Outdoor "maintenance platform"

[John ToddJr]

Hi! I'm new here, and also new to woodworking and shop work in general.

My wife is a real trooper - she bought me a table saw so that I can get on with home repairs, etc. But that is beside the point of this post.

I want to design and build an outdoor maintenance/parking platform for the big riding mower. The yard is huge and bumpy, and it takes a toll on the mower. Having a good solid platform to park and work on it would be a great boon to keeping the mower in better shape. For now, a platform is all we can afford, simply because there is a large woodpile with pressure treated lumber (lots of 2x6s) and so on. So for now, everything gets covered with a tarp. In the future, I'll probably put a roof and walls on it to make a shed.

But for now, what features could I build into a platform? Storage drawers underneath come to mind. But what else?

I have a table saw, some combo squares, 2 clamps, and lots of fire in my belly. I am a novice.

Thanks so much!
-John

[Jamie Buxton]

Drawers underneath strike me as risky. This platform is going to stand outside in the rain. If there's any leaking, you're not going to have drawers, you're going to have little bathtubs.

If the platform is only a little bigger than the footprint of the mower, I'd consider a rim around the edge to keep you from driving the mower off the edge.

You might consider the next mower you get. Will it fit on this platform?

How 'bout a hole in the middle of the platform so you can crawl underneath and service the underside of the mower?

[Malcolm McLeod]

...How 'bout a hole in the middle of the platform so you can crawl underneath and service the underside of the mower?

+1^^ Reading between the lines of course, but I assume this will either be ramped to a flat track work section, or maybe just ramps? And since most tractors and ZTRs have cutting decks wider than the wheel track, the flat tracks or ramps may block access to the spindles. Unfortunately, this is exactly where most of your attention will be required while working under the mower.

Maybe make sections of the track under the spindles that can be removed? ...Might prevent a talk with the kids about not repeating certain words that daddy says.:eek:

Seems like you also want this to double as storage, but if just for maintenance you might consider a 'lift'. The Tractor Supply mower lifts are just a hinged frame with a bottle-jack. With the lumber you have and a $20 bottle-jack you could duplicate one fairly easily.