Do you file depth gauges on safety chain?

[dodgeman]

Yes, where you have the yellow line.

 

[kevinmccune]

I went to work at a golf course in 1969. For greens we used walk-behind reel mowers. We used larger reel mowers for fairways. For brush we used little yellow aluminum 2-stroke Lawnboys. I loved them. I bought a 21-inch commercial 2-stroke Lawnboy to go into business in 1976. For the farmyard in 1982 I bought a 20" 2-stroke Lawnboy. In all those cases, lightness was my primary consideration.

Since 1981 I've used 4-stroke push mowers for the half-acre in town. It wasn't until 2013 that I got a 20-year-old riding mower. It got the open areas, but sometimes I'd do them with the push mower. In 2015, the widow next door asked me to do her half-acre. She had set up so many obstacles that I could ride for less than half. The other half was constant pushing, pulling, and turning. That's when you notice the weight of a mower. I'd have to take breaks to cool off.

My 4-stroke push mower weighs 61 pounds. I wouldn't want Milwaukee's battery mower at 85 pounds. B&D's corded 20" mower weighs only 43 pounds. I don't know how that compares to the Lawnboys I loved, but it sure beats my 4-stroke.

When I learned to sharpen with a belt sander, I found that my push mower and my riding mower engines were quieter. They could mow at idle volume because with sharper blades, governors didn't have to open throttles as much. Sharper blades could also keep an electric mower from bogging.

In the past I wouldn't consider a corded mower because I'd need 200 feet of cords. My LiFePO4 power station changed that. I could cart a mower, 25-foot cord, and power station wherever needed.

best push mower I ever had was a Lawnboy.

 

[kevinmccune]

I like the way you say "beat the grass off cleaner"

My string trimmer can really plow through the grass, but the string is round, and is probably the dullest shape possible?

Even a blunt edge would have corners that would help make it sharper.

reel mowers actually clip the grass that's way golf courses use them.

 

[kevinmccune]

Another tip. In PCeBikers post above with the red and blue marks in the picture, if you look at the picture of the tooth(the red mark beside it) there is an etched line of the tooth towards the back. The etched line shows the correct angle to sharpen at plus when you hit the etched line from filing the tooth down, it’s time to throw the chain out. You can see how much wear you can get out of a chain.

if you "rock" one real good its time to discard

 

[kevinmccune]

Rakers is a much better word.

I fixed the original post,..



View attachment 210628

had a "Bushman" raker bucksaw,best one I ever had(it was left at a campsite) all this talk of sharpening,reminds me of a "self sharpening" excavator tooth( it works after a fashion) its shaped about like a cats claw and as it wears its shaped to wear to smaller dimension which is sorta less blunt then a solid tooth.And if you care to notice some quality knives are ''hollow ground" which makes them easier to sharpen,look at the profile of a chainsaw tooth,there's a lot of development there,the first thing you notice is the chisel edge on the cutter on some you notice the top angle different types of wood like a different engagement,35 Degrees for soft wood 30 degrees for frozen or hardwoods,the kerf( which allows for bar clearance) the "gullet" which helps the profile to develop and if you use a file too large and you make the gullet too deep the chain will chatter,I am sure there's more 50 years of using these things has taught me a thing or two.

 

[stompandgo]

I don't use my gas chain saw that often. It depends on storm activity. I have no interest in learning how to sharpen chains, so I have two, and send one to Ace Hardware for sharpening, and keep it in the shed. Which reminds me, I need to send both of them out as the two trees I had to chop up from the last storm used them both up.

For kitchen knives, there's a guy down the road from me who has a business sharpening knives. He works out of a trailer and sharpens knives onsite for commercial users, i.e. barbers, hair salons, restaurants. I just email him and drop my knives off, Venmo the cash, and pick them up. His setup has over a dozen machines, grinders and vertical belt sanders, with various grits and jigs for cutting angle. In between sharpenings, I give them a few swipes on a diamond hone followed by a few swipes on a steel. I could never do as good a job as he does. Good knives are expensive.

 

[PCeBiker]

For kitchen knives, there's a guy down the road from me who has a business sharpening knives.

I remember in the late 70's there was a guy in a truck driving slowly around the neighborhoods ringing his bell and sharpening knives and lawnmower blades.
Just like an ice-cream truck.

 

[stompandgo]

 

[PCeBiker]

reel mowers actually clip the grass that's way golf courses use them.

I thought you meant real, as opposed to a fake no-name mower.

Then I remembered these,..

I went to work at a golf course in 1969. For greens we used walk-behind reel mowers.

Was it powered by an engine?

I remember those manual push reel mowers.
They were a lot of work, and I kept having to "wind" the thing up with a back and forth motion to get the reel spinning fast enough to cut.

 

[kevinmccune]

I thought you meant real, as opposed to a fake no-name mower.

Then I remembered these,..





Was it powered by an engine?

I remember those manual push reel mowers.
They were a lot of work, and I kept having to "wind" the thing up with a back and forth motion to get the reel spinning fast enough to cut.

real exercise,Reo used to make a powered "reel" mower,most golf courses around here use "gang" mowers of the "reel" variety( my 6th grade teacher used to try to teach us the "Virginia Reel",she said other countries were jealous of this dance) really?

 

[kevinmccune]

I remember in the late 70's there was a guy in a truck driving slowly around the neighborhoods ringing his bell and sharpening knives and lawnmower blades.
Just like an ice-cream truck.

"Foley-Belsaw" used to offer sharpening equipment and a course to set you in business.

I don't use my gas chain saw that often. It depends on storm activity. I have no interest in learning how to sharpen chains, so I have two, and send one to Ace Hardware for sharpening, and keep it in the shed. Which reminds me, I need to send both of them out as the two trees I had to chop up from the last storm used them both up.

For kitchen knives, there's a guy down the road from me who has a business sharpening knives. He works out of a trailer and sharpens knives onsite for commercial users, i.e. barbers, hair salons, restaurants. I just email him and drop my knives off, Venmo the cash, and pick them up. His setup has over a dozen machines, grinders and vertical belt sanders, with various grits and jigs for cutting angle. In between sharpenings, I give them a few swipes on a diamond hone followed by a few swipes on a steel. I could never do as good a job as he does. Good knives are expensive.

Had a chain "sharpened" by a grinder in a shop,it wouldn't cut hot butter,went back to sharpening by hand,keep the cutters the same length and keep the chisel profile close,it will cut straight.

 

[spokewrench]

Was it powered by an engine?

I remember those manual push reel mowers.
They were a lot of work, and I kept having to "wind" the thing up with a back and forth motion to get the reel spinning fast enough to cut.

My father used one until 1956. In 1968, the state employment agent told me there were lots of jobs, but none for veterans. I answered a want ad from the country club and got hired because they didn't ask questions. I found quick affinity with the greenskeeper because he'd been a Marine in WWII. I'd start each day by mowing each green twice at an inch or less (I've forgotten) with a motorized reel mower. A reel mower will cut cleaner and won't scalp. I'd go out at 8 and come in at 10, leaving the rest of the day to make improvements. One morning I did it fast for fun. I came in at 9. The greenskeeper started laughing. He said in more than 20 years, he'd never before had anyone at any course finish before noon. My speed allowed him to make improvements he'd always wanted. Because the club was getting such value from my labor, he said he'd asked the manager to give me a raise and been flatly turned down. College graduate, no doubt.

A few years later I used a manual reel mower for a relative who didn't have a rotary mower. After I honed the reel and adjusted the blade, it could do the job, but there were complications. A twig would jam it, and it could roll over weeds or tall grass without cutting. That accounts for the popularity of rotary mowers.