Reel Sharpening

There are many activities associated with off season maintenance. The list includes cleaning, organizing, painting, education, and equipment maintenance. Along with the usual repairs on equipment such as oil changes, lubing, inspection and replacing worn parts, is the duty of reel grinding. The single most important cultural practice superintendents do is to mow the grass. By keeping a sharp blade not only helps in the overall health of the plant, but the appearance and playability are enhanced as well. The greens, tees, and fairways are mowed on a regular basis with a scissoring action of a spinning reel and a stationary bedknife. In order to keep a .004" clearance between the cutting edges, annual inspections and replacement of reel and roller bearings is necessary. The picture shows of a greens mower in the grinder doing its thing. It is all automatic but the setup for each unit is time consuming. The result of this operation is that the reel will be able to cut a strip of newspaper cleanly. Mowers are checked on a daily basis as to keep the quality of cut at its best. When reels no longer cut well, grinding is needed again and will happen at some point in the summer.

So the next time you go to line up your putt in your favorite "Spiderman" position, don't think about what I just explained to you. Concentrate on on determining your intended line of putting. We'll both be happy!