Good hay crop! Hit those weed patches with some 2-4D and it will really help. I’d like to have one of those sickles to mow some with my Massey’s. When was this cut?
Thanks! We sprayed crossbow on it before our second cut and got a lot of it still some spots to spray but it’s looking pretty good, the old sickles I don’t think work quite that well but the ones that have the dual action cutter bars work great, that was cut June 14th I believe, my videos are running a bit behind lol.
A properly maintained sickle bar mower will mow faster than you want to go in most conditions. Wet, soggy areas are to be avoided as they will clog . Also if wet windy conditions cause lodging in the wrong direction, mowing can be challenging. Thank you for the very encouraging video. Many do not realize how many, many decades of hay has been mowed with a sickle! Hat's off to our ancestors that rode a sickle bar mower behind a team of horses. Sorry; but that sounds like a total nightmare!
Yeah, everyone around here always says get a disc mower, but for the money at the time the sickle mower was the way for me and with my terrain I can’t mow faster than the mower will cut anyway, I always enjoy seeing footage of a horse drawn sickle mower but couldn’t imagine having to use one for hours on end
We used a frontier sickle mower for years and never had an issue. As long as you keep the shoe on clean ground they mow just as good and fast as a disc mower
I loved using this Befco but I had it borrowed from a friend, and when I went to buy my own I could actually get a drum mower for less than a new sickle bar mower, the new drum mower is awesome for out needs and the maintenance is much easier, blade changes etc, but it’s also not quite as versatile
Mixed grass, mostly fescue, some Timothy, quite a bit of clover but we are spraying for weeds which also is taking out the clover, it’s been a bit over a year since we sprayed Super Lime Plus and couldn’t be happier with the results. 475 bales last spring to right at 900 this spring
Very rarely, it’s all about your forward speed, if you try to go slow it will clog much easier, you have to keep your ground speed up so it cuts and falls and try not to run over already cut sections
Why couldn't you. Seems like back in the 1960's just about everyone around our area did. Some were sidemount as on our Farmall H then later we got a Ford threepoint to use on our 8n.
When I was looking for a mower everyone says get a disc mower, so a buddy of mine let me use his sickle mower because he has a disc mower a don’t use it anymore and I wanted to demonstrate that a sickle mower is a viable solution to mowing hay still, I can mow as fast as I can ride the tractor with that sickle mower it does a great job.
That’s fast cutting!
Like a Boss 💪
It does a nice job
Good hay crop! Hit those weed patches with some 2-4D and it will really help. I’d like to have one of those sickles to mow some with my Massey’s. When was this cut?
Thanks! We sprayed crossbow on it before our second cut and got a lot of it still some spots to spray but it’s looking pretty good, the old sickles I don’t think work quite that well but the ones that have the dual action cutter bars work great, that was cut June 14th I believe, my videos are running a bit behind lol.
A properly maintained sickle bar mower will mow faster than you want to go in most conditions.
Wet, soggy areas are to be avoided as they will clog .
Also if wet windy conditions cause lodging in the wrong direction, mowing can be challenging.
Thank you for the very encouraging video.
Many do not realize how many, many decades of hay has been mowed with a sickle!
Hat's off to our ancestors that rode a sickle bar mower behind a team of horses.
Sorry; but that sounds like a total nightmare!
Yeah, everyone around here always says get a disc mower, but for the money at the time the sickle mower was the way for me and with my terrain I can’t mow faster than the mower will cut anyway, I always enjoy seeing footage of a horse drawn sickle mower but couldn’t imagine having to use one for hours on end
I like that setup
We used a frontier sickle mower for years and never had an issue. As long as you keep the shoe on clean ground they mow just as good and fast as a disc mower
I loved using this Befco but I had it borrowed from a friend, and when I went to buy my own I could actually get a drum mower for less than a new sickle bar mower, the new drum mower is awesome for out needs and the maintenance is much easier, blade changes etc, but it’s also not quite as versatile
What kind of grass? You still using superlime plus? I used it this year.had a 4 acre field that was all sage grass and now it's 90% good grass
Mixed grass, mostly fescue, some Timothy, quite a bit of clover but we are spraying for weeds which also is taking out the clover, it’s been a bit over a year since we sprayed Super Lime Plus and couldn’t be happier with the results. 475 bales last spring to right at 900 this spring
What PTO sppped and what gear in (H) OR (L) range do you use for thick hay
540PTO 2nd gear high range, running between 6 and 7 mph
What was the name of the guitar song please. A good bit of hay cutting there, you were really zipping along. Well done
It doesn’t have a name, it’s just something I made up. Thanks for watching!
How many times did you have to stop because hay didn't fall behind the bar but instead got caught on either end of the bar and caused a plug?
Very rarely, it’s all about your forward speed, if you try to go slow it will clog much easier, you have to keep your ground speed up so it cuts and falls and try not to run over already cut sections
Why couldn't you. Seems like back in the 1960's just about everyone around our area did. Some were sidemount as on our Farmall H then later we got a Ford threepoint to use on our 8n.
When I was looking for a mower everyone says get a disc mower, so a buddy of mine let me use his sickle mower because he has a disc mower a don’t use it anymore and I wanted to demonstrate that a sickle mower is a viable solution to mowing hay still, I can mow as fast as I can ride the tractor with that sickle mower it does a great job.
Randy from trailer park boys
U need to go around the outside
Thanks for the tip!