Front mount ATV paddock topper and light duty rough/slope terrain brush mower

[cpy911]

I did some looking online (Youtube) for what people had done for a front mount ATV mower. I just started hacking this together and making up the design as I went along. I am not a fabber, not a welder, just like DIY (or being cheap) and try to learn what I can by making mistakes and improving.

The primary purpose of this machine is to quickly knock down the pasture weeds that grow taller than the grass and grasses that are going to seed that the cows don't get to. Right now, it is at a fixed height of about 6" cut for "pasture topping". I find that the ATV is faster for light duty stuff like this than the tractor. It would probably fail mowing tall thick fescue...that is not what it is for though.

The secondary purpose is to mow down light brush/grasses on some sloped areas on the property that I am not comfortable with using the tractor. These areas are easy with the ATV without a problem, that includes a small sloped part of the pasture that is easy to ride on with the ATV. Every summer, I thoroughly mow the pastures by knocking down all the dead stuff the cows left.

I literally built this out of stuff I had sitting around and the mowers were purchased for about $50 from craigslist. I consider it a prototype and will work out the bugs and rebuild it out of complete steel (or use as is, until the deck and side frame rots out and the mower engines no longer stay "mounted")

I am not quite finished, need to make the hitch on the front of the ATV, add some more cross braces and cinch everything down.

I would do it completely different, knowing what I know now, but had to go through the first iteration to learn. Wanted to keep it simple and cheap: direct drive with two proven technology mower engines (no belts, etc). The most expensive item is the castors form Harbor Freight at $18 a piece. They are heavy duty greaseable at least.

Which way is front? The motors are mounted so I can easily pull the cord...so they are technically backwards. Honestly, this could be pulled or pushed any direction and it should matter. I could pull it with my riding mower if needed.

I am posting this to help others with their ideas and like similar projects...not as an example of quality fab work as it is not that great.

Regards,
cpy911

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

Interesting....

I want to see a report with pictures of how it works...
Good luck...

 

[Oz_Kioti]

We bought such a mower in 2003 and found it was quite unwieldy on any sort of a slope when trying to turn uphill.


It has three cutting discs, for a total width of 60 inches, and was powered by a Kohler 16hp single cylinder.

The manufacturer recognised the steering limitations, and offered an optional "tow behind" kit.



In this configuration, it's brilliant! No fumes, and easy towing.

I replaced the original engine with a twin Kohler 22hp, and it does the job we ask of it. The 16hp was just a little underpowered for the grasses we were mowing,

 

[cpy911]

We bought such a mower in 2003 and found it was quite unwieldy on any sort of a slope when trying to turn uphill.
View attachment 726848

It has three cutting discs, for a total width of 60 inches, and was powered by a Kohler 16hp single cylinder.

The manufacturer recognised the steering limitations, and offered an optional "tow behind" kit.

View attachment 726849

In this configuration, it's brilliant! No fumes, and easy towing.

I replaced the original engine with a twin Kohler 22hp, and it does the job we ask of it. The 16hp was just a little underpowered for the grasses we were mowing,

This is good to know. Thank you. In tow configuration, do the back wheel still swivel? Is the mount to the back of the ATV swivel?

 

[Oz_Kioti]

Here are a couple pics which hopefully will be helpful!

The starter motor for the Kohler gets it's power from the ATV, and I've disconnected the charging circuit of the Kohler. I didn't want to have the ATV AND the Kohler both pumping charge into the ATV's battery. It might not have been necessary, but I figured the bike's charging circuit would be just fine without the help of the Kohlers.

Hope these help.

 

[cpy911]

Oz_Kioti, those pictures are great! Good explanations. Thank you!​

 

[cpy911]

I was able to get it more or less complete and hooked it up to the front of the ATV (after attaching a mount to front of ATV)

I tried it out and discovered quickly that steering it uphill is very difficult as Oz_Kioti stated. Going downhill is fine. I was trying to get uphill and the steering got difficult and then my front mount broke off, I have since really reinforced it. Thanks to that input, I had already modified my design to be a pull behind config...which is fine for the pasture as it is big with long swaths. Following is tow configuration. Note the crazy metal, I just welded together what I had on hand.

I recently found this company in Australia. They have something similar to what I have put together...wish I could have seen this sooner for more inspiration...oh well. Video of it in action. They have staggered their engines, which is probably better. I had measured my cheap craftsman rider with a two spindle deck and found about 1/4" blade gap between the blade tips...I went with 3/8" to ensure the blades don't crash into each other. I am not looking for a perfect look...just knock down the weeds and seed head grass that the cows missed.

