Finish mower chains

[winston1]

Well 284, I decided to go ahead with my safety chains. I used 2/0 twisted chain only because I had 15' on hand. Had to buy a small piece to complete as you can see from the shiny ones. I used 1/8" x 1-1/2" flat bar. I drilled 1/4" holes on 1" centers which gave me 55 links. The factory one has 42 links but they use a different chain. I cut my links with an angle grinder and Harbor Freights little cutting disc's. After squeezing them together on the flat bar I put a little weld back on each link. Hasn't been out for a test run yet because the paint is wet.

 

[RoyJackson]

Nice job, Winston!!

 

[284 International]

It looks terrific! The color even looks like it matches pretty well! I'm eager to hear how it works at suppressing the thrown debris. I'm hoping to start mine this weekend.

 

[Ginormous]

To test it properly, you need to seed your yard with various projectiles (golf balls, rocks, aerosol cans, more rocks and maybe an old tire iron) then report back.

BTW, looks great!

 

[winston1]

I mowed a yard this afternoon without any broken windows. I didn't seed it with all that stuff though. :laughing: Looks like it is going to work OK. If I see any evidence to the contrary as time goes by I will let you guys know.

 

[284 International]

How do you feel about the spacing of the chains? Does it block enough debris shooting out? Does it restrict the discharge too much? Would you change anything? I was kind of planning on the 2/0 linked chain already, and it looks good. It seems...denser, I guess, and like it should work better than a more spaced out series of links.

 

[winston1]

I wish I had put them just a little closer together. Looking as this picture of a Sitrex it would still seem possible debris could get through there. Everything Attachments | Skid Steer Attachments, Tractor Attachments, 3 Point Hitch Attachments, and Farm Tractor Implements. The factory jobber from Woods has 42 links spacing them at about 1-3/8" but they use the chain as shown on the sitrex. No problem with discharge stoppage. Haven't mowed any knee high grass though. I used the twisted chain only because I already had it. If I had bought it new I would have used the 1/4" link chain as shown. I now find this picture of one like mine and I can count at least 50 links. WOODS RD60 GROOMING MOWER w/CHAIN SHIELDING | eBay My woods manual doesn't show that. Oh well.

 

[RoyJackson]

I wish I had put them just a little closer together.

You have plenty of shielding to prevent (or at least, slow down) anything from flying out from underneath that mower.
It's a fine job!!

Remember, most RFM's don't have shielding of any sort...

 

[YanmarFever]

Winston, those chains look GREAT !!!

Squirt a little WD40 on them before you mow and the grass wont stick to them.

Think of the $$ you saved doing it yourself.

 

[deepNdirt]

great Job:thumbsup: I'm wondering though! does the cut grass clump up underneath the mower and leave lay behind? reason asking is I've seen 2 configurations of Finish mower design, and I have actually added a 3rd design the other design is the side discharge just as a ridding mower would have, with this trype of discharge of course it blows the cutting out and away, I have gotten a 60" cutting deck from a JD commercial mower and made it to work with the 3 pnt and PTO of my tractor, When using it the discharge is out to the side and blows the clippings ahead of me in a 45% angle, In spite of the advice I receive when inquiring about the conversion many months ago it was actually much easier to leave everything as it were and simply and the A-arm and connecting pins and of course the gearbox and drive-shaft was already there, Now being this thing is 60" wide cut, although adding the discharge chute adds another 10" totaling 70".

I'm thinking of cutting off the discharge chute and opening up the rear,
Question?: this mower deck looks like or at least from the top side looks like has directional pathway for the clippings to travel before discharging,
Will the clippings be blown out the rear opening or will it matter and simply just drop and lay?
Sorry! Winston if you prefer I can start my own thread, although I thought this could be relevant to your thread as well,

 

[Ginormous]

As long as the grass has somewhere it can exit, it will. If not, it will be a super "mulching" mower. It will need a lot of power to run and will have a hard time with tall grass. My guess anyway...

