# Bladed Groomer attachment



## DR_GREENTHUMB (May 24, 2018)

I recently got a mower with the bladed groomer, can someone inform me the ins and outs of using this? I believe some use it often, some use it every 4 mows, is this dedicated to slicing stolons to thicken the lawn? I just wanted to know how to use this tool, how often, does it help? TIA


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## Philly_Gunner (Apr 23, 2019)

Great question, I'm also interested in this.


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## DuncanMcDonuts (May 5, 2019)

From what I've read, it's meant to slice the stolons to create new growing nodes for thickening the turf. It will also stand the grass blades for the reel to cut it.. I only recently attached mine and used it for 3 mows, so I haven't seen much results yet. As for frequency of use, some do it every mow, some do it every other mow. I haven't read much consensus on it.


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## DR_GREENTHUMB (May 24, 2018)

@Mightyquinn 
Tips?


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

DR_GREENTHUMB said:


> @Mightyquinn
> Tips?


I'll try to give a thorough response tomorrow or Sunday as I have to work tomorrow. It's definitely on my to do list. :thumbup:


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Here are my thoughts and experiences with a Groomer @DR_GREENTHUMB

I have been using my Groomer on my Baroness ever since I got it and I have noticed a difference in the lawn using it. I have found that it does tend to stand the grass blades up and I get a better and more even cut as I don't usually have any "stragglers" as I have heard mentioned a lot on TLF. That could also be attributed to the Baroness itself as from my understanding it's set up a little more aggressive then some other brand of mowers. It also tend to get a lot of the seed heads that tend to show up in June when the lawn starts to really thicken up which really helps. Going from a TruCut to the Baroness I have noticed a more upright growth of the grass too as almost all the blades are standing straight up which leads to a more carpet like grass.

I tend to keep my lawn cut around .5" so I am sure that has some effect on the results I am getting. I know on my mower, once you start getting up above .5" the Groomer really becomes ineffective as it doesn't really get down into the canopy to do much work. I have experimented with all different HOC's for the Groomer and have found that the lower you go the better. Right now I have my mower set at .400" HOC and the Groomer set at .050" HOC and you do not see any negatives after mowing. The one thing you will see is a lot more "brown" material being removed and thrown into the grass catcher than you will see without using it. My recommendations would be to gradually bring it down and see what it does as you do. If you are seeing issues with the lawn after bringing it down then you most likely will need to do some more mechanical (dethatch or verticut) remediation to the lawn as you have too much material(thatch and/or stolons) in the lawn. I use the Groomer with EVERY mow and usually have it in the Reverse rotation as it is more aggressive, I have been experimenting with it in the FORWARD position for the last few mows without any noticeable difference right now but the lawn is still waking up.

The principle behind the Groomer is to vertically cut the stolons and create new growing points for the grass to grow new shoots and to theoretically make the lawn thicker and should reduce "grain" in the lawn. I know the Baroness has the Groomer and Dethatcher attachments and the difference between those two are the Groomer has more blades but the kerf(thickness) is thinner as the blades are not designed to go into the soil while the Dethatcher has less blades that have a thicker kerf which is designed to go into the soil. I think this is why you need to set your Groomer as low as you can as it needs to get down into the canopy to be able to slice the stolons that grow at ground level. I know other brands of GM have this option but I am not as much up to speed on them as I am with the Baroness(obviously) but they all should work very similar to each other.

Please feel free to ask questions or give ideas as I may have missed something or didn't cover it in this short right up. :thumbup:


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## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

I think the purpose of the groomer is to cut the stolons so that a golf ball will roll truer and faster. I'm not saying there aren't other benefits as well.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

LoCutt said:


> I think the purpose of the groomer is to cut the stolons so that a golf ball will roll truer and faster. I'm not saying there aren't other benefits as well.


Yes, that is true when it comes to putting greens but most of us here aren't dealing with those. :thumbup:


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## DR_GREENTHUMB (May 24, 2018)

Mightyquinn said:


> Here are my thoughts and experiences with a Groomer @DR_GREENTHUMB
> 
> I have been using my Groomer on my Baroness ever since I got it and I have noticed a difference in the lawn using it. I have found that it does tend to stand the grass blades up and I get a better and more even cut as I don't usually have any "stragglers" as I have heard mentioned a lot on TLF. That could also be attributed to the Baroness itself as from my understanding it's set up a little more aggressive then some other brand of mowers. It also tend to get a lot of the seed heads that tend to show up in June when the lawn starts to really thicken up which really helps. Going from a TruCut to the Baroness I have noticed a more upright growth of the grass too as almost all the blades are standing straight up which leads to a more carpet like grass.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your thorough explanation on the groomer. I had to fiddle around with the mower before I understood all the new controls, I did do one pass with the groomer and it did pick up way more material. I had to raise the HOC and will try the groomer on the entire lawn next mow, thanks again. So when the groomer is down, you really have to be careful of the cement sidewalks and driveways I guess?


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

I have never had an issue with the sidewalks or driveway with the groomer when set low. Since it's set above the HOC there shouldn't be anything to worry about.


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## DR_GREENTHUMB (May 24, 2018)

Mightyquinn said:


> I have never had an issue with the sidewalks or driveway with the groomer when set low. Since it's set above the HOC there shouldn't be anything to worry about.


Wait it's above the HOC? I had mine set below it, it destroyed the lawn! So the first time I used it, I cut @ .4 and had the groomer set at the lowest possible setting, I think it was below the HOC. I thought we wanted these things as low as you could go?

Before 


After 


I put the mower @ .46 HOC and was going to raise the groomer up some?


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

I think I misspoke about the HOC of the groomer. I meant to say it should be set above ground level but below your HOC. I did say to gradually lower your groomer, since you dropped it all the way down is probably why it did that to your lawn. Do you know the HOC of the groomer?


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## DR_GREENTHUMB (May 24, 2018)

Mightyquinn said:


> I think I misspoke about the HOC of the groomer. I meant to say it should be set above ground level but below your HOC. I did say to gradually lower your groomer, since you dropped it all the way down is probably why it did that to your lawn. Do you know the HOC of the groomer?


It has 5 settings, the lowest setting I think was below the HOC. I have a tool that measures the HOC but not one that measures the groomer. I guess I can get under it and measure the distance with calipers? I was thinking to do what you did, experiment on the different settings?


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## Pamboys09 (Apr 16, 2019)

Should the groomer be higher than the hoc or lower?


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Pamboys09 said:


> Should the groomer be higher than the hoc or lower?


Lower


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## glinget (Mar 8, 2021)

How do you measure the groomer height vs blade hoc?


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

I have a groomer gauge that I use which is very similar to a HOC Gauge but it has a block on it instead of a pin that hangs on the bedknife.


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## glinget (Mar 8, 2021)

Mightyquinn said:


> I have a groomer gauge that I use which is very similar to a HOC Gauge but it has a block on it instead of a pin that hangs on the bedknife.


Awesome very helpful I just found your posts about this. I have the same baroness mower and just picked up the same HOC and groomer gages that you have. Will dm you any questions thanks again!!


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

glinget said:


> How do you measure the groomer height vs blade hoc?


You can read Pete1313 journal. He has a triplex (2500B) and the cutting units have groomers. He mentions how he sets the groomers (called a greens/fairway tender conditioner GTC/FTC). How in the spring he set it lower to collect some brown material and how he keeps it for most part of the year!


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