I will update this when it is time for mowing!

 

[Stomper]

interesting project, Thanks for sharing. I have contemplated a project like this for some time now to control grass and small willows on our cross country ski trails.

 

[ArlyA]

Interesting build. Keep us posted!

 

[cpy911]

Got it to a working level now. Time to try it out this Spring. On to other projects now. Will report and try to make a video of it going. I am afraid tow behind will be best configuration to work.

 

[Xfaxman]

I don't see any spindle offset so that the blades overlap slightly:

This offset prevents leaving a strip of unmowed grass:

Hope you can get it working out front, maybe add some weights to give the tires more traction.

 

[cpy911]

I don't see any spindle offset so that the blades overlap slightly:
View attachment 730898
This offset prevents leaving a strip of unmowed grass:
View attachment 730896

Hope you can get it working out front, maybe add some weights to give the tires more traction.

Yes, offset would be better, but I had measured my cheap craftsman rider with a two spindle deck and found about 1/4" blade gap between the blade tips...I went with 3/8" to ensure the blades don't crash into each other. I am not looking for a perfect look...just knock down the weeds and seed head grass that the cows missed.

 

[Oz_Kioti]

Hope you can get it working out front, maybe add some weights to give the tires more traction.

The problem in "pusher mode" is that even with the two front swivelling wheels on the mower, when trying to turn uphill, the weight of the mower is just too much for the quad bike's front wheels to effect any change in direction. Even with 4WD selected, the front steering wheels of the bike, being in the middle of the train, have next to no effect. So the whole rig just keeps going straight ahead, with the bike's steering wheels scuffing sideways.

I photoshopped the mower to revert it to push-mode (ie - photoshopped out the towing mod), and the mower in the composite photo is in the original position relative to the quadbike. The bike and the mower are to the same scale. In push mode, the bracket at the rear of the mower was secured by two pins to a frame fixed to the front of the bike.

 

[cpy911]

The problem in "pusher mode" is that even with the two front swivelling wheels on the mower, when trying to turn uphill, the weight of the mower is just too much for the quad bike's front wheels to effect any change in direction. Even with 4WD selected, the front steering wheels of the bike, being in the middle of the train, have next to no effect. So the whole rig just keeps going straight ahead, with the bike's steering wheels scuffing sideways.

I photoshopped the mower to revert it to push-mode (ie - photoshopped out the towing mod), and the mower in the composite photo is in the original position relative to the quadbike. The bike and the mower are to the same scale. In push mode, the bracket at the rear of the mower was secured by two pins to a frame fixed to the front of the bike.
View attachment 730988

This is exactly what I experienced when I was doing a test run. I quickly changed the design to pull behind and it works better...

 

[cpy911]

Finally had a chance to take the machine AKA "Dual Red" out. It has been super, super wet here in pacific northwest and finally had a dry day to try it. It exceeded my expectations. Having no mulching and just a flat deck, means the material just gets shredded, I heard no bogging down of the Briggs 6.5 HP motors at all!

 

[cpy911]

Another update. I had a chance to take the unit with my old Honda ATV over some really thick 2'+ tall fescue. It did ok if I went really, really slow. The right mower tended to stall out a lot. I think it could not discharge to the side very well (there is a 2X6" there that is the frame) and was receiving discharge from the other mower too. It would then get a clump stuck between the blade tip and frame and kill the engine.

If the grassy area was not very thick, I could go a lot faster with minimal problems. I found that taking it into "rough" areas (that are not regularly mowed) puts it at risk. I hit a small stump that was impossible to see and damaged some of the wooden parts of the frame and popped a couple welds. About 15 mins of repair I was back at it, but realized it should be used in the finished areas and pasture areas, not rough woodland/creek areas. The original purpose of the unit is to "top" clip pastures on occasion 1-2X a year to knock down what the cows don't eat. That will be an easy job as the cows eat the bulk and knocking down seed heads will be easy task for this. I have it set to about 5" height and is perfect to leave forage, but knock down the weed seed heads. So, it will do the work nicely as designed. The lawnmower engines are easy to find <$50 and I can keep this unit going for a long time for cheap. Overall, for about $150 for the engines and castors...it will pay for itself in time over using a tractor with brush hog. The ATV is fast and to knock seed heads down will work nicely.