new member needs side arm mowing

jpistorius · May 20, 2012

My husband and I are wondering about the design on a side arm cutter to custom build ourselves. We have a very old tractor 1950's Ford. We saw a member designed a side arm cutter by using the deck from a riding mower. I can not get the link to his additional photos to open a webpage. It is a very old posting. We wondered if the side arm was driven by the tractor engine, and if so how do you handle the driveshaft? We have a riding mower with a bad engine, so we could use the deck but not the engine. Thanks for your help! Joanne and Brando- joanne@transflor.com

Muhammad · May 20, 2012

Welcome to TBN.

soilsailor · May 20, 2012

First off, welcome to TBN. You'll find lots of great information on this site.

I'm guessing here, but it's likely that a hydraulic motor was used to power the mower deck blades at the end of the arm. To power from the tractor you would run a set of hydraulic hoses from the tractor to the motor at the mower deck. I'm not sure if that was the case in the example you cited, but...