# Umbrellas on L & G tractors & extended reach picker-uppers



## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

Well the past couple of days its been a real scorcher here in Alabama. Every evening we have gotten a pretty fair shower and the next day its humid as all get up. Having about 6 acres of fast growing grass facing me even with a GX 335 to cut it, it still would have been better to sip cool ones under the shade tree. I kept thinking I like shade, and wished I had a roof on my GX. So......I "borrowed" my wifes large umbrella probably 42 to 48" in diameter. Looked it over pretty good to see if I could mount it without affecting or altering the umbrella itself so as to not have her get upset. What I came up with was to use heavy duty nylon ties to secure a piece of 1 1/4" PVC pipe vertically in the milk crate I have on my L & G tractors rear carrier. The umbrellas handle fit into this PVC pipe just right. So off I went to give it a try. I have to say it was super having mobile shade follow you around at high noon while cutting grass. So today or this week sometime I am on my quest to find a nice heavy duty umbrella in a color more suitable to my JD colors or at least a reasonable pattern..........but one way or another my JD will have an mount made ASAP to hold an umbrella before its used to cut grass again. I don;t know how I got by all these years without some sort of shade or cover. It made a huge difference in confort.

My wife bought me one of those extended reach grabber thinga ma jigs. I made a mount for it also off the rear carrier of the JD to mount it. Its mounted vertically and snaps in and out of a spring clip. This item too has become an invaluable tool in my day to day use of the L & G. It saves a lot of on and off the tractor during the course of a day in things such as picking up a stick or other odds and ends while cutting, and its even capable of hooking and unhooking my numerous electric fence gate handles, and a whole host of other chores all without having to get up and off the tractor. The grabber upper she bought is capable of picking up a penny from the ground and has two metal claws with a rubber tip on them, not the type that uses plastic or springy sheet meal strips to form the claw. Pretty durable, and more than capable of picking up a piece of limb 3 to 4" in diam at least high enough to grab the end by hand and shove it out of the way. I have lots of pine trees (long lead pines) which are notorious for always shedding short dead limbs etc especially after a rain or wind. So if your always having to get on and off your machine during use, and you feel lazy like me, get yourself one of those extended grabber things.


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

great idea about the pickup things.. ive been meaning to get one for cutting the lawn.. i must get up about 20 timews to pick up dog toys/bones/sticks ect.. but mostly dog toys..


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## Stewart (Sep 17, 2003)

Man I would love to see a picture of that setup!!!! You know the ******* jokes would be in full swing!!!! After we quit laughing we would all be quietly rigging something up for us!!! My L-130 is able to take that sun canopy thing. It is black and mesh, not to mention it wouldn't cover much!!! My dad use to have an umbrella for his back-hoe that didn't have a cab. It had kind of a J shaped pole and a big umbrella that attached from the top. Much shade for being out in the sun all day! Good ol yankee ingenuity will work every time!! 

Sorry Chip I gotta give everyone a hard time equally, I have to go on a field trip with my son later, 5 six and seven year olds on a zoo trip will be interesting!!


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## Fusion1970 (Feb 23, 2004)

That is a good idea. I drilled out the end of a broomstick, and epoxied a nail in the end, but have never used it on the tractor. I only have 1.2 acres, so I have just got into the habit of walking the yard before I cut. That alone saves alot of time. The nail only works for paper type things of course, as it would be hard to pick up a limb, golf ball, Tonka truck, etc. The "grabber" thing would be cool.

As for the shade thing, quite a bit of the yard is shaded. I absolutely hate Winter, and this weather is what I have been waiting on since last October. LOL I like the sun. For me, it;s shorts, high tops, and sunglasses. 

BTW, Chipmaker- I have a green and I think light brown umbrella for our outdoor furniture that we do not use. If you'd be interested in it, I would send it to ya for the price of shipping...it's just in my way in the shed. It might look good with the JD colors.

