Rear mounted sickle mower hydraulic lift

   / Rear mounted sickle mower hydraulic lift #1  

rowlettr

New member
Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Messages
11
Location
Western NC
Tractor
Kubota B2920
I have a Kubota B2920 that I bought a sickle mower for. It attaches to the 3pt lift on the back. There is a hydraulic cylinder on the mower to raise the mower bar up and down. It came with one hydraulic line to connect to the tractor.

http://www.multivator.com/documents/FBR_Manual_2004-04_(19502180).pdf

I was under the impression that once I set the chain to hold the mower at the correct height, I could disconnect the hydraulic line from the 3pt lift and use that hydraulic line to operate the sickle blade lift. When I connected it and turned the tractor on, the bar raising cylinder operated by itself. I thought the hydraulic controller for the 3pt lift could be used to raise and lower the sickle bar, once I swapped the lines. The hydraulic cylinder on the mower, however, raises the bar by itself, and the controller has no effect. It is as though the tractor applies hydraulic pressure to the sickle mower blade lift cylinder whenever the tractor is running.

Also, when I have the line connected to the sickle mower, the front end loader will not lower. I wondered if I had the line from the mower connected to the wrong connector from the 3 pt lift lines. The sickle mower hydraulic line came with a male end on it, so I connected it to the female end on my tractor. I don't have a female connector to put on the end of the line to try it the other way. I could get one, but I don't know if that is the problem.

I also have a backhoe, which mounts on a subframe and uses both ends of the 3pt lift hydraulic lines. When the backhoe is removed, the two hydraulic line ends on the tractor are reconnected to each other, which makes the 3pt lift work again. I read in my manual that I could damage the hydraulic pump or seals if I start the tractor with the lines disconnected.

I don't know hydraulics (it is probably obvious by now), so I am trying to understand how the connection to the sickle mower should be made whereby I can control the lifting of the blade with a control knob, and at the same time not damage my mower or make the loader not work properly.

My questions is this:
Do I need a separate rear remote so that I will not be leaving the 3pt lift lines disconnected and possibly damage my tractor (most expensive option), or should I try connecting it to the male side of the 3pt lift line? Or is there another thing I should try?

P.S. Is there somewhere on the Internet that I can read about how these types of hydraulic systems work and how they should be inter-connected?

:confused:Thanks
 
   / Rear mounted sickle mower hydraulic lift #2  
I do not know how your Kubota hydraulic system works so I can't help you there.

But I will say on our sickle bar mower we used both the 3pt and hydraulic cylinder to adjust the mover frequently while cutting ditches and fence lines. If you are mowing in a field you would only need to raise the cylinder at the headlands. Don't raise the 3pt too high with the PTO running, it is hard on the universal joints.

ISZ
 
   / Rear mounted sickle mower hydraulic lift #3  
I have a Kubota B2920 that I bought a sickle mower for. It attaches to the 3pt lift on the back. There is a hydraulic cylinder on the mower to raise the mower bar up and down. It came with one hydraulic line to connect to the tractor.

http://www.multivator.com/documents/FBR_Manual_2004-04_(19502180).pdf

I was under the impression that once I set the chain to hold the mower at the correct height, I could disconnect the hydraulic line from the 3pt lift and use that hydraulic line to operate the sickle blade lift. When I connected it and turned the tractor on, the bar raising cylinder operated by itself. I thought the hydraulic controller for the 3pt lift could be used to raise and lower the sickle bar, once I swapped the lines. The hydraulic cylinder on the mower, however, raises the bar by itself, and the controller has no effect. It is as though the tractor applies hydraulic pressure to the sickle mower blade lift cylinder whenever the tractor is running.

Also, when I have the line connected to the sickle mower, the front end loader will not lower. I wondered if I had the line from the mower connected to the wrong connector from the 3 pt lift lines. The sickle mower hydraulic line came with a male end on it, so I connected it to the female end on my tractor. I don't have a female connector to put on the end of the line to try it the other way. I could get one, but I don't know if that is the problem.

I also have a backhoe, which mounts on a subframe and uses both ends of the 3pt lift hydraulic lines. When the backhoe is removed, the two hydraulic line ends on the tractor are reconnected to each other, which makes the 3pt lift work again. I read in my manual that I could damage the hydraulic pump or seals if I start the tractor with the lines disconnected.

I don't know hydraulics (it is probably obvious by now), so I am trying to understand how the connection to the sickle mower should be made whereby I can control the lifting of the blade with a control knob, and at the same time not damage my mower or make the loader not work properly.

My questions is this:
Do I need a separate rear remote so that I will not be leaving the 3pt lift lines disconnected and possibly damage my tractor (most expensive option), or should I try connecting it to the male side of the 3pt lift line? Or is there another thing I should try?

P.S. Is there somewhere on the Internet that I can read about how these types of hydraulic systems work and how they should be inter-connected?

:confused:Thanks

Welcome to TBN:D

You are trying to use the "power beyond" lines to control the cylinder on the cutter, it won't work that way and can damage your tractor. The two lines you couple together are the power beyond (PB) lines and have the full flow of hydraulic oil in them whenever the machine is running-that is why they need to be coupled together when you take the hoe off.

