Mowing

[Peter in Fairfax, VA]

About how long does it take to mow a circle for 70' lines, using a typical 21" gas powered mower that you push?

Asking for a friend...

[GERALD WIMMER]

Hello It takes too long over 2 hours to mow a circle with a hand mower but depends on grass height.
 If you just cut a take off and landing strip from 70 down to 50ft and a centre circle around 30 minutes .
Our club has in the past got a group together with push mowers the night before a contest to bring it down to height when using a public park or school.
 If mowing a whole circle and pit area regularly you need a ride on mower/tractor and the bigger it is the faster it goes. Our Toro 28hp out front mower with 62inch deck takes about 40 minutes to do the lot but our 82 HP John Deere with 80inch mulcher can do it all in 20minutes.

Regards Gerald

[Doug Moisuk]

If you have a buddy or two with mowers you can cut the time way down.

[john e. holliday]

Yes it takes a good two hours to mow a 70 foot circle with a 21 in mower.  I've done it in the past when I wanted to fly.  This is with no breaks except for getting water in side of the body.

[Howard Rush]

I used to mow the Arlington circle with a push mower. It makes one appreciate how big a stunt circle is.  I got a riding mower for Stonehedge, but buying fertilizer still gives me that appreciation.

[Mike Hazel]

This reminds me of how it was done at the Eugene airport field when the Eugene Propspinner club still had access there.
It was done kind of on an auto-pilot system.  At the middle of the circle was staked a large spool of nylon rope.  This became a tether for a standard size push type mower that had power to the wheels.  The mower had a special bridle fashioned onto it for the rope to attach to.   Once the mower was started up, the power to the wheels was engaged and you just let it go on its own.  It would slowly just unwind from the center working its way out to about 70 or 75 foot radius.  It was not real fast, but then again no one had to do the pushing! 

[Mike Hazel]

A rider mower operating without a operator would really look funny!   This also brings to mind the old stories about Jim Walker and his radio control lawn mower.

[Frank Imbriaco]

About how long does it take to mow a circle for 70' lines, using a typical 21" gas powered mower that you push?

Asking for a friend...

It takes me 20-25 minutes(depending on the heat) to  low cut a circle, 60' to a width of 70' and a path to lines and airplane using a 21" push mower. After that, I'm pretty much wiped out. As a consequence,  results at the handle aren't my best.
Every season I tell myself that this is stupid and no longer doable because I ain't  no Spring chicken. Maybe this year I'll call it quits and fly somewhere else. The circle I cut  is at  an R/C field that's beautiful , wide-open and turbulent free. The backup choice site is paved, but a real mix master. Good grief, Charlie Brown

[BillP]

I used to mow a 10k+ sq ft lot with a 22" pusher and briggs engine in about 40 min.  Now I mow 40k+ sq ft with a rider in 45 min.

[Frank Imbriaco]

Just want to clarify that I only cut a 10'-11' wide area and a a path for the lines to rest in. The field is mowed once a week, but it's always too high for my tastes.

[John Rist]

Had a friend that rigged a car wheel rim (no tire) on a stake in the middle of the circle.  Same thing as above, self propelled push mower tethered  to the wheel.  It was unwind till it hit the end and then rewind till it ran out of gas. With experience learned how much gas it took to mow the circle.   Of course you have to get the drum size correct to match the size of the mower. He would then  finish up the center by hand.