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Front-Mounted E-Mower
After Roy Bertalotto repowered a Deere 214 gas garden tractor with an electric motor, he needed a mower to match.
“When I converted my Deere 214 to a 13-hp electric motor, I knew I had plenty of power to run a belly-mounted mower deck,” says Bertalotto. “However, my lawn is small with lots of nooks and crannies
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Front-Mounted E-Mower
After Roy Bertalotto repowered a Deere 214 gas garden tractor with an electric motor, he needed a mower to match.
“When I converted my Deere 214 to a 13-hp electric motor, I knew I had plenty of power to run a belly-mounted mower deck,” says Bertalotto. “However, my lawn is small with lots of nooks and crannies. I thought a front-mounted deck would be more advantageous.”
Bertalotto’s first electric repower was a Toro lawn tractor with a small belly-mounted three-blade mower deck. When he repowered the 214, he picked the Toro deck as the base for his front-mount mower. He stripped it down and added three 40-volt Craftsman electric lawn mower motors.
“I picked them up on eBay for $40 each and also replaced the old 16-in. blades with a three-pack of Oregon blades for $35,” recalls Bertalotto. “The blades weren’t an exact fit, so I turned some adapters on my lathe.”
Bertalotto used a few pieces of angle iron and some square tubing to fabricate a deck carriage. He added two connecting ears to the above-deck carriage and two ears to the deck itself, as well as a clevis hitch to the deck. He also added four swivel casters with adjustable supports.
“I had previously installed a receiver hitch on the front of the 214,” explains Bertalotto. “To mount the mower, I slipped an upright support into the receiver hitch and hung a linear actuator from it. The ram end was hooked to the clevis hitch on the mower deck.”
He fabricated four lift arms from bar stock and attached them to existing mounting points on the tractor frame. When bolted to the ears on the deck carriage and the deck, the deck remains parallel to the ground when lifted.
After painting the deck Deere yellow, Bertalotto mounted a heavy-duty golf cart solenoid to the deck along with other electrical components.
“Power from the tractor to the mower motors runs through a heavy-duty Anderson connector,” says Bertalotto. “A smaller, light-duty Anderson connector starts the motors.”
“It was a fun project, but I discovered it got very little use,” says Bertalotto. “Even mounted to the front end, it was less efficient than my push mower for mowing my small yard.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Roy Bertalotto, Dartmouth, Mass. (www.rvbprecision.com; YouTube: roybertalotto6355).
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