Method and apparatus for cutting an athletic field line

Apparatus for cutting an athletic field boundary line, comprising:

• a cutter head;
• an axle rotatably mounted to said cutter head by means of right and left adjustable flange bearings supporting said axle near each end thereof;
• a plurality of cutter blades fixedly mounted to said axle so as to be perpendicular thereto;
• said cutter head comprising an arcuate hood extending over said cutter blades, a right wall and a left wall depending from said hood on either side of said cutter blades;
• said right and left adjustable bearings each having two mounting bolts, a first right bearing mounting bolt being received in a bore in said right wall, a second right bearing mounting bolt being received in an arcuate slot in said right wall, an axle slot formed in said right wall in between said bore and said second right bearing arcuate slot, said left wall having a corresponding bore and arcuate slot for the mounting of said left bearing by corresponding bolts and a corresponding axle slot, the position of the axle with respect to said axle slots being adjustable by varying the position of said second bearing bolts within said arcuate slots;
• and
• drive means coupled to said axle for supplying power to rotate said axle and said cutter blades.

A method for cutting an athletic field boundary line, comprising the steps of:

• positioning an operator station behind a cutter head such that the operator's line of sight is in line with the line of travel and the cutter head;
• providing a cutter head axle with a plurality of vertically oriented spaced apart cutter blades;
• adjusting the cutter blade axle with respect to the cutter head by positioning a first axle bearing bolt within an arcuate slot formed in a right wall of the cutter head, a second axle bearing bolt being received within a bore in the right wall, the axle being received through an axle slot in the right wall located between the first bearing bolt arcuate slot and the bore;
• likewise adjusting a second bearing located on a left wall of the cutter head;
• hinging the cutter head to the chassis of the cutter apparatus, at an axis radially removed from the blade axle;
• adjustably articulating the cutter head such that the locus of the cutter blade extremities skims the earth;
• and
• moving the cutter apparatus in the line of travel to remove grass and the like from a predetermined strip of earth defining the boundary line, the operator checking the progress of the cutter head against his line of sight.