Sickle mower needed ...Ford 515 or NH 451?

[mjcountrybumpkin]

I have a friend that has a smaller 30 ish hp Kubota. He had some odd bracket made up so he could attach his 451. It works, but not really well. Cannot adjust the forward pitch on the bar just right.

 

[Verticaltrx]

The 450/455 and 451/456 New Holland sickle bar mowers were probably some of the best ever made. We have both an old 450 from '68 and a 451 from the '80s. I have mounted the 451 on my little B3200 before, so your M6800 should be no problem. That said, I had to make an adapter for the toplink. It's a pretty straight forward adapter and NH even sells a couple different ones, they call it a compact tractor adapter. You may or may not need it, but you will have to adjust the yoke and lift cable length to fit your tractor. An owners manual would be a good investment.

 

[Hiptfarms]

There are issues with hookup on NH 450 and 451's on Kubota's because of the unique hitch on the mowers. Ken Sweet

Ken
Can you elaborate on the potential hitch issue? Is it just going to be very aggravating or is it going to be incompatible? I'm going tomorrow to look at it and now I'm a bit worried that this might not be a good choice. Please give me some more feedback if you can.

 

[Verticaltrx]

Ken
Can you elaborate on the potential hitch issue? Is it just going to be very aggravating or is it going to be incompatible? I'm going tomorrow to look at it and now I'm a bit worried that this might not be a good choice. Please give me some more feedback if you can.

The upright parts of the yoke might hit the lift rods on your 3pt hitch. I doubt it will be a problem, but the potential is there. As I mentioned, there is a bracket that moves the yoke back and will cure this. Once the mower is setup for your tractor it will be as easy to take on and off as on any other tractor. There is a ton of adjustable in these mowers. Attached is a pic of a NH 451 on my B3200 and of the hitch setup (with my homemade adapter bracket).

 

[Hiptfarms]

Well I went today and bought the NH. It's in really good shape. The gentleman bought it in 2001 and used it for 3 years cutting about 30 acres of hay 2-3 times per year. Then he bought a disc mower and put the sickle aside until he loaned it to his neighbor last year. That guy used it to mow his 30 or so acres 3 times then this year he also bought a disc mower. So, it looks really good. Came with an extra knife section and with parts and user manuals. The guard is pristine since he took it off to adjust the mower and just put it in his barn cause it was too aggravating to him to put it on and take it back off. I'll be putting it back on I believe.



So I feel like I got quite lucky with this mower. Bought it for 1200. Can't wait for the weather to change so I can try her out!

BTW, I fit quite easily in the bed of my truck and travelled rather nicely being strapped with two ratchet straps.

Thanks for all y'all's input.