Sickle Bar Sickle bar mowers

[Solo]

I have started looking for a sickle bar mower for my TC18. I called a local dealer for a price. That was all well and good but then he told me they were putting 5' sickle bar mowers on BX1800's. Has anyone done this? I only wanted a 4'6" or smaller for my TC18.
Solo

 

[Steelfan]

Solo,
I got my information from Befco today. They say 20HP and up for the 5' & 6' mowers. My research is telling me that it seems like the newer Sicklebar mowers are very uesable on our size tractors. Weight for the Befco mower is between 400 to 500 pounds. Good Luck Kent

 

[hazmat]

18 rounds up to 20, especially since the tractor is the same "chassis" as the TC21.

That seems very heavy for something that consists of a pto shaft, gearbox & a 5' bar. Is it going to tip our little tractors over?

 

[Steelfan]

I've got two local dealers , who have deal in them. I'm going to go take a look at them maybe even today. When the mower is in the up position, from the picture it looks like the weight could be pretty well evened out. And when the arm is down if I'm not mistaken, there is a skid plate that rides on the ground to support the sickle part. I may be wrong, but I will know better when I actual see one. Good to hear from you. Kent

 

[Mosey]

I have a TC29D which weighs around 2500lbs and a Ford model 515 sickle mower with a 7' cutter bar which weighs around 500lbs, so the tractor weights about 5 times as much as the mower (I’m rounding everything to the nearest 100lbs). It handles it easily, but wouldn't want to go any heavier. It can get a little squirrelly on steep hills.

According to my NH brochure on Boomers, the TC18 weighs around 1400lbs, so if you used it with a 400lb mower the tractor would only weigh about 3.5 times as much as the mower. It's true that part of the mower rides on a skid plate on the ground, but there are times you need to pick up the bar to get over obstacles and transport it. I think it would be a good idea to get a mower well under 400lbs for a TC18, unless you add a few hundred lbs of weight to the tractor.

 

[hazmat]

<font color=blue>I think it would be a good idea to get a mower well under 400lbs for a TC18, unless you add a few hundred lbs of weight to the tractor.</font color=blue>

Good Point Mosey

Tractor 1400
loaded tires 300-400 (for both)?
MMM 400
Loader (empty) 600
Total 2800

Not too hard to make it heavy

Steelfan, you're going to bring one home to demo right? We want pictures, especially if you tip over/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Be sure to wear your seatbelt.

 

[Mosey]

<font color=red>Tractor 1400
loaded tires 300-400 (for both)?
MMM 400
Loader (empty) 600
Total 2800</font color=red>

I'd say you're good to go!

 

[Fly_Rodr]

I've been following this post and the sickle bar mower sure seems like what I need. I have a 500' front ditch and a pond to cut around. The rotary mower on an arm would be good, but all that I find are extremely large in size and price.

 

[Darren]

The only things I have to add are: get a scissors action which means both the guards and knives move and get one with a hydraulic cylinder to adjust the bar angle during operation.

The scissors action does a much better job than a machine in which the guards are fixed and only the knives move.

The hydraulic models allow you to mow at any angle from 90 degrees above horizontal to some angle below horizontal for use on ditch banks.

The Italian models have skids at both the bar end and the tractor end. As was posted you will have to completely lift the mower at times to clear obstacles. Some of the manufacturers supply an extra blade with the mower which is a real plus if you do a lot of mowing. Keep in mind a foreign made machine will be metric so it might be good idea to get the dealer to thrown in a box of knives and a box of rivets if they don't stock those parts.

I've found blade removal is a fifteen minute deal if you have the correct metric wrench and hex key.

 

[Steelfan]

Hi Fly_Rodr, and all

What I've learned so far about Sickle Bar Mowers, is that they will be perfect for my use. Creek Banks, Ditches, pond sides, and along road sides. My TC21D weights 2500 to 2700 pounds with FEL, MMM, and loaded rear tires. I'm told that HP would not be a problem with the newer, smaller Mowers. As of now Sweet's Tractors has a 5 1/2 ft Super 65 Sickle on Ebay for $1400 and a used 7 ft NH 451 which is being auctioned ,bid is now at $122.50. I'm told they are great to deal with. Also there are a couple other companies who make Sickles listed below.

Befco : www.befco.com
New Holland: http://www.newholland.com/na/Products/Sicklebar.html
Massey Ferguson: http://www.masseyferguson.com/
Kuhn
Sitrex : http://www.sitrex.com/siklebar.HTM
Tonutti : http://www.tonutti.com/

I'm still looking for a used one, but since I've been on vacation, I cleaned the creek bank off with my Gas Powered Weedwacker. It was quite a job. So I'm not in a hurry, I'm waiting for the right mower at the right price.

Hazmat,
You better believe that you would never see pictures if I tip over. I hate to admit when I'm wrong. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Really the weight with everything on the tractor should be enough to stop such a thing from happening. Great to hear from you.
Kent