Has anyone tried to make a front mounted mower

[Mith]

has anyone here made a front mounted mower for a small tractor witn not front PTO on 3pt link or is this a stupid idea
any ideas of how to do this
my plan is to have the mower on the front if possible and a sweeper that i plan to make on the back
thanks for any input
mith

 

[bczoom]

mith,

How small of a tractor are you going to run this on?
I had a front mounted mower on an ATV and honestly didn't care much for it.
It was difficult to negotiate around obstacles.
It was much harder to steer.
If you have a relatively abrupt change in the ground terrain, it would cause the mower to bottom out or try and lift the front of the pushing machine. (this "could" probably be corrected with a good tire setup on the mower and a better float connection to the pushing machine).
Mine had a 10HP engine on it. I was eating fumes most of the time. If there was a wind, I might not get as many fumes but then the grass clippings would get me. (Mine was a side-discharge)

 

[Mith]

i was thinking along the lines of a 15-17 hp kubota
thanks for your input about what it is like - youre putting me off already /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
you say yours had a 10 HP engine on it - i was wondering if anyone had tried to make one that ran off the tractors power
but if it is the only solution i gues a separate engine might have to do
im trying to make it so i have to only go across the lawn once and not once with a 3pt mower and then with the sweeper
cheers mith

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Steiner, Ventrac and Power Trac are all front mount mower machines. All are amazing. My personal view is that the Ventrac is the best mower of the bunch, although Steiner owners might argue with that! Steiner & Ventrac can accept each others implements in most cases. Mowing is much faster with these machines than with a conventional unit that has a mid mount mower, but some of that added speed probably is related to the extreme manuverablity of the units because ground speeds are similar to any other small tractor.

If you want to build your own, you might consider taking very close looks at these 3 brands to see how they attach.

 

[Mith]

bob - i live in the UK and im not aware of any one or any places that have them so i cant see one
any ideas of any sites that have closeup/ detailed pics of the mowers
thanks Mith

 

[Mith]

please anyone have any pictures of methods of directing tractors power to the front - this is the main bit that i dont have any ideas how to achieve
thanks Mith

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Steiner & Ventrac use a simple 2 point hitch. Literally 2 bars poking out front. They power the decks with belts & pulleys.

You might want to dig up their websites (simple google search) for photos of the machines & implements. They have about 30 implements that attach using that 2 point hitch arrangement. Their front hitch very simple in design and is powered up & down by hydraulics, but I would think it could be made simpler by eliminating the hydraulic lift. There are a couple pictures of my Ventrac in the PHOTOS section under my user gallery that you might want to look at. None are actually direct shots of the hitch arrangement, but There are a couple side views that might give you the general idea. My Ventrac is their smallest model, it is very unconventional looking, their other models actually look like tractors while mine looks very odd.

Ventrac side view


Power Trac uses hydraulic fluid and motors to power the implements, their mount system is much more complicated, but much more versitile. Again, you might want to dig up their website to look at their design.

 

[Mith]

thanks for the replys ill take a look at the websites
these machines are specialised for the job so i guess they have many mods to make it work out with the front mounted kit
would it be sensible to run a belt from somewhere on a tractor to the front to power a mower? and from where?
thanks for your help your p[osts have given me ideas as to deck design
cheers mith

 

[Mith]

any thoughts on this new idea
i could make a fron mount 3pt linkage with its own ram to power up/down and a hydro motor for the PTO
how hard is it to make hydro things work?
any glaring flaws in this thought?
would this be an easy solution to my problem?
please feedback
Mith

 

[EastTexFrank]

My 60" Befco RFM has the capability of being front mounted. I believe that it runs off the mid PTO and you have to reverse the gear box but don't quote me on that. I don't know how it mounts to the front of the tractor. I'll see if I can find my owner's manual (that may be a trick) and see if I can get some information or you could try their web page.

Where in the U.K. are you?