Grass Cutting & Polishing

Training

It takes an hour to learn the simple rules and practice mowing. Its not gender specific.

During the playing season the mower cut is set by the Greens Keeper at 0.140 inches (that's just over 1/8 of an inch which is 0.125").

The speed of the green is called its Pace. This is the time it takes for a delivered bowl to come to a stop. It is measured in seconds. See article about Green Pace written by our Greens Keeper Mike Comba.

Adjustments to mower cutting heights, bed knife adjustments and maintainance is overseen by the greenskeeper. Mowers are sharpened by Slack Reels in Burlington.

1. Cliff Booth operating the club's newest Toro mower in 2017. This mower was purchsed with a grant from Milton's Community Fund.

2. John Heimbuch and Colin Murray cutting in tandum. because time is short.

Rules

1. Always check there is enough gas in the mower tank and top it up before you drive the mower onto the green. Ask where we keep the wooden dipstick.

2. The mower uses high octane gas without added oil.

3. NEVER fill the mower when it is on the green or you will kill the grass if you spill any gasoline. Splashes that land onto the mower roller will be transferred from there onto the grass with every revolution of the roller.

4. Always use the grass catcher-bucket to collect cut grass.

5. Empty the catcher periodically or you will leave a trail of grass cuttings on the green. This thatch slows the Pace of the green. See Green Pace article and Thatch.

6. Cut diagonally, corner to corner, on the green. Make nice straight cuts. It looks great!

7. The grass catcher bucket has two white lines or raised ares on it. These indicate the width of your cut.

8. When you turn around for your return cut, one of your lines should be following the previous cut going the other way. The rest is practice.

9. Keep a watchful eye out for stones, metal bolts or nuts and large twigs. Stones and metal parts damage the mower blades. Large twigs can get dragged by the mower and damage the grass. (NB. small stones can be kicked from nearby walkways or vehicle laneways. Small metal fastners can break off bowl rakes and other equipment)

10. After the green has been cut diagonally, make three passes around the perimeter parallel to the ditch boards to cut the perimeter of the green and pick up cuttings that fall from the mower when it comes to a stop and is turned around at the end of each diagonal cut.

Starting the Mower away from the Green:

1. After checking the gas, set the on/off switch to ON. Our newest mower has an on/off toggle switch on the handle cross bar.

2. Close the choke. This reduces the incoming air/oxygen and increases the ratio of gasoline flowing into the engine. Its more likely to ignite.

3. Forcefully pull the starter cord or lanyard. A few quick snaps will be more successful than a lazy pull. If it doesn't ignite you may have forgotten steps 1 or 2.

4. Idle the machine until the engine begins to falter or slow down. Open the choke before the mower stalls.

5. Put the grass catcher on the support lugs at the front.

6. Drive the mower from the storage / starting location and onto the green.

7. There is a small lever that engages the REEL drive. Set it to ON when the mower is on the green.

When you have finished mowing:

8. Before you leave the green, disengage the REEL drive by setting it to OFF.

9. To stop the mower, set the on/off switch to OFF. See below, cleaning the mower after use.

3. Sheena Talbot brushing leaves from the ditches. Colin cutting the diagonal.

4. Like ships, who has the right of way when they meet?

Cleaning the Mower after Use.

1. Drive the mower to the hose-bib at the back of the Clubhouse and switch the mower OFF. This is for your safety! NB. The REEL drive should already be OFF.

2. Find a water faucet handle stored in the shed and turn the water on.

3. NEVER TOUCH THE MOWER REEL (blade) WITH YOUR FINGERS OR FEET. It can take your finger tips off. There is a 9 inch long piece of 2" by 3" wood for you to use when you need to turn the reel during washing.

4. Using the piece of wood, turn the reel and spray the grass clippings out of the reel and the rollers. If they stay on the metal they will enable corrosion and also interfere with the flow-through of the grass clippings.

5. As necessary clean the mower grass catcher bucket.

6. Restart the mower and return it to storage.

7. Please check the gasoline and refill it for the benefit of the next volunteer.

8. Put the water faucet handle away.

5. Phil Payne washing the mower reel. It is difficult to see, but he has a piece of wood in his left hand for turning the reel.

Operating the Polisher.

The green's polisher is a compression roller. The polisher has no "BRAKES" and changes direction by altering band pressure on the drive train using foot pedals. Sudden starts and stops at high speed will damage the gear drive system or transmission. The trick to operating the polisher is the time it takes to learn a rhythm of deceleration and pedal reversal. Once achieved the polisher runs rather smoothly. Polisher speed is obtained by a hand operated device on the steering handle. Once the operator achieves this skill, the inevitable mistake of over confidence results in numerous off-the-green ditchings! The equipment weighs 500 lbs, so drivers quickly adjust after pushing it out of the ditch a few times.

Another word of caution. It does not have rack and pinion steering. More like a large boat and rudder. This, agian, takes some trials and patience.

There is a lift truck to move it on and off the green. Two people required. See photos below.