Hydraulic Traction Circuit Treats Golf-Course Greens Gently

Greens on golf courses are  mowed early in the morning — when the turf usually is slippery from dew or irrigation — and a greenskeeper must be able to drive a mower anywhere on and around the green without losing traction or damaging the turf. However, many riding mowers will slip during turns in the sculptured trim area around the green or when climbing minor grades on the green.

In the traditional greensmower design, hydraulic motors on each driven wheel are piped in parallel. But this configuration means that when one tire slips, all the motors stop. Another issue is that cutting reels are self supporting on the ground, so the weight on the front wheels is minimal during mowing, adding to the possibility of slippage. As a result, even minor rises can be difficult to climb straight-on and impossible to negotiate on a diagonal line.

To solve this maneuvering problem, The Toro Co., Bloomington, Minn., has designed and patented a hydraulic traction circuit that enables a groundskeeper to easily manicure golf greens with the speed and convenience of a riding mower. The traction arrangement on Toro’s Greensmaster riding mower has a triplex configuration, with two drive tires in front and a steering tire in back. Its hydraulic circuit plumbs the front wheel motors in parallel with each other, then adds a third motor at the rear wheel and plumbs it in series with the front two. The rear motor has twice the displacement of each front motor, and the tires mounted on all three wheels are the same size to maintain the correct speed ratio.