Methusala Posted December 4, 2011 Posted December 4, 2011 Faced with the perennial problem of keeping the grass strip mown to a reasonable length we tried a little ingenuity. Armed with 3 Victa mowers of varying ages and some scrap 50mm angle a plan was hatched. Canberra is very fortunate to have a government that will sometimes enable innovative community schemes to bear fruit. In the 80's a plan to utilise unemployed people to recover and sell valuable items from the tip evolved and this is the basis of a successful private/public partnership today. From this resource came our mowers, steel, wheelbarrow wheels and even a quantity of welding electrodes. Over the past 2 weekends, I fashioned a frame with wheels and a towing hitch. Mounted were the 3 mowers which run simultaneously and cut a swathe about 1300mm wide. Towing speed is about fast walking pace and the resulting cut is almost as good as a tractor mounted slasher. Of course the noise is fearsome but satisfyingly all 3 mowers ran for the 2 hour test run. Fuel consumption is about 1l/hr per mower.The total materials cost was about $100 and the hourly rate was absorbed into the aerodrome enhancement reserves. This was a satisfying project and fairly easy to build. I encourage those with a similar problem to benefit from this successful experiment. Cheers, Don 2
Methusala Posted December 4, 2011 Author Posted December 4, 2011 A small step for mankind...but a huge one for me, Don
Guest ozzie Posted December 4, 2011 Posted December 4, 2011 That's a good version of the 'tow behind' mower. Our DZ just spent 18,000 on a zero turn to do just over 50 acres. sheesh.
Gnarly Gnu Posted December 4, 2011 Posted December 4, 2011 Wow, yer a dead set legend Meth! That fiendish looking beast would work well for other things; you could rent it to the cops for sorting out illicit dope crops or occupy squatters camps (often combined) etc.
Methusala Posted December 4, 2011 Author Posted December 4, 2011 Sorry Ultralights. I don't own this private strip and the owners are not very approachable, Don
Guest Maj Millard Posted December 4, 2011 Posted December 4, 2011 Thats bloody ingenous ...is there a limit to number of mowers ?...why stop at three......................Maj...
Methusala Posted December 4, 2011 Author Posted December 4, 2011 Hey Maj, I don't think the spar would handle the extra load! Don
farri Posted December 4, 2011 Posted December 4, 2011 Methusala, I think that`s clever and I got a laugh out of it also. Frank.
jakej Posted December 4, 2011 Posted December 4, 2011 Hey Maj, I don't think the spar would handle the extra load! Don Hi Don Please say hi to Brian for me, we (the now defunct ACT Chapter Aust Aerobatic Club) used to fly out of there in the 90's. Jake J
winsor68 Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 You could call it the Brazilian! Keeps your runway mowed!
Guernsey Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 You certainly came out 'Victa-orious' with that one.
Guernsey Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 Many years ago a member of the Barossa Birdmen built a slasher which we used for many years before selling it to another airstrip nearby. It was made from the rear axle of a Hillman car (something to do with being the ideal diff gear ratio). The drive shaft was cut quite close to the axle and then instead of being horizontal was turned down to be vertical and two large slasher blades were attached, this gave us about a five foot diameter cut. An 'A' frame was then welded to the axle with a normal ball fitting to be towed behind a vehicle. The 'A' frame then had two cross members welded on to support some largs concrete blocks which prevented the unit from bouncing around. As the wheels turned so did the slasher blades. I don't have any photos but some of you engineering welding types should be able to copy the idea. As the airfield (Truro Flats) is now twice its size with four runways and several taxiways we have upgraded to a larger bought unit behind a tractor but to my knowledge the old slasher is still being used to this day on the other airstrip. It was very cheap to run as we towed it behind an old bomb of a Holden which was unregistered as it remained on the airfield. Alan. PS It was also quieter than three Victas. 1
facthunter Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 That set-up has the problem of not having the cutting heads moving when you start off. Tractors after about 1963 had 2 stage clutches where the PTO (if engaged) started moving before the back wheels which only move when the second half of the clutch travel is used. Aerodromes are by nature pretty big. You can spend a lot of time mowing them if your equipment is not efficient. Life is too short to drink bad wine, eat english food, mow aerodromes with bad mowers or scissors... etc. Nev 2
Guernsey Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 That set-up has the problem of not having the cutting heads moving when you start off. Tractors after about 1963 had 2 stage clutches where the PTO (if engaged) started moving before the back wheels which only move when the second half of the clutch travel is used.Aerodromes are by nature pretty big. You can spend a lot of time mowing them if your equipment is not efficient. Life is too short to drink bad wine, eat english food, mow aerodromes with bad mowers or scissors... etc. Nev Stone the crows Nev what are you on about. We started off with with a field (87 acres), one shed and a drop toilet which cost less than the mower you are suggesting. The mower we built did an excellent job and is still doing so, mowed our runways and taxiways very efficiently and with the money we avoided having to spend, we were able to drink good South Australian wine, have good South Aussie food on our regular barbeques, fly regularly from our pristine runways, and build up our Club to what it is today. (180 acres, four runways, 24 hangars, large toilet and shower block, large clubroom, TWO Tractors and we the members own it all), and it all started with a field and a home made mower. Alan. 2
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