Riding Mower Converted To Tracked “Sap Hauler”

Riding Mower Converted To Tracked “Sap Hauler” FARM HOME Lawn Mowers 31h 38 Thanks to a good supply of salvaged materials and strong mechanical skills Gene Cunningham turned his 20-year-old Toro Z zero-turn riding mower into a tracked “sap hauler” machine He says it comes in handy for a variety of jobs Also as a disabled vet with limited walking ability he likes being able to get up close to everything “It’ll go anywhere a 4-wheeler will go but has much better flotation I’ve driven it in snow 4 to 5 ft deep ” says Cunningham a retired engineer who runs a small hay and livestock operation and also produces maple syrup from about 200 taps “I use it to pull a small trailer with a 65-gal tank full of sap I use 5-gal buckets to fill the tank in the woods and then drive home pull up beside a collecting station and pump the sap out “I built it mostly from salvaged materials I already had the mower and a friend gave the tracks to me I spent a total of less than $2 000 to build both the machine and trailer ”     He lengthened the machine’s frame 2 ft cutting the mower’s front axle off and replacing it with a boat trailer axle He also moved the rear axle back then mounted ATV wheels all the way around The 6-in pneumatic wheels off an old hay tedder serve as bogey wheels and the 13-in wide tracks are off an Argo tracked amphibious vehicle The support pipes from a trampoline were used to build a rollbar and he built an access platform on front from square tubing and an old radiator screen A pair of fiberglass sideboards salvaged from a camping trailer help keep mud and snow off the driver The mower’s engine was worn out so Cunningham replaced it with the 18 hp engine off a home generator also building a sheet metal hood for it He also used Argo tracks and ATV wheels and axles to build the trailer adding a frame made from angle iron and square tubing off an old side delivery hay rake “I’m well satisfied with how it turned out ” says Cunningham “I had been using an expensive commercial tracked machine but it broke down frequently and I spent a lot of money trying to fix it I tried using a snowmobile with a trailer to haul sap but having to drive on bare ground at times was hard on the machine “It turns on a dime like a skid loader If I have to turn very tight the tracks sometimes will slip on the drive wheels but it’s not a big problem Also the machine could use more power when climbing steep hills ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Gene Cunningham 497 Horseback Rd Carmel Maine 04419 ph 207 852-6749; valleybrookfarms@outlook com

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