Top Cutting Mower Replaces Weed Wipes

Top cutting mower replaces weed wipers MOWERS Mowers (31H) 10-6-24 "It eliminates the high cost of chemicals and does nearly as good a job," says Howard Boydston, Dearborn, Mo., who developed and patented a top-cutting mower to cut down tall-growing weeds and volunteer corn in soybean and millet crops. The sickle-bar mower mounts on a tractor front-end and adjusts to cut at heights from 1 to 6 ft. off the ground, taking a 15 ft. swath. Boydston used a sickle bar and wobble box from a 510 Massey Ferguson combine, powered by a 6-hp. hydraulic motor which belt-drives the wobble box. The mower frame bolts to the tractor front end and raises and lowers hydraulically from the tractor seat. Boydston says it took him 2 years to come up with a design that works. "I built the first prototypes out of wood. Once I finally got the design right it took another 2¢ years to get a patent," he says, noting that he's still trying to find a manufacturer to produce the mower. Boydston says he thinks you can get nearly the same benefit cutting off tall-growing weeds as killing them with chemical such as Roundup. He also thinks restrictions on the use of chemicals may increase in the near future. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Howard Boydston, Rt. 2, Box 43H, Dearborn, Mo. 64439 (ph 816 227-3705).

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