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Jacobsen LF-550 cut issues

5 posts
  1. John Borcher
    John Borcher avatar
    0 posts
    4/28/2016 12:04 PM
    Throwing this out to see if anyone else is having similar issues, we got 2 new Jac LF-550 fairway mowers about 3 weeks ago with the new click adjust and since then we have been having trouble with one or 2 reels leaving 2 or 3 stripes in the direction of travel. They cut paper in spots then not in others. We have ground all reels and bedkinves at least once and the cut was good for maybe 9 holes the the stripes return. Now we cant get the cut to last more than a pass or two.

    The mechanic and I are out of ideas, also dont know what is causing this. We have a call into the dealer waiting to hear back.



  2. Ron Bradley
    Ron Bradley avatar
    63 posts
    4/29/2016 9:04 AM
    How much contact are you running on these units. Should be very little, if to tight this could warp the bedknife
    and cause the striping marks. I would also check the bearings on these units just to be sure they are good, and check end play on reels. Hope this helps, good luck.



  3. David Brandenburg
    David Brandenburg avatar
    3 posts
    4/29/2016 2:04 PM
    It sounds as though your reels were too tight or you were not getting grass and the reel and bedknife are "rifled" and will both need to be ground.Just grinding the bedknife is not enough.

    It happened to a couple of our 550 reels the first year and now our mechanic sets up the reels not to cut paper but with a feeler guage.



  4. Michael Hummel
    Michael Hummel avatar
    0 posts
    4/29/2016 3:04 PM
    John:

    You have the "true set" reels which are the new style? If you do not hear back from the dealer I know a factory technician from Jacobsen who can help. The new design is very sensitive compared to the single point adjustment of the competitor so I am thinking also they might be too snug.. They are still under warranty so your distributor should be able to resolve.



  5. Henry Heinz
    Henry Heinz avatar
    0 posts
    5/3/2016 5:05 AM
    Dave B is right. the 2/3 lines that appear are from a rifled reel. If you pull the bedknives off you will see scalp marks on the bedknife in the area of the markings/lines the only way to get rid of them is grinding. Also a light touch up grind will not work as they will come back. You will need to grind the reel and bedknife until all marls are gone, then in feed another 5 to .010 to finish out your grind and you should be good to go. Regards,



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