NH 451 mower - bar is bending too much

[drw]

These are both good thoughts.

Opti-Mist: In the picture you are referencing, I had lowered it the rest of the way down, which took up slack in that cable you saw. However, the low position is where you are supposed to be when you mow, and I think you may be on to something. I will look more closely at my manual to learn the purpose of this cable, and will find out how to tighten it. It'd be great if the answer lies there.

zzvyb6: I'm not laughing at all, because I had the exact same idea myself! I thought before I took those kinds of measures I would see if there is some other idea. But to give it a reverse bend was exactly my thought, too.

I'll post more when I learn more. Thanks again guys.

 

[zzvyb6]

Pictures posted on some for sale ads I found on the Net show good rear views of 450, 451 and 455 mowers. They show the bar in transport position with a few inches of downward curvature as indicated from the sideboard position. I'd bend it after loosening the guards and pulling out the cutter. No kinks, just a little uniform coersion.

 

[flusher]

I'm new to haymaking and am planning on doing some hay work this fall. I have a NH 451 9' bar mower.

I have hooked it up to the tractor per the manual's instructions and made sure that it was level and 16.5" high on all sides. The bar, however, seems to be bending down in such a way that the outer end of the bar touches the ground while the side of the bar closest to the tractor is over a foot high.

In short, the bar is bending under its weight and that makes it impossible to level the bar.

Am I missing something here, or does this mower need a new bar?

No, you don't need a new bar. It looks pretty stout to me. No evidence of damage.

I'd adjust the inner and outer shoes so when you set the mower in position by lowering the 3pt hitch, the mower is 3-4 inches above ground level. You don't want to mow hay any shorter than that. You want the mown hay to lay on the stubble to aid in drying it out rapidly.

I have a 7-ft MF-41 sicklebar, 3pt hitch style, and use that method to set the cutting height.

I had to replace the sickle sections and most of the guard/ledger plates on my sicklebar to get it to cut smoothly with minimum clogging. You may have to do this to get your mower working OK.

 

[art]

I'd say it is about normal for them other then a brand new one which might not have quite the flex yet.
You could lighten the load out there with a different hay guide but the one you have is about as light as they come.

 

[drw]

flusher, I'll look at adjusting the shoes.

Looking at your photo, I see a brace connecting the mower to the bar. This obviously helps hold up the bar and I wonder why mine doesn't have one.

 

[Opti-Mist]

flusher, I'll look at adjusting the shoes.

Looking at your photo, I see a brace connecting the mower to the bar. This obviously helps hold up the bar and I wonder why mine doesn't have one.

That link is only to secure the cutter bar for transport. You can make one out of a piece of rod.

 

[drw]

Okay, mine has a different mechanism for securing it for transport.

I'll look at adjusting the shoes. The manual shows how to adjust them, but it only appears to be adjustable in minute amounts. I need significant adjustment, but perhaps I'll see a better accurate picture when I get out there and look at it this afternoon.

I'll post again once I've done the shoe thing.

 

[flusher]

flusher, I'll look at adjusting the shoes.

Looking at your photo, I see a brace connecting the mower to the bar. This obviously helps hold up the bar and I wonder why mine doesn't have one.

That's just used to transport the mower on the road from field to field. It came with that MF mower. It attaches to the bar with a wing nut on the threaded end. When the mower is in use, that brace rotates away from the bar and is held in place by a simple spring clip.

For another of my sicklebars (I have three of them including a mid-mounted sicklebar ower on my Farmall Super A tractor), the Allis Chalmers 80T, I just use a chain to hold the bar in place during road transport.

 

[drw]

Good to know. My NH mower has a spring mounted "U" that holds it in place. You can see it in the "transport position" picture that I posted above.

 

[dawzie]

I have a NH450 7' mower with operators manuel. It talks about a certain amount of "weight" on the inner and outer shoes. The outer shoe weight is adjusted by that cable.

My cable has been replaced. So does anybody know what the length is supposed to be from the bolt holes on the cable eyes??