Toro 09168SL User Manual
34
Reel Mowers
Toro University Technical Training
Sharpening
Sharpening is part of the required maintenance for proper function of a reel mower cutting unit.
How can you tell if sharpening is necessary?
The grass is not cut cleanly.
The color of the grass; it may have a dull appearance or have brown tips.
Streaks.
Stragglers.
The cutting unit is noisy.
One sure way to determine the answer to this is by actually checking the cutting edges of the reel and
bedknife, to see if they are dull!, nicked, bent or being run without light contact against one another.
This profile drawing of the blades shows the result
of wear.
The leading edges are rounded and the angle of the
bedknife has worn to match the circle created by the
blade path.
Reel blades, and the edge of the bedknife, should
be checked for damage visually and by carefully
feeling the edges. Of course, this should only be
done when it is certain that the reel cannot be
started, and never slide your fingers down the
edges lengthwise.
Rounded edges on the reel blades and bedknife will
cause the grass blades to be pinched and torn
rather than sheared off cleanly. When light contact
is not maintained, dull edges will soon result.
Here is light bedknife to reel contact, which gives a
clean cut and helps to maintain a sharp edge.
of wear.
The leading edges are rounded and the angle of the
bedknife has worn to match the circle created by the
blade path.
Reel blades, and the edge of the bedknife, should
be checked for damage visually and by carefully
feeling the edges. Of course, this should only be
done when it is certain that the reel cannot be
started, and never slide your fingers down the
edges lengthwise.
Rounded edges on the reel blades and bedknife will
cause the grass blades to be pinched and torn
rather than sheared off cleanly. When light contact
is not maintained, dull edges will soon result.
Here is light bedknife to reel contact, which gives a
clean cut and helps to maintain a sharp edge.