madpogue
Silver Member
JD 790 MFWD, no FEL (250lb front weights), 5' KK cheapo rotary cutter.
We're mowing a 20-acre prairie a few times a year for the first few years. The point is to mow down the weeds, and give the prairie plants a chance. The first year, 6" was fine, as the prairie plants were very low. But now the prairie plants, esp. the sedges and grasses, are growing higher. Yeah, they can withstand a mowing, but as they grow, the higher the better. The tailwheel on the KK maxes the height out at 8". The rockshaft will take it higher, and I'm thinking I could even use a pair of Carter's EZ-Hitch hooks, since they sit above the lift links, and get the front of the mower even higher (I could even put the pins on the mower in a lower location.
I'm trying to think of a way to make the yoke for the tailwheel longer. I'm thinking of an extension adapter. Half of it would be a tube or bar the diameter of the yoke, and the other half would a tube the diameter of the tube in the arm that holds the tailwheel. Put the tailwheel yoke into this "adapter", put the adapter into the tube on the arm, and you've added X inches to the tailwheel height. Has anyone fabbed anything like this for their tailwheel?
Another option would be a larger tailwheel.
Of course, the limiting factor is the PTO shaft. At a certain point, the shaft would actually be angling UP from the PTO to the gearbox. The universals would handle it, of course, but at some point, the shaft cover is gonna hit the mower deck. I'm guesstimating that would happen at about 12-14" blade height.
Has anyone had this kind of need? If so, what have you done?
We're mowing a 20-acre prairie a few times a year for the first few years. The point is to mow down the weeds, and give the prairie plants a chance. The first year, 6" was fine, as the prairie plants were very low. But now the prairie plants, esp. the sedges and grasses, are growing higher. Yeah, they can withstand a mowing, but as they grow, the higher the better. The tailwheel on the KK maxes the height out at 8". The rockshaft will take it higher, and I'm thinking I could even use a pair of Carter's EZ-Hitch hooks, since they sit above the lift links, and get the front of the mower even higher (I could even put the pins on the mower in a lower location.
I'm trying to think of a way to make the yoke for the tailwheel longer. I'm thinking of an extension adapter. Half of it would be a tube or bar the diameter of the yoke, and the other half would a tube the diameter of the tube in the arm that holds the tailwheel. Put the tailwheel yoke into this "adapter", put the adapter into the tube on the arm, and you've added X inches to the tailwheel height. Has anyone fabbed anything like this for their tailwheel?
Another option would be a larger tailwheel.
Of course, the limiting factor is the PTO shaft. At a certain point, the shaft would actually be angling UP from the PTO to the gearbox. The universals would handle it, of course, but at some point, the shaft cover is gonna hit the mower deck. I'm guesstimating that would happen at about 12-14" blade height.
Has anyone had this kind of need? If so, what have you done?
