3-Point Hitch Sickle Bar Mower

[drhank]

Hello all,

I have a Mahindra 3016 and am looking for a 3-point hitch sickle bar mower. What do I need to look for and are there any suggestions, warnings, etc. Any input would be more than helpful.

Thanks,
Hank

 

[MH8675309]

Well,, I bought an old model 45 (New Holland). It's in decent condition and works reasonably well for trimming along the road or ponds and ditches but is not what you would want to use for cutting hay. It is a bit of a pain to hook up as well. I may pick up an old Cub someday and just leave it hooked up to it. Newer ones can be pricey unless you've got a legitimate use for one. I was an auction 2 years ago and watched a IH 1300 (with a 9 foot sickle) sell for $3100 - I kept my hands in my pockets that day,,,. If you do get one consider getting a pull behind type (on wheels).

 

[Creamer]

A lot depends on what you are going to use it for. Trimming in tight spaces you need a 3 pt mower but if not you can get by with a trailer type (A lot lower cost and easier to hook and unhook). the semi-mounted (with one caster wheel in the back) are just as handy as the fully mounted for tight spaces.
7' bars are a lot more common than 9' bars and therefore lower cost. If this works for you depends on what you are trying to do - for instance in tight places a 7' may be more useful but trimming along a pond edge where you want to reach as far as you can a 9' may be needed.
If you are running on mostly flat ground without mounds and rocks a pitman stick is fine. If you want to trim on steep grades such as ditches and pond edges or run the mower vertically to trim bushes along a driveway you will need a pitmanless system.
Personally I am a big fan of the IH 1100/1300 series of mowers with the belt drive and gearbox at the cutter head. They are a great mower. Still I own a NH 455 because I do not use it much and the belt drive with a wobble mechanism can be greased and is simple to fix if it has a problem. The IH runs about 10% more strokes/minute but if the gearbox gets water in it and i do not notice it and I ruin it - it is a very expensive repair. Plus in my area NHs are much more common.
Parts can be had for most of the more modern mowers as there still are a lot around. NH and IH still sell new mowers though not very many. I think they are still the 1970s models.
If you are cutting hay and want a slim guard that slide through the grass and easily the double guards are great. But if you are like me who uses it to trim back saplings and bushes you would be better off with the old single mower guards. Sickles can be replaced easily. The bar is usually salvageable but if not you can buy new assemblies or all the pieces. When i bought my mower the sickle bar that held the sections was severely bent and had been welded a couple of times and not well. I just replaced it - I had just over $100 in the bar, sections, and rivets but used the old sickle head.
One thing to check is if the main cutter bar is bent - if it is run. There are plenty of sickle mowers available and once that main cutter bar is bent there is almost no way to get everything aligned properly to get it to cut properly.
If you have any more questions let me know - I will try to answer them.

 

[newbury]

How big a sapling will the usual sickle bar cut?

 

[Looking4new]

How big a sapling will the usual sickle bar cut?

Sickle bar mowers were originally designed to cut hay, not trees. Mine (McCormick-Deering #7) was always a P.I.T.A. to work and as a result it is sitting in the field.

 

[flusher]

Hello all,

I have a Mahindra 3016 and am looking for a 3-point hitch sickle bar mower. What do I need to look for and are there any suggestions, warnings, etc. Any input would be more than helpful.

Thanks,
Hank

I ran a Massey Ferguson 31 sicklebar (7 ft wide cut) off my 2008 Mahindra 5525.



Bought it at auction for $550. Cost about $200 in new parts to get it running.
It's belt driven. The older type is driven by a wooden pitman bar. Either type will work, but I prefer the belt drive.
If you buy a used sicklebar, be prepared to tear into it (new sickle sections, rock guards, clamps, belt, etc).
Get the operator, service and parts manuals.

Sicklebars don't take a lot of horsepower but the larger ones (7-9 ft cutting bar) can be a heavy load for a smaller CUT. Check out the weight of the sicklebar before buying to be sure your tractor can handle it.

Some older sicklebars are hard to set up for proper cutting and need constant attention keep running properly. Also, sicklebars tend to clog while mowing heavy weeds/crops, meaning that you have to back up periodically so the clog gets cleared from the mowing bar.

Good luck

 

[drhank]

I ran a Massey Ferguson 31 sicklebar (7 ft wide cut) off my 2008 Mahindra 5525.

