Newbie's First Swag At Mowing With Sicklebar

[keegs]

I have about 50 acres of hayfield that I want to keep cut. Last year I bought a Massey Ferguson Dynabalance 41 with a 7' cutting bar. Everything was in working order. Yesterday, for the first time, I attached the mower to the tractor and took it out for a field trial. Besides a few test drives, this was also my first time on a tractor. :laughing:

The grass was somewhat wet from a light rain the previous day and it was morning so there was a good amount of dew as well. The length of the grass varied from about 6"-16". The terrain is flat to gently sloping with some knolls and dips. I ran the mower for about 3-4 hours and cut about 4 -5 acres. I had some trouble keeping the blade level with the ground and found myself continuously adjusting the blade height which was too high most of the time. Large clumps of grass would collect on the blade which would obstruct the cutting action and so I found myself either backing up and away from the clumping grass or getting off the tractor and removing the clumps by hand. I adjusted the outer shoe lower as the blade seemed to be somewhat pitched down toward the outboard end. Over time the sound of the mower seemed to acquire a more metallic tone to it, which made me think that it probably needed greasing. I did the best I could to grease the fittings but could have done a better job had I had a better grease gun. Finally the mower broke. A bolt that attaches the blade to one of the drive counterweights sheered off. It's in the shop now for repairs.

The conditions seemed to improve somewhat as the sun dried the grass out a bit but the mower was never quite as good at cutting as I anticipated. I also began to feel my way around the tractor and the mower after a time. So is this just a day in the life or did I screw up? How much were the conditions, eg...moisture, grass height, the condition of the mower .... a factor? Do I need to give the sicklebar mower more time or is this about how it is? Is it time to get a rotary cutter? :laughing:

Thanks...look forward to your comments.

 

[flusher]

Not bad considering you're attempting to mow 50 acres with an ancient sicklebar.
My MF 31 sicklebar has similar problems (clogging, etc). I've rebuilt it several times but it still isn't performing satisfactorily.

If your budget can afford $3-4K, you'd do better with a drum mower. No clogging, mows as fast as you can move your tractor across the hayfield.

Disc mowers are the other option but these things cost twice the price of a drum mower of similar size and are more complicated than the drum.

Good luck

 

[compact]

Heavy thatch down low will require more upward angle on the bar. Serrated teeth are best, I like underserrated with serrated plated on the rock guards. If its new the knife and bar should be registered, if not it may need some adjustment. It's possible it wore in a bit, hold down clips etc. may need some adjustment. I find the old rock guards, after they get polished, don't build a grass nosecone as badly. Lubricate every couple hours. Bushes cut well wet but sickles like DRY grass if it's thick sown low. If it's making a lot of noise you're going too fast, its dull, or the teeth need to be pointed up more for your conditions. I can do 3A/ hr with a 7 foot bar but average half of that.

I recently started using a smaller tractor with a rotary mower and it's less trouble overall, probably average the same acres / hour but the peak acres / hour are lower. Rotary seems insensitive to conditions, I was mowing in a pouring nor'easter and it worked fine anthills and all - the sickle would have been frustrating to use in those conditions.

 

[rankrank1]

Normally wet grass and a sickle type cutter do not work well together. Most people wait until the dew burns off before even attempting to cut with one. Wet stuff is not usually condusive to success at all. Down or tangled hay can also pose problems. Sometimes you can change your mowing direction to help on the tangled down hay to better cut it but it can still be a struggle.

Of course a sickle needs to be in tip top shape and adjusted properly to work even in favorable conditions. There is an art to getting one set-up properly. There is a such thing as going too slow with a sickle cutter. You need to go fast enough that the grass falls behind the bar as you mow or you will have problems as the grass you cut will simply fall down on your bar and clog it if you travel too slow. Obviously you can travel too fast too. Typically, I would think you want to be in the 3.0 to 4.5 mph range when cutting.

Lastly as you probably already learned never cross already been cut grass with your sickle or it will clog it. The reason you have that board on the end is to throw the grass back some so when you overlap next cut those few inches of the sickle that is overlapping is not going through already been cut grass.

 

[keegs]

Normally wet grass and a sickle type cutter do not work well together. Most people wait until the dew burns off before even attempting to cut with one. Wet stuff is not usually condusive to success at all. Down or tangled hay can also pose problems. Sometimes you can change your mowing direction to help on the tangled down hay to better cut it but it can still be a struggle.

Of course a sickle needs to be in tip top shape and adjusted properly to work even in favorable conditions. There is an art to getting one set-up properly. There is a such thing as going too slow with a sickle cutter. You need to go fast enough that the grass falls behind the bar as you mow or you will have problems as the grass you cut will simply fall down on your bar and clog it if you travel too slow. Obviously you can travel too fast too. Typically, I would think you want to be in the 3.0 to 4.5 mph range when cutting.

Lastly as you probably already learned never cross already been cut grass with your sickle or it will clog it. The reason you have that board on the end is to throw the grass back some so when you overlap next cut those few inches of the sickle that is overlapping is not going through already been cut grass.

... did most everything here you suggested would cause problems. :laughing: I was pretty sure that weather conditions were not optimal for mowing but I was anxious to have at it anyway and thought if nothing else I could compare wet with drier conditions. By mid-August the timothy is about 3'-4' tall and beginning to turn brown. I'd imagine this is around the time when I should be out there.

