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Re: (ET) FW: elec-trak front mower capabilities?



I have a pond that I cut around, so I’ve always been thinking of an easy way to cut at the water’s edge.

An idea I had, was to build a nylon string trimmer attachment.

If available buy a used large walk behind unit with a blown ICE, or the largest plug in electric model you could find. They’re fairly inexpensive and you could retrofit with a small 36V DC motor.

Plug it into your accessory outlet for power.

Mount it on an aluminum or steel arm that you could swing out away from the tractor.

Adjust as needed depending on size, and make as many passes as needed to get the job done.

 

Haven’t built one yet, but maybe someone else will beat me to it and let everyone know how it works.

 

Thanks;

Dennis                                            
Elsberry, MO                              
http://www.evalbum.com/227 

                                         

 

 

From: Pieter Litchfield [mailto:pieter_litch yahoo com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2011 7:01 AM
To: Elec-Trak Tractor
Subject: (ET) FW: elec-trak front mower capabilities?

 

I wonder about using a towed mower with a hitch offset.  There are a few brush mowers made for ATV use with tow bars that can be angled to allow the mower to track off significantly to either side.  If you don't want to use an IC engine, then maybe rig an electric version.  But a sickle bar would be better yet because there would be no weight on the ground from the mower blade so the undercut banks would be no threat.  I have never seen an ET with a sickle bar, but I do still have an old horse drawn version (with a metal tractor seat) that powers the bar with a geared wheel - never tried it behind an ET - a bit big for my needs

 

From: Steve & Carol Welch [mailto:welches dejazzd com]
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 7:09 PM
To: Chris Tromley
Cc: Elec-Trak
Subject: Re: (ET) elec-trak front mower capabilities?

 

Charlie, if I'm understanding what you want to accomplish, I'd do a sickle bar.  The front mount poses too many risks & not enough benefits for this purpose, IMHO.  

 

Chris, I have my Alltrax in my E20 on a foot-pedal control, with forward/reverse handled by a toggle switch on the dash (where your hand control would be).  Nice thing is, you can switch directions with a flick of the toggle, and if your foot is still on the "gas", the controller automatically ramps down & back up again.  I've found that sometimes if I find myself needing to stop quickly it's almost faster to flip to reverse than to hit the brake.  Also, with the speed controller's plug braking, if you take your foot off the throttle, and then flip the switch to reverse, it will stop you just as fast as the brake does.  ('course with the open differential, fast braking on grass always results in a slide - anybody have a Peerless 2317 for sale?)

 

Steve

 

 

On Nov 7, 2011, at 6:45 PM, Chris Tromley wrote:

 

On Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 3:46 PM, Charlie <medievalist gmail com> wrote:

What are the limitations on how far the Elec-trak front mower deck
travels?  That's a strange question but I don't know how else to put
it.  If I accidentally run the front rollers off the edge of an
undercut bank, is the blade going to get driven into the ground at the
edge, or will the deck hang out over the stream?

 

My Spidey-sense is tingling.  I think all the large-frame ETs (maybe the small-frame too?) use a similar hand-lever-forward-reverse-multi-speed control.  There has been the rare occasion where I've been moving in one direction, brought the lever to the off position and it slipped beyond into the opposite direction slot.  A couple times it was surprising how far the tractor moved in the unintended direction, and I'm generally in pretty good control of my body.  If you're zig-zagging along as you repeatedly ease up to the stream bank and your mind wanders, I'm thinking there's a greater chance than I'm comfortable with that some time your tractor might take a shortcut into the stream.  It's not the greatest control arrangement, but I've never really thought it was a hazard.  Until now.

 

When an ET is equipped with an Altrax electronic control, is the forward-reverse function more ergonomically separate from the go function?

 

Chris

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