Own Your Own Golf Course - Bedknife Adjustment

The vast majority of grass cut at The Meadows Golf Center is cut with reel mowers - roughs, fairways, driving range, tees, greens. Keeping these mowers properly adjusted optimizes quality of cut and overall productivity. This video shows the bedknife to reel adjustment on a John Deere 3215B lightweight fairway mower with standard cutting units.

[@MrBogeyone]

John Deere reels are the hardest things I ever tried to get right, even fresh off the grinders. My future project is to make a mount system for Jacobsen reels to fit a John Deere tractor. 25 years in the business and the best I have ever seen was the Jake reel when it comes to quality and simplicity. They whisper when they are right and cut news paper without folding. I used to use a grass blade to set them. I use hickory leaves for JD reels now.

[@TheRushOfItAll]

This guy. THIS is the kinda guy you want working on your stuff. 👍🏻

[@meadowsgolf]

What a compliment... As the owner-operator of my little Mom & Pop I'm hardly a mechanic... that's why I've created this series. Perhaps someday someone will make me an offer I can't refuse and I can "retire" to a (part-time?) job as a jack-of-all-trades, master of none on some other (lucky?) owner's golf course?

[@normanproulx1230]

Thanks for the info, Norm

[@marky26marky]

Iv been cutting fairways today with a JD 7500 e cut hybrid

[@ArturoGarzaID]

My blades aren’t turning, anyone know what the problem could be?

[@flokijhdfjkvnhsdfjkl]

what about the reat Roller

[@joejones7605]

can you do a full reel and bedknife sharping video to this mower

[@meadowsgolf]

Hi Joe... I don't have any sharpening equipment... I use ReelSharp in Pittsfield MA to relief grind my reels every winter. In the alternative I will backlap the reels on my new (used) Toro 5400 fairway mower and post that... Thanks for the comment. (BTW I picked up the Toro in a trade for this JD3215B with Brian at ReelSharp)

[@jeffslancik2406]

Hey russ,Just a suggestion when adjusting reel to bedknife the reel should be removed and set flat on a bench in the level position.you are not adjusting them properly or accurately when reel is at a 45° angle.sure sounds and looks to me that clearance is way to tight.reel should turn more freely with very very light contact.do u backlapp or grind ?

[@meadowsgolf]

Hi Jeff, thanks for the heads up... putting in 15 hrs/day doing ...well... just about everything associated with "Owning your own Golf Course". Sure I have some help mowing but the dirty, time consuming jobs are all mine. You're right. No weight on the rollers, but even level on a bench there's no weight on the bedknife, is there? I should just pull the pins and pull the cutting units off one at a time to set them up better. I don't have a grinder on site; I use Brian G over at Reelsharp in Pittsfield MA once a year for that. Other than that I backlap (when I can)

[@meadowsgolf]

Hi Jeff! Got to love the golf business, eh? Are you on the U.P. of Michigan? Wow what a beautiful place... but a bit cold in winter? Guess I started making these videos (1) as a means to document an "owner's manual" of sorts (2) to market the course and region to hopefully bring in new customers (3) I guess because I'm a bit of a ham and like nothing more than to crack people up... Looking forward to trading ideas and war stories with you. Looking forward to a great 2018 golf season ... one of these days!

[@robertchin1924]

It would be nice if we saw what he was adjusting

[@golfwipe]

I used to adjust mine on a concrete floor I’d pick up the rear roller and drop it may be an inch or so bang it on the ground and it would change the adjustment, I like to adjust them so if you hit a bump they don’t go Tight they go loose, i use a single piece of newspaper at each end so that it pinches the paper so hard that you can’t pull it out. But yes up on the bench you can do your spinning it with your fingers and seeing if it cuts the first piece of newspaper and not the second you should have the fold of the paper into the helix of the real,And since that’s a John Deere make sure you use plenty of corn head a grease.😂 I like the gloves I don’t think they will save your fingers a lot of people in this industry are missing fingers.😮

[@michaelswenor7208]

I gring my reels when they get that worn.

[@michaelswenor7208]

JD reels are made with the worst metal and the dumbest design. They think spring pressure on the race (bearing cup) won't allow the cup to spin. Only a few hundred to replace the housing.

[@meadowsgolf]

yeah... this traction unit's main circuit board went poof a couple of times and at $500+ each time I just gave up. I'm using a Toro fairway unit now at MGC... much easier to adjust (except for the rear cutting unit whose motor is right next to the bedknife adjustment bolt)

[@onefly4287]

I found these Deere ESP reels to be nothing but pieces of shit mostly because of adjustment.

[@onefly4287]

These may not be ESP. 8 minutes to adjust one and it was an easy one. Somethings Deere should have stayed away from.

[@meadowsgolf]

I can neither agree nor disagree with you but when somebody gives you a shit sandwich you either compost it into garden gold or you clamp a clothespin on your nose and eat hardy. Gotta go to the dance with the girl that brung ya.

[@onefly4287]

Agreed. Had two 2653's and found out early on it was better all around to take the reels off and flip them up. I tried everything to make it better but no way. Pain in the ass no matter what.

[@lowmx6]

I am the equipment manager at poppy hills golf course in pebble beach ca. All we have is jd mowers and they work great for me . I have 2 8000a, 2 8000 2 8900a and 12 220e cut greens mower.. adjusting them is 1000 times easier on a 2 post lift

[@michaelswenor7208]

Sorry, can't watch. Need to observe some paint drying....

[@andreblais9960]

Terrible vid couldn’t hear for wind noise

[@meadowsgolf]

Thanks for the constructive feedback.... Yeah I could use a better video/audio setup, maybe even some editing software but frankly, these videos are created as a rudimentary "owner's manual" for a future golf course owner - guess it's safe to say that my dreams of evolving into a golf course owner influencer and receiving 6 or 7 figure checks from KZbin are shattered