floating lawn mower

so i want to build a lawnmower that floats on water and on land too, for trapping beaver in a swamp

here wat i drew up

Good start Fetters getting out to the lodge to set some traps by amphibious mower has yet to be done as far as I know . I would go with some out rigger floats on the port and starboard sides maybe a jackshaft or pto that runs a prop ,air in the tires may be better for floatation although your desighn would be needed for the muck getting in and out would be the hard part skidplate?

how stoned were you when you thought that up?

That has Top Gear written all over it!
Are you related to Jeromy Clarkson by any chance lol. J/K man.

might work just might have hard time turning,also if belt get to wet u might be stuck in the middle lol

There used to be a show on Discovery called Junk Yard Wars where they did just that. They took an old diesel land rover and cut off as much of the body as possible, then welded a bunch of 55 gallon drums to it. It actually worked well. Monster garage did something similar with a beatle. The filled as much of the body structure as possible with expanding foam and it floated.

Rather than have the drums at the front and rear, I'd suggest placing them along the sides like pontoons. You'd kill your approach and exit angles with something that large on the front and rear.

But then the question becomes. How do you propel and steer? Paddle tires? But you still need to find a way to steer. You probably won't get going fast enough for the front tires to act like skis.

^ i miss that show jy wars lol

gearheadmike wrote:

^ i miss that show jy wars lol

I've got all except season 7.

I saw in an offroad magazine sometime later, after that junkyard wars episode aired, that some immigrants(Cuban I think) tried the same thing to get to the US. Coast Guard intercepted them and turned them around. Do the get cable in Cuba? You would think that would be part of the embargo.

Jamus wrote:

I saw in an offroad magazine sometime later, after that junkyard wars episode aired, that some immigrants(Cuban I think) tried the same thing to get to the US. Coast Guard intercepted them and turned them around. Do the get cable in Cuba? You would think that would be part of the embargo.

Cuba is 90 miles from the US. Over the air TV transmissions could make the distance over open water. Plus a tape or info could have been smuggled. Plus word of mouth could be enough.

lay off the dope buddy

lmao i thought about puttin the barrels on the side today and i was goin to make ski type things on the front to steer

i think ima do this one

Personally I'd put alittle sand, concrete, or water in the bottom of the barrel to add ballast, and keep the barrel from wanting to roll over.

Easiest way i could see is to get an old aluminum boat and mount the tractor chassis to it - the tractor could get to the site and with an outbord motor mounted to the back - could do the steering. Only issues would be making the thing water tight.

Then again i suppose itd be easier just to haul a boat back there with the tractor....

About the last pic: Those drums mounted to the tractor would need serious reinforcing to hold the weight of the tractor in the water - the fronts should be angled up slightly to move thru the water better - instead of using the tractor to power thru and steer- just mount a boat motor to the back.


Another thing is how wide are the trails back to the place? the drums would have to be removable in order to get back there .

I like the trailer idea. Just unhook it and turn it around , pop a couple of pins in and go. not sure that would be a true amphibious, but it would make getting there easier. You have to make the axle swing up to eliminate the possibility of dragging.

just to throw some numbers out there, a 55 gallon drum will float a max of 440 pounds. but that would be with the drum just below the surface. 2 barrels would float 880 pounds. the average rider with an average driver would be around 500 pounds. that would be about 55% of max on 2 drums. since the flotation of a round drum is nonlinear and they are shorter than a mower, they could be unstable.

Using a few 60 gallon water heaters would work better. You can get used water heaters free with just a few phone calls to a local plumber. the used ones are usually replaced when the start leaking and have 100 pounds of mud and calcium in them. there will be some labor involved, but you can clean them out and patch them.

I have made mini pontoons by welding 2 heaters together for the logs. Leak check them before using. then you have a pretty tough boat that you dont have to worry about rain water filling up and sinking. I have had some on the lake for 5 years with almost no maintenance (just sweeping off the goose shit)

Really, use some square tubing as an axle and attach the two barrels to it. Wheels could be attached with codder pins.

When you're ready to float, just attach the square tubing axle, to the underside of the tractor and go. If you did some math, you could position the mounts to get the tractor neutral front to rear and make it more stable.

I agree that hot water heaters would probably be better. Even 40 gallon ones.

on junk yard wars didnt they also do a floating punch bugggy

CityRedneck wrote:

on junk yard wars didnt they also do a floating punch bugggy

I remember they chopped down a Land Rover. I think I have the episode on my media cetner.

no offense... toss the idea..... not going to work.. seriously... you won't go fast nuff to turn, belts will slip like mad unless you got chain drive, pointless.... That kind of effort could be put into making it an indestructable trail rig or mudder... IMO

gilsonrumbler wrote:

no offense... toss the idea..... not going to work.. seriously... you won't go fast nuff to turn, belts will slip like mad unless you got chain drive, pointless.... That kind of effort could be put into making it an indestructable trail rig or mudder... IMO

While I agree with you. It's still a fun idea to brain storm about and tinker with. To each it's own.

also... even with bracing on the drums the frame of the mower will not hold up it would probly try to tear itself apart

External trolling motor? Weed eater with a propellor, haha?

Jamus wrote:

External trolling motor? Weed eater with a propellor, haha?

lol that would be cool but you would probubley nedd like two of them. some pretty crazy ideas come up here lol