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"Made It Myself" Live PTO Powers Belly-Mount Mower
When Glen Alstad, Spring Grove, Minn., bought a Farmall B tractor, he decided to add live pto to power a 6-ft. belly mower.
"I use it to mow our nearly 1-acre lawn. It does a great job and has been virtually trouble-free," says Alstad. "The tractor didn't have a live pto, 3-pt. hitch or hydraulics. I liked the i
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"Made It Myself" Live PTO Powers Belly-Mount Mower MOWERS Mowers (31H) 33-6-35 When Glen Alstad, Spring Grove, Minn., bought a Farmall B tractor, he decided to add live pto to power a 6-ft. belly mower.
"I use it to mow our nearly 1-acre lawn. It does a great job and has been virtually trouble-free," says Alstad. "The tractor didn't have a live pto, 3-pt. hitch or hydraulics. I liked the idea of live pto, because when mowing in small areas I can keep the mower running even when I stop the tractor."
He welded a sprocket on the engine's crankshaft, which chain-drives a shaft that runs alongside the tractor. The shaft belt-drives a power steering pump that raises or lowers the mower. It also runs through the clutch off a Mazda car and then connects to a right angle gearbox. A vertical shaft off the gearbox drives the mower blades and runs through a constant velocity joint mounted on the deck. "The vertical shaft's angle changes whenever the mower is raised or lowered, which is why the universal joint is needed," says Alstad.
"I use a emergency lever off an old truck to engage the clutch and start the blades running and a hydraulic valve to raise or lower the deck. The power steering pump that's used to raise or lower the deck operates a hydraulic cylinder off an old cultivator, which is hooked to a cable and pulley mechanism."
He built the 3-blade mower deck from scratch. It's supported by hinged metal arms that allow the deck to move fully up or down. The constant velocity joint is integrated into a center-mounted pulley on the deck, which belt-drives the outer blades. All three blades ride on the spindle wheel bearings off a Chevy Cavalier.
Alstad has an apple tree with low-hanging branches in his yard and wanted to be able to mow under it without damaging the exhaust pipe on the tractor. To solve the problem he cut a short pipe at a 45 degree angle and welded it back together on top of the hood. Then he welded the exhaust on so that it extends horizontally above the hood.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Glen Alstad, 19213 Stage Rd., Spring Grove, Minn. 55974 (ph 507 498-5599).
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