New addition to the runway mowing rig
 

A friend just told me about a someone he knew with a broken 14hp 2007 60" Polaris (made by Swisher) pull behind mower for $250..... My 10 year old $1200 12hp 60" Swisher has served me well, so I snapped up this newer one.

Ended up just needing a few sealed 6204 $3.00 bearings for the spindles and a little welding on the deck..... runs like new.

With the 6' finish mower on the 1941 Ford 9N and the two 5' pull behinds, I am now mowing just under 16' and my mowing time for the 5 acre runway is now under 40 minutes (was over an hour). :) 10 plus years ago we used to spend over two hours mowing the runway with only a 60" rider.

I am also using it for a 1 acre portion of the house yard so my wife does not have to spend as much time on the 60" riding mower. Mowing sucks, but this new addition makes it almost bearable. :D

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Nice gang mower setup, Tim!

A couple sealed bearings? Whoa you lucked out!

Way cool!

Wont even be able to finish a beer before you're done.

Pete, You're doing it wrong!

I'm hearing "Ride of the Valkyre" somewhere.

I hear banjos

That's redneck engineering at its finest!

I would like to be in a place where I can justify spending time and money mowing my runway.

Why are they both to the left and not symmetric? Easier to aim the tractor on the edge of the previous cut?

I drive almost every weekend to open space. It sure would be nice to live it one day ...

G

Crimson Nape or Appalachian American as well!

Nice setup Tim. And the Massey Fergie is looking great. My Mom had one at her farm and it was used most days for fourty years until I (estate) sold it to a happy new owner.

do you have to water that area tim?

He's in Ohio Vash. Liquid sunshine will take care of it.

You wouldn't have to mow that down here at all. Just dust it off! :D

G

Heck no.... it grows fast enough on it's own.

I spray it for weeds once a year, but other than that, it just gets mowed once a week in the spring and less often as summer progresses. Same goes for the house lawn.

All three are right discharge mowers..... they have to be staggered sequentially to avoid throwing clippings into path of next mower.

That Ford 9N is absolutely beautiful. 72 years old and still being used is a real statement about the way things used to be made.

That is beautiful weed free grass! Would you mind sharing your secret on what the magical weed spray is? My grass is full of weeds and I just did a major seeding so I have to hold off for a while but soon it will need a spraying to get rid of these weeds. I especially hate the ones that pop with seeds when they touch you (those have to be sprayed in the fall?).

Sounds like you have might have dandelions:

How to Get Rid of Dandelions in Lawn: 11 Steps - wikiHow

That is really cool. I like to make use of others cast offs.
Looks like you could use a tad more overlap though, based on the flowers still left standing.
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Good eye Scott..... Last night was my first run with it and I noticed that too but rain was threatening. I am going to drill another hole in the adjustable arm to fine tune the overlap.

Yep... I get great satisfaction knowing I paid $250 and a evening or two of tinkering to 100% repair a mower that would have cost me $3000 new.

I sprayed last weekend using my old Polaris ATV with a boom sprayer I bought about 15 years ago from Northern. I use Trimec mixed about 2 oz per gallon. It works OK on most weeds, but it does not do much to hurt the clover. I typically like to spray on a calm morning when the air temp is then supposed to be high later with no rain forecasted for a couple days after. I may end up re-spraying in a week or two as the dandelions are hurting, but I am not sure they are all going to die.

My grass looks pretty bad compared to many fancy developments closer to civilization, but all I am after is dandelion free green stuff covering the yard/runway. ;)

My old spray rig..... Seems like I paid $200-$300 for it many years ago... Still works great.

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Nice Ford! We have one of those in WI., not sure exactly wheat year. I can't believe that those mowers cost that much new. And I can't believe that anyone has that much grass to mow, but I like it! :eek:

The $250 "Polaris" mower I just bought/repaired has an electric clutch, 14hp OHV engine, swivel/lockable rear wheels (to allow attaching to front of ATV) and a remote control panel that can be fastened to the driving vehicle. I would never pay 3k for one, but even my simpler red 12hp Swisher is now over 2k.

All together, I have spent under $3000 for my complete 15 1/2' mower rig (most of which I spent 10 or so years ago). On top of that, the tractor served several years as my primary snow plow rig and has been used to build an MX track and to disk the garden.

I would love to have a newer modern Kubota style tractor, but for mowing my runway, this rig is a winner and has paid for itself many years ago. If the engine ever grenades, I will have a tough decision between picking a more modern replacement or fixing it.

Tim, do you have to hold any significant right input into the steering to keep everything from drifting left?

The reason I ask is because if you do, you could flip everything over to the right and use the left steering input to build up your strength for dirt track racing.

:D

Nope.... the Ford steering is unaffected by the ganged mowers. Now that I have the mowers going again, I can hopefully get back to installing my engine/trans in the race car. (after I partake in the annual mother's day festivities later today.... sitting at my mother-in-laws bored out of my mind) ;):D

That's a really nice setup that looks like it works wonderfully.

My mowing is done with a 72" belly mower on my John Deere 955 4x4 utility tractor. I probably would have bought an 8N or a 9N, but didn't like the manuverability with the rear mower and PTO shutting off in reverse. Horses and goats take care of my pastures, so I am only mowing maybe 3 acres around house, barns, and trees.

Looks great Tim!

(But with your directional control and crosswind technique you really only need an 8' runway. The wider swath must be for guests. . . .:))

75' is more than enough....... Except on the rare occasion that the farmer plants corn on both sides. A low wing like a Cherokee feels kind of cramped when the corn is full grown.

Thankfully the local guy who farms it is a pilot also so he only rotates corn in occasionally and then he only puts it on one side.

Many years ago when I first was dating my wife there was corn on both sides and I flew in nearly nightly in my Grumman low wing AA1B and then left in the dark..... felt like I was in a tunnel.

Stereo with some good headphones, a 12v powered cooler hooked off your battery for the beer, a stand/mount or two for a shade umbrella.... Find some scrap plexi pieces big enough and enclose it, hook up a AC unit...