I have Bermuda, combination of Tif II (419) and Tif-Grand at the bottom of the slope under the pine. I cut every third day during the peak growing periods. I'm going to try a growth inhibitor this year to see how that affects my mowing. I backlap the reel monthly. Haven't had to get the reel ground yet. That's usually $100 to get it done, unless your friendly with the local greens keeper. I have quite a slope too as you can see from the picture. It is hard work using the powered reel mower on the slope. The Trimmer (brand) is by far the best becuase it is very heavy so it climbs easily. The previous Mclane and Tru Cut had to be pushed some up the hill. I need to slow the Trimmer down (change gears) so I'm not chasing it down the hill. The speed is variable, just not enough. You can tell the difference because the turf begins to grow horizontally and gets incredibly dense. I have a power rake that I use monthly during the growing season, to thin the canopy a bit. I also use straight N2 every 30 days and alfalfa annually. My neighbors think I'm nuts. One guy stopped his car and asked me what kind of lawn mower I was using, Ha! Keeping Bermuda at this level is quite a hobby!

Nice looking mower. Appears to be in good shape, particularly the reel. Appears to have been sharpened with a relief grind in the past. Only the leading edge of the blade is bright, rather than the entire edge. Looks like it could use a back-lapping, however. That being said, let me focus on the engine. First, the Honda GX is a great engine. Your mower is 24 years old, and a new Honda GX would last at least as long. However, the Honda is a serious piece of change. The Briggs 9 CID "Classic" is also a competent engine, and unless abused should have plenty of life left. Here's what I would do: 1) Remove the carburetor, and then separate the tank and carburetor. The long plastic tube is the main pickup, which lifts gasoline from the tank via diaphragm pump and spills it into a small well directly underneath the carb, The second pickup is a casting projecting into the small well in the tank. The long tube has a screen on the bottom, and it must be free and clear. You should be able to blow gently on the tube, On the other hand, if you suck lightly on the tube there will be no flow as one of the flapper valves has closed. The cast tube has a metering jet pressed into ot and it must flow gasoline. I normally use a set of welding tip cleaners to gently ream out the metering jet. 2) While yo have things disassembled, you should replace the diaphragm in the carburetor. You can only do this when the carburetor off of the engine as the muffler is in the way. The diaphragm is inexpensive ($2 to $4) and widely available. 3) Lastly, while the carb and tank are off, I would check intake and exhaust valve clearances. The valve chamber is directly below the intake and exhaust ports and has a cover held by two screws. Proper clearance is .008 intake and .015 exhaust with the piston is 1/4" beyond TDC with both valves closed. Use a feeler gauge to measure. Usually exhaust clearance is OK because Briggs used relatively high quality steel. The intake, however, is little better than a nail and will stretch causing the valve to lose clearance. If clearance is OK, close up the tappet chamber and proceed to reassemble the engine. 4) If you have insufficient clearance in either valve, you will have to remove the cylinder head, and pull the valves out. Additional clearance is obtained by grinding the end of the valve stem. Remember, you can take metal off but not replace it. Grind slowly and measure often. Reinstall the valves, springs, and retainers, and remeasure with a feeler gauge to insure clearance is correct. Now you can reinstall the cylinder head, put the carb back on the tank, and reinstall on the engine. You should now be good to go.

Roger, You don't need to remove the reel to backlap your machine. Backlapping involves using a grit paste to remove the last couple of .001's high spots to get the reel closer to the bedknife. I wrote these directions on a previous post: "If you are starting with a new machine, with properly sharpened and set up reel and bed knife, you should be good for two seasons before you need a back lapping. If you have sandy soil, you might need to back lap annually. You should then be able to get at least two or three back lappings before you need a full blown sharpening. Sharpening has to be down by a professional, preferably using a relief grind, not the less expensive spin grind. After such a sharpening, the shop will then back lap reel to bedknife to dial in the last couple of thousands, and then adjust reel to bedknife for final set. As a homeowner you can adjust the reel to the bednkife and you can also backlap the machine your self. All mowers have some kind of adjustment to move the reel relative to the bedknife. Professional machines like Trimmer and Tru-Cut have the reel bearings in eccentric holders, which you rotate to cam the reel closer or further. Less expensive machines either move the reel or the bedknife relative to one another, with a simpler mechanism. The goal is a scissor type action, while not actually having metal-to-metal contact. It takes a fair amount of time, and the reel is set by using a number of strips of paper to see that the ree-bedknife is cutting cleanly on each blade, and at several points across the blade. With a seven-blade reel, you will be testing with strips of paper thirty five or more times. Back lapping is done using a grit paste (like Clover Compound) to gently grind or burnish the high spots between reel and bed knife. The reel is rotated in reverse direction, and continually adjusted to get a pencil line of contact across the full width of every blade. When you are done, you have to carefully clean all compound, and then set the reel to bedknife as described above. There are power back-lapping machines or sprocket arrangements, but I don't recommend. They can easily gall the reel and bedknife, if you don't know what you're doing, and at very least tend to remove more metal than necessary. I suggest you get a bell crank, or at least use a large pair of vise-grips to manually rotate the reel. If you damage the reel and beknife with power back lapping, you could be looking at a new $400 reel and $200 bedknife." A professional can do a backlapping and reset the reel in 60 to 90 minutes. Figure 2 to 3 hours yourself as a shade tree mechanic.

I have almost 3 acres of Sahara Bermuda and Princess 77. I also have a 9 foot wide Jacobsen fairway mower and a Toro Greensmaster. Without and irrigation system it's almost impossible to keep it green enough at those short heights to look good. To keep that golf course look you need an irrigation system and be prepared to mow as often as needed or your Bermuda will show it's yellow underbelly. I'm talking mowing everyday during parts of the season. I maintained the fairway look until the heat got too high and the rain almost stopped. I had to convert to higher mowing heights to keep it green and that demanded a rotary type mower. The reel mowers can't mow very high. If I had a sprinkler system and unlimited money for water I could keep the golf course look....But my yard still looks fantastic at those higher levels. I'm at 2" to 2.5" during this mega heat wave. So for now my reel mowers are not being used. It's a shame because I can mow the 3 acre yard in less than an hour when everything is just right.