10-Ft. "Swather" Lawn Mower

10-Ft. "Swather" Lawn Mower FARM HOME Lawn Mowers (31h,38) 29-3-13 When Jason Becker of Virden, Ill., is out mowing his family's lawn, he gets a lot of attention from passersby who are amazed by his giant mower. Becker makes short work of cutting his large yard thanks to his 10-ft. mower built out of an Owatonna swather. He bought the big rig "as is" off a dealer lot and doesn't know who did the conversion. "I bought it about three years ago and I just love it," Becker says. "It cut the time I spend mowing in half compared to the 72-in. mower I used to use, and it's so much fun to operate." The original swather head was removed and a 3-pt. hitch and pto shaft was mounted on front for connecting to the back of a mower deck. Becker's 10-ft. finishing mower deck has three large (2-ft. dia.) steel discs under the deck. Each disc has four 8 to 10-in. blades on it. This deck is made by Befco, Becker says. He also has a Bush Hog deck for longer grass and rougher terrain. The mower is powered by a 6-cyl. Ford engine. "Id like to know where it came from originally, and who built it," he says. The rig is hydrostatic, with a zero turning radius, so even though it's big, it's very maneuverable. "The thing that makes this thing so good is that it spins so dang fast," he says. "It's very easy to switch from one deck to the other, and you can even hook up a snowblower, tiller, sprayer or blade." The mower's 10-ft. wheel base provides good stability. Another feature of the rig is an air compressor and air tank mounted on the side that are used to power an air cylinder on an idler pulley clutch that engages the mower deck. "With the air compressor right on board, I can blow the radiator out, or fill up the tires wherever I happen to be," notes Becker. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jason and Staci Becker, 2053 East Montgomery Rd., Virden, Illinois 62690 (ph 217 628-3221).

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