Sickle mower mounting question

[Smitty141]

I have a xg3140, I was wondering if a New Holland 451 sickle bar mower would mount okay on my LS Tractor.

Thanks everyone

 

[Walter L]

I can see no reason it would not work on any 3 point hitch with a pto. Wish i could find one close by.

 

[sixdogs]

I mounted one on a tiny Ford 8N, a little bigger Ford 1900 and a large Kubota M8950. There is a lot of adjustment in the 451 so I think it will fit almost anything. Get an owner's manual.

 

[SwingOak]

I just bought a 451 last week and found that I need to use a adapter for the toplink with my Kioti DK50. It extends the toplink out 6" so the frame of the 451 clears the lift arms. You can buy a compact tractor adapter from New Holland, the part number is 86977869. It's $268 from Messick's or you can order it from your local NH dealer.

Of course, if you can weld you can make one yourself, which is exactly what I'm going to do!

 

[Baby Grand]

I had to make an adapter to get my 451 to mount up on my Kubota L3240. It fits up to the top link bracket on the tractor & is secured with 2 pins. It moves the attachment point for the upside down "U" subframe on the mower aft about 6", as nj gsp described. This keeps the slotted height adjusting bars from hitting my 3pt lift arms, the backhoe subframe, the bolts for the 3pt stays and the hydraulic lines for the backhoe & rear remotes. I'll try to get some photos for you this afternoon. Great cutter, by the way.

- Jim

 

[SwingOak]

I just bought a 451 last week and found that I need to use a adapter for the toplink with my Kioti DK50. It extends the toplink out 6" so the frame of the 451 clears the lift arms. You can buy a compact tractor adapter from New Holland, the part number is 86977869. It's $268 from Messick's or you can order it from your local NH dealer.

Of course, if you can weld you can make one yourself, which is exactly what I'm going to do!

I made an adapter out of a couple of 3Pt hitch arms and some class II/I adapter bushings. The arms are 3/8" x 2" and less than half the price of steel stock at the Fleet Farm. They were only $11 so I spent about $25 total. I made the extension distance 6", and found it should be 8-9" - the handle for adjusting the draft arm level hits the 451 lift arm with the hole center distance at 6". Looks like I have some cutting and pasting to do...

And I'll need a slightly shorter center link than the stock Kioti one. I cranked it all the way in and it stopped short of making the cutter bar level. It would almost be easier to buy a bigger tractor!

 

[Baby Grand]

I made an adapter out of a couple of 3Pt hitch arms and some class II/I adapter bushings. The arms are 3/8" x 2" and less than half the price of steel stock at the Fleet Farm. They were only $11 so I spent about $25 total. I made the extension distance 6", and found it should be 8-9" <snip> It would almost be easier to buy a bigger tractor!

Interesting observations - now that you mention it, 6" works okay, but a little longer would be better.
Settle down, you know what I mean!

Here's my first iteration:

Yeah, I know, not very pretty.
It's a prototype that I hacked together with a scrap of 1/4 x 2, some bed frame rails, a drill press, a file, a grinder and some P5 in stick welder.

I spent the better part of a day scouring the internet to see how people had dealt with the fit-up problems of hitching an NH451 up to a compact tractor and several mentioned 6" as working.
With the BH92 sub-frame, the BH92 hydraulic quick connect & hose, 3 QH remotes, plus the TNT tilt cylinder, it's really crowded back there.
As it is, I had to cut 4" off the tops of the slotted adjusting bars (user's manual states this may be necessary to fit the cutter to smaller tractors) and remove the Tilt cylinder to get everyone to play together nicely.

My only reservation about moving the top link hitch point back even more is TLUC (The Law of Unintended Consequences/Tuff LUCk).
But what could possibly go wrong, I ask myself. It's like a set-up for a slap-stick routine and I get the uneasy feeling that I'll be the patsy.
I have a piece of Rectangular Tubing - 2-1/2 x 1-1/2 x 1/4 - that I'm going to cut for a 9" setback finished adapter.
I'll also add a hole for the old 6" set-back so if 9 complicates I can lop 3" off the end and be back to where I'm at, now.

I saw a nice Perkins MF135 on CL a few days ago and thought the same about just getting another, wider/older tractor!
- Jim

 

[SwingOak]

I don't think moving the top link hitch point back another 2-3" really matters that much, all that part does is lift the cutter bar when you raise the draft arms of the 3PT. When I make it longer, I'll add a gusset. That should do the trick.