Sickle Bar Sickle Mowers and Brush Hog

[Syncro]

Sickle mowers were all we had when I was a kid. We cut hay with them, thats before swathers when a side-delivery rake made the wind-rows. They cut timothy and other hay varieties pretty good, but didn't like grass.

I got to disliking sickle bars due to all the maintenance, not to mention driving too close to an imovable object and catching the end of the bar. I remember breaking an expensive casting that way once. Then there is the issue of breaking a tooth, having to sharpen the bar, wear etc.

Yup, a bush hog sure is better for simply cutting grass thats not going to be bailed. No way would I want one of them critters again! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[thcri]

I guess because they are not used as much I figured I could find one fairly cheap. Just me being cheap again but as usual it didn't work. So maybe the next time TSC has the 5 footer King Kutters on sale I will get one.


murph

 

[dknarnd]

Growing up we used a sickle bar mower and old hay rake for cutting and baling the timothy. Now all we do is bush hog the fields down once a year but the trees along the edges are encroaching on the field so it is difficult to reach in to the edges with the bush hog. Also it seems like every time we get close to the stone rows we get to close /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Since we still have the sickle mower but it doesn't fit on the current tractor I decided the best thing to do was buy an old 1952 JD so I can get the sickle mower back in operation /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif It won't be ready for this year but next year the banks along the road and edges of the fields will be lookin good.

 

[RonR]

I used to know a lot of farmers who kept their sickle mower mounted to an IH or JD tractor--that's the only thing they used it for!

Easier to keep one dedicated and have it available to use whenever than mess with attaching/detaching.......

ron