Homemade mowers/brush hogs

[_Wilson_™ 6,567]

sweet! with a filtered pressurized lubricating system..  .... that engine should last along time! i priced the exact power plant locally ... to replace my 15 horse briggs ... about $800.00  without the magnetic clutch .... (which (imo) shouldn't be used on a mower)  ... mechanical spring tension belt drive ... is the way to go! 

[Turbo Twister 545]

It has  been a very busy week for me. Dad and I spent the last 2 days  (Monday and Tuesday) trying to get the mower built. We had a great deal of difficulty getting the old pulley off the engine shaft, but about 15 minutes of beating with a bar and hammer, it flew off in one piece!

 

Cut the long story short, the new engine fits on the same base with matching alignment holes. Dad spent a good portion of one morning working on the electrical side of things and got it sorted. I then spent the last 2 days with a friend trying to get it running with the toothed belt causing a lot of problems.

 

It's too long so we have to find a shorter belt, I even added an extra bearing runner to tension it more but the belt then started to tear a little. We did manage to cut about 1/4 of an acre with it though and it did cut neat for what it did. I cant upload photos currently as I'm in a poor reception area but will do so when I get better signal. All in all, im delighted that it does actually work after all that trouble, but would love to sort the belt issue out asap

[_Wilson_™ 6,567]

thanks for the update .... and looking forward to some pics .... my first thought would be belt misalignment .... depending on where it started to come apart .. if on the edge (upper, or lower) then i would go with misalignment ... second would be (belt whip)... the belt hitting the center roller mounting .. pic  2 

[Turbo Twister 545]

Belt issue solved! 170 mile round trip later, I managed to source what appears to be the last belt in the country, but it fits like a glove and there is minimal slack now, if any.

 

I didn't refit the engine yet but will do so tomorrow morning. I forgot to mention previously that I have been tinkering around with different ideas on how to adjust the tension on the adjustable pulley that in turn spins the 2x drums, my conclusion is to use a ratchet and after 5 clicks, the belt is tight enough that it shouldn't slip or engine speed shouldn't die down should I run into thick vegetation. 

 

I also built a whole new hitch for the deck, the red one seemed too flimsy as it was only a 2 point linkage, now with 3 points of linkage it is much steadier. I also made it so I can offset it to one side but I'll have to fit a 3rd wheel on the front of the new hitch to stop the whole mower from dipping to one side due to the unbalance and weight with the hitch out at an angle.

 

Fingers crossed tomorrow goes better🤞

Some well needed pics for your interest.

Edited August 14, 2020 by Turbo Twister

[_Wilson_™ 6,567]

looks great! glad your got the belt issue sorted .... i gotta say I'd love to have that setup! just an idea.... I'd try and find another backup timing belt ... maybe even  2 ... sure looks it handled that vegetation good. 

[F250 guy 107]

This thread is cool. Wow

[Turbo Twister 545]

7 hours ago, _Wilson_™ said:

looks great! glad your got the belt issue sorted .... i gotta say I'd love to have that setup! just an idea.... I'd try and find another backup timing belt ... maybe even  2 ... sure looks it handled that vegetation good. 

I found a load of them on Ebay for about 10e each so I have ordered 2 more 😁

 

I didn't have enough tension on the driving pulley on the first pass, so every time I got to a mound if tall grass it wanted to die down.

 

I reckon more tension and higher revs will sort it?

[_Wilson_™ 6,567]

good deal on scoring more belts! ... i kind of thought there might be some slippage with engine drive belt .... have any idea what rpm the new engine was at ? oh! and i meant to say .... tell bluezulu i said hey, and stop and visit with us.... lol.

[Turbo Twister 545]

3 hours ago, _Wilson_™ said:

good deal on scoring more belts! ... i kind of thought there might be some slippage with engine drive belt .... have any idea what rpm the new engine was at ? oh! and i meant to say .... tell bluezulu i said hey, and stop and visit with us.... lol.

Not 100% sure but I think it's around 3600rpm at full throttle. I purchased 2 new idler pulleys this morning as one of the bearings was whining, so I plan to replace these after lunch.

[_Wilson_™ 6,567]

are you taking about those 4 corner rollers on each side of the timing gears ? 

 

3600 on a no load ?? that's not bad for a briggs ... I'm probobly wrong .. but i thought the limit  ... was around 3200 for the ohv engines... my old 15 horse ohv still reaches up around 3200 loaded ... thats is according to the digital tach ... i used to not like briggs... till i got this one (in 03) and she's an oil sling type ... which I don't really care for 

Edited August 15, 2020 by _Wilson_™

[Turbo Twister 545]

20 hours ago, _Wilson_™ said:

are you taking about those 4 corner rollers on each side of the timing gears ? 

