“Made It Myself” Lawn Vac

“Made It Myself” Lawn Vac FARM HOME Lawn Mowers 31h 38 “It saves me a lot of time and was fun to build ” says Edward Bewley Greensburg Ind who built a manually-operated “grass catcher” and trailer box for his 1987 Sears SS garden tractor equipped with a 40-in mower deck It lets him mow his 5-acre lawn and collect grass clippings fast He bought a used Sears Craftsman vacuum blower at a sale for $25 and mounted it on a homemade steel platform that he bolted on back of the tractor The impeller is belt-driven by a 5 hp gas engine A length of 6 1/2-in dia flexible hose runs from the mower deck to the blower and then back to the box where it hooks onto a welded-on auger pipe welded on front of the box Bewley built the 4 ft long 26 in wide 4-ft high box from salvaged angle iron and sheet metal The back side of the box hinges at the top and has a wooden door at the bottom which rides inside 2 pieces of angle iron When the box is full Bewley lifts the top hinged door out of the way and then raises the lower door He uses a long antique silage fork to remove the grass clippings     A tongue made of 1-in square tubing on front of the box hooks up to a drawbar on back of the riding mower  The top of the box is covered by a wire mesh door screen that allows exhaust air to escape     “It has more capacity than most pull-behind lawn vacs ” says Bewley “The vacuum blower came off some kind of old leaf chopper I found it setting on a skid with the engine and blower all built together as one piece I got the flexible hose from the Cummins Engine company where I worked for 30 years It had been used as the air intake pipe for a test block where the company tested their diesel engines ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Edward L Bewley 1312 S County Road 280 W Greensburg Ind 47240 ph 812 593-0669

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