sickle bar mower adjustment & mowing under fences
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- Опубликовано: 2 авг 2024
- Sickle bar mowers can be a joy to run when adjusted properly. In this video, I go through the adjustment procedure using my Farmall Super C tractor with an International C-21 sickle bar mower as an example. The same principles apply to any sickle bar mower, and to haybines as well. Then we'll go out to the field and mow under some fences!
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WARNING WARNING for those out there thinking about buying one of these, keep your fingers away from the blades when fold the bar up for transport. Sickle slides down....finger gone.
Great video btw!!!
I almost lost a finger the only time I folded one up. I didn’t know anything about this type of mower at the time.
Your right Richard first thing I was taught.
@@rogercarrico4975 you should get sign on the locked door danger beware of the sycle bar.I cut my little finger deep when some bugger was taking the blade of the combine when I was a teen .still have no feeling in it.lol.I know it happend again with with another boy working on the farm again changing the blade on the combine header .with the same bloke who nearly took my finger off.He slide the blade without warning and took a couple of his fingers off .the funny thing is everybody thought it was funny at the time and we where calling him passion fingers.Until we saw his fingers on the ground.so I ran and got a coffee cup to put them in .when I came back .the lads were doubled over .the farm dog had eaten one of his fingers and were laughing too Much to catch it.so once we got most of his fingers we but him in the back of the pickup truck and took him to hospital.The wrong hospital as it turned out the nearest one only treated children.. Found a proper one eventually. Lol
Yup 50 years ago learned the hard way too, had to drill press a third hole in a knife section. Thot I’d just hold it by pressing down on it. Lucky just got a bad cut.
That was the first thing I learned about these mowers from my father, 65 years ago, and he had all of his fingers. I was on edge of my seat during this whole video. Pete had his fingers in the wrong place many times.
Absolutely agree, never get your fingers anywhere near the blade when it is in the upright carriage position, the cutters will move down a lot. I had to repair the wooden push rod on one machine, went to a timber merchant and he made a piece of the right size, from what he considered to be suitable wood (maybe ash.?) I had to make the slot for the drive end myself. I think they cut much lower than the modern rotary mowers, and leave less on the field. . . .
It's a pleasure seeing the old Super C doing more than just pulling wagons. I'd love to see it in a tobacco field with a 2 row cultivator. I remember mowing with Grandpa's Cub and the Cub 122 mowing machine. It was a pleasure to operate. The mowing machine mounted under the belly of the tractor and the sickle bar was in front of the back tire so you could easily see what you were mowing.
Set the sickle in the vise, nose down and beat the back of section w a 2 pounder. It'll sheer the rivets. Skips the grinding. I use the 2 pounder to set the rivets too. Fast, never a problem. I cut 100 acres a yr this way w a NH456. I sharpen up the flat side of the sections w a flap disc every couple days too. Good tips here Thanks.
I’ve seen that shearing tip. Thinking about trying it eventually.
Nice work explaining the sickle bar mower basics. You're right, operating a sickle bar mower is a lost art, as are several other old school farm practices. Thanks for sharing. Stay safe.
It's such a blessing to watch you use the old equipment and to teach us about it. Thanks for sharing with us.
I would use a chisle and hammer to replace those rivets we went threw many boxes of knives. Good memories. Thanks for posting
I'll never forget watching my uncle and his two boys race around the neighborhood hay fields with three Farmall H tractors fitted with sickle bar mowers. The three of them working as a team could flat out lay down some hay. 21 feet of cutter bars and skilled drivers.
@@redrustyhill2 a 19ft sickle bar would be useless on this ground around here!
@@redrustyhill2 I didn't realize that, but still, it is hilly and rough and back when my uncle and cousins were rip roaring around the neighborhood on farmall H tractors, they were cutting off of all kinds of little, often oddly shaped patches. 6 or 7 ft cutter bar was handy.
Just a few acres. That's the kind of farming I fell in love with 50 years ago, and it still burns holes in my sore heart each day. It's like flying in the silken air of creation not knowing about yourself nor about anything. With your head against the flank of a cow you milk her in the evening, smiling without any feeling of pride, just content, thinking how much God must envy you. I'd sell my soul for a farm like that.
My mower cut like that yesterday, not so much today. After fiddling with the bar quite a bit today, I decided that the belt needed to be replaced, where upon it promptly broke. So, tomorrow, off to the NH dealer to get a new belt and then trying to figure out how to put the new one on. You seem to be a bit further down the road in the farming adventure than I am. Man, I wish I'd paid more attention to what grandpa was saying all those years ago.
