1968 John Deere 110 Mower

[BWS29128]

I have a 1968 John Deere 110 lawnmower with a 38" deck and a 1976 John Deere 112H (electric-hydraulic deck lift) with a 42" deck and I'd like to build a 60" deck that will fit on one or the other or both. I recently had the opportunity to study the deck attachments on a new John Deere 130 and am impressed with the easier quick-tach attachment points on the new mower.

Does anyone have experience building this type of thing? I'm guessing I'll need to use at least 11ga sheet for the deck and reinforce it with a minimum of 1/8" cold-rolled strip and use 1/8" angle for the attachment points.

Does anyone have any ideas for places to buy guidewheels and that sort of thing for mower decks? I plan on buying the pulleys and belts from my local Tractor Supply Co store and I'm going to need new front tires and new rear tires for both mowers and I suppose I'll try to get those from the TSC too.

Any and all suggestions would be welcome.

~Clint

[Blacksmith]

Will those tractors run a 60 inch deck? I mean the old 110's were stout, but its only an 8 hp Kohler. Can you just get a deck from TSC or wheverever and adapt it to your tractors? While I welcome a challenge, locating the blades so the cuts overlap and get all the grass while not hitting each other, mounting the bearings rigid enough, etc, seems like a lot of time and effort to save 15-20% on your mowing time.

[Tobias]

The 1968 110 is a great tractor! We have both 1968-1965 110.
Like Blacksmith said it is only an 8hp engine(some push mowers have more power, but arn't as good looking). If the 1976 has moe power, sure. But it might only save you 15% of your mowing time. And why would you want to shorten any time spent on a J.D.???

Tobias.

[BWS29128]

You'll both probably laugh your butts off at this, but it's not as much a matter of saving time as it is a matter of only making two passes between roses and irises that i have planted in rows so that the cut area looks nicer and more even

I'm not sure if the 8hp's will push (pull??) a 60" deck. I really have thought about buying a new 54" deck and modifying it to fit the older tractors, but I thought I might build the deck out of diamond-plate or something equally flashy

In truth, both decks are in perfectly good shape so other than a little more cutting action, there's not much need to get new ones. Other than a new project, of course

[Tobias]

Oh.

Tobias.

[Blacksmith]

In that case, weld on. Another 110 story - a guy (in upstate NY) noticed his 110 struggling a little more than usual blowing 5-6 inches of snow off the sidewalk. Turns out he had had the sidewalk "capped" and the lip of the blower hooked an edge so he was blowing 5-6 of snow and 1-2 inches of concrete!