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Swivel Hitch Makes Yard Cleanup Easier
FARM SHOW reader and metalworker Monroe Esau needed a better way to clear his yard before mowing.
“I have many trees in my yard and always have twigs, sticks, and small limbs that must be picked up before I can mow the grass,” he says. “I needed a small trailer to help clean up the yard, but a standard trailer would not work behind my zero-turn mower.”
His solution was to weld up a swivel hitch design that could handle the mower’s movement without creating following issues with the trailer. The design needed to allow the trailer to flex while still following directly behind the mower, even when it made sharp turns or reversed.
“From other projects I have built, I knew of a bearing that worked in an inch and a quarter pipe without any machining,” says Esau. “This made it easy to put together a double pivot to allow the trailer to follow uneven ground yet stay directly behind the mower.” 
The final design has a bracket bolted to the rear of the mower, which allows him to hook up and unhook the trailer while only lifting the hitch off the mower brackets.
In total, these four bearings cost less than $5 each, and the pipe and bolts totaled less than $10.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Monroe Esau, 4111 NC Hwy 118, Grifton, NC 28530 (ph 252-474-8990; esaumetalworks@gmail.com).


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2022 - Volume #46, Issue #3