# Reel vs Greens Mower



## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

Ok whats the difference?
Everyone says go greens mower Why?
I hopefully will have a large lawn 25000 feet and I want to eventually get a triplex however I am not a handyman and I know nothing about reel mowers other than what i have seen online and Youtube. Do I need to make the jump straight to a greens mower or do I need to wait a season and get my lawn leveled with sand before graduating to the big boy toys? (im still in renovation)
Why do some of these things cost $40,000 new WTF. I wish they made 40 inch or 50 inch riding.
If I do get a triplex what size trailer do I need?
A lot of questions sorry


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## MrMeaner (Feb 21, 2017)

They are all reel mowers, even greensmowers.. what differentiates reel mowers is the number of blades, bedknife thickness and he height of cut. In general the lower you cut the turf, the more blades the reel has and have thinner bedknifes are. Fewer blades, thicker bedknife and higher HOC, you get more into what you would see on a fairway mower or Trim/utility mower.

Residential walking reel mowers, include but not limited too - Tru-cut, Cal-Trimmer and Mclanes that range from 18"-27" widths, These have several different models, but whats best about these is its pretty easy to change the height of cut. HOC can range from 3/8" to 2" which on a tru-cut for example it can be done in two seconds but pulling or lowering a lever.

Golf Course mowers are commercial grade and are much better built and easier to maintain. as a genral rule HOC are usually maxed out at 1" - They are pretty easy to change the HOC as well but much be done with a guage to get both side evenly adjusted. remember these are designed and built to mow greens on a golf course.

Riding Reels are just that a unit that has 3(or more) individual reel heads. Triplex Greens mower are just like there walking counter parts just with three cutting heads. Most if not all Triplex Greens mowers are 60" wide...typically the have three 22"" reel heads attached to the traction unit.

I personally have a 27" Tru-cut I use to mow between tight spaces(fence and trees) as well as edge close to concrete areas in my back yard(sand box, pool area). When I started with a ridiing triplex reel, I purchased a Toro 2000d Trim/Utility triplex with 3-27"" reels, its 84" wide physically but cuts a 72" swath of grass. Wanting to step up my game, I just purchased and toro 3150Q Greensmaster Triplex, 11 bladed, reels with groomers.

I have roughtly 30K sq Ft of turf and there is no way I would ever mow it with a walking reel...ever again. I did it once when my triplex was in the shop but you would never catch me doing it again. Its a toss up between the two triplexes I have at this point as to what I like the best. I like the wide cut width, the cut itself, weile rollers, range of the height of cut on the 2000D, only things it does not have is powered steering. The Triplex Greens mowers,.. I love the powered steering, its quiet and eesy to work on.. what I don't like it the cutting heads are relatively light and unless you turf is ultra smooth the heads bob on the turf a little leaving not as good of a cut as the 2000D.

If you have other questions or something is not clear.. please just ask.


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

Wow
Now that was a great reply
Drops the mic 
Walks away

Thank you so much


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## coreymays22 (Apr 25, 2017)

Answered a lot of my questions as well. Thanks for the reply. Maybe Sticky/Pin it in the equipment section?


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## MrMeaner (Feb 21, 2017)

Tellycoleman said:


> Wow
> Now that was a great reply
> Drops the mic
> Walks away
> ...


Haha, my girlfriend uses the "boom" and "drop the mic" lines all the time. :lol: :lol:

A lot of things to consider when getting a reel mower. One thing is the amount of turf you have, height you would like to cut. The lower you cut, the more often you have to cut during the growing season. For a homeowner lawn and using the 1/3 cut rule mowing at a HOC of 1/2" to 3/4" - causes you to mow when it gets to 3/4" to 1.125inches seems like a happy medium. Not using PGR's I usually mow once a week in the spring and fall and about twice a week in the summer. When I use the PGR's I can go longer between cuts.

Cost.... New, the John Deere, Toro and Jacobsen golf course mowers are very expensive ranging from 10K to 50K... using walking greensmowers on up to 5 reel fairway mowers. If a course is profitable enough and getting new equipment, I believe most golf courses will lease new equipment for several years and/or up to around 2000k hours of use. By the time they put that many hours on them they have incurred a lot of the cost of the vehicle. The they turn them in and start leasing new models. At any rate this is where us homeowners can find great deals on used equipment, good news is since they are maintained by golf courses maintenance crews they usually have been well taken care of...regular oil changes, reels and bedknive properly maintained etc...

When I bought my Toro 2000d, I was looking on Ebay, Turfnet.com and other used golf course equipment sites. They were asking approx. $3500-$4000 for It and it had a Diesel engine w/2180 hours on it and I had seen they same model on other sites with 5000-6000s. I knew I would only put maybe 50-100 hours on t per year, it should last me a long time. knew obviously I not use it no where close to what a golf course would. I've had it and used it three years now and it has 2320hrs or less that 50hrs per year. At this rate, with proper maintenance it should easily last me another 20++ years.

Only thing I dislike about the 2000d is the lack of power steering... its a little bit of a beast to maneuver in tight spaces and around the 14-15 trees I have in my yard. Once reason, I opted for the greensmower this year is the ability to have groomers and readily available verticutting units which I also bought.

Now after owning several pieces of equipment, If I had to do it all over again, I would probably buy a Toro 3100D which I believe have power steering. I would look for one with the Sidewinder feature and 3- 27" reels with the Weihle front rollers and find the correct verticutting units for it. That combo would give me the ability to cut down to 1/4" and up to 1.5", the ability to scalp in the spring, cut through out the summer and raise the HOC as needed. With the smaller 27" reels over all width of the machine is 80" wide and would fit on my 84" utility trailer if I needed to take it in for service. .


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