# Two new toys in the garage



## btwint (Apr 15, 2018)

So yesterday was the day. I made the trip to Weeks to pick up the items I won in last weeks auction. It is about a 5 hr drive in normal (non towing) conditions and they are only open until 12 on Saturdays. I ended up leaving the house at 4:30am and arrived at 10:30. The entire round trip took about 14 hours. :shock: Considering loading time and stopping for food and rest I feel like I made decent time. I was going to make this post last night but I was TOAST after unloading, cleaning up, and giving the mowers a quick once over.

Below are a few pictures of the two mowers and my initial findings. Would love to hear some feedback on these from folks with a bit more knowledge and experience with them.

I do have a couple of questions that I will put here instead of at the bottom.

I would these mowers set up with same HOC so I am wondering what are some things I should consider to do this? Can I get the same BK for all of them? I think the 1000 came with the tournment BK. Is that the best one for me to go with for my application? My thought is I will do about .75" HOC.

*GM 1000*

I was a bit worried about starting this one. No particular reason just the ad didnt say if it ran or not. The guy at Weeks helped me load it up and then walked off to help someone else. Before I strapped it down I decided to give the cord a pull and it sounded like it turned over fine so I turned the switch on and pulled the cord again. BOOM, it started right up. :thumbup:

Bedknife and Reel have some surface rust but actually cut paper well when I tested it. I honestly dont know how a new BK looks so I am curious to know if this has any life left. Last thing I noticed is that both Reel to Bedknife adjustment parts are missing.









*GM 3250*

This mower started right up when we loaded it up. As you can see they had treaded tires on the front and they are a smudge to big. They work fine but you can see they have rubbed on the inside maybe when they were new.

Below are pictures of all the reels. Everything seems to work well, the reels raise and lower and they start and spin well. The unit itself starts and drives good. Again I am not sure of the life left on the BK's but like the 1000 both the reel and bk has some surface rust.

After cleaning it up a bit I inspected the reel motors and notice that two of them are missing a corner by one of the mounting bolts. Looks like it was snapped off and I am curious if this could have been caused by over torquing them. I am sort of afraid to remove the motors now but obviously I will need to do that to work on the reels.















The last thing I did last night was see if the grass catcher from the 3250 would work on the 1000. Not exactly the same design but I think it may work. It doesnt contact the reel or ground so we will see.





This post sort of feels like my ride home yesterday, like its taking forever. I am excited to have these, now the real or "reel" work begins.

- Chris


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Congrats!


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## btwint (Apr 15, 2018)

So after checking HOC on the 3250 (.5") I decided to give it a go in the back yard. Wow that's low. :lol:

I am going to sand the front in a few weeks. I'm not yet brave enough to Just "let er rip" but I think that would be what's is best.

Scalp, level, fert, water, dominate!





I think the uncut portion is my fault and can chalk that up to being a rookie.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Yabba ... dabba ... DOO!!! :thumbup:


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## RayTL (Jun 4, 2018)

Sweet!! :thumbup:


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## TigerinFL (Mar 29, 2018)

looks like some fun projects


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Good buys! As for the reel motors missing a piece, that is not the case if it's the spot in the picture. They are made like that so you don't have to take the bolt all the way out to remove the motor. Loosen the bolts then turn the motor to remove it.


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## btwint (Apr 15, 2018)

J_nick said:


> Good buys! As for the reel motors missing a piece, that is not the case if it's the spot in the picture. They are made like that so you don't have to take the bolt all the way out to remove the motor. Loosen the bolts then turn the motor to remove it.


Thanks J_Nick. I noticed two of them were like this and the other one wasn't so that is why I was questioning it.

After you posted this I went back and looked. You probably know how this story ends......you were right. :lol: Happy to be wrong here, maybe going over the mowers after a 14 hour drive wasn't my best idea.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Yup, designed like that so swapping the units out for verticut units, spikers, vibe rollers, greens reels, tee reels, fairway reels, etc. all are quick and easy. Loosen two bolts, remove the motor and unclip the drag links connecting the tow/basket frame to the front roller axle. I see you don't have the full width basket rollers on the tow frame. (No biggie, just a popular item)


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## Gibby (Apr 3, 2018)

Mind sharing what you got the 3250 for? I would like to go low, but only with a triplex....


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## Sam23 (May 2, 2018)

Congrats! :thumbup:


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