Shop-Built Mower Built From Trencher, Backhoe

Shop-Built Mower Built From Trencher, Backhoe MOWERS Mowers (31H) 23-1-36 "I've got 10 1/2 miles of roadbanks to mow so I needed a big mower to get the job done quick," says B.L. "Butch" Uhnken, who built a heavy-duty mower out of an assortment of parts, including a Grizzly trencher and backhoe. The Jacksonville, Ill., farmer bought a Grizzly chassis when the company went out of business a few years ago. Uhnken used only the front and rear axles of the 4-WD Grizzly, which was equipped with a chain digger on one end and a backhoe on the other, and built a new, shorter 4-ft. sq. frame out of 2 in. sq. tubing. He retained the big 31.5 by 15.5-in. tires off the Grizzly to use on his mower. He powered the mower with a 121 cu. in., 30 hp Isuzu diesel engine out of a Thermo King refrigeration van. A Sundstrand hydrostatic motor out of a Massey Ferguson 875 windrower drives the wheels. The input end of the hydrostat requires 3,500 rpm's so Uhnken attached a small, 12-tooth driver gear and a jack shaft with a large, 82-tooth sprocket to one end of the shaft to achieve the proper 13.2 to 1 gear reduction. A 16-tooth sprocket attached to the other end of the shaft drives the ring gear and pinion of the pto-shaft Uhnken made for the front of the machine to drive the mower. The pto shaft is powered with a small, 13 gpm pump off an old Deere combine. The height of the 6-ft. Woods mower deck can be adjusted hydraulically. He can raise it to a vertical position to sharpen the blades. The machine features power steering provided by a Char Lynn system salvaged from a blacktop road spreader and a steering wheel out of an old dune buggy. "It works great and cost only $800 to build," Uhnken says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, B.L. "Butch" Uhnken, 25 Westfair, Jacksonville, Ill. 62650 (ph 217 245-4359).

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