let's discuss the best way to mow a field...

[LouNY]

I have a rectangle that is much longer north/south than it is east/west. I mow a couple east/west rows at both ends. Then I follow the Zamboni pattern going n/s. However I use multiple zamboni patterns. Meaning when I turn around I go only as far as I have to to make the turn. Then when I finish that section I start on the next.

Pretty much how we mow hay fields. And about the same pattern baling or chopping.

 

[TheMan419]

Pretty much how we mow hay fields. And about the same pattern baling or chopping.

Seems to keep the mower over the uncut grass as much as possible.

 

[dnw64]

When I was mowing my 3 1/2 acre yard, I though about the same thing and my Navy background kicked in.
In a search and rescue scenario, you want to cover the search area as quickly as possible and leave no portion of the area un-searched.
When you have a large but defined area, the recommended search pattern is called "Parallel Search". So that's the pattern I used when mowing.
The problem is you need to be able to do a 180 degree turn in the width of your mower.

And that's the main reason zero-turns are so much faster on lawns (especially if you want to stripe them).

 

[KY Gun Geek]

I have a rectangle that is much longer north/south than it is east/west. I mow a couple east/west rows at both ends. Then I follow the Zamboni pattern going n/s. However I use multiple zamboni patterns. Meaning when I turn around I go only as far as I have to to make the turn. Then when I finish that section I start on the next.

Yep this is me, too. I'm mowing horse pastures (few weeds, mowed from 8 - 10" tall down to 6") between 2 and 50 acres.

We use the zamboni pattern because you don't have to touch the clutch or brakes. Most of my land has only a gentle roll, so I set the rpms with the hand throttle and just truck on. Other farms make a very hard 180 degree turn at the end by coming off the throttle, stomping the split brake, hard steering, then back on the throttle. Makes for very nice striping, but they they also complain about replacing brakes on tractors, and CV/U joints on batwings. Depending on how aggressive the operator is, this method can be brutal on the gear. I've seen batwing tongues with the draw pin holes about 3x as long as they are wide (they started out round)

I agree that efficiency is important (I think the hard 180's would be that - nothing wasted), but you have to balance it with how hard you drive the tractor.

The zamboni can be difficult for newbies because if you don't keep your rows parallel, you end up with short row triangles at the end. A cheap compass works great, and you have the whole row to subtract or add 180.

We call it "Big Stripes" (as opposed to little stripes done by a 180 turn) instead of zamboni because here in the south we don't know much about ice skating and even less about ice grooming.

 

[gravelman]

i use a JD 624 moco.. go around 5 or 6 times then down the middle working toward the outside... by cutting a few times around the outside it gives you room to turn, just pick up the mower when turning. How about that!!??

 

[LD1]

I run a commercial mowing operation with my MX and 8' mower. To the tune of 300-400 acres per year, ranging from half acre lots to 30 acre fields, but averaging somewhere around 4-5 acres per job.

I have learned in 8 years of doing this, that there is no one mowing pattern that is most efficient for everything.

One job of a few acres that I do, that is roughly square, I mow around the perimeter 3 passes then start zamboni pattern. It is the FASTEST way to get the mower back into the cut. And the penalty for guessing wrong on how far to move down, isnt huge, cause at this point, after outlining the field, its maybe 300' to run across. And at 6 mph.... That takes a whoping 30-35 seconds. So if I guess wrong and my last zamboni pass is only cutting 4'.....eh....only took 30 seconds.

Another job I do is a 12 acre field. That is roughly 1200' on the long direction. So takes a few minutes to make a full length run. So rather than zamboni, I just mow down and back, similar to how one would mow their lawn with a zero turn to stripe it. Because the few extra seconds to reverse and line up for the second pass, is more than offset by the potential consequences of guessing wrong with zamboni.

Then there are just odd shaped fields that neither of those patterns will work on. On those I just continue circling the perimeter until smaller areas are naturally broken off from the larger chunk.

With a 15' mower and 5-series tractor though, it may be entirely possible to do a 180 degree turn within the width of the mower. I'd make a few passes to clear the perimeter, and mow down and back, even if it means making a wider turn at the end.

the penalty for guessing wrong on a zamboni gets worse with bigger mowers. make that final pass with a 15' mower only mowing 1' that was missed is alot worse than missing a foot with a 4' mower

 

[gravelman]

God Bless America...all good stuff...

 

[M5farms]

what the H is zamboni cutting .

 

[Ford850]

what the H is zamboni cutting .

See post #4.

I use the Zamboni pattern most times. I like the challenge of getting the initial passes parallel.

 

[M5farms]

See post #4.

I use the Zamboni pattern most times. I like the challenge of getting the initial passes parallel.

Isnt that thing used on ice?? it has nothing to do with mowing and i'm pretty sure People plowed a "land" before that machine was invented.