# Toro greensmaster 1000 questions



## Brandon32689 (May 1, 2021)

Hey all. I just recently got into reel mowing. I got a new cali trimmer about 2 months ago and so far love it. I had a ego select cut electric before and could not cut my thick unlevel Bermuda lower than 1 3/4. Well I started lookimg at greensmowers and picked one up this weekend. It's a 2014 with 800 hours. Looks damn near new. I am going to try it out tomorrow to compare to my Cali trimmer. I thought it was a 11 blade but once I got it and we double checked it's actually a 14 blade. Will I have any issues with the 14 blade cutting at about 3/4 inch? It also has a smooth roller and it's faced in. The guy told me it can be moved out if I would like. I paid $2300 for the toro ao hopefully it's as good as I read. I have a smaller yard. Size is about 1600 sq feet. Any tips or tricks? First thing I am going to remove the pegs for the wheels since it would hit my flower beds.


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## cwrx82 (Sep 16, 2018)

Brandon32689 said:


> Hey all. I just recently got into reel mowing. I got a new cali trimmer about 2 months ago and so far love it. I had a ego select cut electric before and could not cut my thick unlevel Bermuda lower than 1 3/4. Well I started lookimg at greensmowers and picked one up this weekend. It's a 2014 with 800 hours. Looks damn near new. I am going to try it out tomorrow to compare to my Cali trimmer. I thought it was a 11 blade but once I got it and we double checked it's actually a 14 blade. Will I have any issues with the 14 blade cutting at about 3/4 inch? It also has a smooth roller and it's faced in. The guy told me it can be moved out if I would like. I paid $2300 for the toro ao hopefully it's as good as I read. I have a smaller yard. Size is about 1600 sq feet. Any tips or tricks? First thing I am going to remove the pegs for the wheels since it would hit my flower beds.


The 14 blade wants to cut low low low. I have a 14 blade on my Flex 2100 and cut at 0.25" and it leaves some washboarding. May have quite a few stragglers when cutting that high with a 14 blade.

As for the roller, you can flip the arms that hold the roller and stretch it our further. If it doesn't have a groomer, I'd leave it facing inwards so there's less of a chance to scalp.


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## Jay20nj (Jul 25, 2018)

The 14 blade is going to give you issues. I swapped the reel on my gm 1000 to an 8 blade from reel rollers. Taking it all apart is a bit of a pain and it ended up taking me a whole day getting everything apart. Fortunately reassembly took like an hour or so. With all of the seals and bearings plus reel and bedknife you're looking at 400-500 or so to swap it out. If it were me i'd just suck it up and do it as the 14 blade will just not cut well at those heights


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

Agree. You won't be pleased with that reel at high of cut.


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## Brandon32689 (May 1, 2021)

FATC1TY said:


> Agree. You won't be pleased with that reel at high of cut.


So 14 blade is for lower than .25? So what blade would be a good choice for say .50-1 inch? Do I need to change the bedknife to?

It does not have the groomer just the solid roller and it's facing inwards.


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## Brandon32689 (May 1, 2021)

Jay20nj said:


> The 14 blade is going to give you issues. I swapped the reel on my gm 1000 to an 8 blade from reel rollers. Taking it all apart is a bit of a pain and it ended up taking me a whole day getting everything apart. Fortunately reassembly took like an hour or so. With all of the seals and bearings plus reel and bedknife you're looking at 400-500 or so to swap it out. If it were me i'd just suck it up and do it as the 14 blade will just not cut well at those heights


Damn kinda sucks. Would it be worth selling the 14 blade to recoup some funds lol.

What heights do you cut at?


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

If you want to cut that high, you'll need the 8 blade, you could eventually still see some washboarding if you plan to go up to an inch. Will end up double cutting to get a clean cut, doing it slow.

You don't need a new bedknife, but if you install a new reel, you really should replace it along with the reel and mate the new surfaces up.

As for selling the 14 blade- good luck, small market snd its the least desirable blade for a homeowner.


