Old Riding Mower Cuts A 10-Ft. Swath

Old Riding Mower Cuts A 10-Ft Swath FARM HOME Lawn Mowers 31h 38 Mowing a 10-ft wide swath with a 19 hp lawn tractor isn’t something that original manufacturers advise or recommend but Iowa handyman Virgil Davis says the 10-ft rig he built from 3 mowers works just fine “It’s not made for hills but it sure works great on my flat lawn and road ditches because those outside decks flex to the lay of the land ” Davis says His Murray tractor is still fitted with its original 42-in deck Davis says a friend gave it to him because it didn’t run but he remedied that with a few hours of repairs The side decks on his rig are matching 42-in decks from other old mowers He built a frame so the 2 decks overlap the middle deck by 3 in and can flex up and down several inches He bolted pulleys on the spindles of the outside decks and ran belts from each one to the center mower A long idler spring on each belt holds them tight He made poly shields to go over the drive belts from a plastic tank Davis says the machine works especially well for mowing around and under trees “This mower cuts grass just as smooth as any roller mower on a golf course never any scraping or deep cuts ” Davis says “I learned through trial and error that the secret is having rollers on the front and back not wheels Wheels fall in a hole and twist but the rollers glide over everything ” Davis made his rollers from 3-in pvc pipe cut into 30-in lengths He cut pieces from wooden stairway spindles for plugs in each end of the pvc drilled a 3/4-in hole in the plugs for a metal sleeve then ran a 1/2- in bolt the full length of the roller Threaded vertical bolts slide into mounting brackets that he welded on the top of the deck He adjusts the cutting height using lock nuts on the threaded bolts Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Virgil Davis 2686 250th St Humboldt Iowa 50548 ph 515 378-3344

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