Ditch Bank Mower Made From Worn-Out Cotton Picker

Ditch Bank Mower Made From Worn-Out Cotton Picker FARM HOME Lawn Mowers 31h 38 James Doughtie’s rotary mower has a 135° cutting range He can go from trimming a 7-ft tall vertical bank of vegetation to clipping a 45° ditch bank sloping away from the roadway “I had a 1988 cotton picker that was just worn out and a 3-pt hitch deck mower with a worn out main frame ” recalls Doughtie “I stripped the cotton picking equipment off the picker and mounted the mower on the header pickup arms ” He points out that old cotton picker heads were combination chain and gear units that wore out faster than the newer all gear-driven heads The engines transmissions and hydraulics are often still in good shape “If you put some imagination to it there is a lot you can do with them ” suggests Doughtie “I have another one I plan to turn into a self-propelled spray unit with a tank where the cotton basket was and a boom sprayer in front ” He needed a way to hang the mower “I had an old 4 by 7-in toolbar that I cut up and welded as vertical shafts on the lift tubes reinforcing them and providing mounts for the mower toolbar ” says Doughtie The range of motion of the mower is made possible by the original header lift and multiple pivot points controlled by hydraulic cylinders The mower deck hangs to the operator’s right hand side The other end of its 4 by 4-in toolbar pivots from the leftmost of the two vertical shafts on the header lift A hydraulic cylinder hangs from a bracket at the top of the vertical shaft to the front right of the operator and attaches to the toolbar A second and smaller length of square tubing is attached top and bottom to the shaft anchoring the cylinder The two shafts bracket the mower toolbar and create a slot for it as it raises and lowers with the cylinder “The slot keeps the mower toolbar from twisting ” says Doughtie “Using the lift arms I can lower the toolbar and mower deck to within about 6 in of the ground When I raise the lift arms and retract the cylinder ram I can lift the mower deck about 7 ft high ” The 90° cut above ground level and the 45° cut down slope are made possible by the second pivot point where the mower toolbar connects to the deck A second hydraulic cylinder controls this pivot point The cylinder engages a pivoting arm that is chain-linked to the mower deck The deck itself pivots freely on the arm with the chain allowing it to float over the rough ground surface Cotton pickers use large fans to move the cotton from the headers to the basket Doughtie disconnected them and used the drive pulleys to power a hydraulic pump While the picker’s existing hydraulics power the header lift and cylinders he needed additional hydraulic pressure for the hydraulic motor on the mower deck “The hoses to the mower motor are the only problem I ran into ” says Doughtie “The extra length needed when the deck is extended out and down can catch on brush when the deck is up ” Doughtie also notes that he had to reinforce the original mower deck toolbar “I took the end caps off and slipped a length of Schedule 8 pipe that just fit inside the square tubing and welded it in place That provided all the reinforcement needed ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup James Doughtie 4697 Roberson School Rd Bethel N C 27812 ph 252 714-0547

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