Larry Johnson, Ontario, N.Y., recently sent photos of a “side-mount” mower he built by cutting up an old electric-start Wheel Horse C 141 riding mower. He pulls the mower behind his Deere Sabre 25 hp. garden tractor equipped with a 48-in. mower deck.

“It works great to mow hard-to-reach areas under trees and out over ditches. Total cutting width for both mowers is about 7 1/2 ft.,” says Johnson.

The transmission was shot on the old Wheel Horse so he unbolted the engine and hood from the rest of the machine, keeping the deck and front wheels. The engine and hood mount sideways on a home-built steel frame fitted with the Wheel Horse’s original front wheels. The deck mounts directly to the back side of the engine and hood and rides on another set of wheels. A pair of small anti- scalp gauge wheels keep the deck level.

The deck remains stationary as it hangs out over a ditch bank, with its 2 wheels suspended off the ground. To counterbalance the deck’s weight as it hangs over ditch banks, Johnson made a “weight box” that rides on a single wheel. It attaches to the trailing mower with a pair of trailer ball hitches and a length of chain that adjusts with a ratchet handle off an old drag. A plastic gas tank strapped on next to the engine supplies fuel.

The most difficult part of the job, says Johnson, was figuring out how to belt-drive the backward-facing deck. “The deck still belt-drives off the engine, but I had to change the pulley setup and twist the belt,” he notes.

Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Larry Johnson, 1740 Kenyon Rd., Ontario, N.Y. 14519 (ph 315 524-8244; joylarjo@gmail. com).