"Made It Myself" Mower Ideal For CRP Acres
Gerald Gould’s 20-ft. mower is a low-cost way to cut his 25 acres of CRP land. He didn’t want the expense of a large rotary mower, nor did he want to run his tractor at the high rpm’s needed for one. However, he needed to cover rough ground and wanted to be able to vary the cutting height.
“With this mower, the tractor runs at about 1,200 rpm’s,” says Gould. “It rolls over the ground and swings behind for towing.”
Gould designed the mower around a 20-ft. sickle bar and wobble box salvaged from an old combine. He made a frame to mount the mower to the 3-pt. hitch from 6-in. wide, 5/8-in. thick steel.
Telescoping members and a frame within the frame allow the mower to swing from cutting position to transit position with a single pin locking it in either mode.
“If I pull the pin and drive ahead, it swings into transit mode,” says Gould. “To swing it back into cutting position, I pull the pin and back up. The mower swings around until I can pin it again.”
He used a gearbox off an old Bushhog to power the sickle bar. A universal joint on the gearbox accommodates the movement between transit and cutting positions.
He reinforced the bar with pipe and added crazy wheels at 8 and 12 ft. along the bar.
“I used a tail wheel from a little Bushhog mower and one from a wheelbarrow and made the crazy-wheel mount,” says Gould. “Each crazy wheel has a hydraulic cylinder on it, so I can raise the bar from a 6 to 18-in. cutting height.”
Gould ran hydraulic hose through the reinforcing pipe to the cylinders. Pressure in the line is equalized, so if one wheel drops and the other goes up, the bar stays level across its length.
The gearbox shaft also powers a homemade reel that Gould added after the fact.
“When I first took it to the field, if I hit a bare spot or one that had grown up in weeds, the cut material would just lay on the bar,” says Gould. “I needed beaters for it.”
He fabricated a reel from 1 1/2-in. thin-wall pipe mounted above the bar. Sections of 3-ft. long, 1 1/2-in wide scrap steel welded to the pipe serve as mounts for the beaters. Beaters are 3-ft. long sections of plastic barrel cut into slats. Each section is offset from the next.
“The beater reel moves up and down with the bar and is spaced so the beaters barely clear it,” says Gould.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gerald Gould, 1259 Jonah Rd. Louisville, Ill. 62858.
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Press Wheel Closers Key To Interseeding Success PLANTERS Gerald Gould’s 20-ft mower is a low-cost way to cut his 25 acres of CRP land He didn’t want the expense of a large rotary mower nor did he want to run his tractor at the high rpm’s needed for one However he needed to cover rough ground and wanted to be able to vary the cutting height “With this mower the tractor runs at about 1 200 rpm’s ” says Gould “It rolls over the ground and swings behind for towing ” Gould designed the mower around a 20-ft sickle bar and wobble box salvaged from an old combine He made a frame to mount the mower to the 3-pt hitch from 6-in wide 5/8-in thick steel Telescoping members and a frame within the frame allow the mower to swing from cutting position to transit position with a single pin locking it in either mode “If I pull the pin and drive ahead it swings into transit mode ” says Gould “To swing it back into cutting position I pull the pin and back up The mower swings around until I can pin it again ” He used a gearbox off an old Bushhog to power the sickle bar A universal joint on the gearbox accommodates the movement between transit and cutting positions He reinforced the bar with pipe and added crazy wheels at 8 and 12 ft along the bar “I used a tail wheel from a little Bushhog mower and one from a wheelbarrow and made the crazy-wheel mount ” says Gould “Each crazy wheel has a hydraulic cylinder on it so I can raise the bar from a 6 to 18-in cutting height ” Gould ran hydraulic hose through the reinforcing pipe to the cylinders Pressure in the line is equalized so if one wheel drops and the other goes up the bar stays level across its length The gearbox shaft also powers a homemade reel that Gould added after the fact “When I first took it to the field if I hit a bare spot or one that had grown up in weeds the cut material would just lay on the bar ” says Gould “I needed beaters for it ” He fabricated a reel from 1 1/2-in thin-wall pipe mounted above the bar Sections of 3-ft long 1 1/2-in wide scrap steel welded to the pipe serve as mounts for the beaters Beaters are 3-ft long sections of plastic barrel cut into slats Each section is offset from the next “The beater reel moves up and down with the bar and is spaced so the beaters barely clear it ” says Gould Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Gerald Gould 1259 Jonah Rd Louisville Ill 62858
