Self propelled lawn mower

摘要

The invention comprises an improved lawn mowing machine for large expanses of grass around apartment complexes, commercial facilities and golf courses. The mower is self propelled with a forward mounted mower deck including a plurality of rotary cutters. The blades or cutters rotate in opposite directions on opposite sides of the deck to bring the grass clippings to a deck mounted central vacuum. The mower blades are driven by a belt drive to eliminate expensive drive shafts and gearboxes. Applicant's 45 DEG twist belt drive geometry provides increased life to the belt over prior art 90 DEG twist belt drive geometries. The mower deck includes novel side mower wings. A combined clutch and brake mechanism disengages the drive belt to the wing blade spindle and simultaneously brings the blade to a stop within one second when the wing in raised beyond its cutting range. The wing deck is attached to the mower central deck by a depressed hinge substantially close to the elevation of the mower blades. As the mower encounters uneven ground the separation of blade cutting paths is minimized in the movement of the wing blades relative to the central mower deck blades. The mower deck is equipped with front arm mounted casters which include a simple adjustment for blade height. The mower blade spindles include a simplified and effective means of retaining tapered roller bearings and include spacers on the spindle shaft for additional blade height adjustment. The safety of the mower is further enhanced by electric clutches which automatically disengage the mower deck drive belt and the hydraulic vehicle wheel drive if the machine operator leaves the seat of the vehicle. The machine steering, braking, forward and reverse speed are controlled by dual levers. Twin damping means are connected to the control levers resulting in superior control of the machine when passing over rough terrain.