«Previous    Next»
Riding Mower "Belly Grader"
“This rig works like a charm for grading my driveway,” says Richard Gostomski, describing the 5-ft. wide, belly-mounted grader he built for his 2011 Husqvarna zero-turn riding mower. He spent only about $60 to build it.
  The grader blade mounts in place of the mower deck and is mechanically raised and lowered using the mower’s original deck lift mechanism. Blade angle is adjusted by changing the position of a pin.
  Gostomski used 2 by 4-in., 1/4-in. thick angle iron to make the grader blade and welded a semi circular steel plate on top of it. A bolt runs up through the center part of the plate to form a pivot point. The entire structure is bolted to a rectangular metal frame that hooks up to the original mower deck lift arms. Gostomski cut holes into the outer edge of the plate to accommodate different blade positions.  “I use it mainly to level our driveway. It does an excellent job,” says Gostomski. “I can angle the blade left, right or straight across.
  “It’s a small riding mower but I don’t need much power for grading. If I want I can add weights onto the mower frame to provide ballast and prevent slippage.”
  Gostomski built a pull-type roller that he pulls behind the riding mower when grading his driveway or mowing the lawn. The roller is built out of a 4-ft. long, 1 1/2-ft. dia. pressure water tank. A metal rack on top contains a series of cement weights. The tank is connected to a U-shaped metal frame and revolves around a pair of bolts welded into both ends of the tank.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Richard Gostomski, W8495 Lil Lane Road, Thorp, Wis. 54771 (ph 715 669-7055).


  Click here to download page story appeared in.



  Click here to read entire issue




To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.
Order the Issue Containing This Story
2013 - Volume #37, Issue #2