 

[winston1]

This Woods mower is pretty new to me so I can't speak with any certainties about it. It has a high blade tip speed and will for ever more cause a dust cloud when on dry ground. I have mowed one yard of thick "to tall" grass and had to take a real slow ground speed to keep from slipping the belt. This was before the chain addition. From my experience with finish mowers I believe grass is to be kept mowed like a yard and not a pasture. The less expensive Harbor Freight mower I had with the chain guard did a good job but could also be overloaded. I don't believe any overload was caused by the chain guard. I do know depending on side or rear discharge the baffles are different in these mowers. I guess you might use a side discharge for a rear discharge but not sure how effective it would be. In East Texas the rear discharge seem to be the most popular. Not sure why.

 

[Roonabeck]

I thought I should post a picture of the factory woods chains on my slightly smaller RFM, but I didn't get around to taking them until today. The chain links are as close to each other as they can be, while still being allowed to hang freely.

 

[Ginormous]

I just finished making a chain guard for my Woods 4' rotary mower. I used about 22' of 1/4" galvanized chain -- yes, my hands hurt from making all of those cuts with a bolt cutter -- metal stock with holes every 3/4" and SS hardware (all from Lowes.) I used 2" bolts which allowed me to space the chains out from the mower deck. I made certain the chain can NOT reach the blade tips. To hang the pieces, I cut a link, spread it just enough to get it over the sheet metal and into the hole, then squeezed it with my big pliers to make the gap too small for it to get off again. Notice what I did at the corners between the straight pieces. I hung a piece of chain to make the corner and then hung length of chain from that. I could have left a gap there, but I decided not to. The first picture is part way done and the second is with it completed. I like it! :thumbsup:

... and now I need to finish the paint job on the mower.

 

[clemsonfor]

Dang you got a lot of tool boxes. That 2x8 with the custom V shaped tool box so that your implements can still raise. You must keep tons of chain etc in there.

 

[clemsonfor]

I just finished making a chain guard for my Woods 4' rotary mower. I used about 22' of 1/4" galvanized chain -- yes, my hands hurt from making all of those cuts with a bolt cutter -- metal stock with holes every 3/4" and SS hardware (all from Lowes.) I used 2" bolts which allowed me to space the chains out from the mower deck. I made certain the chain can NOT reach the blade tips. To hang the pieces, I cut a link, spread it just enough to get it over the sheet metal and into the hole, then squeezed it with my big pliers to make the gap too small for it to get off again. Notice what I did at the corners between the straight pieces. I hung a piece of chain to make the corner and then hung length of chain from that. I could have left a gap there, but I decided not to. The first picture is part way done and the second is with it completed. I like it! :thumbsup:

... and now I need to finish the paint job on the mower.

Im not trying to dog you design and dont know what you use yours for, BUT... That would not last on my bushhog. The way you have it hanging out with the bolts i think it is prone to bend, esp the way i use my cutter. Again, not sure how use use it so it may not matter. But, i have many brusshy overgrown field edges and i back into those spots sometimes if i cant drive into them due to branches tight spot etc. Often times this will include backing over a 1-2 inch sweetgum or cedar, i would be afraid that this rear mowing will bend that chain holder all up.

Again just something i noticed that if a person contemplating this mod like i am may want to think about. Im just trying to bring the point up incase someone dosent notice this if considering this design.

If all you do is mow pastures in a circle or parallel lines it will prolly never matter.

 

[Ginormous]

Good point on backing over stuff. You're right, those pieces of metal stock would bend easily. It should work out for me because I just have a field I want to keep down. I never back up and I refuse to turn left.

 

[284 International]

Ginormous, you must not be a NASCAR fan if you refuse to turn left....:laughing:

 

[Ginormous]

I would definitely be a hazard on the track! People watch mainly to see the crashes, so I expect ratings would go up. :thumbsup:

 

[Ginormous]

I also reserve the right to show up in a MUCH BIGGER tractor. :shocked: I'll eat those little NASCAR cars for lunch.