John Deere vs Toro Greens Mower or Something Else for KBG?

[Michael303]

I'm in the process of trying to find a reel mower for my small KBG lawn. I know a few other members here reel mow their KBG lawns between 1.5 and 0.5 inches and I'd like to experiment with it too. For the most part, I'm just looking on Craigslist for something used but since I'm in a cool season grass climate decent options are few and far between.

My preference would be an actual greens mower since they have rollers in front and a cylinder in the back that, I assume, help roll and level the turf a bit. I assume that has something to do with why putting greens are so smooth but I could be way off there.

I'd prefer a John Deere or Toro because I assume parts and service will be easier to come by. I'd like to have the option to go up to 1.5 inches but I understand most greens mowers don't go that high.
My understanding is the front roller vertical adjustment controls the cut height on most greens mowers. Are there any John Deere or Toro owners here that could tell me what the max height is and if the front roller adjustment could be modified to bring up the max cut height a bit?

I do see some McLane mowers pop up occasionally. Would one of those be worth looking at considering what I'm going for?

[HoosierLawnGnome]

The CL market for reel mowers sucks around here. Nobody cuts their personal lawns with them. I don't know how it is in Denver of course.

That also means the turf machinery companies don't prefer dealing with home owners - they like golf courses with standing contracts and lots of equipment. I had to make a lot of calls to find someone that would service a reel mower.

I bought a McLane for cheap off CL and got it the best I could, but it isn't cutting that well. It's not necessarily the brand, it's more the shape it was in.

I definitely agree a JD or Toro may be easier to service - but I'd call a few places first. I could only find one guy that would service my McLane in all of Indy - and he wasn't that excited about it. I have several options for Toro, slightly fewer for JD and Jacobsen.

So - that's my advice - find a service company you can work with and buy something they work on.

The net sum of my experiment is that I'll be getting another,higher quality JD / Jacobsen / Toro powered reel mower, but now I know how to backlap and do basic maintenance!

[RayTL]

I have a TruCut C-27 that I use for my bermuda yard. It's great and can easily hit your mowing height requirements.

[Michael303]

Thanks for the feedback. After posting I called a local golf equipment dealer and the guy I spoke to said they have a few off lease 22" John Deere mowers. I could buy one as is for a decent price or they could tune it up and add a bigger front roller to help raise the cut height. I might go take a look but I was hoping to find an 18" model. I have a small lawn and I'm worried the 22" will be bigger than I'd like.

[RayTL]

Tru Cut has a 20 inch version too.