A mower is a person or machine that cuts (mows)

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

or other plants that grow on the ground. Usually mowing is distinguished from reaping, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for

harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

ing grain

crops A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponics ...

, e.g. with reapers and combines. A smaller mower used for lawns and sports grounds ( playing fields) is called a '' lawn mower'' or ''grounds mower'', which is often self-powered, or may also be small enough to be pushed by the operator. Grounds mowers have reel or rotary cutters. Larger mowers or '' mower-conditioners'' are mainly used to cut grass (or other crops) for

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...

or silage and often place the cut material into rows, which are referred to as ''

windrow A windrow is a row of cut (mown) hay or small grain crop. It is allowed to dry before being baled, combined, or rolled. For hay, the windrow is often formed by a hay rake, which rakes hay that has been cut by a mowing machine or by scythe into a ...

s''. ''

Swather A swather (North America), or windrower (Australia and rest of world), is a farm implement that cuts hay or small grain crops and forms them into a windrow for drying. They may be self-propelled with an engine, or drawn by a tractor and po ...

s'' (or ''windrowers'') are also used to cut grass (and grain crops). Prior to the invention and adoption of mechanized mowers, (and today in places where use a mower is impractical or uneconomical), grass and grain crops were cut by hand using

scythe A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor m ...

s or sickles.

Mower configurations

Larger mowers are usually ''ganged'' (equipped with a number or gang of similar cutting units), so they can adapt individually to ground contours. They may be powered and drawn by a

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

draft animal A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for t ...

s. The cutting units can be mounted underneath the tractor between the front and rear

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

s, mounted on the back with a

three-point hitch The three-point hitch (British English: three-point linkage) is a widely used type of hitch for attaching ploughs and other implements to an agricultural or industrial tractor. The three points resemble either a triangle, or the letter A. Three-p ...

or pulled behind the tractor as a trailer. There are also dedicated self-propelled cutting machines, which 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 A backhoe—also called rear actor or back actor—is a type of excavating equipment, or digger, consisting of a digging bucket on the end of a two-part articulated arm. It is typically mounted on the back of a tractor or front loader, the latt ...

arm, which allows the

to mow steep banks or around objects while remaining on a safer surface.

Mower types

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

Sickle mower

''Sickle mowers'', also called ''reciprocating mowers'', ''bar mowers'', ''sickle-bar mowers'', or ''finger-bar mowers'', have a long (typically six to seven and a half feet) bar on which are 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 spring-loaded 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 mower

Rotary mowers, also called ''drum mowers'', have a rapidly rotating bar, or disks mounted on a bar, with sharpened edges that cut the crop. When these mowers are tractor-mounted they are easily capable of mowing grass at up to 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) in optimal 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''. Self-powered mowers of this type are used for rougher grass in gardening and other land maintenance.

Reel mower

''Reel mowers'', also called ''cylinder mowers'' (familiar as the hand-pushed or self-powered cylinder lawn mower), have a horizontally rotating cylindrical reel composed of helical blades, each of which in turn runs past a horizontal cutter-bar, producing a continuous scissor action. The bar is held at an adjustable level just above the ground and the reel runs at a speed dependent on the forward movement speed of the machine, driven by wheels running on the ground (or in self-powered applications by a motor). The cut grass may be gathered in a collection bin. This type of mower is used to produce consistently short and even grass on bowling greens, lawns, parks and sports grounds. When pulled by a tractor (or formerly by a horse), these mowers are often ganged into sets of three, five or more, to form a ''gang mower''. A well-designed reel mower can cut quite tangled and thick tall grass, but this type works best on fairly short, upright vegetation, as taller vegetation tends to be rolled flat rather than cut. Home reel mowers have certain benefits over motor-powered mowers as they are quieter and not dependent on any extra form of power besides the person doing the mowing. This is useful not only to lessen dependence on other types of power which may have availability issues, but also lessens the impact on the environment.

Flail mower

Flail mowers have a number of small blades on the end of chains attached to a horizontal axis. The cutting is carried out by the ax-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, such as brush (scrub). Due to the length of the chains and the higher weight of the blades, they are better at cutting thick brush than other mowers, because of the relatively high inertia of the blades. In some types the cut material may be gathered in a collection bin. As a boom mower (see above), a flail mower may be used in an upright position for trimming the sides of hedges, when it is often called a ''hedge-cutter''.

Drum mower

Drum mowers have their horizontally-mounted cutting blades attached to the outside of a relatively large diameter disc fixed to the bottom of a smaller diameter drum and are principally designed for cutting lighter crops, such as grass, very quickly. The drive mechanism is top-mounted and often in the form of fully enclosed, bevel geared drive shafts.

References

External links

{{commonscatinline, Mowers Agricultural machinery nl:Maaimachine pl:Kosiarka