Although front plain mowers are traditionally uncommon on the Irish market, Pöttinger’s new side-shift feature is a clever update.

The OptiCurve feature is so far only available on the Novacat F 3100 front mower.

It has been designed to ensure a perfect overlap with the rear mower and to avoid the tractor driving over grass when cornering or on steep side slopes.

Working through IsoBus, this automatic feature performs a lateral shift of 20cm on a slope, and can tilt the mower by up to 8° when turning.

The OptiCurve angle sensors analyse the inclination of the slope and the turning of the tractor wheels, and control the mower’s movement via two hydraulic cylinders on the headstock.

If the tractor drifts sideways when cornering or on steep terrain, the rear tyre does not run over grass that has not been cut yet as the mower shifts towards the inner radius of the curve.

This means that the driver’s workload is significantly reduced because no intervention is required.