Three-In-One Lawn Mower

Three-In-One Lawn Mower FARM HOME Lawn Mowers (31h,38) 32-3-3 With three riding lawn mowers hitched together, Wayne Becker of Blairstown, Iowa cuts a 15-ft. wide swath across his 4 1/2-acre lawn for far less than the cost of a comparably sized commercial mower. Becker tied together three Swisher 60-in. pull-type mowers, all of which he bought new. Each mower is belt-driven by its own Briggs & Stratton engine. He uses a Steiner 16 hp, 4-WD tractor equipped with wide, lugged tires to pull the three mowers. "It has reducing my mowing time from five hours to only one hour and 10 minutes or less," says Becker. "I paid about $1,200 apiece for the three Swisher mowers and $5,000 for the Steiner tractor so my total cost was about $8,600. I'd have spent that much money just for a Dixon or Cub Cadet 60-in. riding mower." Each mower is powered by its own Briggs & Stratton 13 hp, electric start engine. "I chose the Swisher models because they're equipped with a lever that's used to manually tighten the belt rather than a more expensive remote system," says Becker. "When mowing our lawn I stay one or two ft. away from buildings and use my old Yardman riding mower to do trimming work." The hitches that Becker uses all came with the mowers. "I just bought two clamps which I installed on the back corners of the front mower." According to Becker, the only problem with the Swisher mowers is their blades run too slow and can't throw the grass clippings out far enough which leaves the lawn with uneven clumps of grass. "There isn't enough pitch on the blades. It isn't a problem on their smaller 40-in. mowers." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Wayne Becker, 2015 78th St., Blairstown, Iowa 52209 (ph 319 454-6956 or 319 521-7100).

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