RobJ
Elite Member
Ok so I guess no one has tried this as the response was overwhelming here....
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/128746-anyone-ever-convert-side-discharge.html
So winter time is here or not much more grass cutting time is here so the deed is done.
I brought the FM home this past weekend...or a stripped down version, weighing over 500# I could not get the whole thing in the pickup by myself. I removed the main belt/pto drive, 3pt, blades/spindles, and the wheels. I'll have help getting it back in the truck so I'm not worried about that.
The old side shoot baffle was shreded and caused the grass to clump at times. After debating on whether to rebuild it as a side discharge I decided WTH!! Step 1 was to cover some of the thin spots in the deck with new plate. This was my main reason for repair. Gonna guess the deck is maybe 12ga steel. Not 10 I'm pretty sure. But it had thinned around some of the blade circles and had holes in a couple places. The mower was bought new with the tractor in 1999 and was used in a mowing business. I bought the rig in 2005. I used mostly 3/16", 1/8" plate to cover the thin parts.
The old baffle was probably 18 gauge steel, pretty flimsly. I found some nice 1/16" or a little better plate at my local SSS Steel in the surplus yard. BTW, their scrap prices have come way down! Since I don't have or know how to use an english wheel, I sort of bent the piece every few inches a bit to get a curve. The rest was sort of flexed and banged into place. There wasn't much clearance in the old baffle and not much here either. Fitting isn't that great, I used some patterns to get it close. The front chute/discharge area angles in depth a bit. I added plenty of weld and they are very strong. We'll see how they hold up after some of our precious iron ore finds its way under the mower. I'm actually hoping it will be better since things should spend a lot less time under the mower. IE in the past, the cut grass from the left blade was passed to the center blade which passed it to the right blade, then out. A fun fact is that the Woods designers added a smaller pulley for faster blade speed to the side furtherest from the discharge.
You can see from one pic I outlined in soapstone where the old baffle was. To open up the rear discharge area I cut the back of the mower and just banged it up. the old lip is turned down so the grass will hit this and will be diverted down. I'm not sure if this will be a good thing or a bad thing. I might have to cut this piece off all the way.
I might get a chance this weekend to test it out. I'll follow up with some pics. Oh yes I painted it black. It sits outside most of the year and the sun heats up the black and keeps (evaporates) the standing water out of it..at least its supposed to.
Rob
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/128746-anyone-ever-convert-side-discharge.html
So winter time is here or not much more grass cutting time is here so the deed is done.
I brought the FM home this past weekend...or a stripped down version, weighing over 500# I could not get the whole thing in the pickup by myself. I removed the main belt/pto drive, 3pt, blades/spindles, and the wheels. I'll have help getting it back in the truck so I'm not worried about that.
The old side shoot baffle was shreded and caused the grass to clump at times. After debating on whether to rebuild it as a side discharge I decided WTH!! Step 1 was to cover some of the thin spots in the deck with new plate. This was my main reason for repair. Gonna guess the deck is maybe 12ga steel. Not 10 I'm pretty sure. But it had thinned around some of the blade circles and had holes in a couple places. The mower was bought new with the tractor in 1999 and was used in a mowing business. I bought the rig in 2005. I used mostly 3/16", 1/8" plate to cover the thin parts.
The old baffle was probably 18 gauge steel, pretty flimsly. I found some nice 1/16" or a little better plate at my local SSS Steel in the surplus yard. BTW, their scrap prices have come way down! Since I don't have or know how to use an english wheel, I sort of bent the piece every few inches a bit to get a curve. The rest was sort of flexed and banged into place. There wasn't much clearance in the old baffle and not much here either. Fitting isn't that great, I used some patterns to get it close. The front chute/discharge area angles in depth a bit. I added plenty of weld and they are very strong. We'll see how they hold up after some of our precious iron ore finds its way under the mower. I'm actually hoping it will be better since things should spend a lot less time under the mower. IE in the past, the cut grass from the left blade was passed to the center blade which passed it to the right blade, then out. A fun fact is that the Woods designers added a smaller pulley for faster blade speed to the side furtherest from the discharge.
You can see from one pic I outlined in soapstone where the old baffle was. To open up the rear discharge area I cut the back of the mower and just banged it up. the old lip is turned down so the grass will hit this and will be diverted down. I'm not sure if this will be a good thing or a bad thing. I might have to cut this piece off all the way.
I might get a chance this weekend to test it out. I'll follow up with some pics. Oh yes I painted it black.
It sits outside most of the year and the sun heats up the black and keeps (evaporates) the standing water out of it..at least its supposed to.Rob