You have a gift Pete. You are an excellent Teacher
This was one of those videos that I wish had another 20 minutes to go. I bought my grandfather's farm about 4 years ago not too far away from you. I tried learning and adjusting a sickle mower but as I watch this I'm waiting on the clogs and stress of getting it right. I only make hay so I don't have a big need for one so I sold it. But I still like seeing others use the old machinery and see it work as it should
A Lost Art~ One of the things you can do to help Future Generations is to Teach young men and women HOW to use and FIX old tractors and Equitment ~!!! Thank You for this Video~!
I remember mowing with my grandfather when I was a kid on his 53 Cub with a mid-mounted sickle mower. I recently started making hay again on my neighbors field and I completely rebuilt the 5ft bar on the cub. Later i bought a 7 foot bar for my 544 I got last year. It is a fast hitch mower and does pretty well. Does not like wet grass so I have to wait till the grass dries to mow which eats into drying time. With a full time job and the weather the factored in I am going to buy a new disc mower soon. Wont be as nostalgic as the old sickle mowers but I dont have time for nostalgia any more. I still get out the cub with the 5ft sickle and mow under the pine trees as much as I can. I almost got a baby deer laying under one tree last spring so now I will just leave the tall grass for them to hide in. Thanks for the video.
You do not need to drill out the rivets on the knife sections just set the knife bar on the edge of a anvil or other square iron withe knife sections pointing down and hit the back of the knife section you want removed with a hammer and it will shear the rivet, really fast and easy. Great video! Thing I like best about a sickle bar is no dust!!!! In CA when I need to mow the ground is dry and dusty.
Boy that takes me back to my childhood. Our landlord had one of those with his beautiful old Allis-Chalmers tractor. He was good with it too. REALLY good after watching this video and how much there is to it. He kept the property looking so nice with it.
This video came to my news feed just in time. The Soviet one KSF 2.1 is very much the same as the C-21 in the video. I have no idea what mower the Soviet engineers used to construct the KSF mower. Probably a old McCormick or International mower. But the video is very useful since it sums up all the basics.
So happy to have found your channel, reminds me of working with my grandpa when I was a boy. Plus the information is clear and to the point. Cheers from eastern nebraska.
When growing up I would ride with Dad on JD ar used to cut with sickle bar mower
Dad would have a nap in the shade & would let me cut hay was very fun
When i was 16 i was going up a hill with a farmall H and a sickle bar mower in our field and caught a rock and it lifted the fron of the tractor off the ground and swung it around and when it stopped it was facing downhill and i was like "what just happend" love this channel lol
Thanks for this guide. My troy built 42" isn't cutting grass well so I'll follow your procedure tomorrow.
On our family dairy farm where I grew up in Canton, New York we had this similar Sickle Mower. I was the oldest son out of four boys and I remember with pride when my Dad would say after evening milking “Paul, you can mow about seven times around that field we were haying, if you want to”
I really enjoy your videos. Brings back memories
You are an honorable man sir. You are a knowledgeable man who has a passion for your trade and your tractors and implements are like grandkids that you dearly love. Your passion for sharing your knowledge with those of us fascinated by what you do is truly a righteous thing. I always get excited when I get a notification that you have opened the doors to the classroom with another video. Thank you.
This was a great video. Reminded me of my dad working on his sickle bar mower, pounding out rivets and replacing blades, all the work he did to it before we would go out mow with the Ford 8n. A summer ritual.
Brings back memories of getting a john deere no5 sickle mower ready to cut red clover hay with a 1949 john deere Model A tractor
Great video! Good information. I love old equipment like this
Another great, detailed video Pete. On our '53 Super C we used a JD #5 semi-mount sickle bar mower. Today I have a Rossi 3point hitch sickle bar that I use for trimming. That works well with both the section bar and the guards move and allow the cutterbar to operate from 90 deg. up to 75 deg. down. This helps tremendously with a road bank we have.
Pete, thanks for the memories. I drove a team of horses pulling a cycle bar mower on a dairy farm in Newburg, NY. Then I used a horse drawn dump rake to gather the hay into windrows for bailing.
Wow Pete great video and you mention all your antiques Trecter good job
Just watched today's video, 6/202/2022, now I am here to figure out how to adjust my sickle bar mower, Thanks again Farmer Pete!
I blame you Pete! Your enthusiasm is infectious! I just got an international GL-223 sickle bar mower and have spent all week doing it up. It was sitting in someone’s paddock. Thank you so much for the information you share, it’s priceless
Thank you! Another great video! It’s hard to explain the joy of mowing with a sickle bar mower! The adjustments and lubrication were very helpful
Don't the sound of that mower bring back memories 🚜 thanks for sharing this video,
Very good job explaining how the sickel mower works and the adjustments.
Yo. This was a super informative video! Thanks for your thorough set up. I came here to figure out what was wrong with my new to me Deering No 7 and I learned a lot.
me Grandpa would love this video..and the old timey implements..brings back good times...
Thank you, very informative and helpful information for those of us looking to get started. Don’t have a ton of mechanical experience and it’s by far the biggest “catch” in the plans.
