Can I Power an Enrossi Sickle Mower with a Sub Compact?

[0341GearHead]

Hello,

I found an Enrossi sickle mower for sale that I'm considering purchasing for my Bolens 1502H. The mower has a five-foot bar, but the unit itself looks fairly heavy. Also, the manufacturer recommends a minimum of 20 HP to operate the mower, but my tractor's engine is only rated at 15 HP. Does anyone think I can pull this off? Has anyone else pushed the limits of a manufacturer recommendation like this? The price seems fair: the unit is like new, and they're asking $3,250, but I'd hate to waste that kind of money on something that I discover I can't use.

Thanks!



James

 

[K5lwq]

I do not think you would be happy with that combo. Just a little too much mower for your machine.

 

[rademamj1]

It will operate the sickle mower, but the minute you hit the field, you will start to experience bogging down, jamming and overall very poor cut quality due to HP limitations.

 

[0341GearHead]

Thanks for the help, guys. I do believe it'd be a better idea to borrow my neighbor's mower and run that with my 641 Ford. I was trying to avoid that because it's cumbersome on slopes because of the loader, but I suppose I can take the loader off. It doesn't appear to be as big of a job to disconnect the loader as I thought it would be.

 

[Egon]

Five foot on a sickle bar isn’t that much. You could always take a smaller cut or slow down. The hp. required will depend a lot on what is being cut, the thickness and the ground speed.

 

[DK35vince]

It might work OK
I have the same/similar sickle bar mower in a 7' I run on a 35 HP tractor.
It takes surprisingly little power to run it

 

[rademamj1]

It was hard to find specs on your tractor, but it looks like you have the Mitsubishi 15hp engine and 10.2 hp at the PTO. I honestly think it will struggle with 5' sickle mower. On the other hand, my grandpa used to cut hay in his field with a 4' sickle cutter and just two horses.