Cylinder mower
A cylinder mower is a lawn mower that cuts grass with a knife-tipped spindle. Hand-operated models are often used by gardeners for smaller lawns.
functionality
The rotating spindle (with a horizontal axis, orientation 90 ° to the direction of movement of the mower) is provided on its circumference with knives (cutting blades) running in a slight helical line. These run past a stationary counter knife arranged parallel to the axis of rotation of the spindle. According to the scissors principle , the blade of grass is first grasped and then cut off. The distance between the counter knife and the ground determines the cutting height. The support rollers attached behind the lower blade as spacers lead to a characteristic stripe pattern of the freshly mown lawn when mowing alternately due to the remaining inclination of the blades of grass, which can be observed especially on soccer fields. The number of knives on the spindle determines the quality of the cut. Simple hand-operated entry-level models only have five or six knives. The cutting width of a cylinder mower is between 35 and 76 cm. For large areas there are ride-on mowers with several mowers next to each other.
operation area
Cylinder mowers are mainly used on golf courses, sports fields and in parks. But there are also devices for the ambitious private lawn lover who wants to keep his lawn at a height of 25 to 40 millimeters suitable for private gardens. For professional use, there are internal combustion engine-powered cylinder mowers of various sizes that are started with a cable pull or some have an electric starter. Golf greens z. B. are cut daily with ten or twelve-blade spindles to a height of two to five millimeters. The resulting cut is so precise that the blades of grass are not frayed, but cut off smoothly. This prevents the grass from drying out and the tips of the grass from turning brown. That is why there is still no gentler method of cutting lawns.
The use of a cylinder mower is tied to considerably narrower framework conditions than with all other lawn mowers. The terrain has to be comparatively flat. The cuts must also be made at relatively short intervals, a weekly rhythm is the upper limit. The frequent cut leads to increased water loss from the blades of grass through the cut surface, which requires artificial watering of the lawns. As a result, cylinder mowers are more likely to be used in areas with higher rainfall (England, Australia). Since the rotating spindle "catches" the blades of grass from above, grass with a height greater than the spindle radius can only be mowed with difficulty. Longer grass must then first be mowed with an ordinary rotary mower.
Web links
- The cylinder mower at Gartentechnik.de , accessed on October 23, 2011
Individual evidence
- ↑ Topic cylinder mower on gardora.at , accessed on October 21, 2011.