Modified Mower Cuts Clean And Fast

Modified Mower Cuts Clean And Fast FARM HOME Lawn Mowers (31h,38) 26-5-11 Nothing cuts scrub trees and brush faster and cleaner than one of Mack Louthan's cedar tree "stingers". The little 3-wheelers can spin around a pasture of cedar or other trees, cutting them down like so many blades of grass. The Oklahoma innovator makes his maneuverable tree cutters from used Dixon mowers and table saw blades. He went with the Dixon because he had a local dealer where he could get parts. "Dixon lawn mowers start at around $4,000 new, but I convert used ones with bad motors," he explains. "I install industrial Briggs and Stratton engines with alternators that produce the 14 to 15 amps needed for the electric clutch on the saw." Louthan starts by removing the mower deck cover and cutting off the two front wheels. Then he builds an A-frame using 2 by 1/4-in. steel from the rear of the original mower frame. Louthan then mounts one of the original front wheels at the end of the A-Frame to create a rear pivot wheel. The seat and all controls are relocated from in front of the drive wheels to a new position behind them and mounted on the A-Frame. He also mounts the gas tank directly behind the seat with the battery mounted on the frame just ahead of the rear tire. "I replaced the Dixon battery with a car battery," he adds. "When you are constantly kicking the electric clutch in and out on every small tree, the original batteries couldn't handle the load, and they wore out in about six months." The belt-driven cutterhead is the original mower head. It extends about 3 ft. in front of the wheels and is modified slightly to take a 12-in., carbide tipped, rip saw blade from a table saw. Louthan likes the carbide tips, as he invariably loses some to steel fence posts or rocks. He can order them in bulk and, using a jig and a torch, quickly insert new tips as needed. He spring-loads the cutterbar to keep the blade about a foot off the ground. Louthan runs a spring from the cutter head to the top of the motor. Foot rests on either side of the motor pivot at the heel with an extension from the toe running down to the cutter bar. By pressing on the toe of the foot rest, the saw blade can be shoved down to cut trees and brush at ground level. "You can get out and under a fenceline and cut close to posts," says Louthan. "You can cut trees up to 2 in. in diameter without stopping, just hit them and keep going. You may have to stop and saw for a few seconds on larger trees. It's about as easy a way to cut scrub trees as you can get." Louthan keeps three machines going steady and is usually booked up for months at a time. He charges $35 per hour for the service. Thanks to regrowth, he has lots of repeat customers. "People that use us one time seem to have us back every year," he says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mack Louthan, RR 1, Box 13 , Chester, Okla. 73838 (ph 580 764-3515).

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