Great video! Im a 7th gen and make videos of our family farm in northern Missouri, and watching these videos bring me back to the antiques I was lucky to grow up with!
Hey we farm 2k plus in Columbia row crop and 100 head or so with few thousand acres of pasture triple b farms is us I’ve heard of you guys
You are excellent and thorough in your video instructions! Thank you
Yes I really did enjoy the video. Going through cutting problems myself but hope to be tuned up soon! Good tips. Thanks.
Absolutely EXCELLENT instructional video! Good work!
The meticulous way you maintain your equiptment is deserving of high repect sir. You truly love and enjoy tools. Kudos to ya!
Thank You! I have had subcompact tractors for just rotary mowing. But last few years I've collected other attachments with the most recent being a 46" sickle mower. So you information has made a difference for us.
Wow Pete grate video theres a life time of knowledge there that I've learned on my own the only thing more I do is sharpen the points of the rock grades we have a lot of rock here in east Tennessee and sometimes blount the ends of the rock guards the old hay the rake left or those bang mouse nest I run one and run a disk mower do all the trimming and mow over and around the rock with the sickle thanks Tom
Fantastic video. Really enjoyed and derived great value from it. Recently renovated an old MF mowing bar. You are so right using the scissors comparison.
Now that’s a tractor/implement rig that I’d be able to do for more than 5 minutes before getting bored. I’d LOVE to just cut a whole field with it one time. That’s really neat. The technology really is there. Quite some engineering right there.
Thank you so much for this video. It is so helpful. I just got my first Sickle Mower and I’m so excited to get going.
Can't wait to get mine back up and going. It's been sitting for years.
Very nicely explained. I now have a better understanding of the sickle bar and it’s finer details. Thanks Pete.
Thank you very much for this excellent explanation & description of a sickle bar mower. I have never used one (I mow about 5 ac. with a bush hog 1 or 2 times per year), but I have been thinking and wondering about them for some time. I now have a pretty clear understanding.
Thanks. I run a -16A mower on my Farmall A. Same stuff. One thing I've learned: Save The Old Rock Guards!! The newer replacements (OEM or aftermarket) are not the same in fit!! They leave a big gap between ledger and sickle knife. I have a big headache now since I threw away all my old-style guards. And I thought I was upgrading....
Very well spoken gentleman. Thank You.
This is the best video I have found that explains how the sickle works and how to repair and adjust it. Thank you! I use a JD350 to cut with, used to use a Ford 501 Mower.
Great video, you know your stuff. Just pulled grandpa's out of the weeds and I think I can get it running with your video. Thank You.
Pete,wanted to say,your mower vid enhanced me so much,I was convinced I could do the same,so recently I found and purchased a 79/80? MF 41 dyna balance sickle,wobble box is tight,so I purchased it( for a song)! Of course the knife needs attention,and some new things got it apart now,going to mount and set it up on a 55 Ford 600 I have. Excited about it and completion,soon,hopefully.
Thank you very much, i learned a lot about my sickle bar mower that i didn't know yet. I will do my first mowing with it in a few days.
Love the vintage equipment
A well tuned owner will mow in very heavy hay. I used to paint my bar before I put it away for the year and then it was like starting with a new mower
Great video thank you. Just bought an old mower to restore and hope to use it on my small holding here in France next season. Very useful and entertaining watch. Thanks again
Love this channel! Keep the great videos coming!!!👍👍👍
You have a lot of knowledge on these type equipment. I have an old Super C and few equipment with it,,, but not a sickle mower.
This was a really good video that pretty much answered all the questions I had. Thanks!
My grandfather had a similar IH sicklebar with the 3 point and a long leaver to raise/lower cutter bar. Back when manufacturers thought about farmers, using a piece of timber as the sheer/weak point meant you could fix it quickly without having to go to town for parts.
Great video many on here using sickle bars have no idea of how to set them up or just them
Great video Pete. I’ve spent years of my life mowing with an H and a 120. There’s no more relaxing way to mow when conditions are right😊
That is such a great setup, much better than the rig I used in the video. I wish mine were running, but the H has engine problems.
Very thoroughly explained. Thanks for the video.
This afternoon, I was mowing the ditch alongside the road using a bush hog mower attached to my JD 4200 utility tractor. I'm always leery about the tractor tipping over when driving on a slope. It seems like the wheels on the tractor are spaced too narrow for driving on slopes. I was thinking a sickle bar mower would be safer to use, but I didn't know much about them. Then when I got on youtube tonight, this video displayed on the recommended videos screen. Did youtube read my mind? LOL Anyway, I appreciate you taking the time to make this video, so I could learn about sickle bar mowers.