Greg


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## Michael (Sep 16, 2003)

With my wide open lot where we get lots of sun, I got a free sunshade (it was a free offer and I did not send any form in the mail, it arrived one day and I installed it) for my JD L-120 last year. It works for the most part in keeping the sun away from head. I would not think of mowing anymore without it. With a bald head and a sunburn only once on it, I really like it. It is not to effective i keeping off my arms but it does keep it off my head.:wontshare


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Chipmaker _
> *
> My wife bought me one of those extended reach grabber thinga ma jigs. I made a mount for it also off the rear carrier of the JD to mount it. Its mounted vertically and snaps in and out of a spring clip. *


Where exactly did you mount yours....I have one and have contemplated mounting those spring clips to the hood.


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## Rodster (Sep 26, 2003)

Us Sabre riders are sooooooooooo cheap we just wear a hat for sun and run over whatever is in the way.
Rodster who parks his tractor under a tree year round.:guitarman


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

my yard is littered with bits and pieces of dog toys that i miss and get chopped up and go flying all over the place... 

i was gonna get one of those picker upper things.. but they sell for something like 20$ im too cheap...


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## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

Appreciate the offer Fusion, but I picked up a pretty decent and heavy duty umbrella today at Sports Authority sporting goods store. It has a 54" diam coverage, a 5/8" hardwood shaft and fiberglass ribs, and is quite heavy duty.....Only cost $5.95, which was quite amazing for something coming out of that chain store......as their prices are usually quite high. The one I found in Target and Wal Mart cost $14.97 and was a real piece of junk. So I did not buy those and figured if I am goiong to have to pay that amount for an umbrella I may as wll spend a few bucks more at Sports Authority and get a decent one, but the 1/3 the price was a real shocker for me. I found the best umbrellas in the golf supply areas. Its also solid green, not exactly JD green but close enough for me. I figure a few days out in this sun it will fade and be closer to JD green. Now I just have to make a more permanent mount, which is easy just have to find the time.....I figure I have 5 to 7 days before I will need it again when I will more than likely have to cut grass again as fast as its been growing here....Just heard on the radio that they do not expect any more cooler weather from here on out up to September its going to be all 90's and up and a higher rate of rainfall projected than usual. So humidity is gonna be a real killer again this year.


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## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

*Re: Re: Umbrellas on L & G tractors & extended reach picker-uppers*



> _Originally posted by Argee _
> *Where exactly did you mount yours....I have one and have contemplated mounting those spring clips to the hood. *


I made a back carry all that holds one of those plastic milk carton crates. I had also contemplated where to mount it and had big reservations on drilling any holes in the tractor any where at all. I always try and come up with a way to utilize an existing area with existing holes if at all possible. One time I would just grab a drill and make a hole, anymore I may kick it around for days or weeks or just forget about it.

How to hold it was my major problem. I could not find any spring clips per se to mount it with as per my original idea, but then I stumbled on an old cartridge fuse block I had scrounged up many moons ago. It took those round type cylindrical type fuses of approx 3 or 4 inches in length and 5/8 to 3/4" in diam. The clips that retain the fuses were only held in by a single screw in each clip, and they are rust proof to boot. I only wanted to utilize one clip if possible so it was able to be snapped in and out easy with one hand, and lessen the chance of bending the aluminum tube on the picker upper. I fashioned a U shaped bracket out of 1/4" round stock for the bottom jaw portion to set in and weled it to the bottom of my carrier rack. I then welded a piece of 1/2 x 1 1/2" steel tube vertical over the U shaped bracket, and attached the spring clip to it. Overall height is only about 8 or so inches, but the picker upper ectends up high enough above the back carrier to easily reach with my arm and snaps in and out really easy. I did put some heat shrink on the spring clip to keep it from scratching and gouging the aluminum tube on the picker upper, as aluminum is bad about breaking if it gets gouged or scored, so that should eliminate that problem. I'll post a pic of it after I get my new umbrella mount made and installed. But as it is, its easy to pick up junk and flip it into the empty milk crate or place a plastic 5 gal bucket in the milk crate all without having to leave the seat. You can call me Lazy!


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

Well anymore, you have to shut the mowerdeck of, set the parking brake and dismount....do that a dozen times while your mowing and it gets real old in a hurry...Has nothing to do about being lazy and everything to do about working smarter.


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## Stewart (Sep 17, 2003)

Here are some ideas for mounting your umbrella. I just did a search on tractor umbrella's it was the rist one that came up

http://www.tractorumbrellas.com/brackets/

See what you think!


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