Mowing telescoping boom mower for larger PTs?

[woodlandfarms]

I am not sure what Ken will say, but once you get Dualies on, man, you can go places you never dreamed of. 30 degrees is brutally steep, and the 45 I can go would make me order Depends before getting on the tractor.

Ken has a boom mower for the 1850 I think. You should hit him up on his thoughts. As well, once you go dualie, you might find you can get wherever you need to with the PT alone

 

[ernemats]

I had the knuckle boom mower on my 1845, I sold it. It was a lot of weight out front with the counterweight and the mower. The counterweight was probably 300 to 400 pounds and I believe it was necessary as when the boom mower was fully extended it seemed to make the opposite side pretty light feeling. The cut was too small (30 inches) and you had to make numerous passes and it did not cut tall weeds real good it seemed to knock some over instead of cutting them. There were a lot of hoses to hook up to control all the functions and they were very responsive to just moving the controls slightly it would shake the whole machine. (probably because I only used it several times). I decided it was just too big, to hard to hook up and too hard on the power trac to keep. I have a 6 foot sickle bar mower on my farm tractor that is much easier and faster to use along my trails and the 6 foot mower will reach almost as far as the 10 foot boom mower would. Power trac used to make a sickle bar mower for the power trac's but discontinued making it for some reason. I would try to find one to demonstrate before buying, I know I would never buy another one. The one I had was part of the unit I bought used and they would not separate.

 

[MossRoad]

one of the things i love about TBN is reluctance of members to share their opinions...

Me, too!

um, mossroad...i'm losing ground against multiple acres....did i mention there is barely a thousand square feet of flat ground in our 75 acres? In addidion to slope mowing seven or eight acres i've got miles of roadside, trails and ditches. I like packysandra, but not that much...

While most areas only need occasional touch up, I'm tired of weedeating and convinced myself that a telescoping extension boom mower will be just the right tool for the job while i get more seat time. While acknowledging your observations and concerns have some validity, i opine the trick is to kick the design up a notch but make it less complicated, and safer. I think simple but durable construction, hard wheel swivel casters on the deck like you put on yours, and solid telescoping frontal control will go a long way in making this more stable and easier to manage even at at regular speed over reasonable ground. But, so far at least for me, this is still only armchair thinkin... have you had occasion to use boom mowers?

BTW, I have NO desire to ever run a boom mower agains trees or brush like the highway guys do. I'd prefer to float this thing on durable wheels to reduce the danger factor to that of a common brush mower...which should be respected and well managed.

Yes, I recall your land. Sounds like a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to mow there. As for miles of roadside, trails and ditches... I'm assuming that's where some of the boom mowing will take place. How much time will you have to spend boom mowing? Will the boom mower get it done in a reasonable time VS wiping it out with chemicals? I can understand if you do not want to use chemicals. We chose to mow between our rows of trees for 5-6 years three times a year instead of chemical side spray. But that was only a few hours of work a few times a year. If you are just going to boom mow areas that you currently weed eat, then you probably have the time. I've never operated a boom mower, and have only watched intently as the road crews blast the overgrown sides of our county roads. As you mention you aren't going to be blasting trees like that, then it becomes much less dangerous.

As for ground cover, there's other things besides pachysandra. You could plant native grasses or wild flowers and burn sections off every 3 years.

 

[wasabi]

...As for ground cover, there's other things besides pachysandra. You could plant native grasses or wild flowers and burn sections off every 3 years.

all true. instead of getting a flame thrower i'll just get a six foot rough cut mower, mount dualies and practice the yoga of balance in a non-tilting seat while puffing on a stogie, snubbing my nose at chemicals and contemplating the zen of mowing...

 

[woodlandfarms]

Depending on how steep your terrain is the tilting seat is overrated.

It would be quite easy for you t build your own. And if you do, replace the craptastic seat PT sells with a nice JD or 3rd party seat.

It is a simple two mercury switch affair on the back of the seat. The voltage triggers a dual action magnetic fluid control thingy I can't think of the name of. And then the fluid goes to a single cylinder that pushes and pulls as necessary.

It is very delayed, tends to take a minute to level out when you start it, and is never quite level on level ground... Lots of time if you hit a bump you will be zigging when you want to zag in the seat...

 

[3238dpw]

Here are some ideas for you
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/54673-boom-type-bank-mower.html

I have thought about mounting this on a boom also
Cutthat.com | Sabre Samurai

 

[MossRoad]

all true. instead of getting a flame thrower i'll just get a six foot rough cut mower, mount dualies and practice the yoga of balance in a non-tilting seat while puffing on a stogie, snubbing my nose at chemicals and contemplating the zen of mowing...

There you go! Sounds like a life plan.

 

[Bob999]

Depending on how steep your terrain is the tilting seat is overrated.

It would be quite easy for you t build your own. And if you do, replace the craptastic seat PT sells with a nice JD or 3rd party seat.

It is a simple two mercury switch affair on the back of the seat. The voltage triggers a dual action magnetic fluid control thingy I can't think of the name of. And then the fluid goes to a single cylinder that pushes and pulls as necessary.

It is very delayed, tends to take a minute to level out when you start it, and is never quite level on level ground... Lots of time if you hit a bump you will be zigging when you want to zag in the seat...

My experience with the tilting seat is quite different. Mine works well for me and on the one occasion when I dislodged an electrical connection that prevented the seat from working I learned just how uncomfortable it is to mow across a 25 degree slope without the tilt seat.

I do share Carl's opinion of the seat--it leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[wasabi]

Depending on how steep your terrain is the tilting seat is overrated. ...

Our land is steep. There are places that, even if the PT would climb there, I would not. I've had the PT rear up on its 2 back wheels before on reasonably flat ground. I didn't like it one bit. Putting on dualies will lower the center of gravity, increase torque and change the equation for the better but my comfort level will still be the limting factor.

A tilting seat sounds logical, but thus far i'm underwhelmed with what i've seen and heard, so i'm not rushing into it. I'll lean and ponder for a while. I appreciate all thoughts on how to make one that works though...

While these more severe areas are not the norm on our place, they and other applications lead me to ponder a frontal boom mower to safely achieve more reach. Yes, I can and probably will eventually plant these areas out, mulch them, or adopt other alternatives, but until then...well...we live in a quasi rain forest climate...six or seven inches rain per month, stuff grows....

I'm keeping my eye out for used 1845 or 1850...until then, my most cost effective option is to dualie up the 2445, get a PT 72" brush mower, modify the blades ala Charlie/Sedge and see how that performs...I still have an itch to scratch with this boom idea tho...

 

[wasabi]

Here are some ideas for you
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/54673-boom-type-bank-mower.html

I have thought about mounting this on a boom also
Cutthat.com | Sabre Samurai

glad to know these ideas haunt not me alone....thanks for the links. the samurai sabre looks a bit pricey, neh?