What kind of grass do you have?

First of all, are the shops doing a full sharpening, or just a backlap? Second, are they locking down the reel properly. I talking about commercial and professional models which have the reel bearing holders in eccentrics. Even if set properly, if not tightened firmly, the bearing holders will rotate and move reel away from cutting bar. Lastly, are you in a very sandy environment.

My experience, which include more than 35 years with Trimmers and Tru-Cuts in Southern California mowing St. Augustine and Bermuda is that a full sharpening (on a Foley or Neary) should be good for 5 years home use, and a backlap would be performed every other year, or every year if you are kind of fussy.

Thank you for your responses. I have a Bermuda lawn of about 7,200 square feet in size.

My shop always does a full sharpening and the blades. After sharpening, I can spin the reel and cut paper. This only lasts for 7 -10 cuts at best.

They suggest brushing the blade with oil after cutting but I have read different opinions on this.. I do not think this is causing the problem as I have not brushed the blades the time around.

Today when I cut my lawn, I now have uneven back and forth cuts. I do have a roller on front of the mower but it seems to cut (rip) the grass at different lengths depending on the direction I am cutting..

Is it possible that there is a problem with the mower itself not holding adjustment after the sharpening ?

I am very confused at this point.

Here is a link that might be useful: My shop

I have a Tru Cut with a roller and may have the same issue. It seems as if the mower cuts at different heights for different passes. I'm not sure if this has something to do with the mowing speed or the degree to which pressure is applied when pushing the mower. It seems like it might be cutting lower when going downhill and higher when going uphill. I will usually do two passes at different angles and that seems to make everything pretty even. Noy sure if something is wrong with he mower or not.

I am familiar with P'tree Mower, and they do a full relief grind with a lathe of some sort. They sell only reel mowers and have probably sold a significant portion of all of the Trimmer mowers sold in Atlanta in the last 50 years, so it is doubtful that the quality of the sharpening is the issue.

I looked at Peachtree's site, and they appear to be pretty knowlegeable and competent. While I generally disagree that yearly sharpenings are needed, If you are scalping annually, you probably need to sharpen annually.

Since these guys know what they're doing, I'm sure they are locking down the bearing holders properly. The only other thought might be defective steel in either reel or bedknife, which isn't hard enough and consequently won't hold a sharpening.

What does Peachtree say about your problem?

peachtree mower has sharpened my mower many times too and I have the same issue. I am ready to try someone else. the reel to bedbar contact is VERY HEAVY after each sharpening. they say they do this so it stays sharpened longer. And they also make the suggestion of placing oil on the reel blades seems not good.

Perhaps the problem is the reel is adjusted too tightly to the bedbar thus tearing/ripping grass?

I cut 3 times a week at 5/8"