The Influence of Blade Types and Forward Speed on the Performance of the MURRAY-15.5hp Lawn Mower

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to design, implement, and test the effects of blade type represented by cutting angle and forward speed on the performance of a MURRAY-15.5hp lawn mower machine. Three types of blades with cutting angles of 20o, 25o, and a straight angle with three forward speeds of 2.99, 4.32, and 5.60 km h-1. The slippage percentage, field and cutting efficiencies, and fuel consumption were also studied. The results indicate that decreasing the cutting angle from 25o to 20 o and then to a straight angle considerably decreases the slippage percentage and significantly decreases fuel consumption. In addition, there was a significant increase in field and cutting efficiency. Increasing the forward speed resulted in a significant increase in the slippage percentage and decrease in the field and cutting efficiencies. The interaction between the straight blade type and the forward speed at 2.99 km h-1 led to the lowest slippage at 8.34%, the highest field efficiency at 81.56% and the highest cutting efficiency at 40.00%, whereas the interaction between the straight blade type and forward speed 5.60 km h-1 resulted in the lowest fuel consumption at 4.33 liters ha-1.