Roadside mower

[jcmseven]

Fellow Posters,

Wanted to hear from any of my fellow posters who might have a sickle bar, or equivalent, device to mount to their tractor for roadside clipping. I am thinking of getting one for my 3720 tractor. I have about one mile of non-public road that is getting overgrown. My neighbor has a sickle bar which he can mount to the PTO of his 4320. It is an "off brand" and he has had much trouble out of it. He has been hired by our neighborhood to trim the roadsides (about ten miles worth) and said he was happy to let me help him with my part of it. In return, I will be forgiven of my $900.00 yearly homeowners' fee. It would also allow me to keep my area looking sharp as he currently does it and despises it so much, he waits quite long to come by (so it is for beautification purposes also). I would like something that is three point mounted, easy to remove and install and is of minimal trouble to maintain and use. Some of the roadside that I would be doing would be quite abruptly steep so I would need something that could extend beyond the side of the tractor. I have even thought about a walk behind rough cut mower, but there is no way a machine of that nature could mow this type volume. Any thoughts would be appreciated and I look forward to them.

John M

 

[BTDT]

Here is what one member made, but I haven't seen him post in a while.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/82056-boom-mower-deck-help.html

 

[jcmseven]

I noticed JD sells sickle bar mower that looks more beefy than my neighbor's does. Any idea how much one of those would cost???

John M

 

[Grrrr]

Fellow Posters,

Wanted to hear from any of my fellow posters who might have a sickle bar, or equivalent, device to mount to their tractor for roadside clipping. I am thinking of getting one for my 3720 tractor. I have about one mile of non-public road that is getting overgrown. My neighbor has a sickle bar which he can mount to the PTO of his 4320. It is an "off brand" and he has had much trouble out of it. He has been hired by our neighborhood to trim the roadsides (about ten miles worth) and said he was happy to let me help him with my part of it. In return, I will be forgiven of my $900.00 yearly homeowners' fee. It would also allow me to keep my area looking sharp as he currently does it and despises it so much, he waits quite long to come by (so it is for beautification purposes also). I would like something that is three point mounted, easy to remove and install and is of minimal trouble to maintain and use. Some of the roadside that I would be doing would be quite abruptly steep so I would need something that could extend beyond the side of the tractor. I have even thought about a walk behind rough cut mower, but there is no way a machine of that nature could mow this type volume. Any thoughts would be appreciated and I look forward to them.

John M

How steep is the road, because if it is not too steep, you might be able to take a garden tractor along it. There are some pics on this forum of people going across some pretty steep banks on GT's.

If this is not possible, I think you would be best of with a sickle bar mower. If parts are hard to get in your area for older ones, I would look into getting a new one.

 

[atgreene]

I do some roadside for the town with a Kuhn flail mower. It may be slightly less maintenance than a sickle bar, as my father mows for them with a Farmall Cub and a 5' sickle and has to change-out cutter bars a couple times a day.

Maybe something to consider is to buy a Farmall with a mid-mount sickle. For what you would pay for a new sickle bar, you could find a decent Farmall Cub or similar. Two advantages to that, the sickle is in front of you so no looking over your shoulder, and you get another tractor that would pay for itself in a few years.

 

[KB9UDE]

I have a 1986 JD 350 model sickle with 9ft cutter bar. It does a wonderfull job mowing roadsides. My grandfather had one just like it that he bought new back in the day and he cut hundreds of acres each year with it before getting a disc mower. I had a New Holland 450 model sickle with a 7ft cutter that I used on my 3320. I now use the JD 350 with my 5203 and have sold the NH. The Deere has a hydraulic lift cylinder and my NH lifted the bar as you raised the 3pt hitch.

John

 

[gunmaker]

Hey John...How's the little one doing? Must be growin like a sprout now! Hope you and the Missus are enjoying her! Craig

 

[seldridge279]

I have 16 acres here in southern CA and needed to cut back the chapperal, sage, sumac etc that grows in the foothills for a fire break. I have about 650 feet of highway frontage that I needed to clear back about 50 feet. Before I got my 2520 I first had a Troy Bilt Trailblazer 48" sickle bar walk behind mower that did a great job of cutting back the brush and grasses. It would cut sumac bushes up to 1 1/2 - 2 inches right at the ground. I keep about 5 acres cleared around the house. I then switched to one of the DR all terrain mowers and it works great too. About half is sloped up to10-15 degrees per the tilt meter and my pucker factor. My next step is a Land Pride rotary cutter that will take up to 2" brush which should handle all my needs out here. With the DR to get into places where I can't get to or won't take the tractor I think I have it covered. Don't know if any of that helps.

 

[gordon21]

You sound like you have the same situation I did. Over a mile of private road with some steep drop offs along the side. A new sickle mower is well over $3000 and has all sorts of hydraulics on it. What you need is a 30-40 year old working JD sickle mower that can be had for about $600-800, depending upon condition. Parts for the JD version are cheap and easy to find at your dealer or at TSC. 20 new blades, rivets and a pitman arm will run under $60. A belt might be another $15-18 if you need one. The technology is simple and reliable. Beware of the model you select being too wide to fit behind the tractor without rubbing on the inner tire sidewalls. There are several models you may run across. example: 39 or a 39N The N means narrow.

If you have never run a sickle mower, make sure the seller explains how you can lose a finger in less than a second by handling the cutter bar wrong. A sickle bar deserves a lot of respect. The rule of thumb is that whatever will go between the teeth on the rock guards, then the mower should cut it. That means anything up to about 2" in diameter. Small trees get cut and fall over. My 24PTO HP running loafing at 1500 RPM runs a 7' bar easily unless I am getting into many trees. A sickle mower uses very little horsepower and is quiet to operate. Used motor oil is a cheap lubricant for the bar.

Mowing your road at 4-5MPH will be very relaxing. Enjoy the scenery and wildlife along the way. You may be surprised what you see along the road while going that slow not making a lot of noise. The only tension will be when you slow down around utility pole guide wires and hope you don't cut them.

Ask dealers what is out back in their boneyard. Most dealers will have one laying around or know where there is one for sale. There will not be much haggling on the price. If it works, the seller will want $600 minimum. If it is freshly painted and has new blades expect to pay $700+ Do not buy an off brand unless you are satisfied you can get parts for it. Stick to JD or Ford.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

A sickle will lay the grass down which takes a long time to decompose. Look into a side shifting flail mower (used of course). If you have to trim a pond, get a sickle bar.

 

[jcmseven]

Thanks. I was also looking at the Swisher website. They have a rough cut mower that can mount side saddle to an ZTV or UTV. It retails for around $1200.00 but maybe it would be a viable option. I could pull it around with the Gator if it were a reasonable alternative. The only question I would have is truly how much can one adjust its track outward?? I would need at least two feet.

John M

 

[KennedyDiesel]

The sickle is nice because the felled grass can slow future growth. I guess some dislike this.

Swisher is a hit/miss company. The M-I-L bought a 44" trail mower for behind her GT. The battery selection deal for the unit was a major fiasco. The book called for a battery that did not fit. The battery box was teeny. I tried to help in dealing with Swisher and it wasn't easy going. I don't recall the whole outcome, but IIRC there was a ground issue where the battery would not charge, and the first belt was eaten in short order due to a cotter pin cutting it. Major PITA to take apart, but once assembled properly it does seem to work good.