Boom Mower

[SnowRidge]

Having managed to acquire some property with steep, overgrown roadsides that couldn't be simply or safely bush hogged, and was far too extensive to hand clear in the 90+ heat, I reluctantly came to the conclusion that I needed a boom mower. My first choice was something that would fit on my Branson's TPH, but the breath taking prices convinced me to look toward Tazewell, however reluctantly. A trip north for the acquisition resulted in one boom mower, a considerably lighter wallet, and all the usual paperwork that accompanies most PT-425 implements, one lonely receipt. PT didn't even supply dust caps for the two hydraulic hoses that couldn't be connected together.

The current production boom mowers are a little different than those shown on the PT web site. The motor's apparent case drain line is plumbed directly back into one of the PTO hoses right at the motor. There are no extra lines running back to the PT, as it appears to show on the web site. The mower is boomed to the right instead of the left, as is shown on the web site.

PT has virtually no description of the boom mower on their web site, and the only person there that seems have any knowledge of the product is, of course, Terry. The sales team is "unfamiliar" with the product. I was shocked.

Exactly what the company had in mind when they designed the thing is open to question. While it has a single blade, like a finish mower, it is very thick, more like a brush cutter blade. In fact, it will cut saplings to at least one inch diameter. If I had to characterize it, I would call it a mini brush mower on a boom. Whether that is good or bad depends on your point of view, if there are bystanders or not, and how well armored you are as operator. More on that subject later.

The mower's blade measures 20.5 inches tip to tip, more than living up to the advertised size. The up and down travel of the boom arm is controlled by the quick attach lever. The deck itself is attached to the boom with two large bolts. It is free to swivel, although the bolts can be tightened enough to sort of keep it in one position. The mower is positioned for use by a combination of lift arm height and boom height and/or PT positioning. The quick attach angle must be corrected for boom height. Used this way, the raised boom pivot point functions in a manner similar to that of a knuckle boom mower, although it is far from an exact parallel.

More to follow.....

 

[woodlandfarms]

Are you sure you didn't install that upside down ;-) That thing looks crazy... I am really not sure about that design. Have you used it yet?

Ken, is this what yours looks like?

Carl

 

[SnowRidge]

Grass mowing.

Operation is fairly tricky. It is a real chore to try and keep the mower deck level on anything but billiard table smooth ground, of which I have exactly none. The natural rolling of the PT exacerbates things, and the operator soon develops the dreaded Tazewell Hunch from being bent over to reach the quick attach lever, which requires constant adjustment. Most of the time, the lift arms and tilt need to be tweaked as well. You stay busy mowing with this thing.

The deck should be held just above the ground, lest you damage the blade attachment nut, which is exposed to any rocks you might find. They did warn me about that in Tazewell. Fitting wheels to the deck, as has been suggested here in the past, will not work, simply because there is no float position for the quick attach control. If there was, and the deck had wheels, it would be a whole lot easier to mow with.

More to follow.....

 

[SnowRidge]

Brush cutting.

You don't "mow" the brush, you actually attack it from above. The mower deck is positioned above the brush, then lowered onto it. This was also explained to me in Tazewell, and it appears to be the only useful way to cut brush with this thing. It generally takes two or three swipes to get most of it. It seldom gets it all, though, unlike the standard brush cutter.

More to follow.....

 

[J_J]

Are you sure you didn't install that upside down ;-) That thing looks crazy... I am really not sure about that design. Have you used it yet?

Ken, is this what yours looks like?

Carl

Carl, Whatever are you talking about. It looks just like the one on the attachment page, except that is mounted with the boom to the right. The mounting , lift arm, motor are quite normal.

SnowRidge, how much can the arm be lowered or raised from horizontal?

 

[SnowRidge]

Issues.

You just knew there would be issues, didn't you?

First, this thing turns the normally wonderfully stable PT-425 into a rolling carnival ride. It's a whole new kind of PT pucker. There is so much weight out to the right that you can actually roll the machine if the mower is high and you are on a slope canted to the right. A counter balance is needed badly. If the machine is leaning to the right, raising the lift arms moves the mower deck farther out from the machine center line. If you are on enough of a slope when that happens, the whole shebang will roll.

