Mowing Machine

Related to Mowing Machine: lawn mower

Mowing Machine

A machine for cutting grass or weeds, primarily grass used for hay, but also to cut and control weeds. Mowing machines are an American invention, with the first patent being issued in 1812. By 1850, the machine was reasonably well developed. After 1900, roller bearings and rubber (automobile type) tires were about the only additions made. Horse-drawn mowing machines were pulled by two horses and would usually cut a swath of five feet, although both narrower and wider machines were available. Actual cutting was done by the mower knife, a long bar with a row of perhaps twenty triangular sections, each about three inches long, riveted to it. The knife moved back and forth saw-fashion along a track in the sickle bar. Power was transmitted from heavy, lugged wheels through gears, a crank, and a pitman rod (connecting rod) to the sickle bar. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, the reciprocating sickle bar was being phased out in favor of rotating blades.