Sickle Bar Barn Find - Sickle Bar Mower

[Brad_Blazer]

Nice find. It might be easiest to make another drawbar. Since the mower is clevis all you need is a plain bar.

 

[Creamer]

Here is a photo of my drawbar. I went to the New Holland dealer and their information did not even show this setup but I went to tractor house and looked at photos of 1710s and all the photos that showed it had this setup. now I am really confused.

 

[Creamer]

Question on ledger plates - i was cleaning the rust off of the guards and even when I get the rust and grind a little on the bottom it is impossible to see where the ledger plate rivet comes through. The top side has the flathead of the rivet - am I going to have to drill each of these rivets out from the topside? Is there an easier way?

 

[crowbar032]

Looking at that rear PTO output shaft has me wondering were these setup to allow two mower to be pulled in tandem?

It was intended so that when cutting hay, you pull a conditioner behind the cutter, so you cut one pass while conditioning the previous one.

Aaron Z

Yep. I've got a NH 451, which is a 3-point version of the OP's mower that has a similar set-up on the back. About 2 years ago, I checked into getting the hitch like on the OP's. It was about $600 from the dealer, which is considerably more than I paid for the NH 404 conditioner. I decided I didn't want to hook everything together after hearing the price, so I mowed then made a second pass with the conditioner. After using the conditioner, I'm not sure how well it would have worked hooked all together anyway. The conditioner is really heavy and tended to clog in heavy clover.

 

[crowbar032]

Question on ledger plates - i was cleaning the rust off of the guards and even when I get the rust and grind a little on the bottom it is impossible to see where the ledger plate rivet comes through. The top side has the flathead of the rivet - am I going to have to drill each of these rivets out from the topside? Is there an easier way?

It may be easier to buy a new/used cutter bar. There is also a "tool" that is supposed to help remove and install rivets. The guy in the link below is on this site, and the tool is the red thing in the picture. One side installs, the other removes. Otherwise it's a lot of grinding and pounding with a hammer and chisel and punch, and you may end up doing this anyway given the age and rust.

New Sickle Repair Kit for NH 450-451,IH,Ford,New Idea,MF.Zone.2

 

[Creamer]

Did some cutting today - it cut very well!

I disassembled the complete sickle bar - it was missing a few guards and things. I took all the sections off of the bar and found the bar was bent in both directions at about three different spots and had been broken and welded once and not very well. I found a new international sickle bar that fit. The head of the sickle is in pretty good shape just bent a little. So I straightened it and put on the new sickel bar with all new sections.

The guards were all rusted so i used a rotary wire brush to clean them up - they looked to be in pretty good shape. Even the ledger plates look OK. I was missing some hold downs and wear plates but I found a source. I finally got it all together today - well at least mostly I am missing two holdowns. I had to try it and it cut very well.

Tomorrow I will start adjusting it because my tractor is so low. I purchased a drawbar for the 3 pt but the back of this mower is very heavy and without a down pressure 3 pt I could not get the hitch to stay down so I chained the 3 pt arms to the drawbar. The sickle is tipped down too much and the back of the mower is too high which keeps the base shoe from riding on the ground. That is why I ran it - to see what else I have to change.

 

[wolftree]

Creamer,

I would have a longer drawbar made at a machine shop. Take your drawbar to them and tell them how much longer you need it to be.

 

[aczlan]

If you want to just fox the cutter side, I would get a 1' piece of 3/4"x2" bar stock. Punch a hole in the end, one in ~3" to go through the current pin, weld on a crosspiece to catch both sides of the the A frame and bold the crossbar to the A frame.
Here is how I see it being done:

On the other hand, if you have a TSC nearby, they sell a drawbar for $45 that might fit and would raise the hitch point on the tractor: CountyLine: Drawbar, Swinging - Tractor Supply Online Store


Aaron Z

 

[Creamer]

I am seriously considering having the longer drawbar made. What I have now is not real stable and is a pain to get everything set up right.

The problem with raising the drawbar is that the PTO is very close vertically to the drawbar so i do not have much real estate. I have to see how much adjustment in tilt the mower has - I think it is going to be a balancing act.

