Best Use of Grinders

Studies have proven that dull edges cause mower injury resulting in poor after cut appearance and undue plant response and stress.

“When you consider investing $60,000+ on a fairway mower, you quickly realize you’ve spent a tremendous amount of money to make five cutting heads cut grass” and “When it comes down to it, it’s the cutting head that does all of the work so the maintenance of these cutting units is critical,” says Greg Turner, Foley Company’s Global Director of Sales.

Reel cutting units should be checked regularly for squareness and have a fresh grind, both spin and relief, consistent with OEM specifications. Each cutting unit needs to be set up so the distance between the reel and bed knife is at its maximum distance but still cuts .005-inch paper clean with no jagged edges. You should grind as often as needed after your check with .005-inch paper. If it doesn’t cut clean, it’s time to grind.

To ensure cutting units are kept in top cutting condition, before performing any maintenance on a reel or bed knife, cleaning of the cutting unit and removing any debris that has built up over time is necessary. This ensures any damage can be clearly seen and corrected.

Due to the helical design of reel cutting units, OEM specifications recommend maintaining and correcting coning of the reel. This helical design means that processed grass and debris travels from one side of the reel to the other and can be processed many more times between the reel and bed knife (right to left), this results in inconsistent wear of both the reel and bed knife. Coning (tapering) is corrected by proper grinding. If coning is not properly corrected, then achieving the scissor effect between the reel and the bed knife becomes increasingly difficult, which leads to poor cut quality.

“The cost associated with improperly maintained cutting heads can run the full gambit from using more fuel due to cutting reels requiring additional horsepower, more wear and tear on the engine and hydraulic systems, and extra money spent on chemicals and water,” Turner says. “It will add up in short order.”

How do you get the highest quality of cut in the industry?

The Foley lineup of ACCU-Master Reel Grinders and the ACCU-Pro bed knife grinders provides ease of use coupled with industry leading measurement processes allowing you to ensure cutting units are maintained in top working order.

The ACCU-Master 653 delivers the sharpest and fastest grind in the industry with its rear roller mounting system, ACCU-Positioning Gauge and the easy-to-use touch screen control with a built-in tutorial system which will have you spin grinding in minutes. Foley’s automation has increased efficiency while maximizing ease of use. All these features allow you to maintain OEM factory specifications throughout the life of your mowing capital equipment.

For bed knife grinding it doesn’t get any easier than it does with the Foley 673 ACCU-Pro bed knife grinder featuring an innovative electro-magnetic bed knife mounting system making setup and operation faster and easier. The 673 uses a precision hand wheel to infeed the grinding head while it automatically traverses back and forth across the bed knife. The 673 further automates the process by running pre-set programs which allows the user to complete other tasks while the grinder infeeds, traverses, and completes its preset grinding programs. It doesn’t get any sharper or easier than it does with the Foley 673. •