playing at farming

[Rock Chuck]

A couple years ago, I decided that my garden tractor is good for more than just mowing weeds. After all, it IS called a 'garden' tractor. So, I bought a sleeve hitch for it and starting inventing. I ended up with this cultivator.

To start with, a garden tractor is NOT a farm tractor. It won't do 10% of what a real tractor will do. To start with, it needs some hydraulics with downward pressure on the hitch. Cinderblocks for weight are a poor substitute.

As long as the ground is fairly soft, it will kick the heck out of weeds. Don't expect it to break sod, even after removing a couple blades. It'll just bounce over sod. Rototillers are very hard on soil, beating it to a find powder that will crust when wet. Cultivating will keep the soil in much better condition. These blades can be adjusted to whatever spacing you want for weed control. I can get it within a few inches of the plants if I'm careful. If I'm not careful, I'll replant next year. It's a fun toy anyway.

In these pics, I have the narrow blades on it for breaking up soil and cutting furrows. For weed control, I replace them with 8" wide blades that get under the weeds and cut them off. The chain is holding down some pieces of steel that I loaded on for weight.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/rockchuck/cultivator1LR.jpg

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/rockchuck/cultivator2LR.jpg

[tommyt]

Looks good
I would like to see a full set (360*)of Pictures of the whole rig
Two thumbs up

[Rock Chuck]

I'll snap a few more photos tonight. It's a Craftsman garden tractor, nothing fancy. The garden tractors are designed much stronger than the lawn tractors which are just mowers. You also need the garden variety to accept a sleeve hitch. It has larger tires and is heavier built.

[Rock Chuck]

Ok, here are some more shots of what I did.

This is the whole thing. I don't leave the mower on it while using the cultivator, though. It takes about 5 min to remove and 15 min to replace.
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/rockchuck/tractor1LR.jpg

This is the sleeve hitch. The tool bar slides over the hitch and the pin drops in the hole. Very easy to hook up. It needs more adjustments, though. I had to do some inventing to get the range I needed. I welded some extensions on the top lift bracket. It's harder to lift this way, but gives me about 3 to 4" more inches of lift.
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/rockchuck/sleevehitchLR.jpg

These are the weed gitters. When in the ground, they lay fairly flat and slide along under the soil. I stagger them from front to back on the tool bar and let the wings overlap a little to get good coverage without too many weeds slipping through. I use a hand grinder to keep them sharp.
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/rockchuck/tractor2LR.jpg

I borrowed this furrower blade from a friend. It cuts a very nice ditch about 4-6" deep & 6" wide.
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/rockchuck/toolbar2LR.jpg

The tool bar is 1 1/2" square tubing. I made these gizmos to for clamps for the tool shanks but I need to come up with something else. They're a real pain to adjust. The bar will rotate to change the tool angle. I didn't need to add the lower bracket because all the force is from the top. The main bar is made from 3" channel and reaches to the outside of the tires.
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/rockchuck/toolbar1LR.jpg

[ncboman]

looks pretty good.

You got more metal hanging off the back than is in the tractor. :D

[Rock Chuck]

And that's a problem. It makes the steering too light. I need to figure out a way to put some weight on the front. I have a scraper blade that I use for snow. When it's pulling a load of snow, I can't hardly steer it at all. However, a scraper blade is a lousy snow tool. I'm going to build a front blade for my ATV before winter gets here. We don't get all that much snow here, but we live on a highway and the snowplows bury my driveway entrance.

[Bill Gunn]

I've made a lot of sets of wheel weights for mine & my friends garden tractors. Their very easy to make..

Here's a couple sets I'm using now on a JD 720, and a 420. They are for rear wheels, but I make the fronts the same, they're even easier to make...

http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2250/777751/1363903/371315932.jpg

http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2250/777751/1363903/371315936.jpg

The weight in this bottom picture weighs 100# !! A full set of rear weights weighs 350#.

Measure the inside diameter of your wheel, and the outside diameter of the center hub on your wheel.
Go to a "Junk" store, and pick up a cheap aluminum cooking pot, or cake pan that will just fit inside the wheel. Also pick up a set of metal drinking, or measuring cups that are a little bigger than your center hub. You will need a separate one of these smaller cups for each wheel you are going to do as you will have to hammer them out of the weight after it cools. You will be pouring 2 lead weight disks for each wheel.

