mower, farm machine used for cutting grasses and other hay crops. Mowers, drawn by or attached to tractors, or self-propelled, have superseded scythes. The mower is essentially an adaptation of the much earlier reaper. The first commercial mower was patented in 1847. Modern tractor mowers are usually described, according to their attachment to the tractor, as trailing, rear-mounted, or side-mounted. Lawn mowers are smaller machines, powered and propelled by hand or by gasoline motors.
See C. Culpin, Farm Machinery (12th ed. 1992).
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