I am building my own pull-type finish mower.

[jimgerken]

I have been working on a trail mower to extend my mowing width and trim under trees. The project started with a new Honda 42" mower deck originally intended for belly mount under their 4518/4213/3813 tractors. I got a deal on several of them, still new in the orignal pallet boxes. I had been planning a trail mower for some time but was accumulating parts for building the deck myself, when I saw this deal on surplus Honda decks. After having owned the Honda 4518 tractor, I knew the deck was a great one. The spindles are nicely machined cast, with large splined shafts, the deck is about 12 gauge steel, good stuff. Anyway, my project got simpler then, only needing to power the deck and put on wheels and a hitch. I will show you pics of it in-progress, no paint, still details to work out. Before anyone asks "why all the angles?" I will state that it is evolving with many requirements and experiements. One thing was to be able to mow under spruce trees, where it is tough to get without a push mower (yuck!). This drove the very offset look to it, with the engine and wheels toward one side. Last night I took a couple pics (one attached), after "finishing" the first-pass hitch. Tonight I will put the engine back on (it has been on before and run successfully before there was a hitch), tommorrow it mows! for the first time. Then more changes, before dissassembly for cleanup, and paint. Final assembly will use better hardware, nylock nuts, etc.
Your feedback welcome, but please be kind, it looks tough in raw steel and weird at first due to the angling design. I will continue to post as it finishes up now in the next couple weeks.

 

[jimgerken]

Sorry about that picture thing, i think it is corrected now. Her is one of the mechanics, with my clutch engagement lever across the foreground of the pic. And other details...

 

[jimgerken]

Here is a shot of my John Deere tractor in a full-left turn, and you are looking down over the rear tire at how close the trail mower follows. This is an extreme manuver and will not typically be needed. Another requirement was to keep the whole rig as compact as possible to make it fit in tighter places on the lawn and in the shed. The picture shows how tight it is, in the corners.

 

[jimgerken]

...and here is a shot of it next to a Spruce tree, as I hope to use it to mow those "unreachable" areas. I think its going to work!

 

[jwstewar]

Looking real good. I used a pull behind for awhile. Sold it last year. I wish sometimes that I hadn't. Couple of things that I wish mine would had. Is the motor electric start? If so, figure out a way that you can start it/shut it off from the tractor seat. That was always a pain with mine if you happened to stall it and then having stop the tractor, shut its deck down, set brake, get off, restart......Not sure how that would work though with the clutch setup you have unless you could rig up a long extension for the clutch lever.

 

[beenthere]

Looks like a fun project. Curious if the trailing mower cuts the grass left by the Deere mower deck? Looks like it is cutting the corner in the left turn under the spruce tree and missing a swatch, but looks may be deceiving.
I hope you don't get pelted with sticks and stones thrown out of the trailing mower deck.
I cringe when I see people mowing with others in the yard, or like the other day, watching to young girls mowing around each other with a couple ride-on mowers and not even safety glasses. Some of the sticks and stones can travel a pretty mean path, let alone some of the 4th of July sparklers that leave a wire sticking in the ground. (this comment not directed at you, but may be useful information for some readers that don't know).

 

[jim_wilson]

Is there any way something like this could be built but have it PTO powered? Wondering if there is some sort of PTO gearbox adapter that could be used to adapt a deck like this instead of using a separate engine to power it. I ask this because I have been thinking of using my BX23 for some mowing but I don't want to spend the $1700 or so it will take to buy an MMM for it. Figure if I could find a cheap deck somewhere that and a little bit of welding might get me a rear mount finish mower or an MMM for much less money.

 

[mrcaptainbob]

That's a great job, Jim! Just wondering here...Would it 'travel' better if the arm llink were at the front of that deck? Seems like pulling would be easier than pushing. As you pointed out, the picture angles are sometimes deceiving. A stroke of good luck getting those decks. As for remote power on/off, you may be able to incorporate an electric clutch. Then a small little accessory panel for your on/off, start and clutch switch. Maybe a connection similar to trailer light hookup?

 

[jimgerken]

Thanks for the feedback and ideas guys. I will try to answer some of the comments/questions. I finished engine install early last night, so I actually had time to mow with it (see new picture too).
No electric start, the old Tecumseh I used to power it is recoil start. It pulls easily because of the clutch. This is what I wanted, so lower mainenance (no battery), and lower weight and cost. So I have to live with jumping on and off the tractor. I will be routing the on/off kill switch on a long wire and magnet mount, so it can be stuck on the tractor fender or roll bar when hooked up, for safety shutting it down quickly.
Missing a swath when turning sharp left. Yes,it does. I cant figure a way around this 'cause it is on the left side. Cant trail it on the right, it has to be on the non-mowed grass side, so I have to live with this one too. I make one revolution tight around the tree, then make another rev with the trail mower deck out further enough to catch the missed swath, meanwhile my JD deck is mowing even bigger circle. In two revs it seems to have mowed out about 12 feet from the edge of the tree, all the way around. That's like four revs without the trail mower, and I could never mow the grass under the tree before. Really makes the wife happy to see all that scraggly looking grass under the trees mowed off.
Thanks for the safety reminders, I was thinking of removing the safety chute, but will maybe just prop it open an extra inch or so. It is too low and tends to pile the clippings in a windrow. I pulled it up completly and it was fine. Maybe somewhere in between offers some protection and good dispersment of clippings.
PTO powered. I think it could be done. I have recently bought and old cub 112 with rear PTO, in fact I havent even trailered it home yet. I would like to try putting a deck behind this tractor, driven by the PTO. It would take a right angle gearbox or some creative belt twisting, but should be feasible. Sounds like a cold winter project.
Hitch arm at front of deck. Actually this setup works really well. It puts good pressure at the fixed wheels and allows the casters to float around nicely. Force seen by the pulling tractor is the same, I feel, in either case. This setup allowed me to get the trail deck one foot closer to the pulling tractor. The closer it is to the puller, the less you miss in the corners, and/or the less you have to overlap.
Overall, the mower worked beautifully. We wer very happy with the cut, and the way it worked around the trees. I guessed good at the cutting height setup, 'cause there was no telling a difference in the finished cut, except for the clippings dispersement. One problem, the darn wheel bearings are too simple to last. They are open not sealed, and there is no preload spacer between the inner races in the hubs. I will be researching new bearings soon.

 

[jimgerken]

Here's another picture. Sure is fun watching it dissappear under the trees, while I am safely out of range of those limbs.