Snowblower Engine Powers Bucket-Mounted Mower

Snowblower Engine Powers Bucket-Mounted Mower ENGINES Bud Wice uses a loader-mounted mower deck to trim drainage ditches on his Mactier Ontario property     The 42-in wide deck is belt-driven by the 12 hp engine off an old walk-behind snowblower and extends 4 ft outside the bucket It mounts on a homemade steel frame that pins onto a pair of metal tubes bolted to the bucket floor     “I use it alongside a 1 1/2-mile long driveway that has a ditch on each side It’s simple to use and I can see everything well without having to look back ” says Wice     “The deck cuts level and isn’t designed to tilt up or down All I want to do is keep brush and small trees in the ditch from growing too tall and becoming a problem ”     He bought the mower deck at a scrap yard for $75 A neighbor gave him the snowblower engine He used 1 1/2-in sq tubing to build a steel frame which slides into a pair of 2-in sq tubes bolted to the bottom of the bucket The snowblower’s 2 wheels support the frame on front while another wheel supports the outside end of the deck     The snowblower came equipped with a vertical belt pulley which is used to operate a long horizontal belt that drives the mower deck The conversion is made possible by a homemade double shaft setup     “I bolted two separate shafts to the sides of the snowblower frame and mounted a pulley on each one using bearings to hold the shafts in position ” says Bud “The separate shafts allow one pulley to turn clockwise and the other counterclockwise in order to continue the motion of the belt ”     Bud mounted the snowblower’s clutch arm and spring on one end of the main frame The engine and its original mounting frame are bolted onto a separate angle iron frame which by pulling on a cable can be slid back and forth in order to adjust belt tension     He used the mower last summer for the first time “It works better than a sicklebar mower because it chops up the vegetation finely instead of just cutting it off and laying it over on its side ” says Bud “I spent less than $300 to build it My neighbor gave me the snowblower engine I probably spent $200 on steel and welding     “It’s easy to remove I just pull two pins that attach the frame to the bucket and back the tractor away ”     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Bud Wice 1141 1 Bass Lake Rd MacTier Ontario Canada P0C 1H0 ph 705 375-1257; joanwice@gmail com

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