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## Brandon32689 (May 1, 2021)

FATC1TY said:


> If you want to cut that high, you'll need the 8 blade, you could eventually still see some washboarding if you plan to go up to an inch. Will end up double cutting to get a clean cut, doing it slow.
> 
> You don't need a new bedknife, but if you install a new reel, you really should replace it along with the reel and mate the new surfaces up.
> 
> As for selling the 14 blade- good luck, small market snd its the least desirable blade for a homeowner.


Dang well kinda makes the $2300 mower not such a good deal anymore lol. It's a 2014 it has 800 hours. I got home with it today and used it but yeah I feel like the 14 blade is just to much.

Are these good reels? And which one of the 8 blades from here would you choose? Also do you need anything else like bearings or just swap out reel.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

People seem happy with the RR blades, I've got no experience, I replaced an 8 blade with an 8 blade on my GM1600, but used toro genuine parts. Check your part numbers to cross verify which stuff to buy, alternatively you can find a toro dealer or parts house, and they'll usually sell toro parts for a price that rivals RR.

I would get new reel bearings and seals, and a new bedknife. Once you have it apart it's best to just swap those out anyways. They aren't expensive.


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## Brandon32689 (May 1, 2021)

FATC1TY said:


> People seem happy with the RR blades, I've got no experience, I replaced an 8 blade with an 8 blade on my GM1600, but used toro genuine parts. Check your part numbers to cross verify which stuff to buy, alternatively you can find a toro dealer or parts house, and they'll usually sell toro parts for a price that rivals RR.
> 
> I would get new reel bearings and seals, and a new bedknife. Once you have it apart it's best to just swap those out anyways. They aren't expensive.


Okay sounds good I was looking and there are so many options on the bedknife to. I want to make sure I get the right one as well. Is the bearings and seals all just easy on. No need for press or anything crazy?


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## Jay20nj (Jul 25, 2018)

I cut anywhere from 3/4 to 1" with the 8 blade. The issue with the 14 blade is less spacing between blades so it doesn't work well with higher cuts. 14 blade is pretty much for golf greens only. I doubt anyone would buy a used 14 blade reel. The reel itself is about $225 from r&r. But you will need a bedknife and the bearings and seals.


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## Brandon32689 (May 1, 2021)

Here is the finished product I cut it at 1/2 inch.


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## Brandon32689 (May 1, 2021)

Jay20nj said:


> I cut anywhere from 3/4 to 1" with the 8 blade. The issue with the 14 blade is less spacing between blades so it doesn't work well with higher cuts. 14 blade is pretty much for golf greens only. I doubt anyone would buy a used 14 blade reel. The reel itself is about $225 from r&r. But you will need a bedknife and the bearings and seals.


Can you go lower with the 8 blade I'f you wanted to?

Do you know what bed knife you would recommend me to order with the 8 blade from r&r and is it pretty simple to swap all over.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

Brandon32689 said:


> Jay20nj said:
> 
> 
> > I cut anywhere from 3/4 to 1" with the 8 blade. The issue with the 14 blade is less spacing between blades so it doesn't work well with higher cuts. 14 blade is pretty much for golf greens only. I doubt anyone would buy a used 14 blade reel. The reel itself is about $225 from r&r. But you will need a bedknife and the bearings and seals.
> ...


You can cut lower, sure. I use an 8 blade and cut at around .3-.350.

Get the high cut or fairways bedknife. They are thicker if not mistaken.


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## Brandon32689 (May 1, 2021)

FATC1TY said:


> Brandon32689 said:
> 
> 
> > Jay20nj said:
> ...


Think ill give them a call and see if they can make sure i get the right stuff. So far I love the GM even with my small yard its just so smooth.


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## trackrat_c6 (May 20, 2020)

I am using the R&R 8-blade reel and low cut bed knife cutting at .375. The reel didn't seem to have the best grind for about 1/2" on one end of the reel out of the box, but some backlapping with 80 followed by 120 grit sorted it out. Not sure if a Toro reel would have been any different.


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