mower deck dolly

[GeneV]

I build this mower deck dolly, as inspired by another poster on TBN.


I had a 1" chrome rod laying around, leftover from another project, so went hunting for a 1" axle bore wheel. Surprisingly hard to find those, but I finally tracked them down on Ebay, from a vendor from England. Low and behold, when they got here, the axle bore was actually undersized by ~0.020. I asked for a return/refund, they refunded and let me keep the wheels, so free wheels!

So what I did was, I bored out the axle bore to 1" on the drill press.

I cut the rod to 25" lengths. Threw the rods on the lathe, cleaned up the ends, tapped the ends 3/8" unc.

Over to the mill, drilled 5/16" holes, each end to hold 5/16" screws which would retain a 1" washer on each end, and the center hole(s) to where the deck would be secured. I drilled 2 holes in the center, just so I'd have some play where I'd center the mower deck in case it tended to lean one way or another. It's a good thing I did, the second off-center hole ended up being the winner.

So yeh, that's all there is to it, no biggie. Took me a few hours total. The wheels stay put sandwiched between the 1" washers. The inner washer is held in place against a 5/16" screw. The outer washer is held by an oversized 3/8" washer and screw.

The way to use it, string up the mower with the tractor (I strapped it to the backhoe), remove the rear wheels. On the dolly wheels, remove one wheel/washer/retaining screw. Slide the rod into the axle on the deck, secure it with the deck's pin. Reassemble the dolly wheel on the other side, that's it. Easy peasy, lemony squeezy.

Only thing is you obviously can't steer it, so have to kind of lift up on one end to steer it into position, but sure beats the deck lying around face down, taking up space.

 

[Big Barn]

Cool. Nice job Gene!

 

[BukitCase]

Looks good Gene; "axle bore was actually undersized by ~0.020" - Betcha those wheels were actually 25mm, seller probably thought "close enough" - sure is nice when having the right gear in your shop turns a "major headache" into a "this'll be fun" moment, huh? :thumbsup: ... Steve

 

[GeneV]

Thanks guys. And yeh, it was totally fun, man!
Here's a YouTube vid of it:

Mower deck dolly build. - YouTube

 

[shooterdon]

Nice build...

I have little to no talent and used two $8 HF dollies.

 

[GeneV]

Nice build...

I have little to no talent and used two $8 HF dollies.

How do you use them for the mower deck?

 

[Imold]

Nice, I am looking at doing the same thing.



Jim.

 

[GeneV]

Nice, I am looking at doing the same thing.



Jim.

Told ya you'd see me posting this soon.

 

[GeneV]

Guys, if you wanna build the same thing, here's the dimensional drawing for drilling the rod: You don't have to really go to 0.005" tolerance...but I'm **** retentive about listing dimensions.

These are the wheels I bought. Now they actually correctly list them with the axle bore being 0.98", so you'll have to still bore them out to 1" like I did. No biggie, it's just plastic.

 

[iowa]

Guys, if you wanna build the same thing, here's the dimensional drawing for drilling the rod: View attachment 622742 You don't have to really go to 0.005" tolerance...but I'm **** retentive about listing dimensions.

These are the wheels I bought. Now they actually correctly list them with the axle bore being 0.98", so you'll have to still bore them out to 1" like I did. No biggie, it's just plastic.

Yikes, the wheels are almost $50. I don't have any mechanical skill or precise machining equipment so I ended up buy the rods that have the caster wheels on them. Either way it will be good to have more floor space this winter and not trip over the deck on the garage floor.

 

[Imold]

I just called the iron shop this afternoon and ordered two 12 inch pieces of 1 inch solid stock and I also ordered four 10 inch pneumatic tires for 3.99 each on sale with 5/8ths hub bearings from Harbor Freight and tomorrow I will pickup nuts, washers, bolts and pipes.



I have a small 110 welder so I will see if my pacemaker will handle it and if not I will have my neighbor weld them for me, I have not welded since they put a new pacemaker in me.

 

[KennyG]

I just called the iron shop this afternoon and ordered two 12 inch pieces of 1 inch solid stock and I also ordered four 10 inch pneumatic tires for 3.99 each on sale with 5/8ths hub bearings from Harbor Freight and tomorrow I will pickup nuts, washers, bolts and pipes.

View attachment 624817

I have a small 110 welder so I will see if my pacemaker will handle it and if not I will have my neighbor weld them for me, I have not welded since they put a new pacemaker in me.

You are probably well under way on the project, but an easy alternative is to use 1/2 inch pipe. Standard 1/2 inch pipe is 0.62 inner diameter so with just a touch of grinding (or perhaps none) on a 5/8 threaded rod, you can insert the rod into the pipe. The outside diameter of 1/2 inch pipe is 0.84 so it will fit into 1 inch mower shaft holes with only a little slop. This is how I did mine and limited the welding to a few spot welds.

 

[Imold]

Ok so here it is, I hope Gene is ok with me posting this on his thread?

Anyway I bought 2 pieces of 1 inch solid stock 12 inches long and four 5/8 stove bolts 5 inches long, I was going to weld it with my 110 but I chickened out and went over to my neighbors and we welded them up with his 220 Miller welder and I even tried it but stopped because I started to get a weird feeling in my chest, I think it must have something to do with the frequency bu anyway Dave finished the welds and now I am at home to finish the grinding part.


I will need to put them on to find the best balance point then I will drill holes for cotter pins, just need to wait for the wheels now, I will post a few more picks as I go.

 

[GeneV]

Ok so here it is, I hope Gene is ok with me posting this on his thread?

**** yeh man, post away...for me it's all about sharing information and helping each other. As far as the balance point for where the mower deck sits, at first I had it dead center in the rod, but found an offset is better. 10" from the end worked out good, but that's on a 25" rod.

 

[ovrszd]

Any dolly is better than no dolly.

I used swivel casters on one end.

 

[GeneV]

Oh come on, even heck (with double "L") is blocked lol?

 

[GeneV]

Any dolly is better than no dolly.

I used swivel casters on one end.

Yessir. I gotta say, it's really nice to be able to put away this beast of a deck sideways when your enclosed space is at a premium.

 

[Imold]

You are probably well under way on the project, but an easy alternative is to use 1/2 inch pipe. Standard 1/2 inch pipe is 0.62 inner diameter so with just a touch of grinding (or perhaps none) on a 5/8 threaded rod, you can insert the rod into the pipe. The outside diameter of 1/2 inch pipe is 0.84 so it will fit into 1 inch mower shaft holes with only a little slop. This is how I did mine and limited the welding to a few spot welds.

I was thinking of doing something just about like that but then went what the heck and went this route, with the wheels, iron, washers, nuts and cotter pins I am into this for about 32.00 dollars.

 

[Imold]

Yessir. I gotta say, it's really nice to be able to put away this beast of a deck sideways when your enclosed space is at a premium.

Tell me about it here is my shop well it used to be my shop now it is just a packed garage.


Here is my storage spot for my mower deck for now.

 

[Imold]

Ground off two of the welds and now I am just waiting for tires then I can balance it and drill the four cotter pin holes for the pins and it will be done, thanks for the ideas from those who have built their own dollies.