# diamond zoysia grass and mowing



## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

I live in small community where it is hard to find a gardener who has a reel mower and who is willing to keep it sharpened. I have diamond zoysia grass which is kept very short and calls for a "reel mower".
So I was thinking of getting a push mower. I am in good health but I'm in my 60s. Would pushing a push mower prove to be too physical for a man of my age? I could buy a power mower but it would be a hazzle lugging something heavy to get sharpened. Any thoughts?


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

They have self propelled models and keeping blades sharp is something you can do yourself for a rotary mower.


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

Suggestions? and I guess you are mentioning this because you think a push would be to difficult.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

William13 said:


> Suggestions? and I guess you are mentioning this because you think a push would be to difficult.


I don't think a push is difficult, but perhaps the question would be answered on your own.

Self propelled cost a little bit more, can you afford it?

Do you have a flat lot, or hills? If hills, can you push up those hills.

If so, can you push up those hills, or without, during the hot summer months when your grass is actively growing?

Buying a sharpening set up, or even just buying snd installing a new blade on a rotary is minimal at best. Maintenance is next to nothing, IMO.

If you want a reel, then be prepared for even higher costs of ownership, including backlapping a reel and ensuring you have a clean yard to avoid damage to the mower.

If you want a solid self propel rotary for you yard, my suggestion is a Toro Super recycler. I don't see the reason to push, when I can spend a minimal amount more for a nicer self propel mower.


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

This diamond zoysia dwarf species I have is used for putting green. I did not realize most gardeners in town only use rotary. The grower told me I must use reel mower and to cut very very short 5/32 inch.
Money not a huge issue but I dont want to go overboard.

Thanks
Bill


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

also land is flat, no hills


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

William13 said:


> This diamond zoysia dwarf species I have is used for putting green. I did not realize most gardeners in town only use rotary. The grower told me I must use reel mower and to cut very very short 5/32 inch.
> Money not a huge issue but I dont want to go overboard.
> 
> Thanks
> Bill


If it's dwarf type of zoysia, and you want it to thrive, I guess you'll want to buy a reel mower. To cut that short you will want a powered greens mower. You shouldn't have to worry about pushing but perhaps keeping up with your mowers speed.

You will be likely need to start looking for a great deal, and I'd suspect you'll be looking at over $1k for a mower if you find a decent working deal. Prepare to spend $2000 or more in this market for a working mower that you won't have to put any immediate work into it.

You will be doing a bit more maintenance in dealing with the reel and the age of said mowers.

You won't be cutting very short with a manual push reel mower, and if you miss a day of cutting, yes it could get tough. If I were 60 in Florida, the last thing I'd want to do would be push reel mow a thick yard during the summer; but perhaps I'm just lazy or have a better idea of my time.

I suspect you or the sod farm perhaps didn't have the conversation on care for the choice of turf chosen. More so since you expected to have someone cut your yard for you.


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

yup!!! You are very intuitive. Wife bought sod on basis it grows well in shade and that was the truth. 
Expected local gardeners to cut etc but hardly any knew how to handle. The ones who do charge 4 x the others. I thought about push to safe garage space. 2000 ok.....any special models? gas electric?


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

William13 said:


> yup!!! You are very intuitive. Wife bought sod on basis it grows well in shade and that was the truth.
> Expected local gardeners to cut etc but hardly any knew how to handle. The ones who do charge 4 x the others. I thought about push to safe garage space. 2000 ok.....any special models? gas electric?


Do some local sleuthing for brands like Toro, John Deere, Jacobsen.. you are looking for a greensmower.. if you have access to golf courses, ask them to speak to the superintendent, sometimes they might sell old models, have a lead, or perhaps could even offer service if you found something.

Full disclosure if you go that route, be warned you'll be doing and buying more than a mower and mowing. You might search to see if your yard can be cut taller, especially if it's not pool table flat. 5/32 is short short. Most homeowners are cutting .3-.75 inches.


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

I'm sure I can go a little higher at least .3 inches. I will call a local golf course. BTW I only have about 3000 feet. I definately dont want to do the 10,000 route. Could you throw out a name of a sample mower that would work as it will help me understand a little better what I am looking for


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

William13 said:


> I'm sure I can go a little higher at least .3 inches. I will call a local golf course. BTW I only have about 3000 feet. I definately dont want to do the 10,000 route. Could you throw out a name of a sample mower that would work as it will help me understand a little better what I am looking for


Look for a toro GM1000, or say a John Deere 220 or something similar. Check around the site here as well.


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

ok great and I already put a call into a local golf course


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

Golf course superintendant recommends the Toro GM 1000.
A local lawnmower shop has the JD 220SL refurbed for 5 K or off lease untouched for 2K
Not sure about cost of Toro yet but I guess I would lean toward it depending on the recommendation.
My alternative is to find a specialty landscaper (because they have machine) but they want a huge premium to cut a rather small lawn and there yearly maintenance would be much more than mower. My plan would be to have the typical landscaper use "my mower"


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

Ok the superindendant actually came over my house and felt the Toro gm 1000 might have difficulty getting into the nuchs and crannys. Recommended Tru Cut. He was not intimately familiar with McClane Greens Keeper which I watched a video on and was impressed. I think I need to pick one of these. Which is easier to use and which has less maintenance would be very important to me.


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

William13 said:


> Ok the superindendant actually came over my house and felt the Toro gm 1000 might have difficulty getting into the nuchs and crannys. Recommended Tru Cut. He was not intimately familiar with McClane Greens Keeper which I watched a video on and was impressed. I think I need to pick one of these. Which is easier to use and which has less maintenance would be very important to me.


