Hunter Grinders design and manufacture precision cylinder grinding machines for professional turf maintenance. Our machines are engineered to deliver fast, accurate and repeatable sharpening of mower cylinders and bedknives, supporting consistent cut quality and extended cutting unit life.
What is a cylinder grinder and how does it work?
A cylinder grinder (also known as a cassette grinding machine or reel mower grinder) is used to sharpen the cutting cylinder on a mower. It works by rotating the cylinder against a grinding wheel to restore a precise cutting edge, ensuring clean and consistent turf cutting performance.
What is the difference between a cylinder grinder and a relief grinder?
A cylinder grinder performs spin grinding to sharpen the cutting edge, while a relief grinder removes material behind the blade.
Relief grinding reduces friction, heat, and wear, improving efficiency and extending the life of the cutting unit.
How does a cylinder grinder (also referred to as a reel or cassette mower grinder) improve turf cut quality?
A cylinder grinder ensures a sharp, even cutting edge, delivering a clean scissor-like cut. This improves turf health, supports cleaner grass presentation and is essential for achieving high-quality finishes on golf greens and sports turf. Additionally, as the grass is cleanly sheared rather than torn, the turf is less susceptible to disease.
Why should I use a bottom blade grinder or bedknife grinder?
A
bottom blade grinder (or bedknife grinder) ensures the bedknife is perfectly flat and sharp. This is critical for maintaining the correct contact between the cylinder and bedknife, which directly impacts cutting performance and turf quality.
How often should a mower cylinder (also reffered to as a reel or cassette) be ground?
How often you should grind a mower cylinder or cassette depends on usage, but regular spin grinding combined with periodic relief grinding is recommended for maintaining optimal performance and to prevent excessive wear. Additionally, mower cylinders/cassettes can be sharpened and back in operation in under an hour, reducing equipment downtime.
What are the signs your mower cylinder needs grinding?
Common signs your mower cylinder (also reffered to as a reel or cassette) needs grinding include:
Yes—In most professional turf maintenance environments, cylinder grinding provides more accurate restoration of cutting geometry than backlapping. Precision grinding restores cylinder geometry and edge accuracy, while backlapping is primarily a maintenance process that does not correct blade form or wear patterns.
How do Hunter Grinders support golf course and sports turf maintenance?
Hunter Grinder machines are widely used across the sports turf and groundscare industry, and are particularly useful as part of a comprehensive golf course turf maintenance programme. They are designed to deliver fast, accurate, and repeatable sharpening for professional environments, ensuring mower and blade longevity and consistent turf quality.
How can a cylinder grinder extend cutting unit lifespan?
If you're looking at how to extend cutting unit lifespan, regular grinding is essential. It reduces wear, maintains proper geometry, and prevents costly damage to cylinders.
What industries use professional turf grinding machines?
Professional turf grinder machines are used across:
• Golf Courses
• Football, Cricket, Hockey & Rugby pitches
• Ornamental Lawns & Educational settings
• Local Authority & Groundscare Contractors
Is investing in a cylinder grinder cost-effective over time?
While a cylinder grinder requires an initial investment, it delivers strong long-term cost savings.
Maintaining sharp cylinders may reduce power demand and unnecessary wear by improving cutting efficiency. This helps extend the lifespan of cylinders and bedknives while maintaining consistent cut quality.
For high-use environments, in-house grinding can reduce outsourcing costs, minimise downtime and improve equipment availability over time. Particularly in high-use settings such as golf courses and sports turf facilities, where frequent sharpening is essential.
Hunter Grinders are engineered for precision, durability, and ease of use. Models such as the
Jupiter and Amazon are designed to meet the demands of professional commercial mower grinder requirements. Hunter Grinders also provide long-term technical support for the lifetime of a machine including
training, servicing and
tournament support throughout the operational life of the machine.
What warranty cover is included?
Every new Hunter Grinder includes a two-year
manufacturer warranty, subject to a completed warranty registration. All Hunter Grinder machines have been manufactured to the highest quality standards and are guaranteed for professional use against faulty parts or manufacture.
Are Hunter Grinder spare and replacement parts readily available?
Yes – all wearing parts such as grinding wheels, dressing sticks, finger guides, star wheels and soluble coolant are readily available from our
Parts Shop.
The question I want to ask is not listed - what do I do?
If you have a question which has not been answered by the above, please email
spares@howardsongroup.com with your question and we will reply with an answer as soon as possible.
