Hello Triple R,
Candidly I was not attempting to demonize belly mowers or rear finish mowers
and I mentioned Iron horses mower story as an example only.
They fill a need for mowing with garden tractors and larger ag tractors.
And as the average garden tractor lawn mower is low in cost and the unit is designed with a low height belly mower the mower has to cost less.
The decks are stamped in a press and formed, the wind tunnel weldments are added and welded in place, wheel weldments are added,
holes drilled for arbor shafts and mounting holes, the arbors and pulleys added the decks painted and blades attached, the mower suspension is installed, belts installed and gaurds installed after the V belts are installed, and the mower is either installed on a waiting tractor and then crated and stored for shipment or the complete deck is stored in inventory for a tractor and installed later.
On occasion some buyers purchase two decks for their tractors to have a spare deck that is clean to mow with and allow the other one to be slid out and the clean one installed.
A family friend lost part of his foot when he slippped while using his push mower( no handle pressure kill switch on the old mower) and a cousins carelessness nearly killed his daughter with a leg wound.
About the Lexan, if the window has no has no venting the heat weakens the lead bed for the stained glass,- been there done that with our Tiffanies- a wood shutter is better anyway if they are short and exposed.
The small rotary belly mower is simply a means to an end for the lawn tractor owner due to the very low clearance height under the tractors frame and the mower was designed accordingly with the drive under the vertical engine crank shaft with a an electric clutch and V pulleys and flat pulleys to transfer the useable rotary eninge speed to the mower deck with and through spring tensioner pullies for shock load absorbsion and proper belt tension with the smaller units.
A flail mower has three weldments the side plates and the hood, the hitch mounts are welded after the hood and side weldments are welded together and bracing installed where required, the rear full width roller weldments added and then the full width rear roller.
The side weldments allow for quick drilling and precise positioning of the rotor bearing housing prior to welding the hood and side weldments together,
The gear box, gear box weldments, V belt drive and pulleys and or its chain drive and are welded in the proper location and belts or chain drive installed and the cover installed over the drive parts. the mower is crated and then stored etc.
The full width contact of the roller on the ground adds weight and stability to mowing and adds rigidity to the mower frame as well as reducing any twisting and racking of the mower body to zero with the weldments.
The last underbelly flail mower was made by Mott Mower for the International Harvester Lowboy high wheel Cub Cadet tractor from what I remember.
The Husquavarna folks now offer a front mounted flail mower for one of their garden tractors and it has two rows of knives I think. I am unsure if is available in the United States.
I would love to see permanent bar magnets in front of the tractor or belly mower or rear finish mower or 12 volt bar electromagnets, we can only do so much to protect ourselves from our selves
I dont wish to argue with anyone about mowers, I want everyone to succeed and not fail.
leonz
