Ever built a tow-behind gang mower?

[IthacaJeff 151]

Yeah, I know, the snow if flying and who's thinking of mowing, but I just picked

up a good running 21" Toro mower for $5 to go along with my free "almost-

running" Toro mower last year. I don't need these for trim mowing as my

LawnBoy handles that (gotta love quality!). So now I have near-twin Toros

that I've been thinking about rigging up to tow behind the 416-8 with a 48" SD

deck.

Have any of you ganged together push mowers into a tow-behind unit? The Toros

are self-propelled, which should be easily disabled. Both discharge to the right,

same as the 48" deck. The could be rigged up to flank on both the right and left

sides of the WH deck, or could be rigged up to offset to just one side (but they

would need to stagger each other so as to enable overlap). Ideally I'd like it

to be able to ride up on the side of a grassy bank to mow there.

Throttle and blade controls would need to be relocated as the handles would

be removed. That should not be a problem, perhaps even something could be

rigged up to put the controls accessible from the tractor seat.

Getting the cutting height equal from Toro to Toro to WH may be a bit of a

challenge, but not insurmountable.

With cutting swath overlap it would seem that I could get at least another

30-35 inches of cutting width, making for a total of about 80"! Whether this

would offset the cost of running three motors to cut the grass, I don't know.

Thoughts?

Jeff in Enfield, NY

[Save Old Iron 1,571]

Jeff,

got the perfect solution for you - in fact I even have a left over "T" bar from an earlier effort to create a "gang".

I'll head up the barn this afternoon to take a pic of two.

Think strap hinge off a "V" flat stock adjustment and a strap hinge off the point of the "V" with the strap pinned to an outboard mower deck. Mower deck area around the wheel shafts will have to be reinforced due to yanking the wheels around when you turn - think 1/8 plate welded to the wheel shaft areas - trust me this will be needed !

Think electrical to the mower magnetos running up to a kill switch on the dash and also a breakaway switch on the T bar to mower area. If you loose the T bar and mowers off the tractor, the breakaway switch will kill the mag's. Just like on a puller / sled setup.

Throttle cables become unimportant - you will be running the mowers full open all the time.

The "outboard" mowers can be adjusted side to side to compliment the tractor mower deck by a "v" shaped strap setup also pinned to various holes on the top of the T bar. The wider the "v" becomes the more the mowers move away from the centerline cutting path of the tractor deck. You can overlay the tractor deck cut path with the outboard mower cut path(s) very easily. I had a 52" deck on one tractor and 2 22 inch mowers outboard for a total single path cut width of over 8 feet. Helped on the 3 acres I have to mow twice a week.

Pics and a diagram to follow later tonight - way too tired right now.

oh - just a quick update - I never had to deal with gutters or steep banks so the twisting of the mower deck would have to be facilitated by some type of knuckle joint of the "V" straps. This slope / bank issue makes me doubly sure you will need to reinforce the area on the mower deck around the wheel shafts.

[IthacaJeff 151]

Chuck;

Good thoughts, especially the strap hinges and kill switch. Kill switch very

important with all my kids!

I look forward to seeing the pics and diagram.

Jeff in Enfield NY

[Save Old Iron 1,571]

Jeff,

here is a quick diagram to get you started

just two quick additional points

first, the welded (not pinned) "T" area which connects to the tractor was intentionally created to allow a non-articulating joint to an older non tractor. One advantage of this "fixed" style setup is you create a wide arc with the outboard mowers as you turn the tractor. This action is a great advantage if you want to force one of the outboard mowers under pine trees, shrubs, etc.

Second, the "V" straps are pinned into a series of holes on the gang bar to allow for an overlap adjustment with the current mower's cutting path. You could use some geometry calculations to setup where the V's should pin but good ole trial and error and common sense may get you there just as fast. The wider the base of the V, the closer it pulls the outboard mower into the gang bar and the further the outboard mower is positioned away from the gang cut centerline.

Once you find the correct angle for the V, the remaining section of the gang bar beyond the point where the V is attached can be cut off.

I used "U" channel stock on the gang bar to prevent any bending or sagging.

It's been about 20 years since I used this setup as I cut now with some SWISHER tow behind finish mowers. As I recall, The best and most consistent results were obtained with this setup using about 2" of overlap to the main mower deck.

Let me know if you have any other questions - happy to dust off more of that part of my memories.

Attached Image (Click thumbnail to expand)

[IthacaJeff 151]

Thanks Chuck, got some good tips in there. Looks like a next summer project

for sure.

Jeff