Members home made attachments / improvements

[MossRoad]

Hahahaha! You know that's what I'd ask next. :laughing:

 

[agjones]

I knew he'd beat me to it!

Not great pics... But you should see me draw.

So originally a tractor 3pt to skidsteer adapter. In the pics it's mated to a skidsteer tree shear.

Changes : added 1 pt 1850 qa plate, 1 pt 425 qa plate

Hard to see, the 1850 has stickers and is low on the frame, the 425 plate sits above and 3" away from the frame (toward the PT) this over /under setup means either machine can use its native qa plate... Attach the small qd set and crush some trees...

One more mod and then we'll still be able to use the tractor 3pt (which I have added to rear of my PTs) so I can for example work the forestry flail mower on the front of the 1850, stump grinder in the front of the 425 and the shear on the rear of either.

The yellow cylinder is replacing the red one and 4x the shear pressure... We'll harden a couple of spots for the extra force.

 

[Big Chief]

Updated version, ratchet strap takes the load off the lower bucket. Chain goes to top of bucket and the curl function drops the polw to the ground. Loader height does not need to be moved once its setup.
My bucket also has 3x3 x 1/2 inch angle iron welded to the top rail for support and has the chain hooks welded to it.

I welded a hitch reciever where the D ring is now and welded the D ring to the top of the reciever to move my trailers around. Everything is easily removed and stored when not needed

 

[MossRoad]

I knew he'd beat me to it!

Not great pics... But you should see me draw.

So originally a tractor 3pt to skidsteer adapter. In the pics it's mated to a skidsteer tree shear.

Changes : added 1 pt 1850 qa plate, 1 pt 425 qa plate

Hard to see, the 1850 has stickers and is low on the frame, the 425 plate sits above and 3" away from the frame (toward the PT) this over /under setup means either machine can use its native qa plate... Attach the small qd set and crush some trees...

One more mod and then we'll still be able to use the tractor 3pt (which I have added to rear of my PTs) so I can for example work the forestry flail mower on the front of the 1850, stump grinder in the front of the 425 and the shear on the rear of either.

The yellow cylinder is replacing the red one and 4x the shear pressure... We'll harden a couple of spots for the extra force.
View attachment 586028
View attachment 586029
View attachment 586030

WOW! Very nice you can use it on either size machine.

 

[agjones]

Here's a link to a video of my power-trac 1850 running a modified fh-d160 trail mower. I'll let the video speak to whether it works.

The botanical victim in the video is a 6 ft wide privet hedge.

For the mower to run off pt hydraulics, an 8ci hydraulic motor was mounted on a plate with slotted holes and a tensioner bolt. Roller chain hubs transmit power.

Power-Trac - Google Photos

 

[MossRoad]

Man, what did that hedge do to you to deserve such a beating? :laughing:

Very nice! :thumbsup:

At one point I saw you headed towards that pine on the right and thought OH MAN!!!! :laughing:

 

[Incline]

.........and I saw a man and dog head outside and thought OH MAN!!!

 

[cqaigy2]

I'd say that works just fine.

 

[woodlandfarms]

A little yackity sax and some thought bubbles of either bad hedge jokes or you got the wrong house and you would be a YouTube star.

 

[cqaigy2]

A little yackity sax and some thought bubbles of either bad hedge jokes or you got the wrong house and you would be a YouTube star.

I was thinking the yackity sax would be a good addition too. I like the idea of "the wrong house" :laughing:

 

[CreativeGuy]

Here's a link to a video of my power-trac 1850 running a modified fh-d160 trail mower. I'll let the video speak to whether it works.

Do you think the FH-D160 flail mower would be too big for a PT-425? What modifications did you have to make?
I would love to find a front mount flail mower option for my PT-425

Cheers & Thank You,
Steve

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a link to a video of my power-trac 1850 running a modified fh-d160 trail mower. I'll let the video speak to whether it works.

Do you think the FH-D160 flail mower would be too big for a PT-425? What modifications did you have to make?
I would love to find a front mount flail mower option for my PT-425

Cheers & Thank You,
Steve

That 1850 has 18GPM hydraulic flow @3200psi.

Our 425s have 8GPM @2500psi. I don't think we could run that large of a flail mower with any efficiency.

 

[aczlan]

Our 425s have 8GPM @2500psi. I don't think we could run that large of a flail mower with any efficiency.

8 GPM at 2500 PSI about 13 horsepower. That would probably handle a 4-foot flail for light work.

Aaron Z

 

[MossRoad]

8 GPM at 2500 PSI about 13 horsepower. That would probably handle a 4-foot flail for light work.

Aaron Z

I think we figured it out to be about 11.5HP once a long time ago, but can't be certain.

