FEL Mounted Brush Mower / Trimmer

[MacAttack]

I too am interested in specs. Specifically your tractor hp and PTO hp. I have ambitions of moving my 3pt mower to the FEL. I only have 26hp at the PTO on a 35hp Tractor.

 

[Hilbilly]

The motor I used is linked below. However you will need to match the motor to the pump you use. My case was unique in that I used an odd hydraulic pump, not one of the ones typically used by others on this forum. My pump was picked up at an auction and I had to find the pump specs from the manufacturer and ended up having to build a speed increaser to develop the correct pressure, rpm and flow for the motor I used.

My tractor is 60 hp with 53 at the PTO but I don't think that is a factor if you are going to use a hydraulic power pack to operate the mower. I would be more concerned about the torque on the FEL, especially on a smaller tractor loader.

There are lots of threads on this forum that use a typical PTO pump and give the motor specs / supplier information. Good luck with your build.

Motor

 

[Hilbilly]

I just want to add this for anyone that is still following this thread.

I am still using this setup every year and have not had any problems. I still get the snappy movements from the horizontal position but it hasn't been an issue. I am very happy with the performance and so glad I made this.

 

[JWR]

I too am interested in specs. Specifically your tractor hp and PTO hp. I have ambitions of moving my 3pt mower to the FEL. I only have 26hp at the PTO on a 35hp Tractor.

It is hard to pay enough attention to the Lane Shark. That includes hydraulics, flow specs, mounting, etc. I think it was a really commendable project that Hilbilly took on to make his converted commercial standard small Landpride cutter work on the FEL. As noted way back in this thread, I have an early Lane Shark which operates directly from the tractor hydraulic pump and not from a power-pack or PTO driven pump. Lane Shark people sensed a mass-market need to provide such an attachment that DID NOT require some monster high-flow skid-steer pump to drive it yet would cut light brush and overhanging limbs very effectively. Their drive motor was very carefuly selected (no doubt by cut and try) to meet that niche. They built a business around that concept in my view. There are a lot of 'lessons learned' and subtle issues doing this... such as sudden stops in hyd flow when you raise the FEL frame or tilt it upward, smoothing that transition and avoiding 'shock' to the pump and the whole system. Such as the need for free flow back to the hydraulic sump, etc.
There have been commercial attempts at a Lane Shark clone, amounting to knock-offs by larger companies, etc. as well as individuals like Hiilbilly having a great idea and able to go ahead with it as a project.
A few comments: I don't know the size of 3pt mower you contemplate trying this with. The Lane Shark I have is a 44" cut and i do not think you want anything bigger than that on your 35HP tractor unless you use a PTO driven pump. Secondly, I find the FEL mounted mower to be a specialty device used for a limited set of tasks, NOT a good thing for general purpose brush cutting. If this is your only rotary brush cutter then don't put it in your FEL ! I like the Lane Shark for trimming places I cannot otherwise reach, especially for clipping off overhanging intrusive branches along fence rows, etc. but that is probably less than 5% of my cutting needs (on a 100 acre hilly farm where you can get a tractor on only half of it.) I had experience with a boom mower which had a 17ft reach (and had other utilization troubles with it.) But people wanting to reach across gullies and down steep embankments will learn that these gadgets DO help but they have very quickly-learned-limits with their reach too. Your FEL does not really reach out as far as it might seem to overly excited users.
I think Hilbilly has done a fantastic job making his implementation very "adjustable," incorporating hydraulic tilt (which I wish mine had), etc. Great project when you have the fabrication equipment and skills as well as the ability to do it.