Ganged Mowers Cut A 6-Ft. Swath

Ganged Mowers Cut A 6-Ft. Swath FARM HOME Lawn Mowers (31h,38) 27-3-26 "I've reduced mowing time in half," says Bob Simpson, Saskatoon, Sask., who built a hitch to pull two push mowers behind his riding mower. The 20-in. push mowers are hitched behind a riding mower with a 38-in. deck so the three mower decks cut a 70-in. wide swath. A pull bar runs across the back of the riding mower and bolts onto the mower's hitch. The pull bar is made from two lengths of pipe welded to an angle iron bracket. A pair of strap iron brackets attach to the front of the two push mowers. A hole was drilled into each bracket which fits over the axle under the front wheels. Rods run from the brackets up to pipe couplings welded onto the pull bar. The rods are secured at both ends by pins. One rod on each mower was made adjustable by cutting 1 in. out of the rod, threading it, and using a coupling nut to join the threaded ends. "The pull bar on the riding mower is about a foot above the ground in order to hold the push mowers off the ground. The threaded rod on each mower allows me to keep the mowers tracking correctly. I mounted a truck mudflap on the right side of the pull bar in order to keep the riding mower's cuttings away from the push mower on that side. "I left the handle on one of the mowers so I can detach it to mow in corners." A kill switch was installed in the shroud of each motor. "It's a simple on-off slide switch with one pole grounded to a pop rivet holding the switch to the shroud, and the other pole connected to the coil wire which went to the original kill switch. It not only stops the motor but prevents accidental starting," notes Simpson. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, A.R. Simpson, 530 Wilson Crescent, Saskatoon, Sask., Canada S7J 2M1 (ph 306 242-4628).

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