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has anyone tried or turned your riding mower into a 4 wheeled drive unit?

Nope. I don't have the courage to drag a bunch of rotating blades into a place that would need a 4wd machine. But if I did, I'd get a 4wd ATV, and rig up a gas-powered (seperate engined) mower deck out behind me.:biggrin::thumbsup:

never found the need! my 2wd mtd will go up any hill i point it at. what is the advantage of 4wd?

I can't afford a ATV, I have set a 5hp B/S motor on top of a 30" Murry rider deck I guess I could attach a couple of hinged tow bars and pull it but that's not the point. The point is to take an engineered and factory built machine that does pretty much one thing ( mow ) and with the help, advise, ideas, suggestions and experiance of the tallanted people using this forum create a machine that can do alot of things that we all can use. We build it simply because it can be done, there is all sorts of machines out there, they started with an idea, we've got plenty of them, let's get to it. i've got an idea on how to make a 4WD riding mower, who needs a garden tractor or something a little bigger?

I get your message, but I don't get your point. Are you really going to take the time to home-fab differentials, steering knuckles, figure out how to drive all this without interfering with deck height adjustment, serviceability, and reliability, and have something when it's all done?:wink:Maybe a hydraulic motor system, running the kind of axle set-up they have on Mercedes Unimogs (portal axle) would be a place to start. I dunno. It seems like an awful lot of energy to go through for what in my view, creates very little gain. What is the lawn going to look like after a 4wd mower goes over it?

Toro makes a 4 wheel drive 72 inch cut I used one when I worked at a golf course has a diesel engine rear wheel steering With water in the tires will hold hills you can't walk up

Kubota make one, about 46" with a 3 cyl diesel, however
the front wheels only engage when pointing straight ahead
probably to avoid needing a front diff, however in my
experience my 2wd mowers only lose traction when I'm
climbing and turning, so the kubota system seems back
to front for real usefulness. If you want mega traction
use track drive. Scallop the track edges so they don't dig
the turf up when skidding (steering) and you can mow
anywhere.

Could of used one today mowing around the pond, tried getting too close and lost traction on the clay. Had to get my Polaris and pull myself out. No! I didn't go in. lol Just got stuck along the side. :laughing:

I thought about turning my riding mower to 4WD last winter, when I attached a 2-stage snow thrower to it. With chains and weights, the rear wheels still slipped on heavy snow. So my idea was a "hybrid-electric" front drive. I have seen geared "hub motors" used on electric bikes. If I could get a couple of them and build two front motor driven wheels, and with an additional alternator generating electric power, I could drive front wheel, on demand, when the rear wheels need help. The advantage of the in-wheel motor drive is that you don't have to worry about the complexity of CV joints and everything else associated with front drive.

I'm kinda like the others with "why", but I think it could be a neat project. Some company makes front and rear axles for 4wd golf cart style vehicles. I have never seen one, but I have seen the replacement rear axle for an EZ-GO that is 4wd. It would have a wide track, but otherwise would be pretty easy to build if you could find both axles.

A Kioti CK20 with turf tires and a belly mower, perhaps?

i'm looking at putting another transaxle up front ( same make/model as existing ); using CV joints to connect the front wheels to the axle and keep the steering the same; change from belt drive to chain drive for strength and more torque control on axles without slippage; i plan to take the steel wheels and weld 1.5 " x 3/4" channel accross the wheel, equally spaced at 8 locations on each wheel on all 4 wheels for traction and use cut up old tire sections for rubber boots on the wheels when crossing sensitive material like pavement and such. making the linkage to connect the 2 transaxle for a single shifter shouldn't be too hard to do. i plan to use a spacer behind the wheels so as not to have to relocate the mower deck or make it easier to remove the deck when i want to do some digging. i also plan on some hydrologic type system using a ford power steering pump and a 4 stage control valve joy stick for a 2 cu. ft. front bucket/blade. i have shortened to wheel base to 28" o.c.. Running out of time, see ya later.

