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Turbo Twister

Homemade mowers/brush hogs

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Now..... Looking at this timing belt drive again.... I say there is no tensioner..... And yes those small bearings at each sides of both sprockets  keep the timing in check .... I can't really make out if There's any adjust on that center belt guide

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2 minutes ago, _Wilson_™ said:

Now..... Looking at this timing belt drive again.... I say there is no tensioner..... And yes those small bearings at each sides of both sprockets  keep the timing in check .... I can't really make out if There's any adjust on that center belt guide

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3 minutes ago, _Wilson_™ said:

Now..... Looking at this timing belt drive again.... I say there is no tensioner..... And yes those small bearings at each sides of both sprockets  keep the timing in check .... I can't really make out if There's any adjust on that center belt guide

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I think the way the belt works is it goes around the drive belt, then twists over that centre bearing to the opposite side of the far sprocket so that they rotate opposite directions to throw the grass evenly out the rear chute. They would have to be dialed in so that the blades from both drums don't clash. I would think this is a bit trickier to do if it had 8 blades attached.

 

The guy I spoke to earlier who has a donor engine said I would have to fit a tensioner pulley between the engine and final drive, so that when I start the engine from a stop, the drums don't rotate until I release a tensioner pulley. I would think the best way of fitting this is with a spring that you can lock when untensioned and just release it to engage cutting mode?

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1 hour ago, _Wilson_™ said:

you might also try here .. > https://www.gardentractorspares.co.uk/help/westwood/step3

 

 

 

1993 appears to be the closest match to the deck I have. It's the only year that has the 4x plastic wheels attached, so this would make it one of the last of its type for that era! And I thought 1998 was old enough with the quad!

 

Manual for this in link below:

https://help.gardentractorspares.co.uk/help/wts/st3/1993.pdf

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I think the way the belt works is it goes around the drive belt, then twists over that centre bearing to the opposite side of the far sprocket so that they rotate opposite directions

 

Yes ^^^ Is the donor engine clock wise rotation ?? I probably would just use 4 blades for now ... Then later on when you get more familiar .. Update to eight .. And do a test run  ??  See... Your only cutting with a very small length of blade .... Which would require less power then a standard full length blade ... So..... 8 blades .. And the speed you'll be pulling this plays a big part ...  I hope to see this deck in action soon !!

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4 minutes ago, _Wilson_™ said:

Yes ^^^ Is the donor engine clock wise rotation ?? I probably would just use 4 blades for now ... Then later on when you get more familiar .. Update to eight .. And do a test run  ??  See... Your only cutting with a very small length of blade .... Which would require less power then a standard full length blade ... So..... 8 blades .. And the speed you'll be pulling this plays a big part ...  I hope to see this deck in action soon !!

I couldn't tell you what direction the donor engine rotates, I'll have to wait and see I guess. I agree, 4 blades sounds better to me too, less engine strain. I have a friend south of me about 2.5 hours drive, he has about 140 acres of farmland and about 120 acres of forestry. He said come down when it's done and you can top all my fields lol I'm sure my boss wouldn't mind me mowing some of his land, he has about 40 acres only a few miles drive from me.

 

As for pulling speed, I guess that would depend on the height of cut, thickness of grass, wet or dry etc? I will just have to figure it out as I go. Terrain will dictate it somewhat too I guess. I want to see it up and running before my 30th birthday in early May so I'll push hard to get it sorted before then. I just hope delivery service isn't delayed too much with the Covid 19..

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On 3/28/2020 at 1:22 AM, _Wilson_™ said:

Those drums ... (Or what you call drums) are what we call stump jumpers .... Al tho ... I've never seen those on a small deck like that, looks like you can add 4 more blades ... And with high lift (angled)  blades the vacum should make the grass stand up good ... That's the reason for those gear sprockets (timing the blades so they will not strike each other) .... I'm curious as to the rated rpm ... 

we call them that here in Kentucky too. 🙂

Edited by LedFTed

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Well.... Those are not exactly stump jumpers .... 1st off there would be no exsposed bolts .... (One sunk gear box main shaft bolt for each disk/gear box) And ONLY two blades on each disk ... And the disks are usually made of 1/4 -1/2 inch thick steel ... And most heavy models are a 1000 rpm pto, not 540. 

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It's a chilly afternoon! I only went out for about 2 hours today, I couldn't warm up at all (I ended up on the phone for nearly an hour with a friend).

 

What I did do though was I took apart the drum I removed yesterday and cleaned up all the parts. It turned out to be in pretty good shape, with the exception of one of the parts being quite badly corroded, I might be able to repair or replace it though.

 

I removed the blades which are in tatters but the bolts are in good condition and just needed cleaning. It appears from the original paint marks that the drums did run 4 blades at one point. The bolts that mount the blades are flush with the blade so nothing to catch on rocks etc.. although I fear if a rock was sticking up it would just strike the blade! As you can see the blades are well worn out, I marked them so I know which drum the new blades will go on.