My dad used 1963 B-414 McCormick International 40 hp Desiel motor loader tractor to pull type with 2 wheels Sickle Mower McCormick International type similar to your style used for Hay cutting then leave week then get rake up with raker plus different tractor for baled in 2 weeks too ! Yes lots fun fix to Pete :) and had my chore to on repairs too! The one my dad to lift was power take pull lever on clutch of Sickle Mower that drove knifes cutting bar was chore to use and fun to use!
Nicely done!
I learned so much from this video. I got my new holland model 46 pull type sickle tuned up and now its cutting awesome!
That’s great Kyle!
I’m impressed !
Thanks Pete, A sickle bar mower is all I still use a # 9 deere. I use it two or three times a year and first cutting, I'm rusty, Its not easy to mow right and its where most of us learned to cuss.
Love your videos Pete.
Very informative!! Thanks for sharing!!
Very informative video! I haven't been able to make a successful pass without it clogging skipping , but after watching this I have a pretty good idea what needs a fix .
You need to find an owners manual and carefully adjust it. Original or reprints can be found at tractor shows or on line. Once worn parts are replaced and adjusted correctly it should mow just fine no matter what brand.
We used the same sickle bar mower to cut hay with on our farm , they are best that international ever built .
Really great step by step video.
Thanks 👍
Nice job explaining all that! Nice video
I started using one of them when I was twelve years old. If I had to get between a blade on a sickle mower then I used a stick of wood as a safety precaution. I would shut the engine off if I had to get my hands anywhere near the sickle blade. WHen I lifted the bar up then I lifted opposite of the blades behind the sickle bar to keep my fingers out of the path of the sickle bar.
I just scrapped a McCormick Deering #7 mower last week.
Very informative!
U sure got that tuned up. Had one in the beginning.hated doing rivits went to bolts too.then hay bine hated them too. Lastly discbine.died went to heaven. Cows mostly trimmed fences but where didnt trimed with gas powered trimmer.thats a slick way of doing it with sicklebar !
Very instructive as usual.
Great video thank you for making it!
Very informative and helpful video. I recently got a old John deer no 4 horse drawn sickle and most of the things you covered on this are identical to mine.
I attached an ATV winch to my Ford 501. Turned it into a completely different mower around trees and fence posts.
Good stuff! Thank you! Very helpful!
Excellent Video nicely done
Lot of memories of a lottttt of acres...
Love your videos and personality.
Use these sickle bar mowers when I was growing up as a kid, love all the old tractors and equipment. Used a lot of them. Love the info and vids
Thanks for your video
been there,done that.thanks pete.larry in INDIANA
i sure appreciate this video. thank you so much.
A live drive tractor would certainly make life a lot easier for you Pete!
A sickle bar mower would be great for mowing along my irrigation ditches. The way I do it now, if the ditch has water in it, or its still wet, I have to straddle the ditch with the lawn tractor, mow down to the other end, then backup to the other end of the ditch again, and if you don't stay perfectly in line with the ditch due to the narrow width of a lawn tractor, you end up in the ditch LOL...so a sickle mower would be quite useful for that chore as well.
Where the issue of running under-serrated sections and serrated ledger plates comes in most often is on the old horse drawn mowers. Since those were ground driven, it means that your sickle speed is at a given ratio to your ground speed all the time. I have a McCormick-Deering No. 7 mower, which was IHC's first enclosed gearbox mower, and my great grandpa converted it to be pulled with a tractor. There are all other kinds of issues with that, such as not being able to get to the controls when driving, but my grandpa was telling me that you would always want smooth ledger plates and serrated sections or smooth sections and serrated ledger plates, which is what mine has. He said if both surfaces were serrated, the slower speed of the knife would allow a blade of grass to get in between both serrations, and lock the mower up easier. Don't know if that's completely true or not, since it locks up a lot anyways, but that's what he told me.
By the way, great video! I would love to find me a PTO-driven sickle mower to go with one of our tractors. We only have one IH tractor (a 1974 1066), we mainly run John Deere and Allis Chalmers. Maybe I can find an Allis 82-T one of these days.
Pete,
Thanks for making the videos. My wife and I have recently started (of course we’re Covid homesteaders) the more self sufficient life. We started now with gardening and chickens. I’ve found your videos on economics and the Dexter cows to be very informative. I appreciate your style and your approach with raising animals is where I am. (As organic as possible but being practical and humane to the animals). I want to get into beef in the next year or two and would have gone Angus because it’s what we had growing up but because of you I’m Going Dexter. Thanks again for taking the time and effort and God bless.
Matt Richard
Sorry my prior post wasn’t related to the video- just wanted to say thanks
You're welcome Matthew! Best of luck with your farm!
Very interesting!
Awesome video.
Great video Pete. I am edging ever closer to quitting my corporate job and moving to the country. How does that old John Prine song go? "Blow up your TV, Throw away your paper, Go to the Country, Build you a home..."