Questions about New Holland 451 Mower

   / Questions about New Holland 451 Mower #1  

Rivendale

Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2011
Messages
37
Location
Central KY
Tractor
Massey Ferguson 135
Hi Folks,

I just picked up a nice 451 at an auction last weekend. I had been reading up on it and also got a crash course from the farmer I bought it from. I got it hooked up and running with no problem.

It has the combine style guards on it (doubles with no ledger plates) I am curious about the operating PTO speed. I own an oliver sickle mower with a pitman and I know it was actually a detriment to run it anywhere near 540. I assume this is true also with the belt driven 451?

Whats the rule of thumb? I know you want to run ground speed fast enough so that the forage "topples" back over the bar...but I assume it isnt good to run it at 540?

Also anybody want to offer any tips or useful information about running a 451 to a newbie?

Thanks in advance
 
   / Questions about New Holland 451 Mower #2  
We have 2 451 mowers and they are always run at 540,never had any problems. I have found with the mower hooked up and flat on the ground I personally adjust the cutter bar were the outer end leads the inside by a couple of inches( so when you are mowing the drag of the hay pulls the bar back to being straight in line). I do this by adjusting the top link. I personally love to mow with outs, more so than with the new 8' Kuhn disc mower.

Best of luck
Make sure to religiously grease the wobblers !
 
   / Questions about New Holland 451 Mower #3  
P.S.

The faster you can mow (ground speed) the easier it will be to keep it from clogging up.
 
   / Questions about New Holland 451 Mower
  • Thread Starter
#4  
We have 2 451 mowers and they are always run at 540,never had any problems. I have found with the mower hooked up and flat on the ground I personally adjust the cutter bar were the outer end leads the inside by a couple of inches( so when you are mowing the drag of the hay pulls the bar back to being straight in line). I do this by adjusting the top link. I personally love to mow with outs, more so than with the new 8' Kuhn disc mower.

Best of luck
Make sure to religiously grease the wobblers !

Good tips. I am going to run it on my Deere 2030. One thing I hate about it is that it doesn't have stabilizer brackets... No way to attach a stablizer...so I hear ya about adjusting the end forward a bit but I wont do me any good with the 2030. Maybe after I get my Massey 135 put back together it can be my mowing and raking tractor and let the 2030 do all the baling only.
 
   / Questions about New Holland 451 Mower #5  
NH 451 has built in stabilizer system. u shaped and fastens to the toplink
 
   / Questions about New Holland 451 Mower #6  
You want to run at 540. Make sure that you have the double knife on the end, it will mow much better and clog less. And as posted above, grease often and liberally.
 
   / Questions about New Holland 451 Mower #7  
depending on what type of toplink you have you may have to get a universal toplink to use with the 451.I was reminded of that today while hooking mine up.as was said earlier no stabilzer needed just hook and go.a neat little side trick,if you are mowing down bushes or light brush you can make an initial pass with pto on to cut material and then back up and turn off pto lay barn down like you were going to mow and drive forward.it will rake up brush in a pile rather nice.just be careful not to over do it raking to much weight or it will trip.that brings up another point,liberal with grease every where except the trip mechanism unless you like backing up a LOT to reset it.Hope it is working well for you.there are some very well hidden grease fittings on the 3 pt. assembly you need to look from underneath while laying on your back to see.we have had 451s my whole life and i found a fitting no one else knew was there last year.
 
   / Questions about New Holland 451 Mower #9  
The PTO driven pulley sheave has an adjustable diameter, so you may need to add/remove shims or flip the outer (rear) half over to get the right ratio. Spec is 800rpm sickle crank speed. The adjustable pulley allows for a range from 540 to 720 RPM PTO.
PM me if you want a PDF of the users manual. It's quite helpful in getting it set up correctly.
 
   / Questions about New Holland 451 Mower
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Thank you everyone for the great feedback. I mowed about 8 acres of hay this afternoon and it did wonderfully even in the gross thick hay. I want to put more down but I am gambling with the rain...
 
 
Top