Rail-Mower Deck is Mounted, Passes First Operational Test

A major step forward today, with the rail-mower deck successfully mounted onto the railmower itself.  Here's a photo of it (front facing to left), with more to come:

Frank Glatzl arrived a little after 8:00 am, the weather was perfect for working:  cloudy and cool, about 65 degrees, so we didn't have to put up the EZ-Up tent.  Frank brought the original carburetor with him, which he had been soaking in Lime-Away to try to clean up the interior idle circuit passage.  When he put it on and fired up the engine, however, the engine could not be adjusted, indicating the passage is still obstructed.  That means we will have to get another carburetor.  I've been doing some research on the internet, and talked to folks at V.E. Petersen Co., where a parts guy said that the Walbro WHG-31 carburetor is a replacement for the original Walbro LMH18.  An internet contact from the BolensTractorClub yahoo group confirmed that is the right carburetor and provided some further info on adjustments necessary to make it fit to the Bolens 1250 on the rail-mower.  So I am going to buy that carb (making sure the vendor has a favorable return policy) so we can finish up this project and get the rail-mower working well.

After we hooked up the deck, we powered it up and threw the PTO switch and, wonder of wonders, the deck operated perfectly.  Of course it wasn't going at full speed because the carburetor wasn't working well, but at least it passed its first operational test.  Before we take the rail-mower out to actually cut some grass on Saturday, Dec. 10, at Kingsland, I will install the two belt covers to keep the debris from caught up in the belts.

Here's two photos of the link that Frank fabricated for the rail-mower.  It replaces the hydraulic cylinder, which we will no longer need since all we will be doing is raising and lowering the rail-mower from the position for cutting (mower deck down) to the position for transport and loading (mower deck up about two or three inches).

The first photo shows the link with room on the clevis pin to add a lever about 9 or 10 inches long, which will be used to raise or lower the deck.  Once it is in position, the operator will slip a smaller pin (at bottom of the link in the first photo) into the link to hold it in position.  The link is actually a square tube inside another square tube, with a series of holes in the side for the smaller pin to slip into.  But, as we found out, Frank needs to drill one more hole to make the concept work.  He took the link back with him to do that.  We winched the rail-mower up onto my tilt trailer to move it to the rail and the deck had no problem clearing anything.  That was another test it passed.  However, I will normally be carrying the rail-mower on my 16-foot trailer with the Woodings CBI that is going to pull it.  And since that tandem-axle trailer won't tilt, I will have to haul the rail-mower up a set of ramps.  The deck will have to clear the edge of the trailer as it passes over.  That will be the real test.  Am going to work on getting long ramps to make the angle as shallow as possible.  Here's a photo of the rail-mower on my 12-foot trailer:

Next up is a photo of the mower deck just prior to installation.  This was a very anxious moment because I had taken the measurements some 10-11 months before and had no way of knowing whether the deck would fit underneath or not.  We pushed and pulled the deck into position after raising the motorcar trailer front and back with some boards.  We found almost immediately that the plywood floor needed to be cut wider to allow the various linkages enough room to work properly.  So I cut it with a jigsaw and then, as we progressed, I had to widen it further, eventually ending up with a cut-out about the width of the tractor frame.

 To determine how the linkages were hooked up, we went inside to take a look at some photos I took of the Bolens 1455 mower deck assembly as mounted the other day.  Then we hooked up the linkages on the rail-mower the same way and they worked, once they had enough room.  Here's Frank hooking up the linkages, a view of the right side with the discharge chute sticking out, and a closeup of the left side:

The closeup gives you a good idea of how the mower is mounted, but it is far from how it will appear when it is field-tested Dec. 10 at Kingsland.  The belts will be completely covered by two covers that fit over the top of the deck, to keep debris away.  Next, we will have a long piece of conveyer belting curving from the side of the trailer up against the tractor frame to carry tools and parts without them falling down into the cut-out area.  Finally, I will attach additional conveyor belting to the side of the motorcar trailer to ensure that any debris that might be kicked out will drop harmlessly inside the rails.  I will install belting on the front and back as well.

Here's some more photos of the rail-mower after it has passed its first operational test and been transferred to the rail that runs under my carport.  Will be moving out the tables and rolling the rail-mower under the carport for protection from rain, dew, hail and sun, possibly tomorrow.  In the meantime, the engine assembly has been covered with a heavy canvas tarpaulin for protection.

Frank also noticed that the front axle could cause a problem because it is swinging freely, given that there are no longer any spindles connected to main frame.  So he is going to fabricate two pieces of flat stock that will bolt together over the sides of the axle to prevent it from swinging up or down.  That should take care of that.

After Frank left, I had some additional chores to do.  First I slipped in a pin to hold a pin being used for the linkage.  Then I removed a temporary shear bolt from the drive shaft, where it connects to the mower gearbox, and installed a longer one with a lock nut.  Finally, we had had to remove a cross brace bar from forward of the rear axle since the deck assembly needed space.  So I mounted it on the other side of the axle, closer to the back of the trailer.  We are going to try to provide additional bracing under the plywood floor somewhere in the middle of the rail-mower since we want to carry tools.  But that will have to wait until we finalize everything else, then we will figure out where to put it and how to mount it.

Last but not least, photos of Frank and Ed with big smiles after a good day's work and every prospect for a successful field test at Kingsland on Dec. 10:

That actually doesn't end the day's story.  After Frank left, I also bolted the BCS 725 two-wheel tractor's teeth to the mounting platform.  Once I get in a pre-filter I have ordered, I will install the air filter cover and it will be good to go.  Here's two photos showing the new teeth in the sickle bar and a freshly painted muffler, and a side view, with the wheel rims cleaned up and painted the same silver color as the muffler.

The BCS is now almost ready to tackle tough mowing jobs along a railroad ROW involving tall, weedy plants.  I think it is wide enough (45 inches) to cut a wide swath and the teeth are spaced far enough apart (two inches) so it can handle some pretty thick brush as well.  But the proof will be when it is put to the test, probably not until a work session early in 2012.  End of a long story about a long, eventful day in the evolution of our specialized RPI tools.