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Traditionally, lawn mowers have been devices that do little else.
The Water Mower uses a few very fine, high pressure jets of water to cut the grass, while also watering the lawn.
Fertilizing chemicals and pesticides may also be applied, in the same process.
Water Cutter
http://www.media.mi...ith-the-jet-set.pdf
At 87,000 psi, it can even cut thin metal. [Amos Kito, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
Water Weed Cutter.
http://www.midwesta...m/water_weed_cutter
[Amos Kito, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
Mentioned here many moons ago.
http://www.halfbake...a/Laser_20Lawnmower
(See last paragraph.) [beauxeault, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]
[link]
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1) Necessary to carry huge water hose around with you.
2) Creates soggy grass, which does not bag or mulch.
3) Current high-pressure water cutters make a pin-point stream. To cut grass, you would need a whole array of rotating heads to get enough coverage.
4) How do you stop water pressure this intense from damaging the wheels, mower assembly, and your feet? |
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//4)//Why, titanium ankle wraps, of course. Just a simple backrail at the rear of the mower would protect legs. |
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1) Mr Park, you're thinking of using a lot more water than I am. 20 gallons in a roller behind the mower should be enough. |
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2) A vacuum unit and high speed blender and the grass could be mulched back into the lawn, returning the nutrients to source. |
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3) 4 or 5 jets perpendicular to the direction of travel should suffice. There's no need for the cutting action to be rotary, or for them to move at all. |
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4) Since the water jets only pass across the line of travel then it's a simple matter of putting a hard plate at the point of impact of the water, negating potential damage if there is no grass to cut. Pointing them at a slight angle would help. |
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[Zanizibar]:
1) Your tank should last approx. 4 minutes at a nominal flow rate of 0.32 GPM.
3) I'm thinking that a rotating cutting action is the only way to prevent simply knocking over the grass blades with water pressure. Using a stationary blade would be slightly more effective than pushing a stationary blade through the grass. |
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Um, 20gal. / 0.32 gpm = 62 min 30secs, by my calculation. |
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I've seen roofing iron cut by a high pressure hydraulic leak. I don't think grass stems will be a problem. A stream of water at 1500psi and 1/64in diameter would be like a knife through butter. |
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Rotation or other motion of the jet would be pointless. The water is moving when it strikes the grass, and at a speed far greater than your nozzle could be moved. |
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Cuts things like tissue paper, angelfood cake, foil... grass shouldn't be a problem. |
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Could it recycle some of the water?
I wonder about the cutting process -- when you've cut halfway though a blade, does it fall over before being completely cut?
I like the idea just for keeping me in a cool mist while I mow the lawn.+ |
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Sorry [Zan], your post looks like 1.20 gallons. |
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I still think there's going to be a problem with the blade of grass being able to bend as it is cut... bending much like... blades of grass in the wind... (muses)... |
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Cedar, you have to get it out of your head that the water is moving slowly enough to bend the grass over. A fine jet of liquid cuts like a laser, if it's under enough pressure. |
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Water is sometimes used as a scalpel, in hepatic surgical procedures (liver surgery). |
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Compressed water cannons are also used to defuse bombs by blasting them apart. |
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How would you keep the water from going through the metal deflection plate that is supposed to protect the ground? |
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WTAGIPBAN = Wasn't That A Great Idea Posted By A Newbie. It puts this idea into the view I just posted over on "Halfbaker Mentors" |
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I see. I was trying to figure it out. Thanks. |
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Sort of a reverse egnor yuck boring tag, but being used for good, not evil. |
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Speaking of [egnor], he's been in the news recently. |
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Back to the idea... I'm thinking of trying to bake this one in real life. Can anyone come up with a suitable material for extremely high pressure nozzles? Everything I've suggested engineering guys have said is too soft. We're looking at moulded tungsten carbide next. |
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Do things go kablooey when they're not in cartoons? |
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I don't see mineral deposits building up in water blasting equipment. The pressure would be more likely to keep salts in solution, wouldn't it? High pressure in hydraulic systems mitigates against salt precipitation, as I recall my high school chemistry. |
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How does the lawn actually get watered? I understand its water cutting the grass, but at a high enough pressure to cut through free standing blades of grass would water be lost from the system (into the lawn) during the cutting or does the mower spray the water down seperate from the cutting action? |
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Do you fill the mower before the mow like a gas tank or does the mower trail a water hose like an electric cord that could refill the tank as you go? |
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Would it not be cheaper and easier to install a water bag onto traditional mowers that sprayed the lawn (or even the cutting blades cleaning them and watering the grass as you go) In other words, does the water need to cut the grass to fullfill the purpose of both watering and cutting that people would purchase such an item for? |
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How much water does a lawn need to be well watered? Would each area be well watered after only a few seconds under the mower? |
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Finally, watch your footwear when water-mowing your grass. |
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This sounds cool, but expensive to buiild and to mainain as even ceramic or tungston nozzles would wear. I see this as a gas powered pressure washer on steroids with an onboard tank and lots of diagonally forward facing jets to cut btween and in front of the next jet. Lots of pressure, very little volume. The more jets the better, because you could lower the cutiing pressure.
Besides cutting grass, at slghtly larger distances, it could clean floors or carpets.
The key is to make a thick walled ceramic tube that had a million little laser cut diagonal holes and then a crazy pressure pump to feed it. |
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