LEAFLET NO. 16
A Device to Assist in Mowing Kudzu
K UDZU has the possibility of becoming an important crop in
the Southeast. It affords excellent hay and grazing and is
very valuable in controlling erosion. The acreage of kudzu in
Alabama has increased tremendously in the past three or four
years. At the present time there are about 12,000 to 15,000 acres
of kudzu grown in this state.
DIFFICULTIES IN MOWING
Considerable difficulty has been encountered in cutting the
long, tough vines of the kudzu plant with a standard mower.
Two of these difficulties are:
(1) The clogging of the cutter bar by the extremely heavy
growth of vines, even when the mower is operating in
perfect condition.
(2) Separating the swath from the uncut vines after the
mower has cut the vines loose at the base.
It is necessary to separate the swath from the uncut vines so
that the inner shoe of the mower will have a clean place to fol-
low the next round. This job may often necessitate the help of
one or two extra men to follow the mower with pitch forks to
FIGURE 1.-A kudzu mowing attachment assembled on a mower.
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
OF THE
ALABAMA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
M. J. FUNCHESS, Director
AUBURN
AUGUST 1937
2
separate the swath
from the uncut
vines. This addi-
tional labor can be
dispensed with by
using the attach-
ment described on
the following
pages.
ATTACHMENT
Various attach- ,?
ments have been -'-
made and tested on
a horse -drawn 
W--- -.
mower for the
mowing of kudzu.
The attachment as- FIGURE 2.-Detail of rider bar which was attached
sembled as shown 
at the outer shoe.
in Figure 1 solved
this problem under the conditions where it was tested. Experi-
ments with this attachment were conducted for a number of years
on both young and old kudzu which ranged from 12 to 40 inches
in height.
SPECIFICATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS
The attachment is very simple and can be made by most
farmers or by a blacksmith. The one used in the test was made
as follows: A curved rider bar, 3/-inch thick, 2 inches wide,
and 31/2 feet long, was bent to fit the curvature of the bottom of
the outer shoe of the cutter bar (Figure 2). The outer shoe
(Figure 3) and one bolt from the cutter bar were removed. The
shoe was replaced with the curved bar which was fastened with
two bolts. This bar served as a rider and pressed down the
kudzu. Next, a sharp pointed V-shaped pick-up (Figure 4) was
made and slipped over the point of the sixth guard and bolted to
the top of the cutter bar. The pick-up was held in place by the
guard bolt and a piece of I/
2
-inch pipe 3/2 inches long which
was fitted over the end of the guard. This piece of pipe, Which
was welded to the base of the pick-up attachment (Figure 4),
was tapered in front to prevent clogging. The proper position of
the short piece of pipe was located on the base and fitted over
the point of the guard before the hole for the guard bolt was
drilled. Due to the increased thickness of the base of the pick-
up, the guard bolt was replaced with a longer bolt. The base of
the pick-up consisted of an iron bar 1/-inch thick, 11/2 inches
wide, and 13 inches long; its rear end was flush with the back
edge of the cutter bar. The elevating rod, which was welded to
the point of the pick-up, was 1/ inch in diameter and 19 inches
FIGURE 3.-Diagram of the outer shoe which was removed from the mower
in order that the rider bar could be attached.
long. The pieces composing the pick-up were welded together
but could be fastened by riveting. This attachment forced the
kudzu across the cutter bar at an angle of about 45 degrees
where it was cut by the sickle. The swath board then moved the
vines to the left of the uncut material which provided a clear
place for the inner shoe or slide of the mower to operate during
the next 
trip.
If small stones were present in the field of kudzu, and if it
were thought necessary to tilt the front of the cutter bar up-
ward, an outer shoe could be made and bolted in place with one
bolt. The shoe in this case can be made very similar to the one
removed from the mower, but it should be shorter and its hooked
end should turn downward. It can then be slipped under the
back of the rider bar. The front end of the shoe should be hing-
ed through an extra hole in the rear of the rider bar. The rear
upper side of the rider bar should be morticed down to obtain a
smooth fit and to permit adjustments. The shoe can be held in
place and adjusted by the original bolt (see Figure 5).
OTHER CROPS
In addition to the use of the attachment for cutting kudzu,
it was used satisfactorily on a mower for cutting an extremely
heavy growth of interplanted hairy vetch and oats. The vetch
and oats had fallen down but had not begun to decompose. An
attempt was made to mow another crop of interplanted vetch
and oats of similar growth in which case the lower part of the
over guard.
FIGURE 4.-Detail of pick-up which was fastened on the sixth guard from
the outer shoe.
FIGURE 5.-Homemade outer shoe which can be slipped under the rider bar
and attached with original bolt.
vetch had partly decomposed. The second crop could not be
mowed with or without the attachment due to the fact that the
decomposed vetch completely clogged the entire cutter bar of
the mower.
Quite often considerable difficulty may be encountered on
extremely heavy growths of cowpeas or soy beans, but it is be-
lieved that this attachment could be used to an advantage on
these crops.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING
ELLIS G. DISEKER, Assistant Agricultural Engineer