let's discuss the best way to mow a field...
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smstonypoint
Super Member
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- SC (Upstate) & NC (Piedmont)
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- NH TN 55, Kubota B2320 & RTV 900, Bad Boy Outlaw ZTR
I don't have a cab with that fancy shmancy air conditioning or music. So I mow as efficiently as possible, as follows:
1. Line up over the vegetation to be cut.
2. Drive around.
3. Try to stay over vegetation to be cut.
4. Try to spend the least time possible over vegetation already cut or vegetation not to be cut.
5. Continue until there is no more vegetation to be cut.
6. Get a cold drink.
In approximately six hours of mowing, the ten minutes variance that depends upon how much you do or don't optimize it doesn't really matter. At least to me, a non-commercial land owner who does his mowing on the occasional weekend. Heck, sometimes I do circles over vegetation already cut just out of boredom. Sometimes I just mow a Formula 1 track around the property for my kids to ride their dirtbikes on, think "that sure saved me a lot of time compared to mowing the whole thing" and get my cold drink early.
1. Line up over the vegetation to be cut.
2. Drive around.
3. Try to stay over vegetation to be cut.
4. Try to spend the least time possible over vegetation already cut or vegetation not to be cut.
5. Continue until there is no more vegetation to be cut.
6. Get a cold drink.
In approximately six hours of mowing, the ten minutes variance that depends upon how much you do or don't optimize it doesn't really matter. At least to me, a non-commercial land owner who does his mowing on the occasional weekend. Heck, sometimes I do circles over vegetation already cut just out of boredom. Sometimes I just mow a Formula 1 track around the property for my kids to ride their dirtbikes on, think "that sure saved me a lot of time compared to mowing the whole thing" and get my cold drink early.
My field is very irregular in shape, and parts are too steep to mow across. So I mow up and down the steep parts, then mow around the less steep parts in sections, from the outside to the middle.
So far that's been with a 5 ft. rotary cutter. I'll see this spring if that pattern changes with my new offset flail mower. Since it's to the side and behind it may change the way the corners work best.
So far that's been with a 5 ft. rotary cutter. I'll see this spring if that pattern changes with my new offset flail mower. Since it's to the side and behind it may change the way the corners work best.
TheMan419
Veteran Member
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.
Industrial Toys
Super Star Member
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- Feb 25, 2008
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- Ontario Canada
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- Kubota R510 Wheel Loader + Cab and backhoe, JD 6200 Open Station, Cushman 6150, 4x4, ten foot 56 hp Kubota diesel hydraulic wing mower, Steiner 430 Diesel Max, Kawasaki Diesel Mule, JD 4x2 Electric Gator
I'm glad I don't have to cut our unused fields anymore with a 16 foot batwing. They are again rented out.
I used to go around in circles until I could not make the corners anymore, then back and forth. It seemed, no way was really better than another. I bore easy, so a lot of it was just to keep me occupied thinking about my next strategy. It's always the most fun and most effective to go through an uncut area and impress yourself with the wide swath!
Mine was a finishing mower and often left stalky material standing in places or burdocs and you would have to recompute your course to get them again. That was wasted time for sure.
I used to go around in circles until I could not make the corners anymore, then back and forth. It seemed, no way was really better than another. I bore easy, so a lot of it was just to keep me occupied thinking about my next strategy. It's always the most fun and most effective to go through an uncut area and impress yourself with the wide swath!
Mine was a finishing mower and often left stalky material standing in places or burdocs and you would have to recompute your course to get them again. That was wasted time for sure.
quicksandfarmer
Veteran Member
When I'm mowing hay I try to only drive over what I've already cut. With my mower on my right that means I drive in a clockwise rectangular spiral. I've found the fastest way to do the corners is to drive straight through the corner at full speed. Once the mower is clear I pull the wheel to the right as tight as I can without tipping over or falling off of the seat. I keep turning right until the mower is back in uncut grass, then straighten it out. This leaves an uncut bump at the start of each side of the rectangle. But on the next pass I go straight through the corner again and cut off the bump. I never slow down and spend almost all my time with the mower over uncut grass.
Deere Dude
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I mowed a 5 acre rectangle (one time for fun) by starting in the exact center of the lawn and kept driving in a sustained circle until I hit the edges. But then it took a long time to finish off the corners. One and done.
Tx Jim
New Member
I cut,rake & bale all shapes of fields including rectangles going round & round until finished. The corners take 1 trip up then 1 trip back which doesn't take very long even on a 100 acre field. IMHO a lot less time than making swooping turns on end turns going back & forth.