 

[wolftree]

Creamers,

Can you design the new drawbar to drop a few inches, either by bending or welding a spacer block on the lower side with extension welded to spacer?

 

[3v0]

Question on ledger plates - i was cleaning the rust off of the guards and even when I get the rust and grind a little on the bottom it is impossible to see where the ledger plate rivet comes through. The top side has the flathead of the rivet - am I going to have to drill each of these rivets out from the topside? Is there an easier way?

I know you replaced the bar but this may still be of interest.

When dad replaced all the plates on a bar he would use a chisel to knock the heads off then drive them out with a punch. In this day and age I would use an air chisel. I think he had a bit of railroad rail that he worked on. I used a tool similar to what is mentioned above for replacing them in the field.

Glad to hear you got it working. Have fun.

 

[Creamer]

When dad replaced all the plates on a bar he would use a chisel to knock the heads off then drive them out with a punch. In this day and age I would use an air chisel. I think he had a bit of railroad rail that he worked on. I used a tool similar to what is mentioned above for replacing them in the field.

Grew up on a ranch and have used sickle bar mowers a lot. We a section of railroad rail about 12' long that we turned over on its side and laid the sickle bar on it and hit the sections on the back edge - about one hit per rivet and we had a 9' sickle cleaned off in about 10 minutes. Then we had a short section that sanding up worked great for putting the sections back on. We also had what I now know - from reading things here - a guard repair holder - which was a little anvil for replacing sections in the field. I have found myself many times wishing I had those two!

 

[Creamer]

When dad replaced all the plates on a bar he would use a chisel to knock the heads off then drive them out with a punch. In this day and age I would use an air chisel. I think he had a bit of railroad rail that he worked on. I used a tool similar to what is mentioned above for replacing them in the field.

Grew up on a ranch and have used sickle bar mowers a lot. We a section of railroad rail about 12' long that we turned over on its side and laid the sickle bar on it and hit the sections on the back edge - about one hit per rivet and we had a 9' sickle cleaned off in about 10 minutes. Then we had a short section that sanding up worked great for putting the sections back on. We also had what I now know - from reading things here - a guard repair holder - which was a little anvil for replacing sections in the field. I have found myself many times wishing I had those two!

 

[Creamer]

Today I did some real mowing of grass for hay and it cut like I remember old sickle bars doing - so much better than bush hogging! Quicker too! Everything just lays so nice and smooth.

Last week I mowed around the edge of my pond even letting the end go right in the water - it worked great!

 

[davel8257]

Must be the alignment of the planets -- I just found a NH 451 sickle bar mower that's been in the barn for 15 years. I paid $300 for it, brought it home, hooked it up and works great. I want to mow the road side ditch in front of the house with risking a roll-over.

 

[Creamer]

They are great for simple things. I love how they cut things off short and clean and can adapt to almost any terrain. I have grown tired of every few years having to do a major removal of brush as it grows in from tree lines, the edge of my pond, and such. These things will stick back under the overhanging brush and cut off all the saplings, multiflora rose, etc. without me fighting tree branches.

Congrats on your purchase!

 

[davel8257]

I'm working through some setup issues -- I've posted a couple of problems elsewhere. But I agree, Sicklebar cutters are very efficient means of dropping weeds and tall grass with the least amount of horse power needed.

I am very careful about keeping my hands and fingers away from the sharp knives when raising and lowered the arm. The crank can turn just a bit and result in the loss of a tip of a finger in the blink of an eye.

I'm glad my bar is 'only' 7ft long -- it's quite a bit of weight to heft up and down. I'd hate to have to lift a 8 or 9 footer by hand!

 

[Creamer]

I grew up with nine footers and it really is not much of an issue. In my high school years I ran a double nine foot bar setup. It sure made mowing a lot faster. Cutting 800-1000 acres with a nine foot bar took a while.

What I have now is also a seven foot bar now as it is all I want for a lot of the trimming that I need to do.

 

[davel8257]

I had some free time last Saturday and put a coat of primer and red paint on. I should have more sanding than I did, but I at least slowed down the rust.

 

[Creamer]

I need to do that but I have been too busy with other projects. I have used my sickle bar almost weekly. Sure glad i bought it!