I have an older model Greenskeeper that I picked up last year. I like it better than the TruCut, but I do wish it was heavier. It's easier to maneuver, easier to adjust reel-to-bedknife, etc, but if you want to change cut height frequently, then the TruCut might be better for you.


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

Why did you like it better than Tru Cut? I want 2 things: manuverability and low maintenance. No one sells McClane nearby. Tru Cut shops are not to far away. I have ability to fix things but not lift heavy things (get my drift?)
Hard to find comparisons on these. I don't need perfect golf course strips but they are nice


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

I would be weary of letting a normal grass cutting outfit use my machine, with zero regard to maintenance or care while using.

If you want turn key and hands off, find a dealer like you did, and see about mobile services or them picking up to service. That keeps you out of the work, because they will all need maintenance like backlapping, oil changes, etc, outside of any larger jobs like new reels, belts, etc.


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

Thats a brilliant idea!
I will call them and see if they have a maintainence plan. Is that a common thing?


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

So I called a local place called "green thumb" and I explained how my wife bought diamond zoysia and now I need a mower for it. The guy was nice and after he stopped laughing how the story unrolled he told me that if I purchase a mower from him I would expect to have the "oil changed" every 50 hours and he would show me how to sharpen. He has a service that could transport the mower back and forth for 75 bucks but he told me I could handle simple maintanence myself.
He sells tru cuts for greens approx 2500. Excuse the pun "am I on the right garden path here?"

I am editing this because I just googled sharpening reel mower.....It does not look simple


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

William13 said:


> So I called a local place called "green thumb" and I explained how my wife bought diamond zoysia and now I need a mower for it. The guy was nice and after he stopped laughing how the story unrolled he told me that if I purchase a mower from him I would expect to have the "oil changed" every 50 hours and he would show me how to sharpen. He has a service that could transport the mower back and forth for 75 bucks but he told me I could handle simple maintanence myself.
> He sells tru cuts for greens approx 2500. Excuse the pun "am I on the right garden path here?"
> 
> I am editing this because I just googled sharpening reel mower.....It does not look simple


Well for instance my local toro group will have a mobile guy come and pick up for a small charge take it back to work on and deliver.

If you have someone that does it, that's a benefit. Sharpening you can't do, but backlapping as needed, you can. Oil changes, air filters, you can do it.

I'd say you might have a good hands off approach, and a decent route to look into.


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

so realistically how often would "diamond zoysia" grass cutting result in the need for sharpening. Is it every 15000 sq feet if so that would mean every 2 months for me


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

William13 said:


> Why did you like it better than Tru Cut? I want 2 things: manuverability and low maintenance. No one sells McClane nearby. Tru Cut shops are not to far away. I have ability to fix things but not lift heavy things (get my drift?)
> Hard to find comparisons on these. I don't need perfect golf course strips but they are nice


I definitely feel like setting reel-to-bedknife is easier. I am also not a fan of the TruCut sprocket/key setup as I had two fail, resulting in mower downtime and expensive repairs. Maneuverability is about the same, but I prefer the handle on the McClane to the thumb drive system of the TruCut.


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

How often do blades need sharpening for reel mowers used on greens only?


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

William13 said:


> How often do blades need sharpening for reel mowers used on greens only?


Depends - sorry. :lol:

It's highly subjective to the preferences of the turf superintendent and the equipment manager. Greens mowers visit the grinder more frequently than others however since the ultra-low cut height exposes the reels to more sand. If they are sharpening via back-lapping, then the frequency can be anywhere from daily to once a week, with a re-grind every 2-3 months typically. Spin-grind only programs may grind every 4 weeks or so, give or take.


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## Gilley11 (Nov 3, 2019)

If you don't mind pushing, a Hudson Star is what you seek. It's not hard to push, kids can do it. They are the Cadillac of push reels and they are not inexpensive but they're built like little tanks and will last you. 
A new hudson might be cheaper and and easier than maintaining a powered greens mower in the long run.


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

I watched a few video on the Hudson. The cost is not a problem for me not because money doesnt matter but because it acturally sounds less expensive to me becuase I get the impression power mowers cost a lot to maintain. Its interesting but there are very few videos of the Hudson out there and very few videos. I would be interested in hearing peoples experience.


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## Saints (May 5, 2019)

Have you considered a Swardman? It's light and easy to maneuver plus you can send the reel off once a year to be sharpened. The reel pops out of the machine so easy to send off for sharpening. Mid season just replace the bed knife which is cheap and takes all of 5 minutes to do. I have Geo zoysia which is similar to diamond and have no problems cutting it unless I let it get a bit too high. I keep mine at 5/8 - 3/4" so you could raise your height of cut a bit if you wanted to.


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

No I have not researched it at all. How low does it cut?


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Gilley11 said:


> If you don't mind pushing, a Hudson Star is what you seek. It's not hard to push, kids can do it. They are the Cadillac of push reels and they are not inexpensive but they're built like little tanks and will last you.
> A new hudson might be cheaper and and easier than maintaining a powered greens mower in the long run.


Most of the maintenance in a powered reel is in the sharpening and adjustment of the reel cutting mechanism. What is it about the Hudson and similar machines that would avoid any of that? I would think it's actually more imperative to keep the reel and knife as sharp as possible as any of the usual compensatory adjustments for slightly deteriorated cutting edges would make a manual push machine noticeably harder to push.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

William13 said:


> No I have not researched it at all. How low does it cut?


I believe minimum height on a Swardman with a 10-Blade reel is about 5mm. Or just under .250"


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## William13 (Oct 24, 2020)

thank you!


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