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Home-Built Car Mower
"It covers a lot of ground," says Burton Spaude, Gibbon, Minn., who built his own heavy-duty farm mower by salvaging the engine and other parts from his worn-out 1962 Chevrolet.
The hydrostatically-driven mower features a direct drive pto, both 2 and 4-WD, tilt steering, hydraulic brakes and a 6-ft. mower deck. S
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Home-Built Car Mower MOWERS Mowers (31H) 11-3-35 "It covers a lot of ground," says Burton Spaude, Gibbon, Minn., who built his own heavy-duty farm mower by salvaging the engine and other parts from his worn-out 1962 Chevrolet.
The hydrostatically-driven mower features a direct drive pto, both 2 and 4-WD, tilt steering, hydraulic brakes and a 6-ft. mower deck. Spaude built it all from the ground up, including the mower deck which is equipped with Snapper blades and spindles.
Power is supplied by the Chevy's 283 cu. in. V-8 engine. A driveshaft direct off the engine runs the mower deck, which is suspended from a shock-absorbing 3-pt. frame that's also designed to carry a snowblower. The mower's hydrostatic pump is driven off the crankshaft at the other end of the engine. A pulley off the crankshaft runs a jackshaft that runs the pump. In operation, the engine runs at a constant 1,400 rpm's while the hydrostatic pump is controlled with a "foot throttle" by the operator.
The Chevy rear-end is positioned directly under the operator. An orbit motor direct drives the rear end. At the rear end of the mower two car tires mount side by side on a short axle also driven by an orbit motor. These rear wheels turn 90? either direction for steering, controlled by a power steering unit. Spaude can run the drive motors separately or both at once, depending on the traction he needs. He was able to make a tilt steering wheel by using a V-belt to transfer steering motions to a jackshaft off to the side of the operator. The shaft runs back to the power steering unit. The frame of the mower was built from 2-in. sq. tubing.
Spaude bent sheet metal himself for the hood, installing the Chevy headlights in the front fenders. The mower has a 5 gal. fuel tank and burns about 1 gal. fuel per hour, running at 1,400 rpm's. "The surprising thing about it is that you can't hear the engine when it's running. All you hear is the sound of the mower," he told FARM SHOW.
For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Burton Spaude, Rt. 1, Box 188, Gibbon, Minn. 55335 (ph 507 834-6331)
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