Homemade Mower Deck

[wfyehl 1]

Does anyone know of the gentleman that built his own 72" mower deck for his wheelhorse tractor.  I can't seem to find the site that show the build of the mower deck.

 

I'm interested in building a 48" rear discharge deck (using parts from my old 48" SD deck), and would like to look over what he did for his deck.

 

If anyone knows the gentleman and/or the site that contains the build, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

-Bill

[GlenPettit 1,716]

That is Dale Garver, in Clair, MI . . . . www.thirdroc17@hotmil.com

 

He used two or three smaller decks to build that 72" deck.

He is often on and usually posts on:   www.WheelHorse.org

     His location and eMail is 3 years old, I have his cell phone # and

     can let him know your eMail if the above doesn't connect.

Glen

Edited August 9, 2013 by GlenPettit

[CasualObserver 3,408]

use same name at yahoo.com instead of hotmail.com   I don't think he hardly uses hotmail, but is on his yahoo mail daily.

 

You can also PM him through here.... user name is Curmudgeon.

[CasualObserver 3,408]

The webpage itself is long gone, but here's some excerpts from Dale's site.  Found these in the internet's basement. Scary place. 
 

On Jan. 26, 2000  Dale posted:

I mow a rather large lawn.    While going around hour after hour I kept thinking there has to be a better way.   A better way of course would be a bigger mower deck, but the 60" won't fit my 416-8.   I know they recommend more horse power, but I kept thinking, after all I had the time.    A push mower with a 22" cut and a 4 horse engine is cutting 5.5" per horse.    I ran a 48" deck (The same deck I was using on my 416-8) with my Raider 10, that's 4.8" per horsepower.   I had 16 horses, if I figured 5" to the horse (Making sure I cut the grass on time) I could run 80" of mower blades.   Going through the old mower decks at every dealer of any make around, I bought a pretty much shot Cub deck for $25.    I picked up another from a co-worker for another $20.     By cutting the left end out of one deck, splitting the other down the middle and overlapping the first deck, bolting, welding, and cobbling I could make a 5 blade deck, 80" of blades, and a 76" cut allowing for overlap of the blades.    Easier said than done, but done it is.   Best idea I ever had!!!    Cut my mowing time in half, and with the "Giant Deck" as I call it, the effective turning radius is much smaller due to the deck sticking farther inboard when turning, no more circling things 3 times to cut close all the way around.
Someday I'll tell you about the Giant Deck my brother made from a sheet of 1/8" steel, or he can.....

Added by Lyle, 2-9-2000
After seeing the "giant mower deck" my brother put together I had to have one
myself. I bought a 4x8 sheet of metal 1/8 in. thick and started cutting,
bending, welding, drilling and bolting. (We won't get into the language that
was used during the process! LOL) By parting out an old and a not so old 42
in. Wheelhorse deck I got 5 spindles, a belt tensioner, mounting hardware and
rollers. From other than Wheelhorse I found a couple of idler pulleys and a
really long belt. The finished deck is mostly Wheelhorse, rear discharge and
cuts a 70 inch swath. By using 2 blades per spindle (see tips, secrets and
want ads page) I am able to travel a little faster so mowing the grass is
much quicker. The only problem I've had is when the grass gets too tall the
belts have to be quite tight or they will slip, after all they were designed
for 3 blades and I'm running 10! In 3 years the only parts I've replaced were
the gauge wheels and some of the blades. Currently I run this deck with a
520H and it is one mowing machine!

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,291]

There's another example on this AWESOME site! but you're probably thinking of Dale's.

[KC9KAS 4,741]

[wfyehl 1]

The deck that is pictured here is the one I remember.  The one that was built from a 4x8 sheet of metal 1/8".  That is the one I remember having pictures of the building process.  I downloaded the build to a previous laptop that has crashed, and is long gone.  I wish I had  a backup of that laptop.

 

Thanks for the info.

-Bill

 

The webpage itself is long gone, but here's some excerpts from Dale's site.  Found these in the internet's basement. Scary place. 
 

On Jan. 26, 2000  Dale posted:

I mow a rather large lawn.    While going around hour after hour I kept thinking there has to be a better way.   A better way of course would be a bigger mower deck, but the 60" won't fit my 416-8.   I know they recommend more horse power, but I kept thinking, after all I had the time.    A push mower with a 22" cut and a 4 horse engine is cutting 5.5" per horse.    I ran a 48" deck (The same deck I was using on my 416-8) with my Raider 10, that's 4.8" per horsepower.   I had 16 horses, if I figured 5" to the horse (Making sure I cut the grass on time) I could run 80" of mower blades.   Going through the old mower decks at every dealer of any make around, I bought a pretty much shot Cub deck for $25.    I picked up another from a co-worker for another $20.     By cutting the left end out of one deck, splitting the other down the middle and overlapping the first deck, bolting, welding, and cobbling I could make a 5 blade deck, 80" of blades, and a 76" cut allowing for overlap of the blades.    Easier said than done, but done it is.   Best idea I ever had!!!    Cut my mowing time in half, and with the "Giant Deck" as I call it, the effective turning radius is much smaller due to the deck sticking farther inboard when turning, no more circling things 3 times to cut close all the way around.
Someday I'll tell you about the Giant Deck my brother made from a sheet of 1/8" steel, or he can.....

Added by Lyle, 2-9-2000
After seeing the "giant mower deck" my brother put together I had to have one
myself. I bought a 4x8 sheet of metal 1/8 in. thick and started cutting,
bending, welding, drilling and bolting. (We won't get into the language that
was used during the process! LOL) By parting out an old and a not so old 42
in. Wheelhorse deck I got 5 spindles, a belt tensioner, mounting hardware and
rollers. From other than Wheelhorse I found a couple of idler pulleys and a
really long belt. The finished deck is mostly Wheelhorse, rear discharge and
cuts a 70 inch swath. By using 2 blades per spindle (see tips, secrets and
want ads page) I am able to travel a little faster so mowing the grass is
much quicker. The only problem I've had is when the grass gets too tall the
belts have to be quite tight or they will slip, after all they were designed
for 3 blades and I'm running 10! In 3 years the only parts I've replaced were
the gauge wheels and some of the blades. Currently I run this deck with a
520H and it is one mowing machine!

[546cowboy 301]

Well I did build a 60" trail mower about 6 or 7 years ago and that thing mows great and will mow really high grass with one pass. You would not believe what I used to make the deck. My neighbor had one of those small truck caps with doors on both sides. I used the top of that truck cap and grass has never built up on the bottom. I did build a frame on the sides and back, so it is open on three sides. After a few years I had to reinforce the deck where the towers go through though. It was made out of whatever I had lying around at the time but it has held up great and never leaves a windrow.