View attachment 410004

Bought it at auction for $550. Cost about $200 in new parts to get it running.
It's belt driven. The older type is driven by a wooden pitman bar. Either type will work, but I prefer the belt drive.
If you buy a used sicklebar, be prepared to tear into it (new sickle sections, rock guards, clamps, belt, etc).
Get the operator, service and parts manuals.

Sicklebars don't take a lot of horsepower but the larger ones (7-9 ft cutting bar) can be a heavy load for a smaller CUT. Check out the weight of the sicklebar before buying to be sure your tractor can handle it.

Some older sicklebars are hard to set up for proper cutting and need constant attention keep running properly. Also, sicklebars tend to clog while mowing heavy weeds/crops, meaning that you have to back up periodically so the clog gets cleared from the mowing bar.

Good luck

Thanks for the good advice. I will be prowling the auctions this spring and want to be well prepared.

Hank

 

[MH8675309]

To answer your question my mower will cut 3/4 " saplings with no trouble and would no doubt cut larger but again, they're not really designed for this. Brush hog the area first and then maintain it with the mower.

 

[newbury]

To answer your question my mower will cut 3/4 " saplings with no trouble and would no doubt cut larger but again, they're not really designed for this. Brush hog the area first and then maintain it with the mower.

Thanks for the reply.
I was also thinking of getting one to run in the vertical position for "trimming" brush back from trails.

 

[MH8675309]

Like a giant hedge trimmer? I don't think thatl work,,,

 

[drhank]

May be a dumb question but are all 3-point hitches alike?

 

[newbury]

Like a giant hedge trimmer? I don't think thatl work,,,

Try reading up about them. Ones that can be run in vertical position are used for trimming hedges.

5 1/2 Foot Farm Maxx (Rossi) Hydraulic Lift Sickle Bar Mower

Perfect for small hay operations, pond and ditch mowing, vertical hedge trimming,

from Feraboli Rossi Farm Maxx Sickle Bar Mower

 

[flusher]

May be a dumb question but are all 3-point hitches alike?

Yep. The dimensions are standardized and all the tractor manufacturers follow the standards. They have to since all the implement manufacturers follow these standards.

But there are three sizes for tractors under 100 hp (engine): Category 0, Category 1, Category 2. Most CUTs have Cat 1 hitches. SCUTs tend to be Cat 0. Once the engine size exceeds 60 hp, you'll find Cat 2 hitches.

Get more info on hitches here

TractorData.com - Three-Point Hitch

Good luck

 

[bcp]

But until quick hitches started being used, hardly anyone cared about meeting the standards exactly. As long as they were within an inch or two, it didn't matter. That's why so many people now have to modify older 3pt implements to fit a quick hitch.

Bruce

 

[drhank]

Yep. The dimensions are standardized and all the tractor manufacturers follow the standards. They have to since all the implement manufacturers follow these standards.

But there are three sizes for tractors under 100 hp (engine): Category 0, Category 1, Category 2. Most CUTs have Cat 1 hitches. SCUTs tend to be Cat 0. Once the engine size exceeds 60 hp, you'll find Cat 2 hitches.

Get more info on hitches here

TractorData.com - Three-Point Hitch

Good luck

Thanks for the help.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I would be looking for a NH451, as that's about as good as a sickle bar mower can get and they can be found used...

SR

 

[MH8675309]

They might make new models that work vertically but I know MINE wont

 

[Sawyer Rob]

A NH451 will run in any position, up, down, it doesn't matter, it will even run in transport position like this,

SR

 

[bcp]

If a pittman arm goes to the hinge end of the cutter bar, it won't cut when anywhere near vertical, as only the bar, not the reciprocating mechanism, is tilted. If it has a v-belt going to the end, as in the photo above, it will cut vertically.

Bruce

 

[Creamer]

How big a sapling? Depends on the tree. I have cut off 2.5" cottonwood before - just go slow. last summer I went through some tall grass with a bunch of cottonwood saplings spaced about 3' apart and never stopped. I wouldn't recommend doing it with the double haybine type guards though. Use the old single mower guards if you do this stuff. For oak, maple, and other hardwoods I would say 1.75" is about as big as I have cut. What's fun is getting into spirea or other shrubs and to watch them fall.