 

I painted one of the washers and the main drum itself with etch primer but the wind was picking up so I'm back inside the cosy home now! More to do tomorrow weather permitting.

 

What do you think of using these wheels? Are they a bit small or would they work? The tyre is about 8 inches tall I think and they are rated to around 100kg each..

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Looking good on a phone.  Partying on the porch so typing And thinking Are hard at this point.  Will check it out later.  When things are in a more controlled atmosphere.  And make a for real comment.  

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Wow , you don't waste no time , looking good !!!  the bolts holding the  blades to the hub are in unbelievable good condition , I have changed blades on a bush  hog before and it wasn't pretty -- so you are saying , the hub you got free , is not the same diameter as the oem hub ???? 

 

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8 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

Wow , you don't waste no time , looking good !!!  the bolts holding the  blades to the hub are in unbelievable good condition , I have changed blades on a bush  hog before and it wasn't pretty -- so you are saying , the hub you got free , is not the same diameter as the oem hub ???? 

 

I have too much time on my hands these days Fish, have to get it done!

 

I don't follow with the free hub you're on about? I just named the two blades as they are opposite angled to the blades on the other drum?

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The blades would have been 5 and a half inches long for those of you wondering. I'm working in our garden today while the weather is good, will get back to this later today maybe..

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Did you happen to see a guy's post  named Dan Warner on that site we talked about , look at the way he adjust the wheel height on that rig of his , that thing is wild , never seen anything like that before and the deck is in the front like you mentioned 

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31 minutes ago, Fishfiles said:

Did you happen to see a guy's post  named Dan Warner on that site we talked about , look at the way he adjust the wheel height on that rig of his , that thing is wild , never seen anything like that before and the deck is in the front like you mentioned 

Yeah, I had a good look at that page yesterday, some interesting stuff there to look at. I'm gonna draw up a few ideas and maybe template them in timber first to see what works best for my own needs. No shortage of timber here between the garage and shed.

 

 

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Some more work getting done today, I have a problem though...

 

The first drum i was able to hammer out the shaft of it from above, it took about 20 minutes to beat out through the bearing housing. The second one won't move at all. The bolt on top of the pin is also snapped off. I welded a nut on twice and it broke off twice, then I tried the heat cool method but still no joy.

 

Are there any other ways to get either of these out? I can bore the bolt out if neccessary but I need to get the drum off the deck first.. 

 

The central bearings although a bit rusty, are in good shape do I'll just clean and reuse them. 

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Attempt number 3 on that snapped bolt on the top of the driving drum shaft..I shaped the top of the threaded part and welded another nut on, but I'm letting it cool for longer this time.

 

Between yesterday evening and this morning I spent about 4 hours cleaning the paint off most of the upper side of deck, cut out the worn parts at the rear side and patched and welded new plates on.

 

I then used metal Isopon to fill in a lot of the surface pithing before sanding it flat. Going to attempt getting the drum off a second time so keep you posted later..

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Hi: You sure have your work cut out for that build.

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I got the shaft out, broke the nut again and lost my patience with it so I got a big ball pein hammer and took out my anger on it, got the bugger out! I'll cut the flattened threaded part off and drill for a new bolt another day..

 

I then sealed the bottom of the deck with a rust seal (same stuff I used on the quad last year).

I found it hard to weld the inside of both patches due to the thin steel wall on the original deck, so I have used metal isopon here to smooth off the inside, I'll wet sand it tomorrow when it has set.

 

Final job for today will be cleaning the driving drum and maybe get a coat of etch primer on it. I have also started cleaning up the sprocket cover.

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Edited by Turbo Twister
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Sweet! The old yamaha terrapro.  I think there two defrent size cutters, a snow blower, tiller, and pull type tank / pto pump boom sprayer 

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I've been quite busy yesterday and today, I was trying to figure out the rear wheel setup and I mocked up what I think will work for me. As it's only a mock up nothing is permanent. The threaded bar will be replaced with an adjustable short top link with built in bearings, I had to figure out the clearances with the axle I made first. I will also use a top link on the drawbar to adjust the height of the deck front and back, this will attach to the top of the drawbar with a quick release pin and clip. I intend to make the hitch removable also.

 

I spent a good few hours looking for parts last night and found out there are 3 different blade lengths for 4 different decks, a 36, 38, 40 and 42 inch deck. As it turns out, mine is the 38inch deck and it takes the 5.5 inch long blades.

 

I dont have many photos of what I've done so far as I had the phone plugged into the radio most of the time.

 

I have run out of etch primer and running low on steel, so I am going to order the few parts I CAN get, and put the project on hold until i can get the remaining gear to finish the project. I will have to get the engine before I do much more so I can make up brackets to sit it on and work the adjustable top links around it.

 

I will have 3 hitch points for mowing, left, right and centre, depending on the run of the land.

 

I will get some photos tomorrow of the painted items for your interest..

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