# John Deere 220SL 11 blade reel for KBG



## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

So I've been looking around at greens mowers to gauge there prices and availability, and I came across this place that sells used golf course equipment. http://prairieturfequipment.com/used-equipment/page/8/

They have 5 John Deere 220SL mowers for sale. The condition looks decent from the picture and the guy sent me some extra pics as well.

I was emailing him and was telling him I wanted it to cut KBG and he said that it's not going to work properly for me if I'm cutting higher than .5" because it has a 11 blade reel and I should look for one with a 7-8 blade reel. I was reading the thread that pete made about changing the reels on this mower and I saw he stuck with a 11 blade. I'm wondering if maybe the guy I talked to isn't correct with his thoughts or maybe I'm missing something in this regard. I've never used a greens type mower before so I have no thoughts of my own to know if I would need to change the reel to a lower count or if the 11 blade could work at a higher HOC than .5".

Looking for input from @g-man and @Pete1313 as I know they have experience with John Deere but if anyone else has any thoughts on this don't hesitate.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Both me and Pete switched to a 7 blade reel. Too many blades in a reel means that as the reel turns, the next blade will hit/strike the lawn tips before it reaches the bedknife. Ware has posted a manual from Toro explaining this far better than I can.

Could you use the 11 blade higher than 0.5inches? Yes. I think Pete 220 was 11 blade until he change it recently for ABC123. How high you want to go? A reel in the usa is around $300.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

I was thinking to start at 1 1/4" or so. I probably won't be cutting as low as .5" for a while or ever. Not sure the lawn is level enough for that low a HOC. $300 isn't terrible for the replacement reel. I'm trying to price everything out and see if I am going to get one this year or next. I know sometimes these things can add up fast when you have to start replacing parts. I was going to get a new rotory Honda this year but there is really nothing wrong with my current mower so I'm thinking now to keep my current briggs mower and put the funding toward a reel mower.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

$1000 seem like a good price. How much for shipping?

I really think you could use the 11blade this year and swap during the long winter.

Reel, bearings and bed knife will be the key things to exchanage to switch it to 7 blade. $400. I'm assuming you are doing the work, right?


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Shipping cost would be $400 CAD so probably around $300 USD or so.

Yes I would be doing everything myself, with help from TLF of course.

I was thinking that I could use the 11 blade this year and then change this winter as well.

I've been looking into Swardman mowers too but when I price it out it comes to over $3000 and I'm not sure whether they would offer free shipping to me like they do to the states.

I think $1300 shipped is quite reasonable for the mower it is. Even if I can't get it right away I'm trying to gather all the info I can about what I need or might have to change on the mower.

Thanks for your thoughts g-man.


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## Thor865 (Mar 26, 2018)

So my JD 220 e with 11 blade reel will not make my TifGrand Bermuda look good cutting at .75 to 1 inch hoc ?


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

I'm not sure how Bermuda grass would respond to an 11 blade reel as compared to a lower reel count. We were specifically talking about how the 11 blade reel would work on Kentucky bluegrass. I'm not familiar enough with Bermuda to know if it would work better with that grass type.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@Thor865 no man Bermuda at .75 doesnt look good. The reel won't matter. Bermuda needs to be below 0.5in. Actually, Bermuda doesn't look good at any height. Get the round up :lol:

The 220E has an adjustment for the reel speed since it is an electric drive. I think you will be fine at 0.75 to 1.0 in, but I have no experience with bermuda


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Thor865 said:


> So my JD 220 e with 11 blade reel will not make my TifGrand Bermuda look good cutting at .75 to 1 inch hoc ?


It will look great! The 11-blade on the 220e looks like it can be slowed down to .480" FoC which while not ideal for mowing at .750", will work fine as long as you mow frequently enough.



I am guilty of preaching the wonders of 7-8 blade reels on our greensmowers (for home lawn use) but I also realize that forking our $400+ on top of a $2000 mower purchase to optimize FoC isn't everyone's idea of a good time.

I will say, that my Jake cuts much more aggressively the lower I go. I'm at .750" (and fellas, if I can get to .750, you can too!!) and it wants to go lower. I swapped my 11-blade for a 7 blade and could immediately tell the difference.

Anybody running a greensmower, wanting/needing a new reel, and not planning on going lower than .500" should be considering "fairway" or "heavy section" cutting tackle for their machine. Just my opinion, your mileage may vary.


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

Sorry @SNOWBOB11, busy day at work and am just seeing this now. The guy is correct, an 11 blade is not ideal for a 1" HOC. With that said, I did cut my old property with an 11-blade 220SL anywhere from 9/16" - 1" with little issues. The max bench HOC on a 220SL With a brand new reel is 11/16" with the roller in the closest position. There is no 7-blade option that I have seen for a 220SL, I have only seen a 9-Blade from RRproducts or a JD part# from an older 220B that is a 9-blade and should fit. If you want a 7-blade on an "SL" model, you need to look at the 260SL. The frequency of clip (FOC) for an 11-blade on the 220SL is .182". For a 7-blade on the 260SL it is .286". Neither one is ideal for a HOC at .5" or above since ideally you want FOC to match HOC. The 7-blade is just alittle better. I think if you want to stay in the 1"+ HOC range, the 220E is the machine you want to be looking for and can go up to almost 1.5". If you think you would want to maintain at the .75" range or possibly lower eventually, I would look at the SL's as I think the fixed heads cut better at the lower HOC. I loved my 220SL before selling it to @ABC123 last winter. It cut KBG well.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Thanks for the very informative reply @Pete1313. At this time I think it would be a struggle to go to sub .500" with my lawn. I would be looking to be in the 1" range at this time so I'm going to pass on the 220sl. It can be quit difficult to find John Deere greens mowers and I saw this one in decent condition and for a decent price and got excited lol, but if it's not going to perform at a higher HOC then I will hold out for a 220e like you mentioned. The guy I was talking to mentioned he had some toro 7 reel mowers but they are over double the price. Plus I really have my mind set on a John Deere anyways. I'll keep looking through the year to see if I can find a 220e as we get more into the growing season and spent this year trying to get the lawn more level and better prepared to reel mow. Thanks again for the reply.


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

I think the 220E would be a better fit for you if you want to cut over 1". With that said, here are some old pics of my last yard when I first started mowing bewitched with the 220SL. The actual HOC was ~11/4"


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

That is sweet. Don't get me wrong, I love the super low sub 1" look, but I also like there to be a bit of grass blade too, and that HOC in the pics you posted I think is just perfect.


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