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 | ATVPaul
Join Date: Posts: 1 
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2002-08-01 40907
I am considering a swisher or ArcEase tow behind mower for an ATV. I already own the ATV and recently purchased property with about 5 acres to mow. Anyone have any experience with either product? Or with just using an ATV with a tow mower?
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| TC33
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2002-08-02 40917
Brother inlaw had one.. it scalp the ground in to many places. Also... try to back one up or manuever it around any trees. Wait to you get into an awkward position.. ok on flat ground and no obstacles. ....
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| Fishinguy3
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2002-08-18 41366
I own a rough cut mower with a 13 h.p. honda engine. I have had one with a briggs engine for 4 years. I am happy with the mower. The cut height is adjustable, and it will cut very tall weeds. I would not recommend for very tight turning applications, but mostly straight ahead or room to turn it is great. It came from cycle country. They have a web site of the same name. Good luck. ....
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 | treeman
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 251 Wisconsin
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2002-08-18 41367
When I worked at an ATV dealer I would see ATVs come in for service that were being used as mowers. ATVs that have air cooled engines are not meant to lug around a mower at slow speeds for extended periods. In the late 80's, Yamaha made an ATV for mowing. It could be bought with a rough cut or finish rear mounted deck. The deck was PTO powered. The engine was air cooled but had a huge fan that blew air across it to keep it cool. It also had a throttle you would set for a set speed.
It seemed the first things to go bad when the engine would get real hot was the electical parts under the flywheel. The ignition pick-up coil or the charging coil. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley 
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2002-08-19 41371
This is mostly some theory of which I have an amateur grasp. Some interesting things to think about I hope. I believe that's true about air-cooled engines. When I bought our Honda generator, I looked at a 2-cylinder water-cooled model. It had similar electrical ratings as the 6500 I bought for considerable less money. What's the difference I asked the dealer? The dealer says that contractors buy the water-cooled model because they have longer service lives. I'd guess it's the water cooling rather than the 2-cylinders that makes the difference.
I think that water-cooled engines operate in a narrower range of normal operating temperatures. An engine is built to fit together at one temperature in an ideal sense (Pistons are actually cylinders that fit the rings, valve heads fit valve seats etc. at one temperature). Wear on an engine is minimal at the ideal temperature, and wear increases as the operating temperature goes away from the ideal temperature. I'm pretty sure that an engine that is engineered to operate over a wider temperature range is going to wear faster. The wear is likely to be even faster when operated near the extremes of its normal temperature range.
I don't know if there's a blower on the ATV but I do know that passive air cooling on motorcycles depends on motion. There's more cooling when you're going faster. An assumption in the motorcycle engine design is that prolonged high engine load is accompanied by high speed.
An ATV used for mowing is going to have perhaps a higher load than is anticipated by the design and also moving at slower speeds. The engine RPM may be high if it's 'geared down' and then a blower would help the cooling. The engine may still run hotter than normal but higher RPM also adds to wear. Either way, I suspect that an ATV engine isn't designed for this type of work and using it for mowing is likely to require engine work sooner or result in the problems treeman mentioned.
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 | Peters
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 3034 Northern AL
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2002-08-19 41380
I guess you realize the Deutz and some Russian tractors have air cooled diesel engines.
The problem is the speed and the air necessary to keep the ATV cool.
I guess the problem I have is that I would be running two engines to complete one task. Neither engine is efficient.
The price of the ATV and the pull behind together is more than a good used tractor and bushhog. ....
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 | DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2002-08-20 41401
Yeah! And just think of all those old VW's from years back! They were fan/air cooled engines but they worked just fine in most places before smog laws drove them from the market. I will never forget the Christmas day I drove to Tok from Anchorage in my (water cooled) Ford Van to rescue my brother in his VW van. Fifty below was just a little too much air cooling for that critter. Thank God he managed to limp into town in first gear (several hours in first gear) before the engine finally died. People have died up there doing less. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2002-08-20 41404
Didn't know that about Russian air cooled tractor diesels, but a design shouldn't be too difficult. I'm not sure, but I imagine that the engines used on WWII B-29's (and later on DC-7's I think) also were air-cooled and would have to operate reliably over an extremely wide range of loads and air temperatures. Their problem may have been excessive cooling. Perhaps exhaust was used for engine heat when necessary.
Lots of possible designs. I think some engines were even cooled with steam rather than liquid. Guess I'm mostly just throwing info around here. Probably everybody agrees that there is an ideal temperature for an engine and wear is least if the engine temperature is maintained in a narrow range around that point. There also probably general agreement that the cooling system of ATV engines are unlikely to be designed for geared-down high-load uses.
Maybe a conclusion relevant to tractors is that an engine that doesn't come up into the normal operating range may need about as much attention as one that runs hot.
