3-pt. Mower Follows The Slope

3-pt Mower Follows The Slope HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Mowers 38 Bill Medley’s rough-cut mower follows the ground surface no matter how much it dips or climbs Fabricated from some salvaged steel and an old Gravely mower it does the job like nothing on the market “I tried to buy a mower that would do what I wanted and there was nothing close ” says Medley “The closest I could find was a weed eater string mower for the back of a tractor ” Medley wanted something tougher with a good blade He has a mile-long roadway that the state highway maintenance crew seldom mows He got to be thinking about the old Gravely brush cutter mower with its single blade Gravely walk-behind tractors and a multitude of attachments were originally manufactured in West Virginia where Medley lives “Gravelys and their attachments are pretty common around here ” he says “I found the 30-in brush cutter at a Gravely parts salvage yard Medley liked the way the brush cut mower pivoted from its mount to the frame of the walk-behind tractor Small skids mounted to either side of the mower keep it parallel to the ground He wanted the mower to hang past the side of the rear right wheel He used 2 by 6-in steel tubing that he recovered from a scrap bin for an 8-ft long horizontal arm and a 2-ft upright The horizontal arm has pins for the 3-pt arms and the upright is the connecting point for the top link The end of the arm extends out about 4 ft to support the 6 1/2 hp gas engine and a mount for the mower gearbox Given the position of the mower and the motor and size of the drive pulley on the mower Medley needed 2 idler pulleys for the belt to keep it separate and tight He ran the throttle control up to the top link so he can control it from the tractor seat “Once I mounted the engine and mower it hung crooked ” says Medley “I needed a counterweight ” He slipped a length of 1 1/2 by 6-in steel tubing into the left end of the mower arm He welded a bracket on it to hold the weight from the tractor’s front bumper “I slid the inside tube out until it balanced the mower drilled holes through the 2 tubes and pinned them ” says Medley “I slide it in for storage ” He added 2 kickstands to the frame to support it when not on the tractor The drive motor was the most expensive part Medley had to purchase The Gravely mower cost about $50 and the motor cost about $95 at Harbor Freight “I built the whole thing for less than $500 ” says Medley “I can mow both sides of my roadway in a couple of hours ” He likes being able to mow alongside a road bank that is sloping down or up The pivot point on the Gravely allows the mower to be turned a full 90 degrees “It follows the ground no matter how steep ” says Medley “The pivot also makes it easy to sharpen the blade Just raise the 3-pt and tip the mower up ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup William Medley 1065 Douglas Branch Rd Elkview W Va 25071 ph 304 545-7738

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.