Thinking of making my own boom mower.

[JSUnlimited]

After several hours of running the string trimmer around my pond in 95+ degree weather yesterday, I awakened this morning not only with aches and pains, but with a vision in my head to build my own boom mower.

The plan;

Step 1 - Find a good running 21"+ push mower from a yard sale.

Step 2 - Remove the handles and/or misc. stuff not needed to push it around.

Step 3 - Hook up back-hoe to tractor.

Step 4 - Fabricate a bracket/mount to mower deck and fasten it to the back-hoe bucket or bucket mount.

Step 5 - Drive over to pond, extend back-hoe off to one side, start mower, adjust angle of cut using dipper arm/curl of bucket, then mow.

What do you guys think? Here's what I am needing to keep cut.

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I have been considering doing something similar. Except the backhoe part.
Take a small push mower. Remove the handles. Leave the wheels.
Fab up something to fit the 3 point hitch that can reach to the side.
Suspend the mower from the boom. Just let it hang, not mounted solid.
Then I can set the mower down on the wheels, and just kinda pull it along.
If the grass is too high I can lift the mower into the air and make several passes.

Be real nice if instead of a lawnmower engine I could use a hydraulic motor.
Be even better if instead of a lawnmower deck I could use a sickle bar on a boom.
Be like a barber cutting hair with one of those buzzer things then.

I got several other ideas kicking around too.

Pooh Bear

 

[jimmysisson]

You might find it slower than by hand, if you have to place the stabilizers each set, but if not, why not? Would you want a way for the mower deck to "float" rather than have it rigidly attached to the bucket? If you had the hoe offset on the downhill side of the tractor, even on your gentle banking, would the tractor feel stable and steer straight? If the mower operates on a tilt all the time, you might want a 2-stroke to avoid oil starvation.
How about just towing the mower (no BH) with some kind of offset hitch, so you can drive around with the mower 6-8' to one side? Rig it on the 3-point and on the swinging drawbar so you can lift it over obstacles somehow. It would float then over minor discrepancies in the grade. The BH seems kind of cumbersome as the basis for the small mower, somehow.
Keep us informed as you go, though - anything to save tedium.
Jim

 

[hz293]

What about making a side boom on your FEL bucket (if you have one). Just a thought.

Harris

 

[Lindblom Lawn Care]

A backhoe boom would be over kill for a 21" lawn mower. Not to mention time consuming. The commercial units generally are mounted be front of the rear tires and the boom runs out to the side of the mower. A 21" or a deck off a worn out rider with a lightweigh boom that attaches to the tractor frame with a hydraulic motor would be good setup.

Keep the deck wheels on and allow the unit to float and off to the races.

 

[Brad_Blazer]

How about a small rider, complete, in neutral, attached to a boom alongside the tractor? Wider cut, more power, and real tires should be a bonus. Bungee the steering wheel and the front wheels should castor okay. Plus, you might win some kind of redneck award! (or at least take a picture that gets included in a cheesy chain mail lol)(I envision something with a mannequin)

Like others have said, make sure you don't risk rolling over into the pond!

Brad

 

[Bedlam]

Here is a link to someone who made one. Its interesting and looks like they did a great job.
And a reply with anothers invention.
http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=1183

 

[PineRidge]

Here is a link to someone who made one. Its interesting and looks like they did a great job.
And a reply with anothers invention.
http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=1183

Allan those are very interesting pictures. I have a pond myself and have been pondering if there was an easier way to cut around it.

Maybe this will give you some food for thought on constructing the boom portion itself.

 

[RobJ]

Not sure if this just came up somewhere else. A used 7' sickle cutter would be nice and maybe a little safer. Anthing heavy on the end of your TC24 and you might get wet without counter weights and such.

I bet a hydraulic motor turning a weed-eater type cutter would be nice and light. Also if might be better suited for the accidental dips in the pond.