I would say that most of the time I was in the 3 - 4 mph range when cutting yesterday but I may not have had the blade close enough to the ground. My concern here was that the cutter guards would dig into the soil and at one point the mower break away did release. Maybe I need to adust/turn the angel of the bar upward? Normally when you mow, do you have the bar/blade resting on the ground or are you always making bar/blade height adjustments to meet the uneven terrain?

Just got a call from the repair shop. A knife that was broken off at the tip is being replaced along with the bolt that was sheared off. All the fittings are being greased as well.

Thanks for all your comments.

 

[rankrank1]

... did most everything here you suggested would cause problems. :laughing: I was pretty sure that weather conditions were not optimal for mowing but I was anxious to have at it anyway and thought if nothing else I could compare wet with drier conditions. By mid-August the timothy is about 3'-4' tall and beginning to turn brown. I'd imagine this is around the time when I should be out there.

I would say that most of the time I was in the 3 - 4 mph range when cutting yesterday but I may not have had the blade close enough to the ground. My concern here was that the cutter guards would dig into the soil and at one point the mower break away did release. Maybe I need to adust/turn the angel of the bar upward? Normally when you mow, do you have the bar/blade resting on the ground or are you always making bar/blade height adjustments to meet the uneven terrain?

Just got a call from the repair shop. A knife that was broken off at the tip is being replaced along with the bolt that was sheared off. All the fittings are being greased as well.

Thanks for all your comments.

No you should not have to wait until August until everything is burnt brown to cut it. Hay has been made since the mid 1800's with horse drawn sickles. Burnt brown stuff does NOT make good hay. The main thing is waiting until after dew has burned off each day and if it has rained recently of course wait until that has dried. As far as sickles go your MF Dynabalance would be near the top of the line in the sickle realm compared to less desirable wooden pitman drive sickles or even lower on the scale ground driven sickles pulled by a horse.

The key is getting any sickle set up properly and then they can cut very well. If you do not already own an operators manual then get one - best $15-$25 or so you can spend. Tips on all adjustments will be in there. like setting the sickle register, having the end of the bar lead, angle of the sickle in relation to the ground, adjusting hold-downs, and lastly skid shoes for setting the cutting height.

As for your height question: I have only ever used lowly pitman drive sickles (except for sickle found in my Hesston in mower conditioner). A pitman drive sickle will not operate in as many positions as your MF dynabalance will. The wooden pitman drive limits their operation to near level with ground while your dynabalance will operate at almost any angle. Anyway, mine has a skid shoe that sets the cut height.

 

[keegs]

Thanks for the tips rankrank1. I have the operator's manual and think I can muddle my way through adjusting and tuning the mower. I have all summer to tool around with it .... it'll likely take me that much time to figure out what I have. So I suppose I'm not done with the sicklebar mower yet.

 

[R W]

Hay has been made since the mid 1800's with horse drawn sickles.

The key is getting any sickle set up properly and then they can cut very well. If you do not already own an operators manual then get one - best $15-$25 or so you can spend.

I have only ever used lowly pitman drive sickles .[/QUOTE+

Have never used anything but a sickle mower both ground drive & PTO, as said previously if set right they will do a good job. Regarding speed ;
(PTO machine) mostly travelled at 5.25 MPH , working in a rough paddock went back to 3.6 MPH, thats the way the tractor was geared.
Is your tractor fitted with a live PTO? Remember things didn't always run as well mowing with a tractor not fitted with it.
Once you get your mower going properly it won't take long to cut 50 acreas.

 

[keegs]

Tractor has independent /live PTO. It's been raining here but it looks like the weather should clear by Monday. If I get the machine back from the shop by then I'll have it out for another trial run conditions permitting. Thanks again for all the feedback. It's been helpful.

 

[Verticaltrx]

I've cut a lot of hay over the years with sickle bar mowers and what you are attempting shouldn't be a problems if everything is in good shape with a good operator. If conditions are good you should be able to mow over 25ac per day with that setup.

Wait till 10-11am (even noon) to start mowing, it will help the dew/moisture get off the grass and will also get the sugar content in the hay up with will make it more palatable.

Once setup properly you shouldn't need to use the 3pt hitch to raise the mower all all except for turns or to cross holes/ditches/obstacles. The cutting height is set by the height of the shoes at each end of the cutter bar and the angle of the cutter bar. In good conditions the bar should be set to run approximately level front to back, if it's plugging up a lot you can try rotating the tips upward a little.

Mowing speed will vary depending on conditions and crops, but 3mph is probably too slow. Generally I run 4-6mph, and in something like oat hay upwards of 7mph. Cutting too slow will cause the grass to bunch up and hang on the bar.

The key to good mowing is in the setup of the sickle bar itself. You want the knife to run flat an squarely on the ledger plate (the bottom of the rock guards), and it must have the proper register. Generally the register on a mower like this would have it moving from the center of one guard to the center of the next. It should have 'hold downs' that keep the knife down on the ledger plates and these should be set tight enough to keep the knife down, but no so tight to restrict movement or build up heat. Also the knife assy needs to be set properly forward and aft in the rock guards. (you really need to get a manual for it if you don't already have one)

Greasing is very important, especially on these 'pitmanless' mowers. Some fittings need to be greased every 4hrs, some every 8hrs.

Good luck, once you have them all figured out a sickle bar is a very efficient and economical hay mower.