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Beaver III belly mower

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runswithsizzers
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 4 on the edge
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2008-10-21          157435


Is there any practical way to mount a belly mower under a Mitsubishi/Satoh Beaver III S373, using available parts?

My REAR PTO has standard shaft rotation, and I have NO front PTO.

I do have a hydraulic cylinder which may have been used to raise and lower a belly mower.

Thanks,
gw






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Beaver III belly mower

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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2008-10-22          157439


Not sure what you mean by "having" a hyd cyl, but, while there are some proprietary (non-standard) mounting systems, the typical MMM works like this:

You drive over it from its rear, protecting the blades and sheaves with guards. Now the mower is between the wheels and its rear is at the back of the tractor. You attach the mower rear to your standard 3-pt hitch (which is going to lift it to driving and mowing heights). Your PTO shaft attaches to a receiver into a gearbox that turns a sheave from which belts turn the mower assemblies.

The questions about fit are whether there's enough room between the F & R wheels, and enough space between the top of the mower and the bottom of the tractor for it to raise high enough for your purposes (after adjusting the upper hitch arm).

You can do some preliminary tests with a tape measure, but ultimately it's better to try it. MMMs are not easy to transport, but maybe there's a nearby dealer with an assortment.

Hope that helps a bit. ....


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Beaver III belly mower

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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2008-10-22          157442


I have no idea how much horsepower your tractor has, but my experience with add on belly mowers on low horsepower tractors, (less than 20 hp.) hasn't been good. A lot of power is consumed just in the drive system itself, pulleys, belts, gearboxes, etc., each consume a bit of power along the way to from the PTO to the blades. Is the PTO of your tractor independent from the transmission clutch or is it transmission driven? Transmission driven PTO's and a belly mowers don't work to well together. No doubt a mower can be retrofitted to work with some purchased or home made brackets, but tell us more about the situation first, we'll try to help. Frank. ....


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Beaver III belly mower

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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2008-10-24          157466


All mowers of the same size have a similar number of power-robbing gearboxes, sheaves, belts, and spindles. Moreover, a rear (or front) mower needs its own wheels or casters. It takes considerable power to pull them through uncut grass, whereas a MMM is carried by the tractor. Besides, mower size us matched to tractor size; most garden tractors have little MMMs.

(Granted, MMMs do tend to be wider than front or rear ones and therefore need more power, and some, especially for tractors that lack a rear hitch, do have their own casters.)
....


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Beaver III belly mower

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2008-10-24          157467


Quote:
Originally Posted by auerbach | view 157466
Moreover, a rear (or front) mower needs its own wheels or casters. It takes considerable power to pull them through uncut grass, whereas a MMM is carried by the tractor.


I don't know what brand you are referring to, but every single MMM I've seen is dragged by a couple of arms and rides on 4 adjustable caster wheels, the height of cut is determined by raising or lowering the caster wheels. The tractor only "carries" the deck when it is raised up on the hydraulics.

It's sort of a Frankenstien, but I've seen rear 3pth mowers underslung on tractors as MMM's. If you use a hanging gearbox on the PTO it reverses the rotation 180°, but then you turn the gear box 180° to drive the mower from the back and the rotation is back to the way it should be. Then all you need to do is jury-rig some lift and pull mechanism.

Best of luck. ....


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Beaver III belly mower

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runswithsizzers
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 4 on the edge
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2008-10-24          157475


Thanks to all for the advice.

Lacking a simple Buy-and-Install solution, I've decided that rather than trying to home-engineer a belly mower for the Satoh S-373D, to instead purchase a riding lawn mower - otherwise the grass would be over my head before it got mowed.

I am ashamed and chagrined to pay for yet another motor and set of wheels to be maintained, when the Beaver III might have been capable of the job - but since it has "only" 16.5 HP - maybe not.

The new John Deere LA145 "lawn tractor" has 22 HP, but there is no doubt in my mind that I can get more work from the Beaver's 16.5 HP diesel.

I paid about the same for the new lawn tractor as I did for the used Satoh ($2000 vs $2300), but I'm pretty sure the LA145 will not still be doing any useful work when is gets to be as old as the Satoh. In retrospect, considering my total investment for the two machines, it would have been better to get a more modern equivalent of the Beaver for which a belly mower is available. Sadly, the availability of the perfect used machine does not always coincide with the time of greatest need.

Can anyone tell me what this "MMM" means?

auerbach - I've never really looked a belly mower on a compact tractor, I didn't realize the 3 point hitch was used to raise and lower them. Guess my extra hydraulic cylinder was used for something else.

hardwood - not sure what you are talking about. I can leave the blade of my PTO-driven brush hog spinning while the drive gear is in neutral, so I guess it's independent? The PTO engagement lever has 3 speeds and it's own neutral.

murf - maybe someday I'll try to rig something as you've described - I'd enjoy the challenge. With a little luck, maybe I'll have about 8-10 years before the lawn tractor dies.

-gw ....


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Beaver III belly mower

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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2008-10-24          157476


mmm = mid mount mower ....


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Beaver III belly mower

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2008-10-27          157508


GW, it's actually a lot easier than it sounds, at least if you've done it before, or even seen it done it is.

All you need to do to make an under-slung mower lift is run a few cables from the mower deck up to some pulleys and then back to the 3pth. When you lift the 3pth, the cables pull and the deck goes up. Gravity takes it back down when you lower the 3pth.

The hanging gear box is the tickler in there, they are pretty rare these days and most people make their own using multiple roller chains and some gears and shafting.

Best of luck. ....


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