You will need to add a valve (rear remote) to be able to control any cylinder.
 
   / Rear mounted sickle mower hydraulic lift
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Would I be able to use one of my front loader remotes, say for one of the two bucket tilt functions? What I am unsure about is how I would operate the sickle blade up and down with the loader joystick, since all four directions on the joystick are positive actions. Unlike the 3 pt lift control that is positive on the lift, but just releases pressure in the other direction to lower. How could I adjust the sickle blade down part way with the loader joystick? I can see how if I use the left position for example, the bar would raise when I move the joystick to the left. If I move it to the right however, wouldn't it operate the other cylinder for the bucket instead of lowering the sickle blade?

If this would work somehow, I would need to add about 4 ft to the hydraulic line that came with the sickle mower. It came with a 7 ft line. I could then just run it along the side up to the front where the loader remotes are. Seems it would be a lot cheaper than adding a rear remote.

What I am hearing is that there is no way to add an attachment to the rear of a B2920 that uses one hydraulic cylinder without adding a remote. Is that right?
 
   / Rear mounted sickle mower hydraulic lift #5  
Would I be able to use one of my front loader remotes, say for one of the two bucket tilt functions? What I am unsure about is how I would operate the sickle blade up and down with the loader joystick, since all four directions on the joystick are positive actions. Unlike the 3 pt lift control that is positive on the lift, but just releases pressure in the other direction to lower. How could I adjust the sickle blade down part way with the loader joystick? I can see how if I use the left position for example, the bar would raise when I move the joystick to the left. If I move it to the right however, wouldn't it operate the other cylinder for the bucket instead of lowering the sickle blade?

The cutter has a SA (single acting) cylinder, hence the one hose. So it is powered up and gravity down unlike your loader that uses DA (dual acting) cylinders with two hoses on them-powered in both directions.

Clear as mud so far?:laughing:

If you plug the SA cylinder into one of the loader ports (like on the dump/curl circuit), then moving the joystick in one direction will raise the cutter because pressure will be directed to the port that it's plugged into. Moving the joystick in the other direction will try to send pressure to the other port ( that has nothing plugged into it) but the cutter will lower just fine.

So in short, get that hose made, unplug your dump/curl cylinders from the loader and go cutting.

What I am hearing is that there is no way to add an attachment to the rear of a B2920 that uses one hydraulic cylinder without adding a remote. Is that right?

Correct. You need a valve (remote) to operate a cylinder.
 
   / Rear mounted sickle mower hydraulic lift
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Thanks. Sounds like that may work for me. One clarification: You said "Moving the joystick in the other direction will try to send pressure to the other port that has nothing plugged into it but the cutter will lower just fine." Does that mean I should unplug both bucket ports so that one will have my sickle mower plugged into it and the other "will have nothing plugged into it"? How does that lower the blade?
 
   / Rear mounted sickle mower hydraulic lift #7  
Thanks. Sounds like that may work for me. One clarification: You said "Moving the joystick in the other direction will try to send pressure to the other port that has nothing plugged into it but the cutter will lower just fine." Does that mean I should unplug both bucket ports so that one will have my sickle mower plugged into it and the other "will have nothing plugged into it"? How does that lower the blade?

Yes, both hoses for the dump/curl circuit need to be unplugged. The blade will lower because while pressure is being applied to the empty port, the port with the cutter plugged in will be open to the tank allowing fluid to leave/escape the cylinder.

You can leave the lift/lower hoses plugged in and use them to move the loader up or down if you need to while you are driving around.
 
   / Rear mounted sickle mower hydraulic lift
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Thanks. I just went and had the hose extended and a female coupler put on. I hooked it all up to the loader bucket port, disconnected the other bucket line, and it works! It was slow to start lowering the blade, and seems to raise it again if I stop on the way down and try to go down further. I don't know what that is about, but I think I can live with that. I will just not stop it until it is down where I want it.
Thanks again.
 
   / Rear mounted sickle mower hydraulic lift #9  
Thanks. I just went and had the hose extended and a female coupler put on. I hooked it all up to the loader bucket port, disconnected the other bucket line, and it works! It was slow to start lowering the blade, and seems to raise it again if I stop on the way down and try to go down further. I don't know what that is about, but I think I can live with that. I will just not stop it until it is down where I want it.
Thanks again.

You are welcome:thumbsup: The slow lowering may be due to the cutter not weighing a a lot.
 
   / Rear mounted sickle mower hydraulic lift #10  
Thanks. I just went and had the hose extended and a female coupler put on. I hooked it all up to the loader bucket port, disconnected the other bucket line, and it works! It was slow to start lowering the blade, and seems to raise it again if I stop on the way down and try to go down further. I don't know what that is about, but I think I can live with that. I will just not stop it until it is down where I want it.
Thanks again.

Is that Gasparado mower single action or double action in the cutterbar? Ken Sweet
 
 
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