 

3600 on a no load ?? that's not bad for a briggs ... I'm probobly wrong .. but i thought the limit  ... was around 3200 for the ohv engines... my old 15 horse ohv still reaches up around 3200 loaded ... thats is according to the digital tach ... i used to not like briggs... till i got this one (in 03) and she's an oil sling type ... which I don't really care for 

3600 is a guess, it could be less.

 

I made up a new pin for the adjustable pulley so that it can spin freely of the washers and bolt that holds it on. I also shimmed up the drive pulley on the deck shaft to stop a whining noise (it worked).

 

Well, my cutting fun was short lived due to all the bouncing on rough ground. The rear wheels need to be much wider and bigger I I reckon, I also need to build a stronger deck and supporting frame for the engine to spread the weight over. 

 

I came back down to the shed to repair a tear from one of the wheels pulling at the curve on the deck, I didn't realise until I got back to the field that the deck was like a banana. I'd say the new engine is too heavy to be sitting on that deck where it is, so I plan to use the existing top deck as a template to build something a lot stronger. (I'm this far into renewing everything else, so I may aswell build a new deck too).

 

A cousin of mine in West Cork is going to help me build it up with new stronger steel and a square frame instead of round, so we can make a stronger base to work with and better position all the brackets and bolt down points. It shouldn't bounce so much either being a bit heavier.

[_Wilson_™ 6,567]

thanks for the update ... hm.... I'll do some thinking on this, but i believe your idea of a tube made deck.... will be stronge enough ... i thought maybe flexing from the long hitch might be an an issue .... and if you, and your friend make a copy ... you shouldn't have to change too much as for spindle location, and belt routing .. but as for rough terrain .... (that most likely will always be an issue) wider tires might be better ...keep in mind I'm going on my years of running  large ridgid made drawbar type johndeere bush hogs .... with solid wheels ..CNP :-)

[Turbo Twister 545]

I got new wheels! They're a little bigger than the last ones 😂

 

I also ordered steel (which I hope will be ready by tomorrow)🤞

 

I'm currently cutting off useful bits I might be able to reuse, aswell as getting some new brackets made up.

 

I'll service the engine aswell later on as the oil filter got a little dent in it from the deck bending and fuel tank stand poking it.

[_Wilson_™ 6,567]

thanks for the update..... i see now where those belt roller brackets have slots to adjust the smaller idlers .... closer to help keep the timing belt from skipping a tooth on the timed rotor pulley

[Turbo Twister 545]

27 minutes ago, _Wilson_™ said:

thanks for the update..... i see now where those belt roller brackets have slots to adjust the smaller idlers .... closer to help keep the timing belt from skipping a tooth on the timed rotor pulley

I found from messing around with these bearings, that having them sit back about 4/5mm away from the belt, it seemed better than having them closer. I found the belt rubbing hard off the bearings if they were any closer, yet they still serve their purpose a few mm back.

 

I ended up welding new brackets as the box iron wasn't deep enough for the bearing to go back. I'll take some photos of those tomorrow.

 

I also drained all the oil from the engine and removed the pulley and frame. The frame has been cleaned of any useless steel brackets, I intend to change the mounting bracket so that it can slide on 2x angle irons for easier maintenance, I will also be able to quickly bolt the frame down.

 

I think now that the deck is being renewed, I have the best chance to improve on a lot of things. Fingers crossed the steel plate is ready tomorrow, I intend to go off and buy the box iron and angle iron elsewhere and get started on cutting it all to rough length so I can start welding as soon as the steel does show up.

[Turbo Twister 545]

I'm back to square one with my welding skills, I think the welder I'm using it too "light duty" for what I want to weld. Some welds come out great, but most of them are bubbly and it's annoying me..

 

The plate was ready this afternoon for the deck top, but I had a second glance at the hole alignment and the metal worker took the wrong measurements off my drawing so they had to cut the sheet and holes again! Luckily this time, they also cut the sheet to exact measurements, which was ideal as I had started welding up the frame before I went to collect it.

 

I now have the main frame welded together for the base of the engine bracket and the pulley and drum bearing housings to sit in. I also got the curtains cut for all 4 sides and 2 of them tacked on, but I ran out of energy so will plough on again tomorrow and Thursday.

