Putting a Slot Hitch on a Zero Turn

I'm doing a little mod to my Country Clipper zero turn this morning.  I needed a removable weight on the front to mow up some of the hills I mow.  The front end gets a little light even though it is balanced well, mainly because of the fuel tank being low and in the center.  Just then I got this idea... It needs a slot hitch on the front.    

Having all the other things made here for the slot hitch and the ability to expand it in the future just made good sense...  

I'm just waiting for the paint to dry before bolting in on so I thought I would put the setup on here in case anyone else wanted the idea.  I'm sure there are a lot of ways to do this but I wanted a bolt on solution in case I get another one and want to keep this setup.  I'll put more pics of the finished product on here when the paint dries.



 

I forgot to mention I needed this one to flip back so it's completely out of the way.  It stuck out a little in the front and I needed to be able to flip it back because the deck flips forward and up for easy access.  If your deck doesn't do that you could change it a little but in either case this is a pretty simple design and easy to make.

The front stop can also be used by putting a piece of 3/4" round stock in it.  It's a bushing I use on the WH 3/4" axles to make a 1" OD for the bigger tricycle wheel bearings that have a 1" ID bearing, among other things.  Not sure yet but I may just use a rod there and put some barbell lifting weights on the rod for a quick removable weight setup.

All done, time to go mowing.  

 

Had a little time to finish up the slot setup today.  Made a new custom pin for the slot hitch and used a locking collar on 1 end, it hit the bolt but a 1" bit in the mill made a nice flat spot in just a minute so it would clear the bolt. 

I also finished up a quick setup to put barbell weights on the front, nothing fancy but it was quick and easy to make.  It's just an old piece of 3/4" round stock cleaned up on the lathe, a collar, and a piece of 1 1/16" OD double wall pipe over it to fit the weights snugly.

I tried out the front hitch setup and moved a wagon frame with one of my old corvette frames on it to mow the tall grass around it, worked like a charm and never slipped a tire.  Now I can sell the old Toro diesel setup I used to use to move things around when off of the blacktop.  One less thing to have to deal with, and it can be moved with the mower already being used to mow with instead of having to get out another piece of equipment. 

This is the best multipurpose mount I've ever made, real happy with it.  If or when it gets other things made to fit in it I'll put them in here.  

Great fab job as always!
Patent pending?

Thanks GT but nah, it's not that fancy lol.   

Geno wrote:

Thanks GT but nah, it's not that fancy lol.   

Looks like a great idea for zero turn people....

 

Thanks Nappy.   I just thought since I have slot hitches on my other tractors that I use it made sense to put one on there and use all of the same accessories.  It makes life a little simpler and simple is good.  

If someone wanted one and brought me their zero turn I would make them one, but the days of making a lot of parts and shipping them are over.  I've finally slowed down and enjoying life now.  Plus I start drawing my retirement in 3 months lol.   

Found another use for it this morning.  I had to move a lot of parts around to + from all 3 garages and this was fast and a real back saver...