Dave,
I mowed 2.5 acres every week during the long north Texas mowing season for 4 years on an Ariens lawn tractor with a 48" deck. In the begining of the season I mowed starting from the outside working inward. I also had the tendency to to swing out on the turns to increase the turn radius. This allowed mean to maintain a constant speed. As the season dragged on I would start changing the pattern. Sometimes I used the method you have described. Other times I would mow the land diagonally, but that isn't very efficient. When I really needed some excitment, I would mow in curves, and then continue along that pattern until the opportunity to make a new shape. Yup, I believe crop circles are the creation of bored people. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Now that I have a "real" tractor, but less area to mow, I still follow the same patterns that I used with my Ariens. The tractor doesn't strike me as being less manueverable.