Sickle Bar Ford 501 series 7' sickle mower ???'s

[Digger2013]

My dad found this mower for one heck of a deal!!! He wanted it for his lil BX24 but, descided it would be too much for his tractor. I have a 3203 JD and we "think" it should work well for my needs..ie. roadside maintenance, pasture work, general cleanup, etc.

Now the ??'s begin When bought it had no pitman arm, straps, bearings, etc. So I scoured the net and bought new parts acording to diagrams I found online. I have already replaced all knife sections (minus the rivets, I used bolt kit as I don't have the rivet tool), new knife holdowns, wood pitman arm, pitman box assy, bearings, seal, etc.

What I don't know is what the pitman "lever & tongue" part does and how it connects to the knife bar(pic #3)??? I have a couple ideas,(last 2 pics), but want to be sure!!!! I have owners and repair manuals purchased but waiting for delivery.

Thanks to all who can help!!!!!

Hi, I'm in the same boat you are. I recently bought a 501 mower and completely redesigned it to fit my little Kubota. I think you need to still get the two pitman straps, they go around the ball of the blade arm and the lever you just bought will tighten them. The part numbers I have in my parts book are-143575 for the front and 143576 for what they call the rear. I think once you see these it'll make sense. These are the pieces that bolt to the pitman arm. If you need a picture let me know and I'll see if I can send one to show these parts on the arm. Good luck !

Now I have a question-- Does anyone know of a good drawing somewhere out there that shows how the blade assembly goes together ? I pulled everything apart and bought all new hardware but the parts manual doesn't go into the detail I need. I've never used a sickle mower so I'm not familiar with how everything goes together.

 

[Digger2013]

Hi, I'm in the same boat you are. I recently bought a 501 mower and completely redesigned it to fit my little kubota. I think you need to still get the two pitman straps, they go around the ball of the blade arm and the lever you just bought will tighten them. The part numbers I have in my parts book are-143575 for the front and 143576 for what they call the rear. I think once you see these it'll make sense. These are the pieces that bolt to the pitman arm. If you need a picture let me know and I'll see if I can send one to show these parts on the arm. Good luck !

Now I have a question-- Does anyone know of a good drawing somewhere out there that shows how the blade assembly goes together ? I pulled everything apart and bought all new hardware but the parts manual doesn't go into the detail I need. I've never used a sickle mower so I'm not familiar with how everything goes together.