Add-On Skids Keep Mower From "Castoring" Downhill

Add-On Skids Keep Mower From "Castoring" Downhill MOWERS Mowers (31H) 34-4-26 A pair of home-built skids keeps Robert Mork's walk-behind mower from sliding downhill as he cuts his lawn. The skids replace the mower's front-mount castor wheels. "Our home sets on a rough, steep hill. The mower's castor wheels tend to turn downhill, which requires the operator to ride the uphill brake and also pull against the handlebars to compensate. The skids provide greater contact with the ground, which makes the mower more stable and greatly reduces the effort required to keep the mower tracking straight." He used 3/4-in. dia. round bar and 1/4-in. thick by 2-in. wide flat plate to build the skids. A welded-on, 7/8-in. dia. shaft extends from the top of the flat plate and pins onto the arm that originally held the castor wheels. A 3/4-in. dia. pin welded on back of each skid fits into a metal tab welded to the mower's front deck guard, and keeps the skid locked straight. The back end of each skid is curved to keep the mower from digging into the dirt when backing up. "Now when I turn downhill, the mower has less tendency to ærun away' because the skids provide some drag," says Mork. "However, I always try to turn uphill to take advantage of the mower's rearward weight transfer, which takes the mower's weight off the skids. When turning on flat ground I have to put some down pressure on the handlebars so I can turn easier." Mork also made a simple towbar that lets him pull the mower behind his golf cart. "It lets me tow the mower anywhere I need it on my 18-acre place and saves a lot of walking," says Mork. "Also, when it's hooked up to the golf cart the front part of the mower is raised which makes it easy to install either the castor wheels or skids." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Robert Mork (mork_sys@mindspring.com).

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