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He Built His Own Skid Mower
"It works great for cutting along fences and roadsides. I built it for a fraction of the cost of a new commercial model," says James Boyd, Galveston, Ind., about the 5-ft. mower he made for his Bobcat skid loader.
He built it out of an old commercial Gravely walk-behind mower he bought from a dealer for $200. T
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He Built His Own Skid Mower MOWERS Mowers (31H) 28-4-4 "It works great for cutting along fences and roadsides. I built it for a fraction of the cost of a new commercial model," says James Boyd, Galveston, Ind., about the 5-ft. mower he made for his Bobcat skid loader.
He built it out of an old commercial Gravely walk-behind mower he bought from a dealer for $200. The entire setup is attached to a Bobcat commercial mounting plate that quick taches to the standard Bobcat loader arms. The unit hinges up and down on two pins and quick couples to the skid steer's auxiliary hydraulics.
He removed the Gravely deck and welded a steel plate on the mounting arms, to which he fastened a high speed (3,500 rpm) hydraulic motor and pulley. The motor belt-drives the deck's three blades. A 2 1/2-in. dia. hydraulic cylinder raises and lowers the deck, which is supported by an arm made from
1/4-in. thick, 2-in. steel tubing.
The skid loader has a single auxiliary hydraulic circuit operated by a switch mounted on a control lever. Boyd bought another Bobcat switch and mounted it on the second control lever. The add-on switch controls a 12-volt, closed center solenoid valve that's used to activate the cylinder.
A pair of adjustable gauge wheels on front eliminate the need to adjust deck height manually.
"I spent about $700 to build it. A similar commercial model would've cost at least $2,500," says Boyd. "It was a lot of fun to build. I use it to mow about a quarter mile of roadside. It'll cut brush up to 1 in. in diameter. The deck can be raised to about a 90 degree angle so I can also use it to trim tree limbs along lanes and hedges. I had to cut two inches out of the front part of the deck to keep tall grass from getting pushed down too much and not getting cut."
Boyd lives on a 30-acre hobby farm and has a Ph.D. in physics, which came in handy in building the mower. "I set up an Xcel spreadsheet program to calculate the angles so I'd know where to locate the pivot point," he notes.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, James D. Boyd, 3149 E. 1175 S., Galveston, Ind. 46932 (ph 574 699-7421; email: jdboyd@holli.com).
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