TruCut Reel Mower Cons and Pros

My opinion of the TruCut Reel Mower - Pros and Cons. This is a great DIY reel mower. With that said, it does have some cons that I want to talk about. None of them are a deal breaker (or maybe they are for you).
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[@ivanbaires5727]

Replace that battery

[@TheLawnTools]

Great review! Totally agree with every point. Had a tru cut and it worked great for me. But that reel to bedknife adjustment... the worst.

[@TheLawnChannel]

Thanks! Completely the worst. If they could re-do that design and make it easier, would be nice. But the wheel tracks bug me a lot outside of that.

[@TroyShields]

Great video! I just cut my Bermuda for the first time yesterday with a Tru Cut P20 that is only a year old with 4 or 5 mows under it's belt that I paid $1300 for. I agree with everything you say here and was shocked at how loud the Honda GX 120 engine is. I had a McLean greensmower and still have a Toro Greensmaster that I had used to cut it before, but the Tru Cut was the best experience of the three for three reasons. 1) It let me mow right up against the house, the sidewalk and driveway, and beds (vs the Greensmaster), 2) the ability to feather the throttle allowed me to ease across my yard that has a lot of ruts from the sod being laid last year (haven't top-dressed/leveled yet) which leveled out the bumps quite a bit, but by, was my thumb tired, and 3) the ability to cut the hill/swale on my side yard under control which was something I wouldn't even try with the Greensmaster and had been mowing with a Honda rotary.

[@TheLawnChannel]

Yep! I love the Tru-Cut actually. Still use it. But I HATE how loud it is lol.

[@InDatParish]

Man how did you find the mower! Reel mowers are so hard to find

[@Brettsgrasscapades]

Great run down man! Excited to see whats coming up in the future! 😉

[@TheLawnChannel]

Brett's Grasscapades haha thank you sir. I’m excited too!

[@chrisa8112]

Great vid on the TC I'm your 250 subscriber!!

[@TheLawnChannel]

I really appreciate you subscribing! Thank you 🤛🏼

[@michaelriosa2775]

Great review of the Tru Cut! I have the same C-27 that I bought used about 3 years ago. Mower is 15 years old and the Honda engine cranks on first pull every time! However, I’d say you’re spot on with the reel to bedknife adjustment - I’d highly recommend evaluating other reels based on this one absolute headache. The other con for anyone looking to move from rotary to reel is having a local competent shop to support it. That’s been a real struggle for me in Birmingham, AL and have had to maintain the unit myself lately, which has been a struggle for me. The C-27 is a beast and can handle a very large lawn for a reel. You just need to be mechanically inclined and patient or have a local shop to support you. Lawn looks great BTW!

[@TheLawnChannel]

Yeah the C-27 really is a great machine. It's hard to beat the cut on the Toro GM1600 though. But I will always keep the C-27 because it is such a work horse! My goal is to just keep it in shape for the scalps, etc.. the GM I limit to strictly good mowing lol

[@mahidikarif2123]

The Lawn Channel, How old is your GM 1600 and how much did it cost you, if you don't mind me asking. I'm trying to get a general idea of how much to spend on a GM 1600, and if the age of the unit matters. Thanks

[@TheLawnChannel]

I really don’t know how old it is to be honest. Just inspect it if you can or get it from a reputable person/business. A good used GM1600 is probably gonna run around $1k - $2k if I had to guess. The great thing is part availability is high on Toro GM.

[@trianglereelmowers450]

The biggest benefit of the TruCut over other REELs is the ability to feather the clutch and vary the speed.

[@TheLawnChannel]

+Triangle REEL Mowers That is true. I do enjoy that very much. I thought about mentioning that, but had been told that it’s best when the reel speed is consistent with the walk speed, as you get the same cuts per second (or whatever they call it) and therefor a more consistent cut quality. I’m not that advanced on all that.. so it kinda left me timid on mentioning that. But at a DIY level, it’s probably not even noticeable. I do love that feature. Should’ve included it.

[@user-er7gx5sm6g]

Perfect review

[@TheLawnChannel]

Thanks for the kind words

[@matthewinga9546]

Could you explain the aftercare of clean up. Do you hose it off with water/soap. Do you have to spray/lube, blow to prevent rust? Nobody shows the maintenance of these reel mowers. Please make a short video

[@TheLawnChannel]

I’ll try to make that happen. I normally just blow the clippings as long as they’re dry and not wet. I hose it sometimes and then use a leaf blower to dry it off. Other than that.. oil the chains and grease the zerks.

