Easy-Riding "Chopper Mower"

Easy-Riding "Chopper Mower" FARM HOME Lawn Mowers (31h,38) 30-3-4 When C.G. Mouch mows his lawn, he rides in style and comfort on his home-built "Chopper Mower". Painted Deere green and yellow, the 3-wheeled "easy rider" mower was built from the back half of a Deere STX 38 riding mower and the front half of a Honda 750 motorcycle. It has a 38-in. belly-mount deck that's powered by a horizontally opposed 18 hp Briggs & Stratton gas engine. The mower has dual headlights, brake lights, and dual stainless steel exhaust pipes that make the rig sound like a Harley Davidson motorcycle. The driver sits on a "king queen" motorcycle seat. "When people first see it, they tell me it looks great but they wonder if it cuts grass. They're amazed when I tell them I can mow fast at speeds up to 10 mph," says Mouch, of Brusly, La. The Deere STX 38 mower had a frozen engine, which he replaced with the Briggs and Stratton model. He cut the mower's frame off behind the front wheels, keeping the rear wheels, differential, 5-speed transmission, and deck. He bolted on the motorcycle front end, including the forks, handlebars, and gas tank. He replaced the Honda's front wheel with an aluminum cast front wheel off a Yamaha 450 motorcycle. The Deere mower's original rear wheels were replaced with 10-in. aluminum wheels off a mini chopper. The chopper mower still has the STX's original drivetrain, with the clutch on the left side and the brake on the right side. The mower blades are belt-driven via a clutch-operated electric pto and are activated by flipping a switch located behind the shift lever. The electronic ignition key is also located there. The throttle control mounts on one of the handlebars. "It's a lot of fun to drive," says Mouch. "I got the idea for building it about a year ago when a friend sent me a photo of a home-built, 3-wheeled chopper mower that he saw on the internet (after it appeared in FARM SHOW in Vol. 29, No. 2). The mower has a lot of torque - so much that if I remove the deck and rev the engine up to half throttle and then drop the clutch, I can do a wheelie. "It's surprisingly maneuverable, although with a total length of 8 ft. it doesn't turn very short. I changed the pulley ratio so the machine will travel at speeds up to 10 mph. Most of the time I mow grass in fifth gear, but whenever I'm cutting in close places I shift down to first or second gear. Then I rev up the engine so the blades will still spin fast enough to do a good job of cutting." Mouch bought the dual rectangular headlights on eBay. "I used them because they were popular in the 1960's on choppers," he notes. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, C.G. Mouch, P.O. Box 509, 600 Lee Dr., Brusly, La. 70719 (ph 225 749-2832 or 225 252-4567).

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