Side Sickle Bar Project

   / Side Sickle Bar Project #1  

NCMau

Gold Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
Messages
293
Location
NC
Tractor
MF 202/Ford 8N
I am in the process of making a vertical sickle cutter attachment for my tractor. I am using a modified transmission and a 42" bar from a Gravely walk-behind tractor. This bar will be mounted in front of the loader arms and driven by a hydraulic motor.

Since I recently modified the tractor with a PTO pump to drive the loader, I will be using the on-board pump to drive the sickle. The hydraulic fluid will be supplied by the existing tractor selector valve, which I no longer use.
Just today I made a temporary connection from this valve to the sickle bar just to determine if it is compatible with I have.

The on-board pump is probably 4 or 5 GPM, the motor which I have on hand has a max of 15 GPM and a speed of 750 RPM. With this "with no load" setup seems to operate just fine. The 3pt lift is out of the operation and I can control the speed fro 0 to max with the position control.

I was planing to get a flow control valve but with this setup, I don't see why I would need it, unless it is for the reason that the flow control valve would have a built-in PRV. But then again, the on-board has a PRV and the sickle motor is the only device operated by the pump.

So, what do you guys think? Is this control valve really necessary?

I will post this project when it is completed.
 
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