I recently purchased a JD 220E (2014) Greensmower at the December Weeks auction and it arrived today at business that services mostly Toro mowers.
I paid $500 / $630 OTD w/fees, etc. for the 220E, but was quoted $700 more for home delivery in Lansing, MI which was much higher than anticipated. I called Jim at Michigan Turf Equipment (about 1 hour from my home) with the hopes that I could get it shipped from the freight company to them for a lower cost vs. the residential delivery quote I had received and I was also hoping to have them check it out and service it if needed so it would be good to go in the Spring. As it turns out they had purchased some equipment from the same auction, and had said they would allow me to ship it back with their purchased items on their large freight truck without charging me.
I have to say, anyone considering a Toro GM, should definitely check out Michigan Turf (They are listed on the Online Sources for Used Green Mowers page of this forum).
Jim has been great to deal and super honest and helpful. He said it fired right up and everything appeared to worked (reel and GTC)!
Although not familiar with that specific JD model he said that I purchased a mower which was not ideal for my intentions of mowing KBG at 1-1.25 inches. I believe others have used this with a similar setup without issue at these heights but I'm wondering if I made a mistake on this?
Questions:
1) Should I be able to cut at 1-1.5" with this despite the 11-blade and GTC?
2) Would it make sense for me to attempt to change the reel to a 7-blade, add a Fairway HC, and modify the GTC to a FTC on my own before taking it to JD dealer to do full service and relief grind?
I am not that mechanical in nature, so I'm looking at feedback from the group on whether these are more advanced tasks, or fairly straight forward.
Any tips or recommendations would be much appreciated!
Thanks!
Steve