Use mowing speed, not automatically the top travel speed.
A basic area estimate is cutting width in metres × mowing speed in metres per hour × field efficiency. The first two terms describe a continuous strip. The efficiency factor reduces that theoretical strip area to allow for overlap, turns and other losses included in your chosen measurement period. It is a planning assumption until checked against operating records.
If speed is entered in km/h, multiply it by 1,000 to convert it to metres per hour. An 800 mm deck moving at an assumed 2 km/h covers a theoretical strip of 1,600 m²/h. At an assumed 60% efficiency, the planning output is 960 m²/h. These are mathematical examples, not measured results for a ZHUOJIE model.
The catalog may list a travel-speed range. The fastest travel speed is not evidence that the machine can maintain that speed while cutting your vegetation. Ask what speed was used in any quoted productivity figure and what the test included.
How do you compare acres per hour with hectares per hour?
One hectare is 10,000 m², approximately 2.471 acres. The illustrative 960 m²/h output above is 0.096 ha/h, or about 0.237 acres/h. At those same assumed inputs, one acre would take approximately 4.22 hours of the defined working period. These are unit conversions of the example, not measured machine productivity.
If your survey uses acres, multiply by about 0.404686 to enter hectares in the calculator below. If a trial reports acres/hour, multiply by about 4,046.86 to compare m²/hour. Keep the same definition of working time for both figures. Compare the method as well as the units; an uninterrupted straight pass is not the same as an entire contractor shift.
Change the assumptions and see how time changes.
Compare width at the same assumed speed and efficiency.
| Catalog model | Cutting width | Example output at 2 km/h and 60% | Example time for 1 hectare |
|---|---|---|---|
| H-550L-A | 550 mm | 660 m²/h | 15.15 h |
| H-800L-D | 800 mm | 960 m²/h | 10.42 h |
| H-1200L Tank | 1200 mm | 1,440 m²/h | 6.94 h |
Only the cutting widths are catalog facts in this comparison. The speed, efficiency and resulting times are shared illustrative assumptions, not model test data. They isolate the effect of width; they do not show which machine will finish fastest on your property.
The H-1200L Tank lists 1600 mm overall width, while H-800L-D lists 1200 mm and H-550L-A lists 900 mm. A wider deck can reduce straight passes yet require more room at gates and headlands. Check the route and full dimensions before planning around the widest available cut.
Be clear about what your efficiency assumption includes.
Decide whether your timed period includes overlap, turns, inspections, refuelling and short moves within the site. Include each loss once. If a measured area-per-hour figure already includes those tasks, applying another arbitrary reduction can double-count them. If a figure is measured only while cutting straight rows, it will not describe a full working day.
Keep transport between sites, loading and unloading, larger breaks and tasks outside the calculation separate. Divide area by the planning output for the estimated mowing time, then add the separate tasks. Do not turn a calculator result into a guaranteed daily workload or a payback claim.
For dense vegetation, uneven ground or several separate work areas, request a representative demonstration and a lower-speed scenario. Use the model finder and work-time calculator as a shortlist tool; its estimates still need validation against your site.
Use the next job to replace assumptions with evidence.
Record the measured area, start and finish time, machine configuration, vegetation, cutting height and ground conditions. Note which interruptions were included. Calculate completed area divided by elapsed hours for that same measurement scope. Repeat across representative work sections rather than extrapolating one unusually easy pass to the entire property.
Ask for a work-plan discussion
Send the area, vegetation, access and measured slope using the buyer worksheet. Ask which configuration should be demonstrated and which productivity figures are measured versus estimated.