Building Your Own Lawn Striping Kit using Boat Rollers

DIY Lawn Striping Kit using boat rollers.

Items used: 2 10x10 “L” brackets $22
4 6x6 “L” brackets $16
11 trailer boat rollers $110
1/4” steel flat bar 2” x 36”, $30
Steel conduit pipe 36”, $15

Boat rollers are from Fleet Farm, Seasense Wobble Roller, 4inch by 3/4

#lawn #lawncare #lawngoals

[eddyjimenez-scorpio]

Wow, ur dad did an excellent job with you son. And the money ur savin. Great job, i mean great job. Just super.

[josephcamden]

Yep wheels came in, steel frame built...have to drill 4 7/8 holes in my 4 axle l brackets and paint and done. I went with steel everything, prolly about 60, 70 lbs. But your design is fantastic, again thank you

[naciones]

I recently built this kit for my 46” Husqvarna (model YTH22V46) machine and it came out great, but not without some challenges. While the grass here in the northeastern US has gone largely dormant, I still see stripes and I think they’ll look even better in the spring when the grass greens up/thickens again.
Shout-out to the OP for saving me hundreds of dollars with this build. I love this design because it allows me to maintain use of my bagger system with the kit installed, which was a must-have for me. I am writing the summary below to share my learnings from the project that you may find helpful if you take on this project. In my opinion, the hardest part is accurately measuring and drilling the holes in the steel. I don’t have a drill press but I highly encourage using one if you can.
- These were the rollers I bought. The nice thing about these rollers is that the hub recess is equal on both sides of the roller, which eliminates one PVC spacer length you need.

- I had to mount my striping kit higher on the tractor chassis than in the video as that’s where the holes are on my Husqvarna. This required longer L brackets to clear the rear tires. This change did not impact the size of the 4 smaller L brackets for the axle. As a result, the other end of the large L bracket sticks out a little further than the steel bar but it doesn’t present an issue. However, you could cut/grind them down if it bothers you. I bought all six brackets from Tractor Supply and here is the link to the 12.25” ones I needed - all were the same brand. For the axle brackets I used the 6.25” size and drilled them using the hole dozer the OP describes.

- I felt that 3/8” diameter fasteners were more appropriately-sized for this build rather than the ¼” ones specified in the video. You’ll need 6 x 1” long bolts to secure the two inner axle brackets and to secure the large bracket where you just need to connect to the steel bar. You’ll need 4 x 1.25” long bolts to secure the 3 steel components on the outside: the large L brackets, the steel bar, and the two outer axle L brackets. You can get away with 1” bolts here but it’s not ideal. I used a washer against the hex head bolt and once I did the final assembly, I used blue thread locker to reduce the risk of the fasteners loosening from vibration during use.

- I recommend using a chop saw to cut the spacers as you want them to be straight and of precise and consistent length. If the spacers are too short, the wheels will rub together and not rotate independently; if they’re too long, you may run out of axle by the time you get to the end. You need washers and PVC pipe with a larger inner diameter (ID) than your axle outer diameter (OD). I got the washers from Tractor Supply and you’ll need about 2 dozen of them. Make sure to account for the thickness of the washers when determining the spacer size. The length of the PVC spacers is contingent upon the recess of the hub, so it is very roller-dependent. For me it was trial and error to dial in the lengths, so make sure you have ample PVC on hand. I needed two length spacers: 8 longer spacers for the sequence and 6 for the roller-washer-bracket” sequence for rollers adjacent to an axle bracket. What I did was optimize the length and then used those spacers as a template to mark and cut the remaining spacers I needed. Also, since I could only find white PVC pipe I spray-painted the spacers black so they don’t stand out against the black rollers in the finished product, but this is not necessary at all. Yes, my OCD is strong lol.