It also feels like it would roll if you made a fast turn to the left with the mower high. Needless to say, this thing requires extreme care. I would not recommend that anyone buy one of these boom mowers unless they had more than just a few hours on their PT-425. You need quite a bit of experience to keep it within the safe operation zone.

The normally overly sensitive PT controls make things worse. If you have a lot of weight out there, the fast quick attach control can make the mower move so fast that the entire machines rocks side to side. And you have to use the quick attach control a lot, because of the mower's design. The boom cylinder is so far inboard that it can't hold position and leaks down badly. There is a tremendous moment arm working on that cylinder. Running the mower requires constant jockeying of the positioning controls.

You also need a full face shield. Body armor would also be nice. The mower is out in front of the operator, and it throws all manner of stuff back at you. Believe it or not, the mower rotates clockwise, as seen from above, and sends the debris straight for the tractor.

I figure that is why they originally had them rigged to the left. They probably changed to the right due to complaints about watching left while working the quick attach lever hunched over. You can change it to the other side, but some of the hydraulic fittings have to be removed because they won't fit through the guide loops.

Speaking of the guide loops, take a look at the last photo. See the cuts in the hose. That is after being installed and used on my PT only twice. The loops are made of strap steel instead of round steel, and they have already exposed the steel core of one hose.

OK, those are my thoughts for now. I'll probably have more for later, and I know there will be questions.

Discaimer: No SnowRidges were harmed in the making of this report.

 

[SnowRidge]

SnowRidge, how much can the arm be lowered or raised from horizontal?

Gosh, the one thing I did not measure. It goes up at least 45 degrees, I would say. I did not expect much down, but there is quite a bit. Down slope side mowing can be done.

 

[SpringHollow]

Hi Carl,

You are right - his is very different than mine. Mine (the one for the slope mowers) has a counterweight and with some work, the mower can be mounted on the left or the right. When using, the loader arms are locked at a height which allows the counterweight to be about 18" off of the ground.

Attached is a picture from PT's web site.

Ken

 

[J_J]

Carl, Whatever are you talking about. It looks just like the one on the attachment page, except that is mounted with the boom to the right. The mounting , lift arm, motor are quite normal.

SnowRidge, how much can the arm be lowered or raised from horizontal?

Carl, Now I see what you are comparing. That other mower is called a knuckle boom mower. PT wants $4,200.00 for that mower that fits a 1445.

Boom mower for the 425 is $1700.00

 

[ponytug]

These boom mowers are pretty scary. The big commercial ones aren't too different, although the operators tend to be in enclosed cabs.

You can get lightweight body armor from most tack shops that serve three day eventers. Mostly, they are herringbone hard foam, but it is a lot better than nothing.

As far as I can tell, PowerTrac just cuts the steel plate to make these tractors, with no bevelling or rounding of edges. I found a hose cut to the wire inside the tunnel- it had been cut during installation.

I wrapped all of my exposed hoses in hose wrap, and then wrapped more hose wrap around those loops. I had seen cuts in hoses at Tazewell, so I figured it was going to happen pretty soon after power up.

I also used some 1/4" car door edge strips pushed onto the sheet steel openings where the motor hoses pass through to the wheel motors, and around the tunnel openings L/R, and up. On my 1445 there was a knife sharp edge just as the steering hoses bent upwards. I cut my hand on it reaching in to have a feel around.

It looks like a counter weight wouldn't be too hard to rig, but I also wonder about how much weight you already have out there.

Have fun,

Peter

Issues.

You just knew there would be issues, didn't you?
...
Speaking of the guide loops, take a look at the last photo. See the cuts in the hose. That is after being installed and used on my PT only twice. The loops are made of strap steel instead of round steel, and they have already exposed the steel core of one hose.

OK, those are my thoughts for now. I'll probably have more for later, and I know there will be questions.

Discaimer: No SnowRidges were harmed in the making of this report.