Sickle mower/corn reaper binder ?

[mboncalo]

Hi everyone,

Have you seen a project anywhere for modifying a sickle mower into a corn reaper binder ? Would it be possible ?

 

[Sonny580]

the old corn binders had only a couple knives to cut the stalks since you only take 1 row at a time. Then there is the catching tray then the string that has to hold the bundle together and a knotter like hay balers use to knot the strings, so short answer to your question would be no!

 

[mboncalo]

the old corn binders had only a couple knives to cut the stalks since you only take 1 row at a time. Then there is the catching tray then the string that has to hold the bundle together and a knotter like hay balers use to knot the strings, so short answer to your question would be no!

What I was thinking of was if it's possible to cut the maize with the sickle mower knives , and build something on top of if so that it falls in a tray or somewhere...
That was just my logic but I lack of the experience so that's why I'm asking

 

[leonz]

Hi everyone,

Have you seen a project anywhere for modifying a sickle mower into a corn reaper binder ? Would it be possible ?

You need to look for horse drawn farm equipment,
if you subscribe to the Lancaster Farmer that will
be your first step to learn more.

 

[Sonny580]

unless your corn stalks are VERY thin a regular sickle wont cut them since its not made for that heavy cutting. That would be the first problem. You could devise a reel and tray to catch the cut stalks with no problem and then you would have to hand bunch and tie them.
Ground speed would have to be winch cable slow and if the stalks were like we grow here it would struggle to cut them and probably break the sickle.
It would take a chainsaw to cut ours, which I have done before.
You can try to make something and see how it goes.

 

[mboncalo]

So, I am engineer, skilled in metal/wood work so that's why I need to find out ways to achieve and build this
I have read on a different forum that you can cut it with sickle mower but it will throw around all the stalks.
So what I was wondering is if there was a project anywhere to modify a sickle mower to achieve an effective maize harvesting machine


For example, cut those small teeth from the sickle mower that can trap, isolate maize stalks and cut them and build something extra on top and even make a binder, amish style

 

[1Mech]

We had an old International, I think, corn binder on the farm when I was much younger back in the '70s. it was originally horse drawn but had been modified to be pulled with a tractor. We had an old 8N. It was an amazing thing to watch it work, stacking the stalks, then bundling them and tying the bundle. At the Post Office, we had a bundle tyer for wrapping bundles of magazines and newspapers, remember those, which used a similar tyer for tying the knot. Some marvelous engineering for it's time. They, the bundle tyers are all gone now, replaced with strappers. I always was reminded of the corn binder when I would watch one of those work, or if I had to repair one.