Edited August 18, 2020 by Turbo Twister

[Fishfiles 20,145]

Turbo , you mention "light duty " when talking about your welding machine  .  Do know about the " Duty Cycle " on a welding machine ?  It is the time you can weld versus the cool off time in between welding , the larger the rod and higher the current the shorter the duty cycle % of weld time , depending on the size of the machine you are using is also a factor ----if you find your welds  are starting to get too hot and bubbling up , I would guess you  are pushing the duty cycle  too far , I would also venture to say from past experiences , once you over load the machine so many times , it takes life from it and the duty cycle gets shorter and shorter on a cheaper machine , till it is all bubbly 

 

My buddy bought a new technology welding machine last week , he paid $1,200 and it weighs in at only  13 pounds , he was telling me this morning he is welding 100% duty cycle with D.C.- 7018 rods on his Dodge hot-shot style flat bed he is building , says the slag rounds off on it's own  and he is loving it , that's almost $100 a pound for a welding machine , LOL 

[_Wilson_™ 6,567]

looking good.... do you have an a guess on the weight of the new deck ? as it is ... 

[Turbo Twister 545]

13 minutes ago, _Wilson_™ said:

looking good.... do you have an a guess on the weight of the new deck ? as it is ... 

Heavy😂

 

So far, from what you can see of it, it's about 40kg. I reckon it will we well over 120kg when it's done, but the big wheels should help with moving it around (my friend says it will look like something from Mad Max with the big wheels)!

 

The only drawback is I have to keep the wheels behind the deck as if I put them to one side, it won't fit in the trailer or van. So they will end up being quite far back behind the deck due to the big tyres, I may have to buy longer top links to compensate for the distance.

[_Wilson_™ 6,567]

madd max....lol! hey that works! .... i was just curious as to the tongue weight it will have on your 300... oh... and one more thing.... those rotor bearings .. there sealed ?? and pressed in the spindle ? it's been a long very interesting build.... so I'll just go back in history and look at the pics .... in short tho.... i rebuilt both of my rotors.... drilled, and tapped the upper side of the spindles and added zerk fittings .... and for the bearings ... well i popped out the seals facing to the inside of the spindle..... been running the same bearings / spindle set sence 04. 

[Turbo Twister 545]

19 hours ago, _Wilson_™ said:

madd max....lol! hey that works! .... i was just curious as to the tongue weight it will have on your 300... oh... and one more thing.... those rotor bearings .. there sealed ?? and pressed in the spindle ? it's been a long very interesting build.... so I'll just go back in history and look at the pics .... in short tho.... i rebuilt both of my rotors.... drilled, and tapped the upper side of the spindles and added zerk fittings .... and for the bearings ... well i popped out the seals facing to the inside of the spindle..... been running the same bearings / spindle set sence 04. 

I've had a slow but productive day! The two brackets for the rear wheels were quite time consuming to make up, but I'm glad I kept at them and got them finished.

 

I'm about to spray the underside of the deck before refitting the drums and bearing housings (I will dismantle it all after a test run and paint the whole thing once it's all working).

 

What's a "Zerk"? You mean grease nipple?😂

[_Wilson_™ 6,567]

oh now that heavy duty looking !! yea....a grease fitting, this isn't mine,  and  mine didnt come with them, but this would be the end result 

al tho ... only issue i could see is how much room between the pulley  and deck for reaching the fitting with a grease gun... 

[Turbo Twister 545]

13 hours ago, _Wilson_™ said:

oh now that heavy duty looking !! yea....a grease fitting, this isn't mine,  and  mine didnt come with them, but this would be the end result 

al tho ... only issue i could see is how much room between the pulley  and deck for reaching the fitting with a grease gun... 

Ah ok, yeah I dont have enough room to get a zerk fitting on as the greased area is between both sides of the deck. I gave them a good greasing before refitting the shafts last night, I also got a nice blow of a hammer to one finger (never trust a relative)😂

 

The 2 drums are now installed again and I have 4 triangles to weld in to throw any grass out from under the deck first thing.

 

I am going to pack up and move everything to another farm as the power here keeps tripping due to low Amp fuses for the welder.

[Turbo Twister 545]

Its done! Bar a few mods I need to finish like pulley guards and mud guards on both quad and mower. We brought it for a test run but the grass is very wet so it wasn't the best test, but it still cut fine. 

 

More to come in a day or 2, I have to go back to my friend tomorrow and finish the field I started😁

[_Wilson_™ 6,567]

looks great!  now just shoot it green and yellow ;) by the new design ... i take your lieving the timing belt cover off... ? IMO thats a great idea ... now you can check the condition of that timing belt at a glance, plus keep that area clean of debris kicked up.