Friday, April 27, 2012

Verticutter (-) set up for Toro .

I'm setting up the Toro Verticutting reels for our Toro 3150 Q triplex greens mower . The Superintendent wants them set at 1/16th depth . We are going with a light verticut to start things of. The minus in brackets means the verticuters are set to go into the turf . A positive setting would make it act more like a groomer .

 First thing to do is clean them of. Next check for play in the shaft bearings and adjust . Straighten out any bent blades ( a pair of needle nose pliers works well ) and remove any objects like pebbles and sticks stuck between the blades .
 Check these collars on the rear and adjust them so the wheel can turn fairly freely .
 Adjust the scrapers on rear wheels
 and front roller to almost touching . Grease bearings rollers etc. and give everything a spin and wipe off access grease . Seeing grease blobs on greens is frowned upon .
 I'm using my bench plate to adjust it or find a flat level surface to work on . These cutters came with adjustment shims of different sizes . I have used washers or flat stock in the past  . Just use a micrometer to get 4 of  =  thickness for the depth your looking for . Maximum depth is 1/4 inch . There are other machines out there specifically made to go deeper . Gradens are one of them .  
 Putting a little weight on the rear bar . Make sure the shim stock is sitting under the rear wheels and front roller . Now I back the front rollers up till they are not touching the front shims .
 The verticutters are sitting on the bench plate . Next I adjust the rear roller so the shims feel like they have equal drag to them when you move them in and out .
 The adjustments are made here . Now the cutter is squared up with the rear wheels . It's time to move to the front rollers . Leave the weight on the rear till your done .
Place a piece of paper on top of the shim stock . Adjust roller on both side till you feel a little drag on the paper when pulling it towards you . Loosen the pinch nut on the sides before you adjust . When your done tighten the pinch nuts and your done . When all the shims are removed the blades will be cutting 1/16 into the turf .
 I label most machines and cutting units so the superintendent or any staff knows at a glance what the machine is set up for .

If you where to set it up on the positive side you would place the shims under the verticutter and adjust wheels and roller down to your level surface . It would then act more like a groomer . Would be good for higher HOC.
If for some reason there is no adjustment on the front roller , readjust the rear rollers lower an then go back to the front .

6 comments:

  1. I started as the new golf course mechanic in February, which was the first time I had ever seen this type of equipment. The superintendent wants me to sharpen the verticutter blades so they will be ready to go for the next time. He said he has seen it done on a bed knife grinder. How is the best way to sharpen these blades?

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  2. I’ve never done them myself . Once I took them apart and stacked them all the same without the spacers and grind them that way . I’ve heard of guys spin grinding them but I’ve not done them that way yet . If their carbid tipped I wouldn’t worry about it just straighten them up with a pair of needle nose pliers a set up the depth

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  3. Welcome to the grind lol . Check out rest of my blog it may give you some good ideas or answer some questions

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  4. Hey Bob, where did you get them front rubber rollers from??

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