Mowing Side Mower

LBrown59 · Sep 7, 2005

It would be nice if these could be modified to work on other tractors. 
Deleted
Posted before I saw JJs reply.

MossRoad · Sep 7, 2005

Many companies make boom mowers for 3pt hitch tractors. Don't know the prices, though.

LBrown59 · Sep 7, 2005

( I have lots of uses for the side mower. Pond banks and road ditches are the main ones. )
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I don't have a pond but I do have ditches.
For the ditches I've been kicking around the idea of replacing the handle of an ordinary push power with a side mounted tow bracket that telescopes in 2 places and attaches to the end of the tractor MMM, FEL or BH buckets or somewhere along the side of the tractor frame.
Perhaps even towing it with the tractor hitch as a tow behind unit.

I was thinking of using a string trimmer till it dawned on me they are designed to reach down not out.

stray · Sep 7, 2005

If you get the chance post some pics of what you would be mowing and maybe one of your tractor. What ever you build I suspect you would want it to lift and float the deck.

J_J · Sep 7, 2005

Could something like this work. You just sit up on your tractor or PT and guide it with remote control.

stray · Sep 7, 2005

( This is what I found at Surplus Hydraulics tech help
8 gpm at .77 cu in hyd motor=2400 rpm
Torque at 2500 psi .77cu in =306 in lbs
Is that enough torque? That's only inch lbs

)
I hope so. I guess it will do what it does. I will let you know as soon as I finish and try it out. As I understand it to get the rpms up one will have to sacrifice torque.

Marks481 · Sep 7, 2005

Notice that the pt1430 above with the knuckle broom mower has an extra set of selector valves mounted over the steering wheel. Must be a part of the mower, since by my count it requires at least one more hydraulic circuit then comes standard with the PT. Anybody got a better picture of this arrangement, since I am still debating how I want to add a dedicated circuit in addition to the quick attach circuit (yes, I have read the archives and seen the innovative joystick pushbutton, etc.)

J_J · Sep 8, 2005

Why not do what they did. Looks to me like a 3 valve hyd control similar to the one used on the PT, except for the joystick.
You could also use 12 v electric valves.

You would want to connect it in parallel.

Sedgewood · Sep 9, 2005

Notice that the pt1430 above with the knuckle broom mower has an extra set of selector valves mounted over the steering wheel. Must be a part of the mower, since by my count it requires at least one more hydraulic circuit then comes standard with the PT 

Charlie, Hans & I witnessed a demo of the then new-to-the-line boom mower when we spent a day at PT a few years ago and as best I can recall they used the quick-attach circuit by somehow attaching the boom valve bank up by the dash, hooked the usual quick-attach hoses to it as a power source, and then clamped a bar to the dash that pushed or pulled and held the normal quick-attach lever open. Maybe Charlie or Hans has a clearer memory and can fill in some details.

It looked more like something I would jury-rig than I thought it should /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

My feeling in general, from watching road crews at work, is that boom mowers are a fickle and tricky to operate and require a great deal of operator attention and finesse. I know, I know, it beats a scythe but what tiring way to spend the day.

Sedgewood

J_J · Sep 9, 2005

In picture # 1 , they are definitely using a three valve control.

In picture # 2 , they are using the quick-attach circuit. There is only one cyl on the boom mower for up/down which is control by the quick-attach circuit, In one of the pictures on Pt web site, you can see the guy reaching down to adjust the lift. Of course the hyd motor is connected to the PTO,

It would be a very tiring job with either mower.

It would seem like a boom pulling one of those tow behind mowers, like Swisher with the engine mounted on the mower would be the better way to go.

Sedgewood · Sep 9, 2005

It would seem like a boom pulling one of those tow behind mowers, like Swisher with the engine mounted on the mower would be the better way to go. 

Ha! I had the same thought this morning when posting above. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Sedgewood

LBrown59 · Sep 9, 2005

Why not just add an extension mower to the left or right end / side of a MMM.

MossRoad · Sep 9, 2005

I thought you wanted a boom mower. For side extensions, we that frequent the Power Trac forum would consider the tow behind units from Acreaze(sp?) or Swisher and offset them to the side.

Charlie_Iliff · Sep 9, 2005

Hans has a couple of Acrease tow-behind mowers, and I have one. It works fine to widen the cut, but in sidehill slope mowing, it doesn't track exactly, so may leave a stripe. I can hang it down a bank into a ditch, but can't control how far down it goes. A mower on a boom will give much better control, but, as noted, will be anything but automatic. I got 2/3 of the way through making a boom mounted string trimmer, with wheels to position it off the ground, when I realized that I wouldn't be able to control it properly without several additional hydraulic cylinders. (It was hot that day, so giving up was an easy decision -- maybe someday the project will revive.)
I'm looking forward to hearing how the side mower project turns out.

LBrown59 · Sep 9, 2005

I can hang it down a bank into a ditch, but can't control how far down it goes. 

That's the trouble with tow behinds, the wheel is on the outside of the mower.
The mower needs to hang out side of the wheel instead.

MossRoad · Sep 9, 2005

I think the closer you put the wheels in from the edges the more likely it is to eat a lot of dirt on dips and ridges. That, or it will just skid along and tear up the grass.

J_J · Sep 9, 2005

Do you have pictures of your tow behind mowers? Does it have 2 wheels, or 4 wheels like the Swisher has?

J_J · Sep 9, 2005

I don't understand what you are trying to say. A tow behind mower can be set from center to extreme right or left. It is usually set to overlap the front mower. If the tow behind mower is the only mower, it can be set to any position.

Charlie_Iliff · Sep 9, 2005

Sorry, I don't have pictures. I keep meaning to take some, but haven't yet.
The machine has 4 wheels in a parallelogram. The fronts are full swivel, the rears are fixed. The tow bar is L shaped so the mower sits to left or right of the tractor. The tow bar can be turned over so it is roughly in the center of the machine, so it trails straight behind to go through narrower gates than 10'.
Since it has a single pin hitch to the tractor, on steep hills it can and does slide sideways either increasing or reducing the cut overlap. Sometimes it goes far enough to leave a stripe. I don't think the deck relationship to the wheels is a problem. It's just that like any two wheeled trailer on steep side slopes, it can slip downhill. The front casters don't do anything but control the mowing height. I could probably improve the slope capability by putting dual wheels in back, which has done for soft ground applications.