Help with sickle bar ID

[SwingOak]

Hi Folks,

I've had this sickle bar attachment kicking around for years now, it came with my '65 IH Cub Lo-Boy, but I doubt it is for the cub. The mounting arrangement looks like it's more for a garden tractor - maybe a Cub Cadet? The bar is about 4' long.

Here are some pictures:

The drive pulley belt guard is moved out of the way, not bent:

This is the only number I can find on it - looks to me like just a casting number, and is that an "IH" below it?

Anyone have any idea what brand/model this is and what it attaches to?

Thanks!

 

[milkman]

I think if you go to Google images and look for "Haban mower", you'll find one like yours.

 

[SwingOak]

I was looking at Haban Sickle-Mo's but I haven't seen any that look exactly like the one I have. Did IH make a sickle bar For the cadet? I know there are a couple of differnt models for the cub.

I'm debating if I should figure out how to mount it to my cub or my '78 Wheel Horse...

 

[milkman]

I'm not familiar with the Cub Cadets, the only sickle mowers that I've seen on garden tractors have all been Haban. I suppose it's possible that Haban made one specifically for the CC.

 

[SwingOak]

Either way, these small frame sickle bars seem to be rare, so I started tearing it down tonight to rebuild it. I have my work cut out for me, this thing has been sitting outside for about 30 years. The only thing that will need to be replaced is the pivot bar for the blade angle, which was so badly rusted I had to cut it out with a torch and drill the ends out. Everything else came apart pretty easily. I'll have to replace all the bearings, so I have my fingers crossed they are standard and not OEM custom sizes!

 

[milkman]

Lots of luck with the rebuild, that is one attachment that I wanted when I had the old Sears SS14. Keep us posted on the progress.

 

[SwingOak]

Got most of the bearings out tonight, looks like they are all the same - Torrington J1210's, which fortunately seems to be a fairly common needle bearing. Looks like all the rod-ends are standard sizes too, as are the idler pulleys. That's encouraging!

 

[SwingOak]

OK finally figured it out - it's not a Haban, it's a Simplicity. Aptly named, the construction is not all that complicated. I found the manual for it online, and it looks like some parts are still available for it. But just for fun I'm in the process of modeling all the parts in Autodesk Inventor as I get them cleaned up and the paint removed.

 

[milkman]

That's good news, hope you post some pics when you get it running. That would be really handy mowing under electric fences.

 

[SwingOak]

Got the bearings, about $25 for all of them, and another $20 for rod ends. Started cleaning all the parts and stripping the paint off. I have a abrasive blasting cabinet so it goes pretty quick. Once I get the paint cleaned off, I can precisely measure and reverse engineer the part to create a 3D model. This way, if down the road something breaks I can make a new part if a replacement is not available.

Here's what I've modeled so far - the rocker arm, pitman arm assembly, and connecting rod assembly:

As you can see, I haven't painted the parts in Inventor yet either!