2005 - Volume #29, Issue #2, Page #2

[ Sample Stories From This Issue | List of All Stories In This Issue ]

    «Previous    Next»

Lawnmower "Chopper" Cuts Grass With Style

Lawnmower "Chopper" Cuts Grass With Style FARM HOME Lawn Mowers (31h,38) 29-2-2 Rik Cook and son Derek of West Lafayette, Ind., rigged" up an 8-ft. long "Lawn Chopper" to mow their grass. A Huskee 18-hp twin 48-in. lawn tractor provided the machine's motor, brakes, hood and rear wheel assembly. They added a Sears tractor deck with a 38-in. cutting swath fixed to cut 4 1/2 in. off the ground. The motorcycle chassis is an older Suzuki GS model. Cook bought a Yamaha "double" seat on eBay. They also found a fuel tank and antique Packard headlight on eBay, too. They ground and cut the motorcycle's front frame, then used a floor jack to spread it apart to slip it over the tractor's engine. "We then got the chopper angle by tilting the motorcycle frame up and building a subframe beneath it that's bolted and welded to the tractor frame," Cook says. To lengthen the forks, he took the existing Suzuki forks and welded them to another pair. The triple tree from a Honda ATC three wheeler holds the handlebar mounts and connects the forks to the frame and pivots for steering. To make the 30-in. long handlebars, they cut down a motorcycle sissy bar and welded it to a standard handlebar set. They added open flared header pipes and a Velocity stack to the carburetor to spruce up the engine and painted it silver with chrome tape on the engine covers. "We painted it green because we're tried and true blueàeràgreen John Deere fans," Cook jokes, adding that they pasted yellow reflective tape on it for striping and added flame decals. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Rik and Derek Cook, 4925 State Rd. 26 West, West Lafayette, Ind. 47906 (ph 765 583-0219; email: CornCountyChoppR@aol.com).