Walk behind crawler mower project

Ok, stopped by the HD and found they had 3 machines (the accessories were 3 sizes of augers including ~20"!, scoop, tiller, and trencher). 2 Power house brand, prowler and prodigy (which has wheels instead of treads). And the Toro Dingo 420.

Let us know how it turns out!

Joel. phx

Hello again, Joel,

Today one of my mowing customers gave me a kayak, so I also went to the Home Depot, to get a rope, and I checked the rental area, but there were no tracked vehicles. There are lots of other places I can check, though. It's very useful to have a model to work from, either full-sized, or scale.

the Prowler platform crawler is the one which interests me the most. This, of course, would be the next step up, after the walk-behind crawler. I'm sure that I will want to build a platform crawler also, after I build a walk-behind model. I will study this design very closely.

I will certainly keep this group posted regarding my progress. This is my twentieth year of mowing grass, and I have already decided to never go back to a push mower again. My nephew gave me an air-conditioned compact pickup a couple of years ago, and my life has been steadily improving ever since.

Mike Mandaville Austin, Texas

The whole idea of crawler tracks on a mower is a bit ludicrous. They have no advantages for mowing and many disadvantages. The zero turn radius design is the most maneuverable on the market today and does not damage the turf in the hands of a skilled operator, as long as the ground is not too wet.

On Mon, 5 Jul 2004 7:47:46 -0700, ATP wrote (in message ):

Please keep the ideas coming. I've been working on a tracked wheelchair (For handicaped people)(Me) for several years now. Biggest problem so far is tracks coming off while turning. This thread has triggered several ideas, plus I'll take all the help I can get.

Thanks.

Roger in Vegas Worlds Greatest Impulse Buyer

Hasn't this been done already? You might look into the over the tire type tracks made by Loegering and others for skid steers, they wrap around the tire, some enterprising welders have been making their own and selling them on ebay.

Roger, just this afternoon, I was down the hill on my old property cutting grass around my shop, when an older neighbor rode over on his golf cart to chat. He told me he had inherited a mini-dozer from an old friend who had passed on, and asked me if I would be interested in seeing the thing. Since it was 95 degrees about then, a break was in order. We rode over to his shop, and sitting there was the cutest little bulldozer I had ever seen. The whole thing was about the size of a riding mower. The dozer used belt drives to power the tracks in forward or reverse as needed, to create the turning. Here's a link to the one he has, in case it will give you any ideas about drive methods. He has the MD1200 model, and the pdf shows an exploded view. I hope this might be of use to you.

RJ

Duh, here's the link

advantages for mowing and many disadvantages. The zero turn radius design is the most maneuverable on the market today and does not damage the turf in the hands of a skilled operator, as long as the ground is not too wet.

Hello, Walter.

A couple of weeks ago my mower broke down, so I switched to my back-up mower, which was self-propelled. This is what got me to thinking about mower propulsion systems in general. Well, a couple of days ago, my back-up mower broke down, so I now am using my second back-up mower.

What I always liked about the Snapper is that since the Snapper propulsion system takes its power from off of the main shaft, when the engine did give out, I was able to just replace it with an engine from a push mower, and then keep right on being self-propelled. I never had a bearing go out.

I never did like the heavy weight of the Snapper, though, the idea of which, I am sure, was to gain traction. Among other things, this weight put extra strain on the engine.

Well, the mower I am using now is the first one which I have had which both takes its power from the main-shaft, and which also is not a Snapper, so it is not heavy. It is a front-wheel-drive machine, though, and, before I do anything else, I probably will give it a rear-wheel-drive, even though I know that this will make it more difficult to turn, until I work on that problem also.

I am at the point where I am willing to make any compromise in order to gain more traction. I can always regain what I have lost later on, with some additional work.

Mike Mandaville Austin, Texas

What kind of traction problems are you having with the lawn mower?

You sound like me, I have a total of $7 tied up in these machines, plus probably $10 in carb diaphragms and pop rivets for body work. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Hello again, Walter.

Well, in other words, the wheels spin on the grass. Actually, with the mower I'm using now, if I was getting more traction, I would have a run mower. Therefore, I need to slow it down first. I'm going to do this by putting a bigger pulley on the transmission. Just slowing it down should give me a measurable increase in traction, I think. Then I'm going to put on new tires, since one of my drive wheels is slick, and the other could be better. I have a whole series of improvements in mind, and eventually I suppose I will build a disc drive system from scratch.

Mike Mandaville Austin, Texas

Hello, Gerald.

The mower which I am using now, and my previous mower, were both given to me for free. By tomorrow, I should have enough set aside to purchase a back-up engine. Here in Austin, we have a mower salvage yard which is possibly the only one in the country. I really need to make a trip up there sometime soon, if only to just take a look around. I have rebuilt two Snappers and one riding mower so far so far.

Mike