OT Old Lawn Iron

[rmcphearson]

I bought this on ebay so I could mow my zoysia lawn down to 1/2" a la fairway height. It didn't cut when I got it so I took the reel out, turned it on a lathe, new reel bearings, modified the bedbar to accept a modern bedknife, fixed the handle, paint. ect...

Now it cuts smooth and easy even with one hand. In order to finish by my deadline yesterday I've been working on the thing after work in the hottest corner of the shop sweating my ass off. That's why I look so beat in the pic.

http://s717.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/greensmower/

It's a '39 Toro.

Roland

[Mike Burdick]

Roland,

Nice restoration! I've never seen one quite like it, would you mind telling me a little about how that mower works? It appears to have a roller in front as well as one in back. Is that the drive wheel to your left?

[Black_Moons]

Nice, looks like new in some places
is the rear drum for driving the front drum or what?

[rmcphearson]

Roland,

Nice restoration! I've never seen one quite like it, would you mind telling me a little about how that mower works? It appears to have a roller in front as well as one in back. Is that the drive wheel to your left?

The rear drums are like a "reverse differential". They turn independently by me pushing them along the ground. If I turn (as when mowing the perimeter of a green) the outside drum which is faster will drive the gears which turns the reel. The front rests on the casters, the front roller I think is just an antiscalp roller, it does not rest on the ground normally.

Greensmowers, then and now, are built to be used 4-5 hours a day 365 days a year. Much different than lawn mowers. The modern version of this one is about $12,000.

[Mike Burdick]

Roland,

That's very interesting. Old time ground driven hay rakes were designed that way. Each wheel had a drive "dog" on a spring so that it would allow overdrive of the axle. That way, when one turned very sharp at the end of the window, the rake wouldn't stop. Very simple and very effective! Modern ones now have a one-way-clutch that eliminate the "clicking" sound that kept me awake while raking!

One nice thing about a reel mower is that they cut the grass and not "beat" if off like typical rotary mowers do. You'll have the nicest looking lawn in the neighborhood.

By the way, how does one sharpen the reel - is there a jig of some sort to aid in that endeavor?

.

[TGTool]

Roland,

By the way, how does one sharpen the reel - is there a jig of some sort to aid in that endeavor?

.

I once worked in a business that sharpened reel mowers. The most common were the ganged, pull-behind made by Worthington.

The reel is taken off the mower, mounted on the centers of its shaft and ground. There are two ways to sharpen reels, a cylindrical grind and whatever the other is called. For a cylindrical grind the reel is treated as a cylinder, ground smooth, and then a relief is ground leaving only a very small land. In the other method the relief is ground all the way to the cutting edge, then the reel is lapped to the bedknife by running it backwards with a little valve grinding compound. The bedknife was ground on a separate machine with a vertical spindle and cup wheel, then traversed from end to end. It was noisy dusty work and I don't miss it, though I appreciate knowing how.

[rmcphearson]

[QUOTE=TGTool

The reel is taken off the mower, mounted on the centers of its shaft and ground. [/QUOTE]

Those type grinders are rare now. Most reels are now ground while still in the mower. That's why I had to turn this reel on a lathe. This mower woudn't fit in my grinder. In all that was a good explanation. A good pair of reel and bedknife grinders now goes for $45,000 and are fully enclosed, no more noise and grime.

btw, thanks for the compliments