Naive...but

[k0ua]

Ok I believe I have it now... thanks

James K0UA

[LogChain]

James,

Thanks for raising the question. I was similarly confused. And Steve, thanks for the link. It was just what I needed. Now if I had a field and a tractor, I could practice.

--LogChain

[kiotiken]

i mow my perimiter, then make a pass down the middle.. then I walk that pass so that I cut the outside of one rectangel, and the inside of the other rectange. both rectangles disappear at the same rate and I am driving the same distance of circuit.

The Canadian in me was going to say the same thing, just like a Zamboni cleaning the ice!

[Soundguy]

Ok I believe I have it now... thanks

James K0UA

yep.. you are actually keeping the same distance.. not an increasing distance.. you are just 'walking' the cutting area.. as said.. when yuo get down to the end you get to see if you guessed middle correctly.

[k0ua]

Not being Canadian, I was missing out on the Zamboni connection But I got it figured out now.. thanks all.

James K0UA

[LD1]

I guess I just do it like the OP first described. Yea, its a PITA, but nothing around me is square. Everything is odd shaped, triangles, ells, etc.

And since I cant drive a straight line, i'm no good at the zamboni pattern. Cause I usually end up with a LOOONG slender triangle shape that is maybe 30' wide at one end of the field, tapering to nothing 500' away at the other end. And cleaning those up isnt very efficient. Ends up taking more time than just making tight turns on the corners, or cloverleafing. If it is just a darn field, left and right braking helps speed the turning up too

Ideally, a field would be perfectally round and you can just spiral in or out and NEVER have the cutter out of the work. But I think I would get dizzy

[Grandad4]

yep.. you are actually keeping the same distance.. not an increasing distance.. you are just 'walking' the cutting area.. as said.. when yuo get down to the end you get to see if you guessed middle correctly.

Every time you get to the end of the rectangle, you drive over an already-mowed area. The wider the rectangle, the more time it takes to start the next strip of actual mowing, so dividing the field into several narrow rectangles is somewhat more efficient. But you have to accurately eyeball a parallel "plunge cut" for more rectangles, and cleaning up when you make a mistake can offset the time you gain. If you get good at it, it's about as fast as using the turning brakes to make square 90 deg or 180 deg turns when mowing.

[B Hoofed]

Does everyone lift the cutter when making sharp turns (assuming you have a lift type) or do you just sling it around on the tail wheel?

[Chilly807]

Part of the trouble with square mowing patterns is that towards the end of it, you're making almost nothing but turns, since the legs are so short. Once you have the rectangles established, I try to cut mostly on the long edges to prevent that. I'd sooner drive a few more feet ahead unloaded to get to a long steady cut than spend more time stopping and turning, or doing cloverleafs.

Sean

[Chilly807]

On smooth ground I leave the tail wheel down, but since there's not much smooth about my fields I usually lift it.

Sean