Sickle mower question

[Gordon Gould]

I use my sickle bar to mow roadside banks and ditches. There are lots of obstacles; rocks, stumps, stone walls, trees etc. I have a hydraulic lift cylinder on the mower. I never use the hydraulic lift to get over obstacles. The 3pt hieght control is better because it is smoother and gets plenty high. The blade angles up as it is raised so the tip gets higher than the base. The hydraulic cylinder actually limits the downward angle. The rod will hit the mower if you let it angle down to far. I can only angle down about 15 or 20 degrees with the hydraulic cylinder on.