Side-Mount ATV Mower

Side-Mount ATV Mower HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Mowers (38) 18-3-23 "It pivots up or down so I can mow along roadside ditches and it also reaches under fences," says Walter Malone, Dunlap, Iowa, about the side-mount mower he made for his Honda 350 4-WD ATV. Malone used parts off old riding mowers to build the mower. It's powered by an 8 hp electric-start Briggs & Stratton gas engine that belt-drives a single 26-in. blade. One side of the deck is bolted to an angle iron frame that bolts onto brackets welded to the front and rear of the ATV. The other side of the deck is supported by a 6-in. wheel. "It pivots up or down about 1 ft. so I can cut fairly steep roadside ditches. I also use it in my apple orchard to mow up close to a woven wire fence and to mow grass under an electric fence around my pasture. A steel rod runs diagonally from the outer edge of the deck up over the 1 1/2-gal. gas tank to keep electric wire from snagging on the mower. I generally shutoff the fence charger before I start mowing. I had been using a Troy-Bilt walk-behind sickle mower but I got tired from all the walking. If I see a rock or other object ahead of me I can reach a lever from the ATV to loosen the belt and stop the blade. It eliminates the need to back up and go around the object. I can also reach the engine throttle from the ATV. "I can change cutting height by changing position of a bolt next to the wheel. I usually mow about 4 in. high. I use another home-built mower that bolts on front of my ATV to mow my yard. I can use the same engine on either mower by removing three bolts." Malone used 2-in. angle iron to build the frame and sheet metal salvaged from an old 3-wheeled self-propelled mower to build the deck. The engine was taken from an old riding lawn mower. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Walter Malone, Rt. 1, Box 66, Dunlap, Iowa 51529 (ph 712 643-5415).

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