Commercial riding mower
View Patent ↗A commercial riding mower with a chassis built on a relatively rigid frame and having a number of operating systems such as the power plant, motive system, cutter drive system, and fuel storage and delivery system, each of which is accessible through a swing away panel, or hatch, for easy maintenance and repair without compromising safety of the operator or anyone in close proximity to the mower in operation, or impairing the structural integrity of the mower.
1. In a commercial riding mower having a number of operating systems:
a chassis, including a frame, drive wheels supporting said chassis for movement along a surface to be mowed, a first drive system for moving said drive wheels, a driver's seat secured to said chassis, and steering controls accessible to a drive seated in said driver's seat;
a power plant on said chassis, a fuel storage and delivery system for supplying fuel to said power plant, said system including at least one storage tank, said chassis having wing panels, said tank being mounted within one of said wing panels, said wing panels flanking said driver's seat, said wing panels being hingeably mounted to said chassis and being selectably operable to swing laterally, with said tank, away from said chassis and said driver's seat to thereby permit maintenance and service of said fuel storage and delivery system.
2. The commercial riding mower of claim 1 , wherein a bonnet is provided on said chassis above said power plant, said bonnet being hinged to said chassis and swingable to an openable position to expose said power plant.
3. The commercial riding mower of claim 1 , wherein a panel is provided at the rear of said chassis, said panel covering said drive system, and said panel being selectively hinged to the said chassis to be swingable outwardly to expose said first drive system for service and maintenance.
4. The commercial riding mower of claim 1 , wherein a drive system for rotary cutters system is provided, a deck covering said drive system for rotary cutters system said deck being selectively openable to provide access to said drive system for rotary cutters system for service and maintenance thereof.
5. The commercial riding mower of claim 1 , wherein said fuel storage and delivery system includes two storage tanks, each of said tanks being mounted in a said wing panel flanking said driver's seat.
6. In a commercial riding mower having a chassis, including a frame, drive wheels supporting said chassis for movement along surface to be mowed;
a source of motive power in the form of a power plant;
a driver's seat secured to said chassis and steering controls accessible to an operator in said driver's seat to steer the mower;
said commercial riding mower additionally having an amalgam of operating systems within said chassis, each of said operating systems being disposed behind a panel on said chassis, said panels hingeable to said chassis to be selectively openable outwardly to service and maintain said operating systems, said panels being normally closed to protect inadvertent contact with said driving systems and maintaining structural integrity of the chassis;
said operating systems including a fuel storage and delivery system, a drive system, a rotary cutter system, including a drive system therefor;
said panels including a pair of wing panels, said fuel storage and delivery system mounted to and protectively disposed on the inside wall of said wing panels.
7. The commercial riding mower of claim 6 , wherein said wing panels house said fuel storage and delivery system, which include two storage tanks, each of said tanks being disposed on the inside wall of one of said wing panels flanking said driver's seat.