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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2008-07-16          155344

Back to my first question here. Has run full circle for me. Had a company to loan me for two years a nice boom mower and solved my needs but believe it or not after field testing it for them, they wanted it back. :) So some good things do come to an end.:-(

I am looking for a design of mower for such as ditches, pond banks and tree lines around fields. I would like it to work on my CUT due to the HST for speed control. Which is 27 hp. The price is more than justifible for the amount I have and also the fact it can be hired for maybe $300 per cutting per year which is sufficient for the tree line, but would like to mow the pond bank more often. The pond bank has a slope to it of about 45 degrees.

I realize the cutter will have to be hyd driven. It needs to be able to angle up and down and to extend at least 4 feet from the tractor.

Do have option of small excavator with hyd on the boom. That would also have to be a small cutter as the machine is a 5 ton unit. Thanks guys, kt


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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2008-07-16          155347

Kenneth, have you thought of tackling it a different way?

A few of my customers have had really good success using commercial tow-behind rough cut mowers, basically self-powered bush hogs, behind a CUT.

Have a look at the link below for one such example.

They are certainly a LOT less money than any of the alternatives, and since they don't require much in the way of power or heft to counter-balance them they are easy to handle.

In several cases they have made up small light-duty (the whole thing rides on it's own wheels and only weighs ~500 pounds) on the right side of the FEL bucket and tow it from that, because of the offset hitch that trails out and back some it means the mower ends up almost beside the operator, not out the back so it's easy to keep an eye on it and you can raise and lower as required.

Just be cautious, almost all debris is ejected backwards and to the far side (away from you) but you never know.

Best of luck. ....


Link:   Swisher Trail Cutter.

 
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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2008-07-16          155353

I agree with Murf's suggestion. The other type of mower mentioned in your description is what commercial and highway departments use. Those are big bucks! Landpride makes a series of them. They generally put them on 50HP and larger tractors.

With an off-set towbar you could get the swisher to go deep down a ditch or pond bank. Northern Tool sells these while some other brands may be had thru TSC stores if I remember correctly. ....

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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2008-07-16          155355

I have visited their web site and remember the issue I have concern with and remember Murf questioning the limit of 15 degree grade for the engine. These banks or at least 45 degree and any idea about adding a front and rear wheel a couple of feet in from probably the right side so it would extend past over the edge of a ditch? kt ....

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harvey
Join Date: Sep 2000
Posts: 1550 Moravia, NY
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2008-07-16          155360

Take a look at old sickle bar mowers that are belt driven. They work at any angle. Cheap at auctions. Low maintenance. Some are trailer, some 3ph (more expensive, or something tractor specific and convert to 3ph. ....

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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2008-07-17          155369

Harvey, we still have our old horse drawn sickle bar cutter. Makes me think I ought to get it out and see if it still works just for memory sake. Don't mean trying to use it for this.Don't think wheel drive would suit the need. kt ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2008-07-17          155371

Kenneth, your other option, and one that would still likely be cheaper than buying a commercial side boom mower, would be to have a unit made.

It would be very easy to hook a ~12-16hp gas engine on a swivel mount to the input shaft of a 'standard' 42" or 48" bus hog in place of the PTO shaft, if the mount was made to pivot side to side it would be easy to make an arm that used the tongue as an actuator, sort of like the steering gear on a wagon. As the mower tipped over, and the tongue pivoted, it would pivot the engine over to (nearly) match, keeping it mostly level. The only trick would be centering the pivot so it rotated exactly in the center of the drive line.

After that all you need is a hitch and some wheels, thats not difficult fabricating at all.

If you were closer I'd say to come on over! Sounds like a weekend job.

Best of luck. ....

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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2008-07-17          155375

Murf, I like your idea. Why could you not put a short pto shaft between the engine and gearbox to help with the alignment? You probably could use the 3 pth to pull from allowing you the ability to raise and lower the front end some, possibly eliminated the front wheels. Not sure if that would be a plus or minus.

How about the difference in rpms of the engine and gearbox normally 540?

I had thought about something along this line but using a pto hyd pump and motor to drive it. That would require more hp I think than my B 2710 has. I would like to be able to use it due to HST and lighter weight and being narrow. Anyone have any idea on the hp needed for such? kt

Forgot to say, liked the offer the most. ....