[@PrincessCutLawnCare]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWSWfJeKo6h2pZY

[@PrincessCutLawnCare]

I mentioned it on my video below

[@sidkhondker]

I’m looking at a 25” tru cut that’s 4 years old with Honda engine, basket and front roller. Reel and bed-knife need sharpening. I think it needs an overall servicing $100-$200. Seller is a lawn enthusiast and has been for much longer than I have. Is $900 on the unit a good price?

[@TheLawnChannel]

Hmm.. I feel like you could get the price down from that. It is fairly new however... but I think I'd try to get the price down.

[@ShrimpCracka]

how did that deal go ?

[@ruthusk8r]

How do you transition the lawn from rotary to reel? I got a manual reel, but only works for parts of the yard that aren’t super thick. Do you progressive go lower and lower? Prob will get gas reel next year.

[@TheLawnChannel]

I just go down right away. It looks ugly for a couple weeks.. but then it grows up to your target height of cut. So if you want to cut at 1", try cutting it down to 1/2" or 3/4", and then let it grow up to 1". From that point, cut it at 1".

[@gusblackhand5425]

The tracks you mention... are they tire tracks(with threads essentially ) or is it cut marks...where it cuts deeper into the ground at times causing lines?

[@TheLawnChannel]

Would cut deeper I believe.

[@randyman8984]

Would you consider another disadvantage would be you have to use a reel 2-3 times per a 7 day week to have it looking awesome? Thats whats really holding me back. I still use a rotary and mow once every 7 days. I am now to that time of the year where it jumps up to every 9 days. I keep mine tall though

[@TheLawnChannel]

Yeah I mean.. I wouldn't say its a disadvantage, because if you want to reel mow, you probably also don't mind mowing often. But there are things such as plant growth regulator to help with having to mow quite so much. Reel mowing isn't for everybody.. I see A LOT of great looking yards with rotary cut

[@wayneessar7489]

Is that your smoke alarm or mine? 😁

[@TheLawnChannel]

Both? haha . I know .. It's like 18 ft up I cant get to it

[@matthewinga9546]

My dogs goes crazy every time that thing beeps.

[@TheLawnTools]

Wayne Essar My dog is FREAKING OUT right now! Couldn’t figure out why for a while! 😂😂😂

[@RussC123]

What’s the general consensus on always having to have your thumb pressing the level to move forward? Really like the idea of being able to vary the speed but wondering if the thumb gets really fatigued? Would be mowing 6500 sqft so definitely under 30 minutes mowing time

[@forestmoore319]

Definitely not in 30 minutes honestly unless you’re going full speed the whole time. Also my thumb does get tired, but you can change it out for an bicycle handle it you want that I’ve seen people do.

[@2xjtn]

I've been using TruCut 27" 's for about 30+ years. They are a love/hate relationship. A good, easy to operate mower for it's price point, and for a typical fine home lawn height of cut. But the reel-to-bedknife adjustments and sharpening of the reel and bedknife are way too difficult for the average owner. Unless you have someone with the right machinery to set up and grind the reel and bedknife, it's never going to cut that well. Backlapping is not enough when things are out of shape.. The biggest problem is how the reel bearing holders are designed. They are a concentric, making adjusting it a nightmare. I'm convinced the only proper way to sharpen is to take the reel out of the mower to spin grind and relief. Same with the bedknife. I'm attempting to design and build a grinding jig to do this, it will use a basic right angle grinder fixed to a sliding track. It will allow for spin grinding to get the reel back to a true cylinder, and then set up with an indexing finger to to the relief grinding on each individual blade.

[@jbragg2493]

Smoke alarm.

[@cwitrado]

what is the model you are reviewing in this video?

[@TheLawnChannel]

Sorry I failed to mention that.. it’s the C27 model.

[@Soto661]

@@TheLawnChannel how do you know what model it is?

[@TheHackless]

OOT but may I ask how do grow your beard without so many hair in ur arms?

[@TheLawnChannel]

What do you mean? Lol. My beard kinda patchy tbh

[@RB-hl3ux]

What is the width of your TruCut?

[@TheLawnChannel]

27"

[@JohnDoe-xu2vx]

I took my Tru Cut back, I really didnt like the controls on this machine especially having your left thumb on the throttle all the time. This mower was dangerous, I had to let it go and it smashed into my wall twice.

[@TheLawnChannel]

Yeah the clutch system is finicky. Or can be. Sometimes I have that issue where it doesn’t want to disengage.

[@justind33]

There is a definite con to this video which is the low battery alert from the smoke detector. Couldn't watch more than about 90 seconds

[@RB-hl3ux]

Please.