"Traveling Scaffold" Built On Riding Mower

"Traveling Scaffold" Built On Riding Mower FARM HOME Lawn Mowers (31h,38) 27-2-20 "It saves a lot of time because I don't have to climb up and down the scaffold all the time like I would with a conventional scaffold," says Mike Nordby, Grygla, Minn., about the traveling scaffold he mounted on top of a Dixon riding mower. He can drive the scaffold around while standing on the platform 5 ft. off the ground. The scaffold has a metal frame with a wooden platform. It measures 4 ft. wide by 5 1/2 ft. long and bolts onto metal brackets on the front and back sides of the mower. There's a ladder at one end leading up to the platform. Nordby extended the steering and brake levers up to the platform. Another lever connected to the ignition key is used to start and stop the rig. A pair of adjustable stabilizer legs on back help hold the scaffold steady. By removing 4 bolts, Nordby can remove the scaffold and use the mower to cut grass. "It gets a lot of laughs but it's really practical," says Nordby. "I've used it to re-side my home and to do painting work, and even to put up outdoor Christmas lights. From the scaffold, I can reach all the way to the roof of a one-story house with no problem. The only thing I can't control from the platform is the machine's speed. I usually set the throttle at a little faster than idle. If I want, I can drive the machine conventionally from under the scaffold. To adjust the platform's height all I do is change the position of two bolts. "When I first built my traveling scaffold I drove it to town as a joke and picked up my daughter from school. All the kids wanted to ride on it." Nordby says the traveling scaffold is not tippy. "I've had three big guys standing on the scaffold driving the machine." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mike Nordby, Box 202, Grygla, Minn. 56727 (ph 218 294-6659).

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