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 | Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2002-08-26 41659
The biggest problem with these units seems to be the ATV itself, they are designed for maximum traction, not turf care, as a result most do not have a differential, the two rear wheels are locked together, like an old 'Detroit Locker'. Unless you unload one wheel (read tip in the air, not a good practice) or make a REALLY wide turn you will tear up the grass, instead of cutting it. I have only seen one of these that worked out, it was a self-powered 4' bush-hog pushed in FRONT of an ATV and used exclusively for keeping the brush back away from a walking trail. Best of luck. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2002-08-27 41679
Didn't know that about ATV's, but I should have guessed. Now that I think about it, I helped a neighbour recover his ATV that had gone off a snowmobile trail. He probably should have waited a few weeks to gel the ATV out of the shed.
We just carried my steel loading ramps to the ATV, lifted up the front wheels and put the ramps under the front wheels. The ATV pulled itself right up the ramps and back onto the trail. Now that I think about it both rear wheels were throwing snow as it pulled itself up the ramps.
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| gteare
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2003-02-21 49736
The Swisher mower is a good mower. Do make sure that you have a water cooled model like a Bombardier or Artic Cat. You can't pull the mower very fast. But your atv pulling the mower will take care of land that some tractors dare not try. I bushhog two fields and cut all of riding trails with mine. I have a friend who has one he is wanting to sell. I know he paid a little over $1200 for it, but had to sell his 4-wheeler to buy his son a car. He is asking $600 plus shipping. Its a 10 1/2 hp rough cut Swisher, and only been used twice. You can call him at 812-336-1596 ....
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| gteare
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2003-02-21 49737
Also at low speeds you won't tear up your lawn. If you cut your bike hard and give her gas she eat up your lawn. Run it like your grandpa would. ....
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| RichardD
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 12 NY
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2003-02-21 49741
I just saw a belly mower for an atv - yes I said belly mower for an atv. It is also made by swisher. I saw it in a northern tool and equipment catalog. It has its own 16 hp kawasaki motor which sticks out the back. It has a 58" cut. ....
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 | plots1
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 563 mo 
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2003-02-21 49746
if your cutting weed as tall as bike you must travel really slow, not good on air cooled machines my cooling fan use to kick one constantly, at lease it worked but sold mine before it done the bike in. ....
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| rossco
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 42 South Texas
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2003-10-09 65918
I know this is an old post, but have been thinking about this mowing combination lately. If a person was to buy a water cooled atv and rear finish mower, seems like you could have a mower and when finished, could have your atv. If you basically only need to mow, wouldn't this combination be more practical than buying a large lawn tractor, unless you needed to till, etc. With the large assortment of attachments coming available for atv's, this might not even be a concern. I have two acres that I finish mow. Do the tow behind mowers give a nice cut? The major drawback I see would be backing-up with it.
Just thought I would throw some things out and hopefully get some feedback from the group. Thanks
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2003-10-10 65928
Seems like a perfectly good idea. Mule things are another version of a compromise between work and recreation.
Most ATV's wouldn't have a PTO but Mules do. Mules are limited for recreational purposes since they have lower speeds, less stability and greater tailoring requirements than ATV's. An ATV likely would need a ground driven mower and a hitch may have to be fabricated.
Ground driven mowers do exist and I think they are preferred by golf courses so they must cut pretty well. I think the ones used by golf courses are ganged together so a rig suitable for the power and torque of an ATV should be able to put together. However, ATV engines and TX's aren't designed for draft work and that may requiring a pretty small mower rig. In that case, grass cutting time may end up cutting into recreational time in the bush and the compromise might get a bit cranky. Same thing for ATV's with snowplow blades. They work but the blades are small. People around here who use them get a bit cranky after heavy snows.
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| Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2003-10-10 65951
A colleague of mine has several clients with properties which because of terrian require specialized equipment to cut the grass, usually this is done with a Steiner. The problem is a simple one, he wanted to replace his aging Steiner with a new one but the sticker shock for replacement was holding him back. He also wanted to purchase a second unit so as to speed up production time, but the cost of one was high, the cost of a pair was unworkable.
He resolved the problem by purchasing a convetional self-powered tow-behind mowing unit, but then changed the hitch around so that it was in fact being pushed instead of towed. The power unit is a 4WD ATV on turf tires. It worked so well he purchased a second unit soon after, he claims it does every bit as good a job as the Steiner but was half of the cost.
Best of luck.
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| brokenarrow
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1288 Wisconsin 
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2004-02-08 76326
atvpaul
How valueable is your time? I personelly would think about a small "cut" with a mower. I would use your atv for atv purposes, they are not exactly cheap either to replace. If you plan on staying there a long time, in the end having a dedicated machine just for the mowing may save you bucks in the long haul. It should last you the rest of your life and in the mean time you would have your atv living longer too? my .02 worth
goodluck ....
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