check this out....2wd might be all u need...just get the biggest tire all the way around:thumbsup::thumbsup:............. offroad mower - YouTube

wayne1 said:

I can't afford a ATV, I have set a 5hp B/S motor on top of a 30" Murry rider deck I guess I could attach a couple of hinged tow bars and pull it but that's not the point. The point is to take an engineered and factory built machine that does pretty much one thing ( mow ) and with the help, advise, ideas, suggestions and experiance of the tallanted people using this forum create a machine that can do alot of things that we all can use. We build it simply because it can be done, there is all sorts of machines out there, they started with an idea, we've got plenty of them, let's get to it. i've got an idea on how to make a 4WD riding mower, who needs a garden tractor or something a little bigger?

Click to expand...

best words ...


2. to stick another tractor tranny on the front and make turns by articulation
husquarna has pivoting 90 dgr rear axle - which makes it ztr frontmount mower
-or skid steer awd "mower" : ))))

electric wheelmotors with small battery (plug-in hybrid w/o generator : )))) - part time awd, full time electric dynamic front brakes, regen - just for the hell of it : ))))))

I was going to build 2 different 4 wheel drive tractors (not fully locked type) for trail riding ( not for mowing) - one is on a 80's agway - planned on using a standard transmission ( mounted in normal way) up front with brackets from a noma rear steer tractor ( or close fabricated type) - that way you can steer, shift gears and still have some sort of driven front wheels.

My other would be to use my 90's GT 6000 with a twin clyender, wheelhorse 3 speed hi/low trans up front and standard 3 speed hi/low trans in back- use large ujoints for the front wheels and build some sort of cage to contain the steering knuckles. The benefits would be similar to the agway, driven front wheels , but also the ability to shift front trans to neutral for 2 wheel drive.

Older bolens tractors ( tube frames) make a locking differential for no slipping , all power.

this is the same rig ive got....these guys are idiots but you can see what they can do....definitely get a garden tractor....they have the bigger tires ...as well as tougher parts [tranny, front axle ,bearings etc.]............ mud boggin - YouTube

Kubota makes a 4x4 lawn tractor, you can even get it with a diesel. DIESEL LAWN TRACTOR, COOL!

yea, a lot of small diesels on the market now (pict-10hp diesel) - prices and specs - online
2. simple overrunning clutches instead of diff used sometimes in ATVs and bigger frontmount mowers

easy way to add extra 2wd
....
human resourcefulness and ingenuity - amazing
made to get the thing out of the trunk of the car, quick assembly, blow-on tires and go fishing...

Dixie Chopper now makes a 4 wheel drive mower.
Unless you have a really big hill no point in having one though.

I realize this is an old post but just some additional info regarding 4WD. I have a JD X728 which is all-wheel-drive (runs the front wheels all the time without the ability to disengage it). I have a flat lawn and initially spent the extra on the AWD for the possibility of pushing snow in the winter. What I found is that the AWD on this unit is awesome for cutting grass - even on a flat, dry lawn.

JD does this on the newer (last few years) X7* AWD models via hydraulic drive to the front differential. With a metering valve mechanically linked to the steering, they then spin the outside front wheel faster than the inside front wheel. This eliminates the scuffing you would otherwise get when turning if you had a standard full 4WD and you can't even tell this unit is in 4WD, other than the main benefit - full traction all the time!

What's really cool is that I can turn at corners at full speed and don't get any 'pushing' of the front end. I also don't get any wheel spin when starting or skidding when stopping. This thing steers to exactly where you point it, moves exactly when you tell it to, and stops on a dime - all the time. If you are out there to relax and don't care how fast it takes to cut your lawn, not necessary, but when your time is limited like mine, this is a big plus.

If you're looking to convert something over to 4WD, hopefully this will shed some light on some of the potential pit-falls which JD has addressed in these new models.

FYI - I had a zero turn which too was real fast but wasn't nearly as comfortable as this rider.