Walk-Behind " Sickle Mower"

Walk-Behind " Sickle Mower" FARM HOME Lawn Mowers (31h,38) 24-6-13 "It works great for mowing along fence rows and between the trees in my orchard," says Johnny Self, Hartselle, Ala., about his home-built walk-behind sickle mower. "I built it just for the challenge, but it really comes in handy in my orchards," says Self. "I have 48 trees in one orchard and 12 in another. The orchards are alongside a busy road and people often stop to see what I'm doing. The big wheels make it easy to push. My brother-in-law gave me a walk-behind sickle mower many years ago. I used the mower's sickle blade, gearbox and pitman. It took me a long time to find all the other parts that I needed to make it work." The four-wheeled mower carries the 3-ft. wide sickle blade on front. The 18-in. high rear wheels and axle came off a 10 hp Sears riding mower. Power is supplied by a 2 hp Briggs & Stratton gas engine. The engine chain-drives a gearbox that's connected to a long wooden arm, which operates a pitman that drives the sickle blades back and forth. The rig is equipped with two belt-driven manual transmissions, both off Sears riding mowers. The main transmission mounts on a steel frame behind the rear wheels, while the other transmission mounts directly below the engine and is connected to the axle. Three control levers mount on the handle ahead of the operator. One is used to engage the gearbox that drives the sickles, another is used to put the main transmission in gear, and the third is used to go forward or reverse. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Johnny W. Self , 1638 Penn Rd. S.W., Hartselle, Ala. 35640 (ph 256 773-0677).

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