 

[CreativeGuy]

I think we figured it out to be about 11.5HP once a long time ago, but can't be certain.

Seems like I recall someone modifying a flail mower (4? to work on a 425. I would really like to find a flail mower solution for my tractor.

 

[MossRoad]

Seems like I recall someone modifying a flail mower (4? to work on a 425. I would really like to find a flail mower solution for my tractor.

Yep, it could be handy.

 

[agjones]

The 425 punches well above its weight on most fronts... But the fh-d160 is both to heavy 900#, and too demanding of power, 30+hp, .

I think the other posts get it right that 4' is about the max flail a 425 can wield. Track width would be better, if heavy grass is on the menu.

I have an alamo ac 48" in the queue for conversion, I'll document that process and results.

The repower is the same as the bigger mower. In general, flail mowers are powered by the the pto shaft coupled with a gearbox with a 90 degree output shaft spinning a belt/pulley setup that rotates the drum.

The gearbox, most often is 1:1 and the pulley setup is sized to achieve final rpm with 540 input.

In my opinion, the most efficient adaptation of the power path is to direct drive the drum pulley with a suitable hydraulic motor. However, this approach is often not practical bc the hyd motor is side mounted, like our pt tiller, power rake etc... Fine on those tools but increases the width of the mower. It also means no more using a tractor to drive the mower.

Less efficient, but making use of existing mounting and belt protection is to remove the 90deg gearbox output shaft and directly power the belt assembly. This yields about the same efficiency as the original design, protects the motor and does not add width.

The approach I used is easy, but not terribly efficient. I chose to mount a motor that would achieve ~540 rpm at my flow, 18ish gpm. That motor is next to the gearbox, coupled by chain to drive the gearbox. No other power path mod. Why? Fast, undo-able (this was an experiment on a $4k attachment!) & I can remove the chain... Still use the attachment with a tractor.

It works great. Will work more efficiently when i eventually repurpose the gearbox and directly drive the belt where the gearbox input is. This will only require turning the motor and matching a shaft to the pulley. Nbd. An additional benefit is that you can reverse flow to reverse the drum if something is caught... The gearbox free wheels in reverse. Not too useful without extra plumbing (to reverse flow) in our pt's... More useful for machines that can reverse the flow.

For the alamo, I will direct drive the belt system at the shaft input. It won't be field switchable like my current mower for tractor use... But pretty quick to change in the shop.


Beyond the power transmission, the only mod is where to put the qa plate for forward mounting.
In shopping for a

Overrunning clutch on a tractor pto shaft is the same function as relief valve in a hydraulic setup... So unnecessary.

Two considerations: the specs and capabilities of tractor carried flail mower depend on the tractor for 2 things: laying down mowing material for the tractor to draw the mower through & (when going forward) prevention of impact w the mower frame.

I searched for an older heavy body mower, alamo ac 48, for it's stout frame. If necessary, a simple push bar can be front mounted on the mower to improve the in feed of materials.... Further, teeth (like a comb) could be a part of the pushbar to orient rather than just lay down infeed material.

I hope to modify the alamo next month and I will source a motor that develops significant torque and 540 rpm... Bc i have confirmed the gearbox output is 1:1 from gearbox to pulley/sheave. That hyd motor will be ~3ci displacement.

FYI on used flail mowers the gearbox/pulley might be changed by dealer/user depending on application. So verify...

Also coming up, hydraulic repowering a 6' power rake.

 

[aczlan]

I think we figured it out to be about 11.5HP once a long time ago, but can't be certain.

Whoops, I used the calculator to find how much horsepower you would need to make that much flow and pressure. I forgot to account for efficiency losses. It would be around 13 engine horsepower used to produce that flow, 80-85% of that would be available to use on an attachment which would be 10.4-11.5hp.

Aaron Z

 

[MossRoad]

Whoops, I used the calculator to find how much horsepower you would need to make that much flow and pressure. I forgot to account for efficiency losses. It would be around 13 engine horsepower used to produce that flow, 80-85% of that would be available to use on an attachment which would be 10.4-11.5hp.

Aaron Z

Yep. Either way, it beats using a push mower. :laughing:

 

[ernemats]

Here are some pictures of my flail mower. I have had it for 3 plus years and probably have not used it over 10 hours total. It cuts ok but I like the convential mower . The person I got it from , it was his fathers who passed away who had purchased it and adapted it to his power trac 425.