Walk behind skidsteer

12barber12 · Nov 8, 2011

I was thinking of building something like a toro dingo I have an old Lesco walkbehind mower I was gonna use for parts Any advice

Sasquatch4100 · Nov 8, 2011

You could mate it with one of those walk behind tracked snow blowers from honda? Or get two of those snow blowers and pair two tracks each side to make two long tracks. They sell hydro motors that will drive them at the surplus center that advertises here.

12barber12 · Nov 8, 2011

Do you think the hydro motors on the mower can handle the weight

12barber12 · Nov 8, 2011

This is kind of what I'm going for

Iplayfarmer · Nov 8, 2011

12barber12 said:
Do you think the hydro motors on the mower can handle the weight

I don't think your Lesco will handle the weight. If you design it right, the hydro motors aren't actually supporting any weight.

I think you have a good start with an engine, etc., but I'd plan on build the frame out of heavier stuff than that mower is made from.

swick1 · Nov 11, 2011

I'm actually working on turning one into a powered wheelbarrow. The engine is shot so I am going to salvage the hydraulics. I guess it will be more of a mini dumper than a wheelbarrow, but whatever. My plan was to replace the 21hp motor with something smaller (8-10hp) and build a subframe consisting of 4 wheels set up in a skid steer arrangement. I would cut off the mower deck, then sit the remains of the mower chassis on top of the subframe and replace the original drive wheels with sprockets. The sprockets would drive a chain like a high track bulldozer for each side. This would also give me about 2x speed reduction for the hydraulic motors. I would then build a metal dump box on the front and use a spare valve and cylinder I have sitting around to tie into the mower hydraulics for the dumping action. I had also thought about installing a second cylinder with a pan on the front to aid in cleaning up the spoils.

http://www.hinowa.com/images/files/hs400_battery_sfocata_10x10.jpg

http://www.usinenouvelle.com/industry/img/minidumper-hs-with-self-loading-dumper-bed-000123697-4.jpg

aczlan · Nov 11, 2011

If the mower is like most, I have seen it will have dual variable displacement pumps which are tied into the sticks and the wheelmotors. If that is the case, you will need a 3rd pump to run any additional hydraulics.
I might see if I could pickup a PS pump from a truck and tie it into the same tank as the wheelmotors.

Aaron Z

12barber12 · Nov 11, 2011

Is it possible to tie into existing hydraulics and also the engine on my mower is shot it had a 17hp and I was think about putting 15hp on it

aczlan · Nov 11, 2011

12barber12 said:
Is it possible to tie into existing hydraulics and also the engine on my mower is shot it had a 17hp and I was think about putting 15hp on it

8-10 should be plenty to move it around. Most of the 17HP was to run the deck.

As for tieing in, see: Making lawn mowing fun | News | The Engineer for a schematic of a generic zero turn hydraulic system.
There is no place to "tap into" and add another valve.

Aaron Z

Sasquatch4100 · Nov 11, 2011

Not sure if you have a local scraper like we do out here called Burchams. They had some 25gpm pumps that some guy has been buying to make log splitter. Not sure how much they wanted for them, they came from a company that DX's old equipment. The buyer had been using 10hp engines on them. Thought about buying one, but I don't have any projects in mind lately to use one. I'd scrounge all the local scrap places and see if I couldn't junk yard one up. If the parts work out you can buy new if they crap out on you.

Taylortractornut · Nov 11, 2011

I recently repaired a mini skid steer that a rental company lost off a trailer. It had 4 wheel motors like a Powertrac uses. It had a busted wheel motor so I ordered a new one from Surplus Center. Im thinking about buying 4 right now. It would be 7to800 dollars. I have several pumps and a few motors on hand. I cant justify the cost of a mini skid Ill have to make one.

12barber12 · Nov 13, 2011

Thank you all for your responses they are very helpful Does anyone know what size sprockets and how many teeth this is what I'm thinking with the wheel Motor in the center

12barber12 · Dec 2, 2011

So after pricing all the sprockets and chains and pillow blocks etc I think I'm gonna buy 4 wheel motors and attach them directly to the wheels any suggestions on low speed high torque and is 10cu enough I'm new to hydro motors and don't know what to look for

Iplayfarmer · Dec 2, 2011

12barber12 said:
So after pricing all the sprockets and chains and pillow blocks etc I think I'm gonna buy 4 wheel motors and attach them directly to the wheels any suggestions on low speed high torque and is 10cu enough I'm new to hydro motors and don't know what to look for

Go to your nearest golf course. Somewhere out in the weeds behind the rough there are a few old reel mowers. Probably orange. Offer the guy a few bucks for everything there and take the wheel motors off those. There are likely two per mower.

12barber12 · Jan 10, 2013

No I have not finish my project yet I am still in the process of finding all of the parts and also I keep going back and forth whether to use a vertical engine shaft or horizontal engine shaft only reason being I don't know about running a hydraulic pump with a belt and pulley

12barber12 · Jan 11, 2013

I would like to use a Vertical shaft engine but I don't believe they make a bracket to mount a pump to it as for the steering I wanted to use the onboard pump and valves from the walk behind mower Then I was going to add another hydraulic pump and valve to run the loader that is why am kind of leaning towards a Horizontal shaft engine and losing the onboard pump in Valve from the mower and just running a four block control valve off of 1 pump That is the only thing I can come up with where I won't have any belts

Charlie Packwood · Jan 13, 2013

You might want to go to machine builders.net. Machine Builders Network - Forums powered by UBB.threads™ There is a lot of good advice. I have built a front end loader using wheel motors. You can use either a vertical or horizontal shaft motor to drive your pump, no issues with pump orientation or controls for that matter. Direct drive is the best way to go. You may want to investigate CadPlans on the web. They have various plans available. Another site for you to look at is CDP backhoe > backhoes & thumb kits. This guy has a set of plans for something similar to what you want to build. You can decide if purchasing the plans is worth it for the knowledge and modify to meet your needs. I would also look at Surplus centre for wheel motors Surplus Center. As for the bracket I had to fabricate one to fit the mounting on the motor, not a big project really. Do you have access to any machine tools such as a mill or lathe?