[AT] OT cutting more grass

[CEE VILL]

John,

I thought of your approach for a while, but never attempted it.  There would 
be a lot of problems to overcome.  If you built a frame to suspend the small 
decks out wider than your belly deck, you would probably want them suspended 
on chain, so each deck could float to follow the terrain of the lawn.  Now 
it seems some castor type wheels will be required on each deck to allow 
turning.
This brings up the question of will the space stay the same on the turns so 
you won't have skips between the outboard decks, etc. etc. etc.  The more 
one thinks on it, the more situations must be overcome.  Think about oil 
change day. Lets see here.  Guess I have to drain and refill five units.
Number three tends to use a little oil, so i will put 20w-40 weight in that 
one, because it may hold in a little better, and so on.  Now we roll up to 
blade sharpening week.  Boy, I hate that job. Let me see,  I have seven here 
total.  Two ends on each.  Fourteen cutting edges.                  ....  
.........Get the point?

There are a ton of lawn contractors here in our area.  Most of them use the 
front mount zero turns.  If new ones are too much for the budget, perhaps 
you could land a good used 72" cut that is affordable.  Just be careful it 
wasn't killed be a mowing contractor.  If you have a lot of things to mow 
around, they are the greatest.  Most will work at up to 10 to 15 MPH if your 
turf is smooth enough (not many are).  I can mow mine with a 60 inch in 
slightly less time  than two of us did with a 16 HP. John Deere, and an 18HP 
Ariens both with 48" decks.

Just my 2.5 cents worth

Charlie V.


>From: "Janice + John Quinn" <quinnj at lara.on.ca>
>Reply-To: Antique tractor email discussion group 
><at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>Subject: [AT] OT cutting more grass
>Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 12:31:55 -0400
>
>Hi All
>Sorry this is Off Topic but you fellows seem to have "been there - done 
>that".  I currently mow about 7 acres of lawn.  When it is working I try to 
>use my 5 gang reel mower (11 foot cut mounted on a MF Turf 20).  But it is 
>nearing the end of it's useful life and is expensive to maintain and 
>sharpen.  Lately I've been using a 48" cut Kubota lawn tractor/mower.  It 
>does a nice job but takes so long to do the job.  What I'm wondering is, 
>has anyone tried to couple a lawn tractor to a few self-powered 21" trimmer 
>mowers in order to increase the amount of area covered with each pass.  I 
>want to be able to take advantage of the tractor's hydrostatic drive for 
>backing up so I need to know how to go about coupling the additional mowers 
>so that they will back up as well. This is especially important when I get 
>tangled around a tree.  I don't want to get into lift mechanisms if 
>possible.  Anyone tried this, know of a manufacturer who has one, or a web 
>site where I can see one.  Seems to me that this can't be something too 
>complicated, yet I have not seen one in action.  I'm also wondering if 
>dragging additional mowers will tax the lawn tractor's 14 hp diesel engine.
>
>Thanks
>John
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