Hi bonnar_bloke, and a warm welcome to the forum.
It's always great to welcome another Scott Bonnar aficionado on board; especially one that has used SB45's over a 25 years+ time frame.
You have bitten the bullet and posted (for the very first time, and it's great to see you posting) on a thread that creates a lot of debate. There are 2 schools of debate here; those that believe that there should be a slight contact....and those who don't. I am unashamedly, one of the latter. If you care to look at the video that Joe Carrol and I have just done...Click
HERE you will see that I set the cylinder reel at
minimal clearance and found the cut to be perfect.
Many people put great importance upon cutting paper...these machines are designed to cut grass..there is a lot of difference in the structure of paper to grass.
The method I employ still cuts paper...but not cigarette paper; but there is still a very slight clearance between the cylinder reel and bed-knife.
To achieve this, the cylinder reel bearings have to be in perfect condition and the reel and bedknife sharpened by an engineer (as you have).
What we want to achieve here is not a scissor cutting action, but a scything action... to achieve this a 90 degree flat sharp surface on the bed-knife is essential and the cylinder reel helix perfectly ground to match the bed-knife...with (using my method) minimal clearance.
I have spoken to various greenskeepers, (whom I know personally) who employ both methods, and both swear by their way of doing things.....I guess it's a matter of personal choice...you achieve the results you want to...so do I...So we're both happy little Vegemites!
One of the greenskeepers, that employs the minimal clearance methods, just prepared the greens for the National Lawn Bowls Championships, held late last year.
But as I have stated, there are 2 lines of thought...No one is right or wrong....that is called a conundrum; and I guess that is what this is...no right or wrong answer. Just a matter of choice.
bonnar_bloke,
on your first post, I hope it will not be you're last and most of all,
to the OutdoorKing forum.