Set the smaller cup as perfectly centered as you can in the center of the bigger pan, weigh it down with about anything handy you have, and fill the pan deep enough with melted lead so that when you mount the weight, the weight will be higher in the wheel than the center hub. Let cool and remove from pan. Pound out center hub hole cup.
Now pour another full sized weight without the center hub. Drill to match holes in wheels for weight attachment, and mount. I found when drilling lead, use a sharp drill, and drill fast with a lot of pressure. If you don't, the lead melts instead of drilling, and clogs up the drill.
I have made 24 of these disks for myself and friends, their very easy to do.

The super thing about these wheel weights is that they not only put maximum weight on the tire, they don't put any strain on the axles, or bearings like suitcase (Frame mounted) weights do.

When you mount them, shim them to center with thin wood wedges, then break off the wedges when you have them tightened down.

I like to use Carriage bolts & NYLOCK nuts on the top nut to keep everything tight.

[Rock Chuck]

When I'm moving snow, I have tire chains that I adapted from some car chains. So far, they handle it nicely. The front wheels don't have lug bolts, just a center axle with the hub held on with a C-clip. I need to make something that will hang on the front of the frame. Finding something to bolt to that will handle the weight is the problem.

[tommyt]

Thanks for those pictures I have a similar Garden Tractor ,16 horse
I like what you did and in the Fl. sand that maybe the ticket to some small hunting plots
may just make one for a Quad
I move my 16ft skiff with this one and I know what you mean about light Front end
If I come up with something I'll post up
Tommyt

[Greywolf]

Dick,
Craftsman used to have a Weight Kit that consisted of a bracket and a canister that would hold chains or any thing you might care to pack in it.These were popular with tractors equiped with mounted plows or blowers.

The frame of a garden tractor would in all likleyhood work just fine, save having to poke a hole or two through it.

Looks like you have as much fun making your own implements as you do using them. Nice work!

[Hi Ball]

Rock Chuck, I have an older Case-Ingersol garden tractor 448 (the big one) but I still don't use it for any garden work to speak of really. My friend down the road tried that lawn tractor episode with his and it fell apart soon afterwards. The rearend went south on him and that repair estamate was more than the price for the tractor.

My garden tractor was purchased with a snow blade also, tried using it one winter but even with wheel weights and extra weight on the rear, it was no match for an 8 inch snow fall. I took it off and it has been in the barn ever since. I have AG tires on the tractor with chains but I just use it to mow the one 3 acre field and pull a wagon when working on the lawn.

The axles are all solid steel with steel gears in the rearend, that part is a plus nowdays. All you see at the stores are these half axle tractors with U-clamps holding them together. A big bunch of POT METAL!!!.......JUNK made in China!!!

It used to be, you could go out and pick up a little RED belly FORD for using around the garden or on small acreage but those are getting scarce as hens teeth nowdays to find. They also are selling for around the $3,000 dollar range in my area.

I got me a little walk behind rotiller but that is a lot of work to in a large garden. Next year it will be back to the real McCoy and I'll be using that 70 HP diesel Case tractor that weighs in at 7,500 lbs. I have the plows, disc, planter and harrow, not to mention a Danish tine cultivator too. The front bucket is a real joy to use around the place.:D

[Rock Chuck]

I have a rear scraper blade for my garden tractor that I've used to move snow but it doesn't work very well if the snow is over about 3". With chains the traction is ok but when you have to drive through the snow before the blade gets to it, it's a PIA. A front blade would be 100x better. I need front wheel weights when using it so I can steer it. The fronts just slide along when it's under a load.
I've been planning to make a blade for my ATV before winter. I can order the blade itself and some brackets through Sears, then fabricate the mount as needed. Then I was in Sears last week and they have a front snow blade on display that fits this tractor for $230. I took a good look at it and it would be very easy to adapt to my ATV so I might go that way. It's not real heavy duty but we don't get that much snow here. I think it'll handle what we get.

You said your neighbor tried gardening with a LAWN tractor. I can believe it fell apart. The garden models are much heavier built. The lawn tractors are lawn mowers only.