350 Sickle bar mower

[gwin]

I barrowed a 350 sickle bar to cut 8 acres of oats. My first attempt at making hay. I know the chain that puts tension on the spring attaches to the draw bar but I am unclear how to attach it as it has a unique bracket and more chain. Local JD dealer does not have a manual in archives, so do any of you have a picture of a 350 sickle bar hooked up on your tractor that might show this chain?

Thank you,

Clay

[AKfish]

Clay, the neighbor has a 350 sickle mower (he's in his 80's) and I've been thinkin' of maybe buyin' it...

Anyway, I bought the owner's manual on eBay a couple of years ago.

I would be happy to scan the pages which illustrate the hookup that you're referring to and send them to you. I don't have a way to scan and then email the pics, sorry.

Let me know.

Also, you should probably post your question in the Ag forum here on TBN. You might get some better feedback.

AKfish

[gwin]

Thank you AKfish. I sent my contact information using the private message link.
Clay

[Kyle_in_Tex]

You have to extend your drawbar to get the hole roughly inline with the 350's chain lift mechanism. If your drawbar is high or low compared to your 3pt, you'll have to play with attaching the middle block on top or bottom of the drawbar. I use a big washer also to assist the lynch pin to hold it on the drawbar.

Keep your fingers clear of the blades at all times.

[AKfish]

Clay, copy is in the mail today. Should be there in 5 days or so.

Best of luck with your mowin'.

AKfish

[gwin]

AKfish,

The packet arrived today. Answered all my questions and then some. Thanks again.

Clay

[AKfish]

Clay,

Glad to help out. Maybe you can snap some pics of your mowing for us. Like to see how everything works out for you.

AKfish

[gwin]

AKfish,

Here are some pictures of the mower. A couple of things I learned:

First, this was not the year to try and make hay in Northern California. If it looks thin, as in Photo D, mowing and raking doesn't help make more.

In the really light areas getting the cut oats off of the sickle bar was hard. I wound up tilting the bar up so they would fall off the back. If I didn't they would lay on the bar and clog the teeth so the uncut oats would not make it to the cutters and just get pushed over. Down side was that I was loosing 3-4 inches of oat stock. Thicker areas I could keep it level and the oats would lay over and were heavy enough to stay were they fell.

Our field was still too dirty with rocks and root burls. It is a big improvement over were it was three years ago, but too many obsticale for the mower and hay rake. I also need to thin out some of the trees, just too hard to get around them

The John Deere 350 worked great. Well try again next year as I'm sure it's going to be a really wet year.

[AKfish]

gwin,

Beautiful place! Thanks for sharing. So, this is a new field? Started from trees and brush just 3 years ago?

Aside from looking a bit on the dry side of things -- the field looks great!

Will you bale the oats for feed or are you gonna rake and combine the windrows for grain?

Mower looks to be in very good condition. Thanks again for the pics. Always nice to see another part of the country.

AKfish