NH 451 Skids

[Ghost River Retrievers]

At long last I located a New Holland 451 Sickle Mower for cutting around my lake. I ran it last weekend and it works well, seems to be in pretty good shape for an old piece of equipment (I think it was built in the 1980s ... if anyone knows how to figure out the age of one by using the serial number, I'd appreciate the info).
The only parts that are a bit out of whack are the skids on which the mower rests when it's taken off the tractor. They are bent up pretty bad ... so bad that after I got them out, it was impossible to get them back in (yeah, I know ... it wasn't the smartest move to take them out ... but I did). So I checked out Messick's and they have a set ... but one side is priced at $176 and the other side is priced at $670! Okay, I understand that parts for equipment that's no longer being manufactured can fetch a higher than expected price, but that seems crazy high in light of the fact that each side consists of three pieces of round metal, one of which is bent at 90 degrees and another one has a few holes drilled through it. (And i have no idea how one side is worth 3.75x what the other side is worth.)
It looks to me like they are useful, but that things will work just fine if they are absent. So I don't plan to purchase those skids unless there's a darn fine, really fine reason that they are needed.
Everyone's thoughts are appreciated!
GRR

 

[Baby Grand]

Ghost,

Congratulations on getting a real nice mower!

After looking for a 451 for a few years I found one locally, for a fair price, back in May. It was pretty well thrashed and the "landing gear" looked like it was made by Snyder's of Hanover, so I cut it off with an oxy-ac torch.

You'll find out if you want to replace the skids when you remove the mower from your tractor or when you put it back on. The mower has a really awkward center of gravity when it's off the tractor and has resisted several of my attempts to set it on blocks. I thought I had it well supported, but it flopped over on it's back after we got 2" of rain, last week. My plan is to make some replacement skids in the near future with some 5/8 or 3/4 pipe that I have left over from another project. That $670 skid price is more than I paid for the whole mower, so there's no way I'm buying OEM to replace them.

After much heating & beating to straighten some of the other parts (I swear it was used in a rock quarry) and two weekends spent making an adapter for the top link and making many adjustments to get the lift height set, I have it working pretty well. It's so much more pleasant cutting our fields with it than using the brush hog - quieter and way less dust generated. The 7' cut vs the 5' hog also cuts down on the time required.

If you've found a good way to support the sickle when it's off the tractor, please share. My honey-do list just gets longer by the day and fixing the skids isn't on it.

-Jim