise my HOC? Is my reel to bedknife not straight? My HOC is 3/4 of an inch.

Sod was installed back in May with a levelled base, then topdressing was applied 3 weeks ago.

I am using a Greensmaster 1600 and I am trying to determine what I need to do.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Rear roller may not be parallel to reel and bedknife. I used to get those kind of marks too. Found out that one side of the rear roller was 3/8 higher than the other.


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## tcorbitt20 (Aug 31, 2018)

If the lawn isn't on a completely flat plane, that can happen on the higher side in a little dip shaped kind of like (||. If your on top of a hill like )|| it doesn't happen. Best illustration I could muster with the keys available.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

The Toro Aftercut Appearance Troubleshooting Guide might give you some ideas of things to check.


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## Passat774 (Oct 9, 2018)

I have read the Aftercut appearance and adjusted the reel to bedknife, might try a cut tonight to see if it helps.


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## DR_GREENTHUMB (May 24, 2018)

Passat774 said:


> I am trying to determine why I am getting an uneven cut, is it my yard or is it the mower? Do I need to raise my HOC? Is my reel to bedknife not straight? My HOC is 3/4 of an inch.
> 
> Sod was installed back in May with a levelled base, then topdressing was applied 3 weeks ago.
> 
> I am using a Greensmaster 1600 and I am trying to determine what I need to do.


Try going a different direction when attacking that area, it looks like a hill or a mound. Or just raise you HOC the difference in the cut depth of the problem area. (if that makes any sense)


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## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)

Are there areas of the yard where it doesn't do it?


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## Todd1970 (May 7, 2019)

Looking at your pictures it's only in certain spots so most likely your lawn not even and too much of a dip there. Try leveling those spots or you could try putting your front roller in the third position.


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## crzipilot (Jul 4, 2018)

I had some of the same lines and etc in my lawn past few cuts. My lawn is bumpy has a good slope and never been leveled. I cut mine just below .75" Today I finally decided to backlap my 1000. Left side bed knife lock nut was fairly loose, and the adjustment nut was not on a flat side. So got the paper, and adjusted both sides to where the paper would get pinched and if reel spun it would cut the paper. Could hear just a little scraping on the bed knife. Back lapped it, cleaned it up and got a mow in. Those ridges are gone now. I had maybe 1 or 2 in the whole yard where as before every other pass in the front yard would have it. check that.


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## Passat774 (Oct 9, 2018)

Todd1970 said:


> Looking at your pictures it's only in certain spots so most likely your lawn not even and too much of a dip there. Try leveling those spots or you could try putting your front roller in the third position.
> [/quote
> 
> I put it in the third position and will cut tomorrow


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

what side does this happen? The side without the engine? So the right side?


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

If it goes away when you cut at 90 degrees to this pattern, it ain't yer mower.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

If you cut a lopsided checkerboard into the lawn when cutting at 90 degrees to the first pass, check the rear roller parallel. That was my sign


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## Passat774 (Oct 9, 2018)

How do you check the rear roller, I read the manual but don't understand how to check it.


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## Reelsharpcarolina21 (Apr 14, 2019)

What machine are you using


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## Passat774 (Oct 9, 2018)

Toro GM1600 20114


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## TC2 (Sep 15, 2017)

If something isn't straight on your mower, every pass will produce exactly the same error. The pictures show an uneven pattern with some parts higher and some parts lower and others showing no noticeable problem. It would only take a small undulation in the ground to slightly lift one side of the mower up and push the other side down. The wider the mower, the more the problem is amplified.

While it's entirely possible something isn't straight on the mower which is always worth checking out (I'm interested in finding out how to check this as well), the unevenness of the cut pattern suggests to me that the ground is the biggest problem.


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## Passat774 (Oct 9, 2018)

Upon closer inspection looking at it length wise instead of from the side, I can see an almost consistent error.

The problem is I am unsure on how to adjust the mower to fix it.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

https://media.toro.com/servicemanuals/96889sl.pdf There is a section in that manual about paralleling the reel/bedknife to the rear roller. I got this gauge to check that and that is when I found out there was a 3/8 or more difference between right and left 
 Taking off the belt covers for the rear roller drive allows access to the bolts that need to be turned to adjust parallel.


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

Greendoc said:


> I got this gauge to check that and that is when I found out there was a 3/8 or more difference between right and left


That's an interesting instrument. Where did you get it from? Just from crude measuring this afternoon from the axles the the back of the bedknife bed (not sure if that's what it's called) mine is at least 1/4" off.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

https://accuproducts.com/index.php/roller-check-trade.htmlThat business with the knob has a magnet that sticks to the bedknife. The two short arms reach back and touch the rear roller. Both arms should touch evenly with no gaps.


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## Passat774 (Oct 9, 2018)

Greendoc said:


> https://media.toro.com/servicemanuals/96889sl.pdf There is a section in that manual about paralleling the reel/bedknife to the rear roller. I got this gauge to check that and that is when I found out there was a 3/8 or more difference between right and left
> Taking off the belt covers for the rear roller drive allows access to the bolts that need to be turned to adjust parallel.


Thanks so much, what did your cut look like that help you realize that you need that guage?

Also, like previously stated where did you purchase that from?

Found this https://accuproducts.com/index.php/bench-plate-384.html

Thanks


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Always left a step on one side of the cut no matter how much I overlapped into the previous pass. Mowing against the first pass just moved the step to the other side of the pass. Mowing at 90 to the first pass caused a lopsided checkerboard pattern to appear.


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## Thor865 (Mar 26, 2018)

There is also this from R&R. Much pricier but checks front and rear roller

https://www.rrproducts.com/Parallel-Controller-product19273


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## TC2 (Sep 15, 2017)

How about this? https://accuproducts.com/index.php/mower-gaging-tools/roller-check-trade.html


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

@TC2 and @Thor865 thanks for the info on rear roller check bar. However, my Toro GM1000 does not have the small rear roller as shown in the links y'all provided. My GM1000 has a large rear drum assembly which is actually two drums. Does this device work the same way for my reel?

This may seem trivial but I just want to be sure...thanks!




two pics showing my front roller, reel, bed knife and large rear rollers...


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## TC2 (Sep 15, 2017)

It should work with any drum. The front sits on the bedbar and the rear prongs on the drum. If the orientation is off they'll be a gap below one prong and the drum.


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## Passat774 (Oct 9, 2018)

I mowed again tonight, changing to the third position made a huge difference. I still have some minor side to side edges but not nearly as bad as before.

I will post some images tomorrow.


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## Mattopb3 (Jun 3, 2021)

I'm having this same issue with my 20" McLane has anyone had this issue with a McLane?


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## csl23 (Jul 22, 2021)

Does it look like this?


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## dpainter68 (Apr 26, 2017)

You could always check with a local golf course to see if they have a bench plate they'll let you use to check the parallel-ness. A local county club let me borrow theirs for a couple of days. Another option if you have a flat surface like a cast iron table saw is to go to a machine shop and get a piece of scrap stock that's about as long as your reel and about 1/2" thick. A friend of mine has a machine shop and had a scrap piece that was within 0.002" across its length. I check my cutting units every time I have them off the machine since it only takes a minute.


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