- The video doesn’t provide the details on how the OP drilled/assembled the kit, so here is my advice. My L brackets had pre-drilled holes, but I was not lucky enough for all of them to line up, so I did have to drill some holes in the brackets as well. Make sure you have drill bits suitable for going through steel and wear safety glasses! My advice is to put together the axle assembly fully and then mark where the two inner axle brackets will attach to the steel bar. For those, you should be able to use the existing holes in the brackets and just drill holes in the steel bar. From there, determine where the large L brackets need to sit to properly mount onto your tractor chassis and then mark/drill accordingly so that you end up with 3 total fasteners in each large L bracket: one that just goes through the large bracket and steel bar, and two that go thru both brackets and the steel bar. Since I was drilling my holes using a corded drill with the drilled piece in a vice, I found a metal punch at True Value that you tap with a hammer and it makes a dimple in the steel. That will keep your bit in the right place when you drill. I drilled a pilot hole with a small diameter bit and moved to successively larger bits until I reached the needed 3/8” diameter for my bolts.

- Like the OP, I painted my finished kit (I found Husqvarna orange spray paint on Amazon). It really makes the kit look factory, but more importantly, it provides some rust/corrosion protection. I recommend marking all the components so you can reassemble it exactly as is, spraying each component, then reassembling. If you paint over the fasteners, you’ll have a hard time disassembling if needed. Not much prep to paint…just wiped the pieces down with rubbing alcohol to remove grease/dirt and then painted.

- Lastly, to mount the kit on the tractor, I attached bolts with a nut, a plastic spacer, then a nut to secure the L bracket in place. I recommend mocking this up on your machine to make sure you leave clearance for other attachments to take on and off (like a frame for a bagger). As mentioned before, I used blue thread locker on the threaded axle caps and the fasteners during final post-paint assembly. Good luck!

[ambitiouslawn]

Great job! The paint was definitely the final touch! 👌🏻

[kencarlsen]

I have been considering a build with the trailer rollers. Your comparisons of different styles of stripers was interesting. Your build was well explained and you had a good choice of materials to complete the job. Well done! Thanks.

[PudgyFish]

Great video. Not only works but looks great. You are hired! Thanks for the excellent instruction.

[Blaxit]

Looks awesome!!! Great job I think I'm going your route and build it myself for half the price! Thanks for this video.

[josephcamden]

Just ordered my wheels. Be here in 2 days. Cant wait. Wanted to buy the other brand but coukdnt drop 450

[CaseyMueller]

looks great. I might try to do this and add to my mower. seems simple enough to put together. Thank you for sharing this. Where did you source your parts?

[vinnypinatelli]

That was awesome thank you for sharing I'm gonna definitely look into it now

[jrowson]

Looks fantastic! I am not super handy but I’m thinking of trying this on the back of my JD Z330 with a 54 inch deck. Gotta look at the back to see how easy/hard it may be

[BillKnepp]

Thank you for sharing this and I'm going to build me one of these, but I have a 42" JD deck which should be no problem. We don't have a Fleet Farm, but we do have a Tractor Supply and they may have the rollers or direct me, I'll see. Well done, thank you

[MEvans]

Truly a quality looking build. Just wondering how this held up for you over time? My biggest wonder was if you drive in a dip in the yard or up/down a curb, with there being no flexibility in the brackets.... how did it effect the rollers/bracket? Nicely done!

[jeffwieringa]

Is your mounting to the back of the mower fixed or does the L bracket have play to pivot like an axis to go up and down for elevation changes?

[dakotariggs]

I was thinking of using the smooth wheels instead of the ones you use, do you think that would work better and be more gentle on the grass

[aupitt]

Can you back up with it attached to tractor?

[jonathongosa]

Project came out great! Can you share the link where you bought the boat trailer wheels. Thanks

[XFBO]

Nicely done! I'm looking to do something like this for my Spartan curious, do you think the rollers behind the wheels are even necessary since the rear tires are likely imprinting the lawn already?!?!

[victormatos]

Sweet. Awesome job, hows it work when going in reverse?

[nhikkobrawley]

Awesome job on the building your own kit. On the 6x6 L-brackets, did you drill the holes so the steel pipe could fit through? Or did you buy them that way? Also, what size did you cut the spacers to fit between the rollers?