60 made into a front mower

[1940barnstormer]

I have been interested in retro fitting a 60 or 50 into a front mower. I thought I would use some short turf tires to lower the rear axle and probable build a off set front axle to lower the front. I am considering shortening the frame by about 18 inches and mounting a electric fan and radiator above the engine. My question is this, does any one have ideas for reversing the gears and moving the steering system to face the back side of tractor. I plan to mount the seat low over the rear axle facing the back and building the platform lower and behind the axle with a shield to protect your feet over the pto. mounting a 72 inch finish mower on short lift arms to complete the unit. Your thoughts please.

 

[tim s]

OOhh yes I like this kind of stuff,, and I have been thinking about it too, a neighbor has a bat-wing finish mower that has only been used a little... as for reversing the gears we did this with cotton picker gears years ago on a 60 that we use to unload equipment with at the dealership I worked at back in the early 70's, look in the 60 parts book I think it shows up there it gives you 5th.1st 3rd reveres I think,,some of the southern guys will know more about it,, I don't know where that old 60 went for sure, but i think id's still around here some where close..

 

[GreenBlood]

will love to see this, please post a picture when your through

 

[jturbo10]

You must be really bored to spend that much effort and money to ruin a perfectly good 60 JD and end up with an overweight and slow mower. I bought a 72 in JD ZTrac monster last year that runs like a dragster and cut my mowing time. I also have a 72 in finish mower and a 60 in bushhog that I use on a JD 850 diesel that sips the fuel. Having said that, go for it but I suspect it will end up in the junk pile. Where are you going to put the seat? Aft of the tranny? How about the clutch? How about using a uni-tractor that is already set up for something like this or maybe an old backhole tractor. Good luck.

 

[tim s]

jturbo10,,it's not boredom,,,it's an adventure,,sort of like when we tore our first alarm clock apart...and there are a bunch of 60's setting in the weeds a couple steps from the scrap yard,, my 60C donor tractor was setting in a back shed with the water pump bad for 10 years or so,,she is in a new life now...Fun stuff

 

[jturbo10]

Tim: energy and enthusiasm for a 60C is understandable and I love the end result. I've always wanted to make a front boom sprayer out of a s/p combine and my uncles 40 years ago put Chevy motors in Farmall F-30s that were a hoot. Many of our greatest inventors were "what if we did this" kind of people. I'm trying to come up with the right vehicle to build the ultimate "hogger predator" around complete with gun turret and I/R imaging to deal with feral hogs problem in Texas. May never get built but I'm putting ideas to paper using the KISS principle to keep it from weighing 10 ton. My main issue with the JD 60 front mower is there already is a commercial mower that will do the same job 10 times faster, cheaper, and not leave ruts in your yard. I never wanted to put a wet blanket on someone's dreams and passion.

 

[tim s]

I'm with you jturbo10,,,it's all an adventure,that's for sure,,,you could buy a military Hummer with a turant gun :^)and the 60 front mower would have some negative issues too,,up near me there is a guy that made a 4020 into a turf mower, huge lawn tires to deal with the stripped down 4020...,,it's all entertaining...and seems more worth while than putting that little white ball in a hole with a snake beater ...