Mowing TC-30 belly mover

[Elviscaretaker]

I'm actually getting excited to un-bury that crane though. I have no idea if it's on the level ground there or lower down on a ledge to the lake. It could be big or small. The hunt will be fun. I'll try to take photo's of the progress when I get going on it.
Of-coarse, when the "boys" are over we'll forget about the house and start on that! New toy! Maybe....

 

[Elviscaretaker]

I uncovered the thing some over the weekend. It is a basket case. Rusted bad. I still wonder what it is though. Looks to be a WW2 machine but I'm not that old
Any ideas? I contacted a scrap guy to see if they would take it. May have to cut it in place. I couldn't even budge it with the TC 30.
I'm a little worried the thing will roll into the lake! By the way, no steering wheel on it and the front cab is gutted with the top cut off.

 

[Elviscaretaker]

O, by the way, I "borrowed" a field mower to knock things down when I had a chance.
Needless to say, I owe him some new blades! There were many more "hidden treasures" than I could find before hand
For the layout of the grounds, it seems like a bad choice so I went and bought a rider for this, it worked better buy fried those blades too! It will be nice when I find all the crap laying around....

 

[LarryD]

At least you can see it now, a little anyway.
You gotta clear it of and then we'll play "Name that crane" game. Not sure it's WWII era but it's gotta be older than me.

 

[RoyJackson]

At least you can see it now, a little anyway.
You gotta clear it of and then we'll play "Name that crane" game. Not sure it's WWII era but it's gotta be older than me.

Probably military and was purchased as surplus.
There were (may still be) a number of military trucks that had canvas tops over the cab. I doubt if the cab was "cut down".

 

[Elviscaretaker]

The bucket and block were taken a while back. I'll get better pictures after I machete the area better to clear it off. It was hard to tell through the rust but I though I saw cut marks.
The crane has been on the property (from what I'm told) since before 1966. It has split rims (found extras in the shop) and what could be a very nice winch on the front. Too many stickers to tell if it's a PTO or other power though.
One of my brothers "thinks" he can pull this out with his truck Makes me wish I still had a video camera! I'm going to let him give it a shot here on Sunday though. Don't think it'll budge. Driver side has sunk to the axle ....

 

[Trader3569]

I may have missed some of the replys but I have a TC 30 with backhoe and belly mower. You may already know that they can not both be on the tractor at the same time. Or at least not with the mounting systems that mine came with.

Belly mower is 72 inch does a great job of cutting but not made for rough ground (drainage ditch).

 

[Elviscaretaker]

I figured I'd need to take it off I ended up with a 25hp riding mower. I'm glad I went that way since I've needed the backhoe a lot lately so swapping would have been a pain.
I also feel less guilty with what I've done to the new mower since the value isn't the same.
I've been hitting stuff in the "rough" areas and already need to replace the deck. I'll keep it on though until I think I've hit my last... chain link fence buried, rock (big ones), abandoned car parts and oil tank stuff poking out the ground, dead animals, concrete and assorted metal. The list goes on I have managed to reclaim about 2 acres now though and I've given up on the blades for now!
PS found out the city I'm in has to mow the drainage ditch so I'm off the hook for .82 acres Just wish they would do a better job of it.

 

[Trader3569]

you know what your really needed is an old beat up brushhog for the first couple of runs. I don't know about where you are but I can usually pick a 5 or 6 ft one up for under $300.

 

[Elviscaretaker]

Not here in Washington, cheapest I've seen is 500 for a rust bucket.
I had thought about one but I couldn't "swing" it into some of the areas I need to.
The rider is working out well so far except that it does get stuck in the muck along the lake once in a while Should have bought a 4wd one