Double Jointed Mower

Double jointed mower HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Mowers (38) 14-3-23 After destroying just about every mower he ever bought on his rocky ground, Australian farmer Alistair Gleeson of Lismore, Victoria, started working on his own design. He came up with a double-jointed disc mounted blade design that he now unconditionally guarantees against breakage. The new offset mower is also unique in that it's a cross between a 3-pt. mounted and trailing mower. "Demand is tremendous. We can't keep up with it. Farmers have been looking for a mower like this," Glee-son told FARM SHOW, noting that he's won inventor awards at equipment shows all over Australia and has geared up to produce the mower himself. The 9-ft. mower features three belt-driven mower discs. There are four double-jointed blades - they pivot where they attach to the disc and at the mid-point of the blade - mounted on each disc with 16 mm high tensile steel bolts. The blades are set on a 10 degree tilt forward with a 20 degree tilt outward so that if a blade hits a rock it swings up and over its mounting disc rather than simply bouncing back as with other jointed blades mounted parallel to the ground. It also causes the blade to cut 2 1/ 2 in. below the disc. The three mower discs are belt-driven - to prevent damage to gearboxes or pto - from a center-mounted gearbox on top of the mower. A single adjustment tightens all three belts. The three cutting discs form one windrow. The mower mounts on the bottom two arms of the 3-pt. and is supported at the rear by a pair of caster wheels. For transport the mower trails behind the tractor. In operation, it moves out to its offset position to the side of the tractor via a set of pulleys and steel cable. The cable controls, which run from the 3-pt. to the transport wheels, also give the mower the "level lift" capability of a trailing mower and yet it still has the maneuverability and transportability of a 3-pt. mounted mower. There are no remote cylinders or other hydraulics on the mower. The mower folds for transport or moves into field position without using hydraulics and without the operator leaving the tractor. Gleeson unconditionally guarantees his double-action blades. "If an operator ever bends or breaks a blade, no matter how it happens, it will be replaced. That's how confident we are in this design, which is now being recognized as a major new break-through in mowing technology." Sells for about $7,500 (U.S.). Not yet available in North America. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Alistair Gleeson, Ettrick, R.M.B. 2280, Camperdown, 3260 Victoria, Australia (ph 055-970-212).

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