Where do you go looking for putting green mowers?If you have decided to grow a natural turf putting green and gone looking for putting green mowers, you'll already know that you can't find them at Home Depot or the local garden centre. What you are looking for is a very specialized piece of equipment able to cut turf down to a tenth of an inch, without scalping or damaging the turf. And it has to be a consistent height of cut with less than 5 thousands of an inch variance. When a golf course goes looking for putting green mowers, they generally turn to the big 3 manufacturers. That is Toro, Textron (which owns both Jacobsen and Ransomes) and John Deere. Now depending on the amount of grass to cut and labour available, they will select between riding triplexes (3 reels wide) or walkbehinds (1 reel from 18 to 22 inches generally and self propelled). The walkbehind is more labour intensive, but provides a nicer cut, particularly in the aesthetics of the narrow stripping (this is what creates the checkerboard effect on TV). The walkbehind is also much cheaper at $5,000 to $8,000 new depending on the model and features; a triplex will be close to $20,000 to start. The average garden reel mower is not a good golf green reel mower as they do not have a fast enough clip rate because they don't have enough blades. As well they are not manufactured to close enough tolerances to cut at the low heights of golf greens. There are some other manufacturers such as Hudson that make mowers for amateurs to create their own putting greens. I know these are much cheaper units than the big 3, but I have not seen one in person and could not therefore vouch for their quality. For things like this though, I usually go back to the motto, "you get what you pay for!" Basically, if that is the only way you can have your own putting green, go for it, but if you can get a true golf course machine, I can attest to its durability. The differences you have to consider when looking for putting green mowers, is how much grass do you have to cut (one green is easily taken care of by a walkbehind in 30 to 40 minutes, but 9 holes with limited staff would be better served by a triplex), and how much you want to spend. Where can you find them? One of the best places to start is to make friends with the superintendent at a nearby course, he can give you the name and number of the sales reps from the local distributors. Another option to consider is used equipment instead of new. If you are handy with machinery, or know people who are (again making friends with the maintenance staff at your nearby golf course especially mechanic and superintendent is useful), this might be the way to go. Talk to the local golf course, they may have equipment to sell and you would get the best price directly from them as you eliminate any middlemen. The local equipment distributors are also a source of used machinery as they have trade-ins they want to move. Finally scouring the internet for auctions or is another place to find equipment, or classified ads placed in trade magazines or internet sites (another reason to get to know the maintenance crew at your local course) could turn up some gems. Take your time looking for the right machine, this will likely be the most expensive part of setting up your backyard green, but it is also the most important important in terms of turf quality. When you are looking for putting green mowers, don't forget to figure out how you will be keeping them sharp and properly setting up the height. They will require regular sharpening and may be something to consider sending out to a qualified person to do for you. Remember, the sharper the blades, the better the cut, the healthier the turf and the smoother the ball roll! Need help looking for putting green mower? Contact us and I can help find the phone numbers of your local distributors.
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