Riding mower deck modified into a hydraulic weed wacker?

[cstamm81]

Hi guys, I've read about all kinds of cool weed / brush handling equipment on here, both bought and built. I'm always looking for ways to maintain my field lines and driveway edge, without using a hand held weed wacker. My question is this, could a small ride on mower deck be converted to become a hydraulically driven weed wacker? My idea would be to run either heavy nylon line, or maybe even large skil saw style metal blades. I've seen some builds on here, but none that used a mower deck as the bones of the project. My main concern is the speed at which such a tool would have to be driven, can standard mower spindles handle that? There are some dual blade 36" decks out there, and even single blade 28" decks. They can be had for well under a hundred bucks all day.

Ideally I would attach such an implement to both my loader and backhoe as needed, to reach out and over things to keep the never ending vegetation growth at bay. That said, my machine only produces about 9gpm of hydraulic flow, and it would be ideal to power this without an external power pack. I'm looking to tinker a bit this winter, and thought this could be a fun and rewarding experiment.

 

[MossRoad]

Why not use a mower deck as a mower instead of a weed whacker?

Someone on the PowerTrac forum took a round deck from a Snapper-type rider and put a hydraulic motor onto the spindle and made a boom mower out of it.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Hi guys, I've read about all kinds of cool weed / brush handling equipment on here, both bought and built. I'm always looking for ways to maintain my field lines and driveway edge, without using a hand held weed wacker. My question is this, could a small ride on mower deck be converted to become a hydraulically driven weed wacker? My idea would be to run either heavy nylon line, or maybe even large skil saw style metal blades. I've seen some builds on here, but none that used a mower deck as the bones of the project. My main concern is the speed at which such a tool would have to be driven, can standard mower spindles handle that? There are some dual blade 36" decks out there, and even single blade 28" decks. They can be had for well under a hundred bucks all day.

Ideally I would attach such an implement to both my loader and backhoe as needed, to reach out and over things to keep the never ending vegetation growth at bay. That said, my machine only produces about 9gpm of hydraulic flow, and it would be ideal to power this without an external power pack. I'm looking to tinker a bit this winter, and thought this could be a fun and rewarding experiment.

Here is the Homemade Builders Creed: MAKE IT WHAT IT AINT!

I am not yelling at you my friend, nor messing with you, because the statement always holds true. In a case like this, you can always add a separate engine to drive a hydraulic pump that powers the trimmer.

Of course you could also go with electric, and get a cheap generator, motor and a switch and wires, and work it that way. I think the latter would be the cheaper alternative, and just about everything is for the taking at Harbor Freight (cheap).

 

[TCowner]

How about this:

Z Trimmer Mower Mounted Grass Trimmer from PECO: By John Young of the Weekend Handyman - YouTube

 

[TractorGuy]

Just use a push trimmer. Remove the handle and wheels and make a boom to hang it off your loader or 3pt.

Amazon.com : Southland Outdoor Power Equipment SWFT1522 15cc Field Trimmer, Includes Oil : Garden & Outdoor

Or leave the handle and wheels and bolt a piece of 2" square tube or trailer receiver so you can pull it on and off a boom and use it as usual.

I love my old push trimmer. I am planning to make it so I can attach it to the tractor one of these days.

 

[cstamm81]

Why not use a mower deck as a mower instead of a weed whacker?

Someone on the PowerTrac forum took a round deck from a Snapper-type rider and put a hydraulic motor onto the spindle and made a boom mower out of it.

I have a line on a 28” single blade Ariens deck, if I get it I would try it as is. I’ll have to make a separate post in the hydraulics forum if I get it, to get help figuring out what motor to power it with.

 

[cstamm81]

Just use a push trimmer. Remove the handle and wheels and make a boom to hang it off your loader or 3pt.

Amazon.com : Southland Outdoor Power Equipment SWFT1522 15cc Field Trimmer, Includes Oil : Garden & Outdoor

Or leave the handle and wheels and bolt a piece of 2" square tube or trailer receiver so you can pull it on and off a boom and use it as usual.

I love my old push trimmer. I am planning to make it so I can attach it to the tractor one of these days.

I had thought of this as well, good idea.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a link to a thread where Stray built a hydraulically powered boom mower for his PowerTrac using a small single blade rider deck.
It's a good read with lots of pictures and may give you some ideas.

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/power-trac/64961-side-mower.html?highlight=deck

 

[TractorGuy]

Hi guys, I've read about all kinds of cool weed / brush handling equipment on here, both bought and built. I'm always looking for ways to maintain my field lines and driveway edge, without using a hand held weed wacker. My question is this, could a small ride on mower deck be converted to become a hydraulically driven weed wacker? My idea would be to run either heavy nylon line, or maybe even large skil saw style metal blades. I've seen some builds on here, but none that used a mower deck as the bones of the project. My main concern is the speed at which such a tool would have to be driven, can standard mower spindles handle that? There are some dual blade 36" decks out there, and even single blade 28" decks. They can be had for well under a hundred bucks all day.

Ideally I would attach such an implement to both my loader and backhoe as needed, to reach out and over things to keep the never ending vegetation growth at bay. That said, my machine only produces about 9gpm of hydraulic flow, and it would be ideal to power this without an external power pack. I'm looking to tinker a bit this winter, and thought this could be a fun and rewarding experiment.

Years ago I was maintaining the sides of a road that was too rough for my lawn tractor which was all I had. I made some adapters to replace the blades that held the same .155 line I used on my push trimmer. It worked fine at the 3600 RPM of the lawn tractor. If I remember correctly my push trimmer pulleys are 1 to 1 and it never gets to a full 3600 RPMs.

Came across this video I thought was funny and inventive.

 

[cstamm81]

Years ago I was maintaining the sides of a road that was too rough for my lawn tractor which was all I had. I made some adapters to replace the blades that held the same .155 line I used on my push trimmer. It worked fine at the 3600 RPM of the lawn tractor. If I remember correctly my push trimmer pulleys are 1 to 1 and it never gets to a full 3600 RPMs.

Came across this video I thought was funny and inventive.

any pics of the adapters you made for the .155 line? Also, where did you get that heavy line at? Does the line hold up well? I feel the line may be a bit less dangerous than the steel mower blade, were things to go bad.