Mowing equipment
Pedestrian cylinder mowers
A pedestrian cylinder mower is a self-propelled walk behind or ride behind machine
🔧 Equipment:
➡️ Comes with a grass collection box
➡️ Additional option to add a trailed seat to cut bigger areas
➡️ Some have the facility to use interchangeable units
🗝️ Practical tips:
👉 Ideally suitable for flat, level surfaces, where the pitches are regularly mown, given the time taken they are best suited to single pitch sites or where the expected quality of finish is very high
👉 Cutting height on machines suited for football pitches can normally be adjusted anywhere from 10mm to 40mm
👉 Again on machines designed for larger areas cutting widths normally vary from 34 – 36 inches
Remember…
Some versions of this type of machine will come as a cassette system. This comes with the ability to change the cartridges over as and when needed between cutting, scarifier, brush, verti-cutting & sorrel roller units.
Pedestrian Rotary Mowers
Practical tips:
👉 Designed for use on smaller areas/single pitch sites due to the time taken to complete the task
👉 The powerful vacuum action of these machines will collect debris quickly and efficiently in the rear bag
👉 Main purpose is to clean and restore pitches after use but they can also be used in pitch preparation and will still achieve a high quality finish providing blades are kept sharp
Ride-on cylinder mowers (Ride-on reel mowers)
Ride on cylinder mowers provide an exceptional quality of cut
🔧 Equipment:
➡️ Typically come in 3 or 5 cutting unit varieties with the option of adding grass collection boxes
➡️ Will come with either fixed or floating head units to help with undulating ground
🗝️ Practical tips:
👉 Better suited to areas with multiple pitches due to the high capital cost of the machine
👉 Provide a very high quality finish and presentation but like all cylinder machines regular mowing is essential 2-3 times per week.
👉 You have the option to “back-lap” blades to help keep them clean and sharp
Remember…
👉 Cutting cylinders have to be re-set prior to every cut to ensure the correct clearance between cutting cylinder and the bed knife (bottom blade) this takes a level of time and expertise
👉 If you have a multi-sport ground and regularly have to change between heights of cut this can be time consuming on ride-on cylinder mowers
👉 If debris, such as stones, pegs, coins etc come into contact with the cutting cylinder or bottom blade a regrind or replacement can be necessary at significant expense so ask yourself if this type of machine is best suited to your site
👉 In addition to the usual engine and machine service and maintenance, the cylinder units also need annual tlc. With hydraulics, re-grinding of cylinders and replacement of bottom blades to be factored in you need to ensure a hefty budget for annual servicing on these types of machines to keep them running smoothly
Rotary roller mowers
Rotary roller mowers are becoming more and more popular when it comes to the cutting of football pitches especially at the grassroots level
🗝️ Practical tips:
👉 Good for cutting larger areas or if you have multiple pitches to be done quickly and with a good standard of presentation. “Batwing” versions housing 3 units together are also available for large sites but these typically require a tractor with 45 horse power or more
👉 The rollers provide a nice stripe and present the pitch well while the grass is ejected from the rear of the mower leaving minimal clippings providing mowing takes place in the right conditions
👉 Height of cut range is typically between 10-100mm meaning that providing surface levels are reasonable these machines can be suitable for multi-sport sites and allow flexibility dependant on the time of year and weather
👉 Very low maintenance costs associated with this type of machine
👉 Cope well with longer grass meaning they are ideal on sites where perhaps mowing is less frequent, for example once per week still achieving an even and uniform cut
👉 Should the mower go over debris and the blades suffer damage, they are comparatively cheap to replace and they can normally be ordered and changed over in house
Tractor mounted or trailed gang mowers
Tractor mounted gang mowers typically come in 3 or 5 units with varying cutting widths that are all joined together
🔧 Equipment:
➡️ Usually, comes with 6 bladed 190 mm cylinders
🗝️ Practical tips:
👉 Only really suitable for flat – debris-free areas but will cut these quickly
👉 The linkage mounted system allows the whole machine to be lifted from the ground for transport or storage
👉 You can also get models that are towed behind the tractor, driving the cylinders via the momentum of the gang wheels or similarly hydraulically driven versions
👉 In terms of ease of use and costs of maintenance and servicing, similar considerations should be made to those described in the section above on ride on cylinder mowers