2024 - Volume #48, Issue #4, Page #03
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‘Farmer Chopper’ Made For Showing And Mowing
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“I didn’t have enough money to buy a real chopper, so decided to make my own from a farmer’s point of view,” Dougherty says.
First, he spent $20 on a used lawnmower with a twin-cylinder motor. He already had two Japanese-built motorcycle front ends, and a friend donated a Harley Davidson gas tank and seat to the project. Another friend offered up a pair of ATV tires.
“I made a shifter from a floor jack lever and moved the linkage from the rear to the front,” Dougherty says. “This was a little tricky.”
A welder friend lengthened the triple trees by 6 in. to make it stand out and look more like an actual chopper.
Dougherty cut up a chrome cattleguard from an old Ford truck and welded it to the manifold.
“Mounting the front end to the front of the lawnmower and making it look like a motorcycle was also a little challenging,” he says.
Dougherty drives the “Farmer Chopper” in parades and says it still operates as a mower. He’s unhooked the drive belt for safety around everyone who enjoys a close-up view of the unusual machine.
He estimates he spent about $50 for the entire build, including five cans of spray paint.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gary Dougherty, 1232 Old Barn Lane, Freeport, Mich. 49325 (ph 616-262-5753; gdougherty@gmail.com).
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