Poor Man’s ATV

2023 - Volume #47, Issue #1, Page #24

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Poor Man’s ATV

When John Krueger ran across a cheap zero-turn mower, he decided to turn it into what he calls a poor man’s wheelchair. However, once he had it set up, he found lots of uses for it besides running around his farmstead.
“I buy a lot of basket case equipment,” says Krueger. “The owner thought the motor was shot. He said he was getting hot sparks shooting out of the flywheel cover. I figured I could pull the motor off and replace it with a small motor I had salvaged.”
Krueger is no stranger to working on mowers. Nearly 26 years ago, he turned a self-propelled floor sweeper into a 72-in. wide riding mower (Vol. 21, No. 3). When he tore into this one, he got a pleasant surprise.
“I pulled the cover off and found the Bendix starter was stuck in the engaged position,” says Krueger. “When the motor idled, the engaged starter was throwing out sparks. I replaced the Bendix, and it was fine.”
He already had a working zero-turn he used for mowing. His homemade riding mower also worked fine. He didn’t need a third mower, so he removed the mower deck and made some modifications for a run-about. His first step was to make it safer.
“I’m 83, so I wanted a safe way to mount and dismount,” says Krueger. “I installed a handrail on the front of the frame and hung headlights on it.”
His next step was installing a bumper hitch with a ball for towing small equipment. He bolted a length of angle iron to the zero-turn frame behind the motor. It had several holes already drilled in it that he could use for mounting a ball or pinning a clevis hitch.
Krueger then decided to adapt it to carry an 8-gal. sprayer with a 12-volt pump. To provide mounts for the sprayer, he first butt welded two lengths of 3/4-in. pipe to short lengths of angle iron. He bolted the angle irons with the pipes upright to the zero-turn frame and the ends of the bumper hitch.
His next step was to make a platform for the sprayer that could ride on the uprights. He used angle iron for the platform frame and bent a length of pipe to make a surround for the sprayer tank. He welded the pipe ends to the platform frame and covered the frame with pieces of plywood.
Krueger cut a length of angle iron to match the distance between the upright pipes on the zero-turn bumper hitch and welded 6-in. bolts to both ends. He then welded the angle iron to the pipe surround.
“To mount the sprayer to the zero-turn, I lift the platform up and slide the bolts into the pipes,” says Krueger. “So far, I’ve only used the sprayer with a spray wand, but it’s handy for spot spraying around the buildings.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Krueger, 1112 County St. 2984, Blanchard, Okla. 73010 (ph 405-392-4796).

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Poor Man’s ATV ATV S When John Krueger ran across a cheap zero-turn mower he decided to turn it into what he calls a poor man’s wheelchair However once he had it set up he found lots of uses for it besides running around his farmstead “I buy a lot of basket case equipment ” says Krueger “The owner thought the motor was shot He said he was getting hot sparks shooting out of the flywheel cover I figured I could pull the motor off and replace it with a small motor I had salvaged ” Krueger is no stranger to working on mowers Nearly 26 years ago he turned a self-propelled floor sweeper into a 72-in wide riding mower Vol 21 No 3 When he tore into this one he got a pleasant surprise “I pulled the cover off and found the Bendix starter was stuck in the engaged position ” says Krueger “When the motor idled the engaged starter was throwing out sparks I replaced the Bendix and it was fine ” He already had a working zero-turn he used for mowing His homemade riding mower also worked fine He didn’t need a third mower so he removed the mower deck and made some modifications for a run-about His first step was to make it safer “I’m 83 so I wanted a safe way to mount and dismount ” says Krueger “I installed a handrail on the front of the frame and hung headlights on it ” His next step was installing a bumper hitch with a ball for towing small equipment He bolted a length of angle iron to the zero-turn frame behind the motor It had several holes already drilled in it that he could use for mounting a ball or pinning a clevis hitch Krueger then decided to adapt it to carry an 8-gal sprayer with a 12-volt pump To provide mounts for the sprayer he first butt welded two lengths of 3/4-in pipe to short lengths of angle iron He bolted the angle irons with the pipes upright to the zero-turn frame and the ends of the bumper hitch His next step was to make a platform for the sprayer that could ride on the uprights He used angle iron for the platform frame and bent a length of pipe to make a surround for the sprayer tank He welded the pipe ends to the platform frame and covered the frame with pieces of plywood Krueger cut a length of angle iron to match the distance between the upright pipes on the zero-turn bumper hitch and welded 6-in bolts to both ends He then welded the angle iron to the pipe surround “To mount the sprayer to the zero-turn I lift the platform up and slide the bolts into the pipes ” says Krueger “So far I’ve only used the sprayer with a spray wand but it’s handy for spot spraying around the buildings ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup John Krueger 1112 County St 2984 Blanchard Okla 73010 ph 405-392-4796

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