Sickle Bar How much tractor needed for JD 350 - 9' sickle mower?
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Farmwithjunk
Super Member
dweitzel said:
If you're talking about a Deere #350, or a later model NH451, that's about the going rate as far as "dealer price". You may find them cheaper at an auction or private seller. The NH451 had an update in the late 80's/early 90's. (not sure exactly when) The frame was beefed up a bit and a few other minor changes. Later models are considered more desirable by some folks. Older ones occasionally cracked their frames near the left side 3-point mounting pin. Look there for cracks or weld repairs. They only cracked if abused. (Mowing @ high speeds) Either model needs to ready to take straight to the hayfield at those prices. IH1300 should be @ or below $1000 in mint condition. Low buck on good usable units (but not "perfect") , at least around here would be, $750 on the Deere 350, $750 on the older 451's, $1000 on a newer one, and $400 on the IH1300.
Kyle_in_Tex
Super Star Member
1st, A sickle bar is hands down the best weapon for cutting around a pond. My pond has 2 tributaries and about 1/2 mile of shoreline. I can usually cut it in about 30 minutes or less (if the cutter is already hooked up).
$1500 would be OK if the thing was rebuilt with new knives and plates. I think a new 9' replacement knife bar is about $135 or so from JD.
The chain in the middle is to hook up to your drawbar. If I remember right, you need to extend the drawbar about 12-14" back past the PTO shaft and pin it.
I'm worried that it won't fit without some extensions or mods. Make sure it will fit before you buy it. I went and measured across the 2 lower pins that your arms will have to spread open 32" to install it and they will be spread about 28" once installed. You have enough HP. The thing doesn't weigh too much, maybe 400-500lbs (thats a guess). But it does take some strength to lift it as it has a big coil spring (like a big garage door) that helps lift it when connected to the chain.
I just rebuilt mine. Bought the tool($35) to remove the knives and peen in the new rivets. What a job. I think I replaced over 20 knives. The labor involved was sweat equity. I should have bought a new replacement bar with knives. I put in 9 new ledger plates. JD wants you to order 25 at a time and my dealer had 9. It all adds up. I guess it cost about $250 in parts to rebuild it including the tool. I had to buy some rock guards too.
The 9' footer is the way to go to reach out into the water without sticking your tractor. A 6' or 7' would not be long enough for me due to the edge of my pond being soft. I go slow because it gets clogged up with previously cut decaying stuff. I usually have to back up, raise it, and move forward to get past the "clump" of grass. However it is much better since I've rebuilt it. When you set up the knives over the ledger plates the bar is usually flat on the ground touching at the inner and outer shoes, but when it is hanging out in the water the knives don't all scrape over their ledger plates so you can't just cruise along like when cutting a hay crop.
$1500 would be OK if the thing was rebuilt with new knives and plates. I think a new 9' replacement knife bar is about $135 or so from JD.
The chain in the middle is to hook up to your drawbar. If I remember right, you need to extend the drawbar about 12-14" back past the PTO shaft and pin it.
I'm worried that it won't fit without some extensions or mods. Make sure it will fit before you buy it. I went and measured across the 2 lower pins that your arms will have to spread open 32" to install it and they will be spread about 28" once installed. You have enough HP. The thing doesn't weigh too much, maybe 400-500lbs (thats a guess). But it does take some strength to lift it as it has a big coil spring (like a big garage door) that helps lift it when connected to the chain.
I just rebuilt mine. Bought the tool($35) to remove the knives and peen in the new rivets. What a job. I think I replaced over 20 knives. The labor involved was sweat equity. I should have bought a new replacement bar with knives. I put in 9 new ledger plates. JD wants you to order 25 at a time and my dealer had 9. It all adds up. I guess it cost about $250 in parts to rebuild it including the tool. I had to buy some rock guards too.
The 9' footer is the way to go to reach out into the water without sticking your tractor. A 6' or 7' would not be long enough for me due to the edge of my pond being soft. I go slow because it gets clogged up with previously cut decaying stuff. I usually have to back up, raise it, and move forward to get past the "clump" of grass. However it is much better since I've rebuilt it. When you set up the knives over the ledger plates the bar is usually flat on the ground touching at the inner and outer shoes, but when it is hanging out in the water the knives don't all scrape over their ledger plates so you can't just cruise along like when cutting a hay crop.
Kyle_in_Tex said:
Farm and Kyle, thanks a LOT. Kyle, thanks for measuring the pin to pin. I should have thought about that. The normal spacing on the CAT 1 is 26" I wonder why they are calling this a CAT 1 pin system on the Jd 350 if the spacing is 28"? I'm pretty sure the arms on my cub open 32", but I'm not sure what the geometry on the arms would look like at 28" vs 26" (only an inch more per side). I'll see if I can take a few measurments and see what will fit.
Farm, thanks for the insight on the pricing. That's pretty much what I'm seeing here in the paper classifieds as well. Nice to have another set of eyes confirm it.
I'll post back after taking some measurments. I'm sure someone else will run into this with another JD 350 7' or 9' bar sometime. Might be handy to have an answer using the search function.
Thanks much
Dave
gordon21
Veteran Member
As I mentioned earlier, watch for metal rubbing against the inner tire sidewalls, especially with R4 tires. Old sickle mowers are wider then most modern CAT 1 implements.
Farmwithjunk
Super Member
gordon21 said:
Sickle bar mowers were always intended for mowing a hay crop. Tractor wheel spacing was almost always set wide so the mown swath would lay between the wheels as the next swath was cut. The narrow track width of most compacts don't play in to the equasion very well.
