Articulating lawn mowers

摘要

A mowing apparatus with multiple articulating cutting decks includes a pair of side cutting decks attached to a center cutting deck. The side decks are pivotally attached to the center deck and pivot about axes which lie in the planes defined by rotation of the respective cutting blades. The cutting blades are driven by pulleys and belts. Proper tension in each side drive belt is maintained during pivoting of the corresponding side deck by an assembly comprising a pair of idler pulleys rotatably mounted on a pivotally attached pulley arm which is biased in the direction which increases tension on the belt.