Toro® Greensmaster® FlexTM 21
Exceeding Expectations
When Toro introduced the Greensmaster® FlexTM 21 a year ago, the industry had
never seen a greens mower like it.
The Flex 21 had been conceived and designed based on specific requests and input from
Toro engineers had gone out and talked to superintendents, oper- ators and technicians, all with the golfer in mind, about
what they needed in a bet- ter walk mower.
That kind of guid- ance and recommen-
dations led to the many special fea- tures of the
Flex 21,
Toro’s Greensmaster® FlexTM 21 greens mower offers several substantial benefits to superin- tendents, operators and technicians.
most notably its unique flexible cutting unit, which is essential for undulating greens and the new Ultra Dwarf grasses. The cutting unit not only flexes from side to side around the bedknife centerline, but also forward and backward around the reel centerline.
The flexible cutting unit is separate from the traction unit so it ensures a superior cut and less scalping than any other mower. This innovative develop- ment allows for crisp, tight mowing at the height you want, even on the most chal- lenging greens.
“We developed this product based on
customers’ needs and concerns,” says Jerry Goman, lead engineer for the Flex 21. “We were hearing more and more about new grass cultivars and lower height of cut, combined with undulations and movements in the green. There was a need for this machine.”
Tremendously Positive
Response
“It surpassed what I thought it would do,” says superintendent Mitchell Wilkerson. “What they promised it would be able to do, it has.”
Wilkerson is a Certified Golf Course Superintendent at the
“One of our problems was that we have Super Dwarf Champion on our north course, and we have a lot of undulations on our greens,” he says. “At the height we were mowing, with any little movement we would just scalp it.”
Wilkerson had been told about the Flex 21 and arranged for a test with Toro. He was immediately convinced. “That made me a believer. It was just everything they
said it was.” Wilkerson reports.
His new mowers went right into action and immediately made a difference. “On the Super Dwarfs, it was like night and day,” Wilkerson says. “On the undula- tions, we didn’t see any bruising or scalp- ing. It was pretty dramatic.”
“It was a
“There are severe undulations on the
greens here,” Nelson explains. “My slopes are so severe, for walk mowing there are some greens I could only mow in certain directions.”
Nelson had tried several different types of greens mowers, but nothing was satis- factory. “I was still getting the scalping,” he adds. Then he heard about the new Flex 21 and was able to borrow one from a friend to try it.
“When I took it out there, I could see what it can do,” he says. “It was nice because I had every other brand out there, and it was easy to see the difference. I did- n’t get the scalping the other mowers did.”
Cutting Shorter
With the Flex 21, Nelson was then able to improve the putting surface of his greens. “We wanted to start stepping them down,” he says. “Once I saw that the scalping wasn’t there, I knew I could start taking them lower, and start getting the quality and speed we needed.”
Mitch Fossey is another superintendent
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