Thinking about making an electric Bank mower

[saskman49]

I have been wanting a bank mower that I can attach to my 2320's 3pt and basically have a hyd cylinder push the mower out to the side to drop down over a bank similar to a couple other projects in the hyd section. My problem is 1: using a pump and hyd motor driven from the PTO is wayy over my budget and 2: I cannot find a 2 stroke engine to power it anywhere around these parts.
So first I have a 6.75hp craftsman 21" that the self propelled drive is gone on(it was given to me so if I destroy it no loss) Problem is this mower could be on it's side for 10 to 15 min at a time and all my banks could take a couple hrs to do, so I am thinking this engine would not last very long. What do you guys think?

2nd seemingly viable option would be to get a China knockoff 6.5hp engine and run a 100 or so amp alternator on it with a battery and power an electric motor on the deck. I can get one of these engines for 99 bux and 100 amp alternators are 20 bux at the scrap yard so I would be out a scrap yard battery as well would only have to find a suitable electric motor.

Am I way off base thinking this would work or is it a doable idea?

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[KennyV]

would only have to find a suitable electric motor.

.

This will be more expensive and harder to find than any other approach....

 

[LBrown59]

I've been thinking about doing about the same thing with an old push mower.

I have been wanting a bank mower that I can attach to my 2320's 3pt and basically have a hyd cylinder push the mower out to the side to drop down over a bank similar to a couple other projects in the hyd section. My problem is 1: using a pump and hyd motor driven from the PTO is wayy over my budget and 2: I cannot find a 2 stroke engine to power it anywhere around these parts.
So first I have a 6.75hp craftsman 21" that the self propelled drive is gone on(it was given to me so if I destroy it no loss) Problem is this mower could be on it's side for 10 to 15 min at a time and all my banks could take a couple hrs to do, so I am thinking this engine would not last very long. What do you guys think?

2nd seemingly viable option would be to get a China knockoff 6.5hp engine and run a 100 or so amp alternator on it with a battery and power an electric motor on the deck. I can get one of these engines for 99 bux and 100 amp alternators are 20 bux at the scrap yard so I would be out a scrap yard battery as well would only have to find a suitable electric motor.

Am I way off base thinking this would work or is it a doable idea?

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[zmoz]

2nd seemingly viable option would be to get a China knockoff 6.5hp engine and run a 100 or so amp alternator on it with a battery and power an electric motor on the deck.

That's 1300 watts, give or take. Less than 2hp. If you are successfull at finding a 1.5hp 12v electric motor at all, it will cost $500. And it will still be less than 2hp. Also I've NEVER seen a 1+ HP 12v electric motor with a duty cycle of more than a few minutes.

 

[gc2310]

Find an old 2 stroke flymo and hang it out on your linkage off the 3pth. It will run up side down if necessary.

 

[Obed]

John,
I feel for you. I hate mowing banks and have determined that I will never do it again. The last two places I've lived had banks I had to mow. For the house we are currently building, it is my intention that if I can't mow it with my riding mower, it won't get mowed. I'm trying to avoid banks at all cost. We'll see how successful I am as our house will have a basement and 2 retaining walls and a lot of extra dirt we need to do something with. If an area is too steep for mowing, I'm thinking of planting bushes. Trimming bushes once a year is a whole lot easier that mowing a bank every week with a push mower.

Obed

 

[reddog176]

Just get a 3 point hitch sickle bar mower, they work wonders on banks as long as their kept sharp. You can usually find used ones for a few hundred bucks.

 

[saskman49]

Thanks for all the input, I have a sickle bar mower but it won't mow a couple of the banks I need to do firstly because the ones in front of our house I want finished and another by our dugout is too long a slope to do. A couple more I do with it so I can use the hay for our Llama's. I found a soulution yesterday though.. I got a GE electric push mower in good shape for 5 bux and will buy a 1500 watt generator to mount on the cart to power it. My BIL has one of these generators and it powers the mower np. Best of all the generator is on sale for abt 150.00. I have all the metal and hyd rams to make the boom from stuff I picked up at auctions now I just need to wait till the warm weather returns in the spring.

 

[LBrown59]

John,
I feel for you. I hate mowing banks and have determined that I will never do it again. The last two places I've lived had banks I had to mow. For the house we are currently building, it is my intention that if I can't mow it with my riding mower, it won't get mowed. I'm trying to avoid banks at all cost. We'll see how successful I am as our house will have a basement and 2 retaining walls and a lot of extra dirt we need to do something with. If an area is too steep for mowing, I'm thinking of planting bushes. Trimming bushes once a year is a whole lot easier that mowing a bank every week with a push mower.

Obed

You could pave them

 

[zmoz]

Keep in mind any mower that runs from a 1500w generator is still only 2hp or less. You'll need to make very narrow passes unless you mow frequently. Maybe you could try two mowers? 3000w china generators aren't very expensive.

Those kind of mowers are meant for yuppie howmowners who think they're saving the world by switching to electric...