thinking about a sickle mower

[willt1981]

i have a new holland 452 disc mower and a disc bearing went out last year. i had to spend a lot and the mower was out of commission for a lot of second cutting. i have an old ford 501 mower that many pieces are missing from and really isn't field worthy. i want to keep the disc mower because - frankly - it's bad *** when it comes to mowing think stuff which i have a lot of. I'm in the mountains of western nc and were basically a rainforest so there is some very thick hay. but... i want a backup and something to mow my steep hay land with (the disc mower is so heavy that the rear end starts sliding on some of my ground on my 4WD New Holland TN-60A). What should I get? I saw some NH 451's yesterday that seemed very overpriced. Cheapest was 2200 and most expensive was 4700 - all used. Then I saw some NH 450's that ranged from 1300 - 1800. more what i was thinking. any other suggestions? is a 451 that much better than a 450 and is a good 501 something that can mow hay well? I don't like the five point hookup because it doesn't match up to my tractor w/o modification. thoughts?

 

[Verticaltrx]

The 450 and 451 are nearly identical mechanically. IIRC there were a few updates on the 'wobble box' on the 451, and of course the newer ones have more belt guards. They also got rid of the rear PTO that was used to pull a conditioner on the newer models. We got a very old but good 450 for $850, changed a few knife guards, the skid shoe, and a new sickle and its been mowing great for several years now.

Even with the NH mowers you should make sure they hitch up to your tractor. They use that bow setup for the toplink/lift mechanism and some of the newer tractors require a good bit of modification or an adapter kit to make them work. Although they aren't nearly as common, if you could find a good used NH 455 or 456 pull type sickle bar mower they are a really nice setup for mowing hay. My uncle has one that I've mowed many acres with and it really is nice to be able to hook up one hitch pin, two hyd. hoses, the PTO and go mow. Plus they turn a really nice square corner.

Just for reference on the prices, the newest NH mounted sicklebar mowers are around $7K and the trailer type are near $9-10K.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I have a 501 that will cut pretty heavy stuff, and New Holland dealers carry all the parts for them

 

[BeeferMan]

I've noticed the high prices on those sickle mowers - I can't imagine what makes them so expensive! There's just not that much to them...

 

[sweettractors]

i have a new holland 452 disc mower and a disc bearing went out last year. i had to spend a lot and the mower was out of commission for a lot of second cutting. i have an old ford 501 mower that many pieces are missing from and really isn't field worthy. i want to keep the disc mower because - frankly - it's bad *** when it comes to mowing think stuff which i have a lot of. I'm in the mountains of western nc and were basically a rainforest so there is some very thick hay. but... i want a backup and something to mow my steep hay land with (the disc mower is so heavy that the rear end starts sliding on some of my ground on my 4WD New Holland TN-60A). What should I get? I saw some NH 451's yesterday that seemed very overpriced. Cheapest was 2200 and most expensive was 4700 - all used. Then I saw some NH 450's that ranged from 1300 - 1800. more what i was thinking. any other suggestions? is a 451 that much better than a 450 and is a good 501 something that can mow hay well? I don't like the five point hookup because it doesn't match up to my tractor w/o modification. thoughts?

We have just took in on trade to a new disc mower a real late model 451 NH and can sell it for $2850 and I guesstimate the shipping to a business in your area to be around $125-$150. Also have 2 JD #350, 1 MF #41 and 1 IH #1300 and 10 Ford 501 and 1 JD #9. These mowers run from $795 to $1750. Ken Sweet

 

[flusher]

i have a new holland 452 disc mower and a disc bearing went out last year. i had to spend a lot and the mower was out of commission for a lot of second cutting. i have an old ford 501 mower that many pieces are missing from and really isn't field worthy. i want to keep the disc mower because - frankly - it's bad *** when it comes to mowing think stuff which i have a lot of. I'm in the mountains of western nc and were basically a rainforest so there is some very thick hay. but... i want a backup and something to mow my steep hay land with (the disc mower is so heavy that the rear end starts sliding on some of my ground on my 4WD New Holland TN-60A). What should I get? I saw some NH 451's yesterday that seemed very overpriced. Cheapest was 2200 and most expensive was 4700 - all used. Then I saw some NH 450's that ranged from 1300 - 1800. more what i was thinking. any other suggestions? is a 451 that much better than a 450 and is a good 501 something that can mow hay well? I don't like the five point hookup because it doesn't match up to my tractor w/o modification. thoughts?

Forget about rebuilding an old, worn out sicklebar mower. Get yourself a new or used drum mower. Your mower problems will be solved for less than $4K. That's what I plan to do. My old MF41 sicklebar (7ft) has been a headache since I bought it nearly 2 years ago. Last week it nearly tore itself apart when a jam happened and the sickle back jumped out of position. The back was bent and I lost 3 guards somewhere in the hayfield also. I had to get a piece of 1/4"x3/4" bar stock and drill nearly 60 1/4" holds for the sickle sections. I'm tired of this crap so I'm going rotary from now on.

 

[sweettractors]

Forget about rebuilding an old, worn out sicklebar mower. Get yourself a new or used drum mower. Your mower problems will be solved for less than $4K. That's what I plan to do. My old MF41 sicklebar (7ft) has been a headache since I bought it nearly 2 years ago. Last week it nearly tore itself apart when a jam happened and the sickle back jumped out of position. The back was bent and I lost 3 guards somewhere in the hayfield also. I had to get a piece of 1/4"x3/4" bar stock and drill nearly 60 1/4" holds for the sickle sections. I'm tired of this crap so I'm going rotary from now on.

I wish you hadn't drilled those 60 holes, we usually have a used sickle here for $75 + shipping--Ken Sweet

 

[flusher]

I wish you hadn't drilled those 60 holes, we usually have a used sickle here for $75 + shipping--Ken Sweet

Thanks for the info.

Material: $4.50. Three 1/4" twist drills: $7.50. Labor: about 2 hours.