PRODUCT FOCUS

New fairway mower is a "Super Lightweight"

Joe Alonzi’s wish list was short and very specific. The superintendent of Westchester Country Club, Rye, New York, wanted a lightweight 5-gang fairway mower with a quality cut. And, it should be less than 100 inches wide for the striping look he wanted.

“Essentially,” he says, “I wanted a greens quality cut on fairways without having to use a lot of people.”

Paul B. Latshaw, manager of golf courses and grounds at Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, New York, was looking for a mower that would reduce compaction and deliver a high-quality cut, while at the same time increase productivity.

Both superintendents were impressed with the new Jacobsen Super LF-1880, the lightest 5-gang fairway mower on the market. It delivers beautiful results on undulating fairways and won’t compact turf. The new mower’s 18-inch Jacobsen Classic reels float over contours for a productive, precise, even cut.

Impressive early results

After talking with Jacobsen representatives about developing a mower that would fit between a triplex and a standard fairway unit, Alonzi saw an early Super LF-1880 prototype in the fall of 2000. For the quality cut and look he wanted, Alonzi felt traditional fairway mowers were too heavy and wide, while triplexes required too much manpower. On his 36-hole course, it took four to five people to mow fairways with triplex units, vs. three with a 5-gang unit. Like any superintendent, Alonzi needed to complete fairway mowing before golfers began play. 

Alonzi tried the mower and offered suggestions for improvements. Jacobsen representatives returned in May 2001 with another prototype, which he used for more than a month. In fact, he used the Super LF-1880 on three holes for the PGA Tour’s Buick Classic."

"The tighter striping we got with the new mower looked great." — Joe Alonzi, superintendent

We mowed our fairways with the Super LF-1880 on the 12th, 17th and 18th holes,” Alonzi says. “These are very visual holes for television, and the tighter striping we got with the new mower looked great. The quality of cut is better than a triplex, and with an 80-inch-wide mower we can put more stripes in a tighter area compared to a 100-inch-wide fairway mower.”

On the service and reliability side, the Super LF-1880 also performed very well. There were no significant issues in the time the club had the mower, and Westchester’s mechanic also offered suggestions that were implemented in later designs. Alonzi eventually plans to have four Super LF-1880s in his equipment fleet.

Super LF-1880 fills a niche

Latshaw used a Super LF-1880 prototype for one month last summer at his 36-hole facility. He says the new mower fits ideally between a triplex and conventional 5-gang fairway mower.

“The Super LF-1880’s lighter weight reduces compaction compared to standard fairway mowers,” he says, “and with 18-inch reels it mows contoured areas better than triplex units. There’s a stream running through our championship course, and there are times when adjacent areas can get very wet. We can mow these areas with the Super LF-1880 and not be concerned about compaction.”

Latshaw sees increased productivity as another advantage of the Super LF-1880. It takes six triplex units to mow fairways on the championship course, which will host the 2003 PGA Championship. The same job can be completed with three of the new Jacobsen lightweight mowers.

“Superintendents everywhere are being asked to more closely scrutinize their costs,” Latshaw says. “We’re being asked to provide golfers with the same conditions — and sometimes even better — with similar or smaller budgets. Mowers like this can help reduce fleet size and man-hours. The advantage of the Super LF-1880 is that course conditions don’t suffer. In fact, the 18-inch cutting units on this mower do a better job than the 22-inch reels found on most triplexes. We can also lower our cutting heights from triplex mower heights and not worry about scalping the turf.”

New mower design philosophy

Peter Whurr, Jacobsen vice president of product management, offers some insight into the concept and design philosophy of the Super LF-1880:

“Many courses that want the best quality fairway conditions use triplex greens mowers such as the Jacobsen Greens King VI,” he says. “These units are also used to mow landing areas that are becoming larger and more contoured. One of the challenges with triplexes in this application is that productivity is reduced because of their 62-inch cut, compared to 100 inches on a standard 5-gang fairway mower. Also, triplex mowers and conventional 5-gang fairway mowers are outfitted with 22-inch-wide cutting units, which occasionally limit their ability to follow fairway contours under very contoured situations.”

With its 80-inch cut, the Super LF-1880 increases productivity compared to triplex greens mowers, and the 18-inch reels perform better on undulating fairways. The result is a better overall quality finish and smooth ball roll even under the most challenging turf conditions.

“With a new 8-blade version of the Jacobsen Classic 7-blade reel, or the optional 11-blade, this new mower is intended for courses that desire a better clip and surface finish,” Whurr says. “Again, compared to present alternatives, the Super LF-1880 has better productivity (80-inch cut vs. 62 inches) and better performance (18-inch, 8- and 11-blade reels compared to 22-inch, 7-blade reels).”

The Super LF-1880 is designed with the same durability, longevity and ergonomic features of the Jacobsen LF-3400 and LF-3800 fairway mowers, but in a compact package. Weight reduction in the Super LF-1880 is achieved with a lighter and smaller frame and other components, which have already seen service in other equipment in the Jacobsen product line.

Jacobsen’s new Super LF-1880 is just the right fairway mower — not too small, not too big — to meet the growing demand for finer playing conditions.