[Jericho574]

*I apologize in advance for not knowing the correct terminology.

Tru-Cut's are wheel driven and the speed is independent of the engine speed, thus you can feather it at full speed. I love this feature because on a very small or odd shaped yard it makes changing directions, stopping on a dime, or changing speeds often very easy.

My GM1000 has a traction control level that is either engaged or disengaged, no real explanation needed. The one time I used it (before it conked out) I felt like I was driving a manual transmission, constantly engaging and disengaging every few seconds.

That all being said, are there any greensmowers that have a roller drive like TC (or every rotary on the planet)?

 

[Ware]

On a greens mower, the reel and drum drive are geared together to control the clip rate. If the ground speed is independent of engine RPM/reel speed (like a Tru-Cut), the clip rate becomes variable. While this may or may not be an issue for a typical home lawn, it can cause quality of cut problems.

 

[Jericho574]

On a greens mower, the reel and drum drive are geared together to control the clip rate. If the ground speed is independent of engine RPM/reel speed (like a Tru-Cut), the clip rate becomes variable. While this may or may not be an issue for a typical home lawn, it can cause quality of cut problems.

I see. It was worth asking, because the Baroness and JD GM's have separate hand levers that look like rotaries where the throttle is controlled by how hard you squeeze the handle. What are those handles out of curiousity?

 

[J_nick]

If standing behind the mower:

Left lever= Parking Brake
Lower Right lever= Drive engagement
Upper Right lever= Throttle

 

[Ware]

I can't speak for the Baroness, but the John Deere's are essentially the same as a Toro:

ETA: J_nick beat me to it.

 

[J_nick]

ETA: J_nick beat me to it.

Oh but yours looks much better

 

[Ware]

Being able to ease up to obstructions is one thing I do miss about my Tru-Cut, but I do understand the reason greens mowers are the way they are.

And don't rule out running the greens mower at a lower RPM to make it easier to maneuver - mine cuts fine at nearly idle.

 

[Jericho574]

I can't speak for the Baroness, but the John Deere's are essentially the same as a Toro:

ETA: J_nick beat me to it.

Ahhhh, I was thinking/hoping that the thin bar in the back (Operator Presence) was the drive engage lol

Thanks!

 

[Iriasj2009]

On my Jacobsen I can disengage the roller and push that thing wherever I wish without disengaging the reel. A feature I really like over my toro1000

 

[M311att]

My Jacobsen hybrid is electric so the reel speed is constant no matter walking speed...however I haven't figured out how to run the reel without the drum rollers turning.

 

[Ware]

My Jacobsen hybrid is electric so the reel speed is constant no matter walking speed...however I haven't figured out how to run the reel without the drum rollers turning.

I would bet it still adjusts the reel speed based on your engine RPM/ground speed - I know my JD 220E (hybrid) does. The cool thing about the hybrids is because it is an electric motor, you can adjust the clip frequency to better match your HOC:

ETA: For the Jacobsen Eclipse, this functionality is discussed here and here.

 

[Jericho574]

On my Jacobsen I can disengage the roller and push that thing wherever I wish without disengaging the reel. A feature I really like over my toro1000

But is the walking speed fixed?...meaning you decide on the speed and then engage.

It sounds like all GM's only go one speed when the drive is engaged whereas rotaries and TC's can be changed on the fly.

 

[Ware]

...It sounds like all GM's only go one speed when the drive is engaged whereas rotaries and TC's can be changed on the fly.

No, the ground speed varies with engine RPM. To change the ground speed, you adjust the engine throttle. This also changes the speed of the reel, ensuring that the design clip rate is preserved.

 

[wardconnor]

I can't speak for the Baroness, but the John Deere's are essentially the same as a Toro:

ETA: J_nick beat me to it.

What is operator presence?

What lever or knob on that jd is equivalent to the reel engage lever on the tgm1000 that is down by the reel?

EDIT: Operator presence...DUH.. Sorry.. what is that thing metal ring close to operators belly?

 

[Ware]

What is operator presence?

When you let go of it the reel and drum drive stops.

I'm not sure on the regular JD's. On my 220E, it is a toggle switch.

 

[wardconnor]

so the drive/reel engage knob on the JD is the same thing as the lever knob near ground by reel on the TGM1000?

 

[Iriasj2009]

On my Jacobsen I can disengage the roller and push that thing wherever I wish without disengaging the reel. A feature I really like over my toro1000

But is the walking speed fixed?...meaning you decide on the speed and then engage.

If I'm understanding this correctly, yes it is fixed to however fast or slow I'm walking. I can completely disengage the roller drive. Basically maneuver it like a rotary. To slow or speed up the reel, you simply run up the rpms. The only thing I don't like about my jake is that it only goes up to like .45" but eventually I will keep it below that so that won't matter lol.

 

[Ware]

so the drive/reel engage knob on the JD is the same thing as the lever knob near ground by reel on the TGM1000?

No, they have a reel engage lever of some sort too (H in the diagram below). Lever C does the same thing as the lever on the right side of the Toro console.

 

[Jericho574]

On my Jacobsen I can disengage the roller and push that thing wherever I wish without disengaging the reel. A feature I really like over my toro1000

But is the walking speed fixed?...meaning you decide on the speed and then engage.

If I'm understanding this correctly, yes it is fixed to however fast or slow I'm walking. I can completely disengage the roller drive. Basically maneuver it like a rotary. To slow or speed up the reel, you simply run up the rpms. The only thing I don't like about my jake is that it only goes up to like .45" but eventually I will keep it below that so that won't matter lol.

I totally am not interested in reel speed. For the sake of this thread, I'm only concerned with walking speed.

For the Toro, you set the engine speed (which kinda pre-sets the roller speed) and then engage the lever. So if you set the engine speed at low, then the roller speed with be low...they are directly correlated to one another and to change roller speed you must change the engine speed. The walking speed is fixed to whatever you set the engine at, there is no changing on the fly without disengaging the roller, changing throttle, and then re-engaging. I just wanted to verify that all greensmowers are this way.

 

[Mightyquinn]

I can only speak on the Baroness but it is similar to the TC in the respect that it has a clutch that you can squeeze harder for more engagement. You basically have the handlebars and a lever on the front and the back. The throttle is on the front and the clutch(engages the reel and the roller) is on the back, so you basically squeeze them together to operate it. The harder you squeeze the faster you will go but it does allow you to kind of ease up to something once you get the hang of it.

*Not sure if I am explaining this very well but if you need more clarification just let me know