12 replies to this topic

[Greasy6020]

I am planning on putting a fleet of garden tractors together for making compost/silage. Most will be compost.

First I will need a chopper. I have an old john deere riding mower. I will put a snowblower discharge on the mower dischage after extending that upwards 12". To get more throw from the mower deck what kind of blades should I use? Bigger motor? Higher rpms (achieved by taking governer off probably)?

I have access to a Moto Mower 6020 and hopefully a massey ferguson 12 g for hauling and packing. My friend should be able to bring his craftsman after he puts a new starter on (his older brother also my friend drowned the starter in oil) and a dump cart.

For bunks I will probably use small square bales of straw stacked 3x3 (3 wide 3 high on all sides). I will probably use the Moto Mower to pack because of the skinny tires and wheel weights.

To compost it I will make a potato plow type idea. Using a C shank cultivator shank and a 12" chisel plow sweep to get it mixed well. I will pull that with a massey ferguson 12.

I will next year (not this summer next summer) the compost after sweet corn is over and the stalks are chopped for this years compost start.

The grass will be made up of mostly grass and plant material and manure.

Sound good?

[boyscout862]

I have a lawn tractor that came with an attachment on the chute of the mower deck. It grinds the leaves and shoots them threw a hose into a bag system. Why not look into something like that? Good Luck, Rick

[chieffan]

Just get a decent bagger system with gator blades on the deck and dump the catch bags/tubs on your mulch pile.  Save a lot of hassle, work and headaches.

Mulch will settle down itself as you wont be adding it all at once like it was silage and won't need packing.

[shorty]

A lot of the lighter LT mowers have a chute to blow into a bin on the back with no additional blower. That is what I use for collecting grass and leaves. Something I thought of trying is to extend it back to a cart. It would be less hassle than mounting an extra blower on the side.
Also for composting, you don't want to pack it. It should be somewhat loose so air and rain can get in to keep the composting going. On silage piles, it's packed to keep air out and preventing spoilage.
Just my 2 cents.

[Gtractor]

You can't remove/bypass the governor.  Too many RPM - and not that many over the stock setting will destroy your engine in a short order.  If you need to gear up the mulcher you'll have to do that by changing pulleys to increase speed.  Much of an increase and you'll run into a situation where you'll need more horsepower than the stock engine has. 

Otherwise I like your ideas!  Keep us posted on how things work out.

[shorty]

I like your ambition and how you are spending the winter figuring out how to have a productive summer.

[Greasy6020]

I have a lawn tractor that came with an attachment on the chute of the mower deck. It grinds the leaves and shoots them threw a hose into a bag system. Why not look into something like that? Good Luck, Rick

It's that same idea but only instead of it going into a bag it goes into a wagon

[Greasy6020]

I like your ambition and how you are spending the winter figuring out how to have a productive summer.

Well... Today I was told "you're staying inside" so I put my brain to use after some YouTube watching I came up with this.

[Greasy6020]

A lot of the lighter LT mowers have a chute to blow into a bin on the back with no additional blower. That is what I use for collecting grass and leaves. Something I thought of trying is to extend it back to a cart. It would be less hassle than mounting an extra blower on the side.
Also for composting, you don't want to pack it. It should be somewhat loose so air and rain can get in to keep the composting going. On silage piles, it's packed to keep air out and preventing spoilage.
Just my 2 cents.

Yah. I want a system kinda like that. Instead of using a hose I just want to take the curved non powered portion of a snowblower discharge pointed into a wagon towed beside me. Like what the Europeans do with their self propelled choppers and wagons.

Edited by Greasy6020, January 22, 2016 - 10:32 PM.

[shorty]

Yah. I want a system kinda like that. Instead of using a hose I just want to take the curved non powered portion of a snowblower discharge pointed into a wagon towed beside me. Like what the Europeans do with their self propelled choppers and wagons.

Got it now. I was thinking you meant to hang the blower and spout on the side. I have heard good about the hi lift blades for blowing through a spout. I use regular blades on my lt and it does ok for blowing grass into the bin.

[Alc]

I have one of these homeowner type chipper shredders and it does throw pretty far , maybe you could make one work for you ? 

[Greasy6020]

6-11-1-1g.jpgI have one of these homeowner type chipper shredders and it does throw pretty far , maybe you could make one work for you ?

I could use that for adding wood chips and other harder material that mower blades will die trying to cut... I'm probably gonna get the self propelled chopper thing going first.

[Robert Webb]

I have a set up pretty similar to what you are wanting to do.  I have a John Deere 425, 54" deck with the power flow blower unit that blows clipping directly into a 4X8 Wagon that I put sides on. I was using it at the community garden that I used to do and cutting about 2-3 acres, I could fill up the wagon in short order.  The sides were about 4 feet tall.  The first time that I did it. I actually loaded up the wagon and took it to the farm with the intentions of feeding the clipping to the goats and horses until I found out that is a BIG NO NO!  Since I dont do the community garden any more, I dont know that I will ever finish the project that I started.  I had plans to build a sort of "silage wagon" complete with a conveyor unloading system in the bed.  I have the steel and belting to actually build it but with everything else that I have going on right now, I dont know if I will ever actually build it.  I was using PVC pipe as a frame with tarps stretched over it just as a trial run.