Programmable Frequency of Clip

As many of you know we recently got some new mowers for the greens.  The mowers have allowed us to provide a quality of cut that we have not been able to produce before.  We have been experimenting with the heights of cut to see how low we can go without damaging the putting surface and this past week we have been working with the programmable frequency of clip (FOC) which is exclusive to the Jacobsen Eclipse 322.

 
 
One of the great features that we are enjoying about the new mowers is the programmable frequency of clip.  Frequency of Clip is better explained in this YouTube video Frequency of Clip Animation than I could do. 



Over the past several weeks we have been double cutting the greens (mowing the green twice either in different directions or up and back the same pass) to provide the quality putting surface that we need to provide.  This week we started adjusting the FOC on the mowers to determine which would be the best operation for us to do, double cut the greens at a particular FOC or single cut at a lower FOC while still getting the same quality of cut and removing the proper desired amount of clippings.

FOC 0.07 (left) vs. FOC 0.10 (right)

In a very non-scientific experiment we found by using the programmable FOC that we were able to remove the same amount of clippings and provide the same high quality of cut while reducing our actual time spent mowing the greens, the battery powered used, and the wear and tear on the greens surround.

The photo above shows clippings removed from two greens which are very similar in size, #7 and #18.  They were mowed with the same mower and by the same operator the only difference was #7 was double cut, or mowed in two different directions, with the FOC set at 0.10 and #18 was single cut with the FOC set at 0.07. 

FOC 0.07 (front) vs. FOC 0.10 (back)

As you can tell the amount of clippings removed from the different greens is not substantially different and I can tell you that the quality of cut is no different.  What did change was the amount of time spent mowing the green.  Lowering the FOC from 0.10 to 0.07 slowed the overall forward travel speed of the mower down but did not change the speed at which the reel was turning.  As a result the same amount of grass was removed from the green but took 5 minutes less to single cut the green than it did to double cut the green. 

The programmable FOC gives us the flexibility to change the amount of grass removed from the greens quickly without having to change gears or sprockets or fittings as we would have to on other models.  Saving the additional time and wear and tear on the greens surrounds is another added benefit that is very important to our operation.

We are excited about what other great features we will be able to enjoy with the new mowers and how they will help our guests enjoy the golf course better.