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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2008-07-17          155377

A couple of points, first off, you could use a drive shaft, but it would complicate things. More on that further on.

I wouldn't recommend anything but 4 wheels (maybe 3?) since you want the mower to run fairly flat, and adjust height by while keeping it reasonably flat. If you raise the front, you also run the risk of allow flying debris to go under the guards and become a hazard.

The RPM difference, you would of course have to belt reduce the speed about 4:1, same as I did with my blowers if you were a member that far back you may recall, if not search the archives, I made up self-propelled blowers so they could be mounted on a pickup in place of a plow.

As for the hydraulic drive, it could be done, BUT, would cost more than buying an engine, and would make for a VERY complicated unit. You would have to have a PTO-driven pump, and a reservoir on the 3pth and then all the control valves, etc., on top of everything else.

The offer stands, but with the price of gas the way it is, it would be cheaper to buy a commercial unit. LOL

Best of luck. ....

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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2008-07-17          155378

Murf, understand all, sadly the last point the most.

Now, EW top this. I know you have been holding back.

Harvey, it has been more years than I care to admit since I used a sickle cutter. How large of stuff will the tractor type cut?

Thanks guys. kt ....

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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2008-07-17          155379

Would a hyd motor handle a large saw blade monted directly to it? I don't think the bearings would hold up. Was thinking about that on excavtor for tree limbs. kt ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2008-07-17          155380

You would need to buffer the motor from the loading a saw blade would put on it.

Basically you use the 4 bolts of the face mount to fix a chainsaw bar to the motors casing, then merely drive the chain with the motor, then any pressure is on the saw bar and the casing, not the motors bearings.

This is how the commercial timber machines and wood processors work.

Back to the grass cutters for a minute, if you have some time to do the cutting, you can make a much smaller, lighter cutter, say 18" - 24" in width using an old push mower with a bigger engine and more robust blade setup. Just make up a tube frame to pull it and a wheel frame.

Best of luck.
....

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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2008-07-22          155516

If you have a back-hoe, the articulating arm is there, just take off the bucket and construct a mount. TSC sells a small 4 ft. FARMCO brush hog for about $700.00. If you look at a commercial unit, you can get ideas how to mount. They usually are driven with a hydraulic motor.

You probably don't have a large enough pump capacity to run that. A gas engine or electric motor driven off a generator set would work. If concerned with the tilt of a gas engine look at how the suspension from a dirt bike works going through degrees of motion. There has to be a way to keep the engine vertical while the deck tilts. ....

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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2008-07-22          155521

YP, do you know if dirt bike engines 2 or 4 cycle or my guess there is both. If they can hande a 360 flip should be able to handle my needs. kt ....

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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2008-07-22          155525

Don't think a dirt bike will run long in a 360 degree position but certainly can run at a 45-55 degree tilt fore and aft plus to each side which is enough movement for your application. I'm thinking a 2 stroke could handle the tilt better. Using belts and pulleys you can get the proper 540 rpm out of the bush hog while achieving a power ratio allowing for a smaller motor.

The bush hog I mentioned has 2 rear wheels. If you put 2 swivel wheels at the front corners it will float on the terrain. You can use pivot links and some chains allowing deck float so the hoe boom doesn't obstruct float or crush the deck. ....

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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2008-07-22          155529

It has been years since seeing a sickle bar cutter at work. Do know they have made them for heavy brush removal on self propelled cutters. My cutting will mostly be grass but some small trees mainly spouts, which will work better rotary or sickle bar cutter? kt ....

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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2008-07-22          155531

BobCat has recently introduced a sickle bar attachment for the front like their other attachments and states that you can cut saplings up to 1 or more inches.

I have an old Farmall sickle bar and it can cut a few "green" saplings here and there about the size of a pencil or pen. You can break a few blades, pop rivets or brake the wood pitman arm when overdoing it. A sickle bar is intended for cutting hay or tall grass. If you don't have allot of brush or small saplings how about a string style trimmer with a blade and pre-cut them before going over it with a sickle bar. ....

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Side cutter for ditches and ponds

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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2008-07-22          155533

Thanks YP. It seems rotary is where I need to go.

A different twist, has anyone seen one of the hyd drive chain saws on a boom to trim limbs with? Am sure it would have to be spring loaded to prevent over loading. kt ....

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