|
|
Eclipse
Mower, July 11, 2007
|
A
prototype of the new Jacobsen Eclipse walking greens mower has
been making its rounds around the country (see pictures below).
On July 11th, 2007 Jacobsen Regional Sales Manager, Chris Fox,
demonstrated the 22" floating head gas powered hybrid version at Bellewood Golf Club in N. Coventry, PA (near Pottstown).
Distributor sales people were on hand from four nearby Jacobsen
dealers including a group from Krigger & Company.
The mower has a great combination of proven components and
leading edge technology. Starting with the cutting unit, which
is the same unit currently operated on the Greens King and
G-Plex triplex mowers, Jacobsen is able to continue providing
"the best cut" where it counts. The use of this cutting unit now
gives the customer the ability to interchange cutting units
between walkers and riders or even between old and new units and
to continue using verticutter and groomer attachments that they
may already have on hand.
The mower is leading edge in a number of areas including a
control panel where the superintendent can set the reel speed
and the maximum mow speed, or the mechanic can test for amperage
draw on a variety of components to check for proper operation of
electrical components or bearing performance. It also has a slow
start feature so the operator won't need to feather the speed at
the start of mowing. Electrical motors are made of cast
aluminum. They are water tight and maintenance free using
brushless electric power.
The gas powered hybrid uses a Honda 4hp engine which runs at a
constant, low RPM and only needs 2hp to power the Gen-Pac which
in turn powers the electrical motors powering the drive drum and
cutting reel. We were able to quickly unplug the wire from the
Gen-Pac and plug it into a battery power pack to quietly set our
control panel, test the unit, or even backlap the reel. We could
have replaced the Honda engine by removing the four carriage
bolts and then mounted the battery pack (same pack currently in
use on the Jacobsen E-Walk) to begin mowing with an all electric
walking greens mower.
Since this unit is a prototype machine more
features will be included when it is in full production and ready for sale.
The next unit will be a fixed head unit (probably based on the
current E-Walk frame) and eventually an 18" version for both the
fixed and floating power units. Triplex models utilizing some of
the same technology should soon follow the walking models.
Krigger & Company will have this prototype unit during the week
of July 23rd available for
customer demonstrations and feedback. It will only be here for a
short time as it makes its way around the country, so if you
would like to be included in one of our customer feedback days
let your salesman know or call Melanie at our office
(800-252-TURF ext 102) for more details on times and locations.
We would like to give a special thanks to
Derrick Hudson, superintendent at Bellewood Golf Club, for
generously offering his facility for us to see and operate this
new and innovative mower from Jacobsen. |
|
click on pictures for larger image |
 |
 |
| Joe Danhires
takes the new Eclipse for its first run on a green at Bellewood
Golf Club. |
Superintendent
Derrick Hudson discusses the Eclipse Mower with Chris Fox from
Jacobsen. |
 |
 |
|
Joe Danhires and Derian Keefer
each get some time to operate this new floating head greens
mower. Notice the familiar Jake cutting unit which is mowing
independently of the front grass catcher roller and the traction
unit drive drum. This unit also uses the Jacobsen InCommand
"D-Shaped" handle, a 4hp Honda engine, and other common proven
components brought together to give this new machine a proven
reliability before it even goes into production. |
|
