Mower

A mower is a device for cutting crops or plants that grow on the ground. A smaller mower used for lawns and sports grounds is called a lawn mower. It is often self-powered and may also be small enough to have to be pushed by the groundsman. Grounds mowers have rotary or reel cutters. Larger mowers are used to cut hay or other crops and place the cut material into rows, which are referred to as windrows. Often, such mowers are called Windrowers.

Larger mowers are usually ganged (equipped with a number or gang of cutting units), so they can adapt individually to ground contours. They are usually powered and drawn by a tractor. The cutting units can be mounted underneath the tractor between the front and rear wheels, mounted on the back with a three point hitch or pulled behind the tractor as a trailer. There are also dedicated self propelled cutting machines. These often have the mower units mounted at the front and sides for easy visibility by the driver.

Boom or side-arm mowers are mounted on long hydraulic arms, similar to a backhoe arm, which allows the tractor to mow steep banks or around objects while remaining on a safer surface.

The cutting mechanism in a mower may be one of several different designs—

• Sickle mowers, also called reciprocating mowers, have a long (typically six to seven and a half feet) bar on which is mounted fingers with stationary guardplates. In a channel on the bar there is a reciprocating sickle with very sharp sickle sections (triangular blades). The sickle bar is driven back and forth along the channel. The grass, or other plant matter, is cut between the sharp edges of the sickle sections and the finger-plates (this action can be likened to an electric hair clipper). The bar rides on the ground, supported on a skid at the inner end, and it can be tilted to adjust the height of the cut. A springloaded board at the outer end of the bar guides the cut hay away from the uncut hay. The so-formed channel, between cut and uncut material, allows the mower skid to ride in the channel and cut only uncut grass cleanly on the next swath. These were the first successful horse-drawn mowers on farms and the general principles still guide the design of modern mowers.

• Rotary mowers, also called drum mowers, have a rapidly rotating bar, or disks mounted on a bar, with sharpened edges that cut the crop. These mowers are tractor-mounted and are easily capable of mowing grass at up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) in good conditions. Some models are designed to be mounted in double and triple sets on a tractor. One in the front and one at each side, thus able to cut up to 20 foot (6 metre) swaths. In rough cutting conditions the blades attached to the disks are swivelled to absorb blows from obstructions. Mostly these are rear-mounted units and in some countries are called "scrub cutters".

• Reel mowers, also called cylinder mowers, have a rotating reel consisting of spiral blades forming a drum that runs on a horizontal cutterbar. The bar is run just above the ground and the reel runs at a speed dependant on the forward movement speed of the machine. This is the same as the common hand-propelled lawn mower. It is used on bowling greens, parks and sports grounds because of the excellent surface that it can produce. These mowers are often ganged into sets of three and five, or more, for large areas. A well-designed reel mower can cut quite tangled and thick tall grass.

• Flail mowers have a number of blades spun on a chain on a horizontal axis. The cutting is carried out by axe-like heads striking the grass at speed. These types are used on rough ground, where the blades may frequently be fouled by other objects, or on tougher vegetation than grass.

See also: Domestic technology, Groundskeeping equipment, list of farm implements.

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