I have a B9200 hst 4wd and I’m looking for a 3 pt or belly mount if pos. Sickle bar mower for doing the sides of my 1700’ driveway. A brush hog would not be as functional as a sickle because of the rough/boney terrain. I need to remain on the driveway while mowing. I only need to mow a couple times a year like before snow season for plowing, so a flail mower is way too pricey. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.-
Sickle bar mower advice
- Thread starter KTOY
- Start date
Sickle bar mowers are much more temperamental than rotary mowers. They are not tolerant of poor maintenance, improper adjustment, slow speeds or obstructions.
They are designed to cut clean hay fields, not rough cut areas with debris, etc.
May wish to reconsider.
SDT
He stated he needs to remain on the driveway when mowing so a rotary (unless a bat wing) won't work and I don't believe he has enough tractor to run a bat wing.
Far as mowing with a sickle is concerned, I cut hay with one for years. Bit of a learning curve involved but certainly doable. he wants a rear mount. You can find them used on CL and not hard to rebuild either. Sickle bar cutters are stone simple.
Far as mowing with a sickle is concerned, I cut hay with one for years. Bit of a learning curve involved but certainly doable. he wants a rear mount. You can find them used on CL and not hard to rebuild either. Sickle bar cutters are stone simple.
I would recommend not purchasing a sickle bar with a wooden pitman arm. There not as forgiving if angles are not in the right position. Snaps the board in half pretty quickly. Always keep your fingers away from the teeth when raising and lowering the cutter bar.
I certainly appreciate your responses. The string idea won***8217;t work on the saplings that I***8217;d like to eliminate up to 1 inch. I found a 7 foot MF Sickle bar belt Drive for sale in VT. 3 hours away, but is it a viable solution? I am more than capable of dealing with the ideocyncracies of a sickle.
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Not sure with the star star 8217 is coming from, I’ve tried to edit it out four times and it remains.
North Idaho Wolfman
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It's a quirk in the software from Apple products and some of the tap-a-talk programs, it's swapping out the " and the ' for ***8217 code.
Russell King
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A sickle bar mower will not cut any saplings in the one inch size - at least as far as my limited experience goes.
I’ve only seen them used on grass and hay, never to clean up anything else.
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I’ve only seen them used on grass and hay, never to clean up anything else.
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Maybe an inch was a bit exaggerated, maybe half that. Just to keep trees from starting.
Russell King
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Not sure even about the half inch size, hopefully someone else will chime in on that size.
I guess you can cut them all down with something that would survive and then just use the sickle bar mower more often to keep the trees under control.
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I guess you can cut them all down with something that would survive and then just use the sickle bar mower more often to keep the trees under control.
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I bought a Ford 515 sickle mower off CL last year to cut down my sunflower patch after they are all dead. Keeps me and the tractor over to the side so we aren't bombarded with sunflower heads.
Pain in the butt to hook up, won't cut anything if it's the least bit wet without jamming and a new cutter bar costs more than I paid for the mower. Other than that it does what I bought it for. The sunflower stalks can be over 1 inch but they are soft and cut pretty easy. Pretty sure it would have a problem with small trees over 1/4 inch. I use mine behind a 47HP Ford, it has a 7 foot bar.
Pain in the butt to hook up, won't cut anything if it's the least bit wet without jamming and a new cutter bar costs more than I paid for the mower. Other than that it does what I bought it for. The sunflower stalks can be over 1 inch but they are soft and cut pretty easy. Pretty sure it would have a problem with small trees over 1/4 inch. I use mine behind a 47HP Ford, it has a 7 foot bar.
BAP
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Sickle bars will mow great and cut thick stem new sapling type brush. The key with them, is to keep the knives sharp, replace worn fingers, and make sure the hold down clips are adjusted right. When we used to mow with sickle bar mowers, we pulled the sickle daily and sharpened the knives with a grinder. As the knives wear down, pop out the rivets, and replace the knives as needed. No need to buy a new bar unless you bend it. They are slower than a rotary mower, but a 3 point hitch one is light, and relatively cheap for maintaining road sides and ditches.
Treckerzeug
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hello,
My brothers and i spent half of our youth mowing with 5 feet mid mounted sickle bar mowers,
Never ever again i would consider working again with one,
The smalles mule earth hill, the least earth you get between the fingers makes you reverse stop the mower get off the tractor clean underneath and so on, hundreds if times,
You get a small stone between the knives and the fingers, the rivets break or you loose a knive,
Off back home repair to be done,
Why not try to get a sideways moving, parallelogram flail mower?
E.g del morino funny, as the guy shiws here
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FExPMTPBYqM
There is hundreds of italian brands making them, and chinese too.
If you go slow your tractor will handle them up to a width of 4 feet
You never stop with these as long as they keep up the revs.
Regards
Robert
My brothers and i spent half of our youth mowing with 5 feet mid mounted sickle bar mowers,
Never ever again i would consider working again with one,
The smalles mule earth hill, the least earth you get between the fingers makes you reverse stop the mower get off the tractor clean underneath and so on, hundreds if times,
You get a small stone between the knives and the fingers, the rivets break or you loose a knive,
Off back home repair to be done,
Why not try to get a sideways moving, parallelogram flail mower?
E.g del morino funny, as the guy shiws here
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FExPMTPBYqM
There is hundreds of italian brands making them, and chinese too.
If you go slow your tractor will handle them up to a width of 4 feet
You never stop with these as long as they keep up the revs.
Regards
Robert
I bought a slightly "refurbished" John Deere 350 7' Sickle bar mower last year off of eBay to cut around my ponds, and I'd have to say, it has done exactly what I bought it to do. There was a little bit of a learning curve in setting and hooking it up, but after that, as long as I go slow, it does a fine job. I have cut many small tallow tree saplings, prob up to 3/4", without it missing a beat. I think I have about $1500 in it now, including a new belt and all new grease zerks. I will only use it two or three times a year so it was about the cheapest option I could come up with.
I bought a slightly "refurbished" John Deere 350 7' Sickle bar mower last year off of eBay to cut around my ponds, and I'd have to say, it has done exactly what I bought it to do. There was a little bit of a learning curve in setting and hooking it up, but after that, as long as I go slow, it does a fine job. I have cut many small tallow tree saplings, prob up to 3/4", without it missing a beat. I think I have about $1500 in it now, including a new belt and all new grease zerks. I will only use it two or three times a year so it was about the cheapest option I could come up with.
[QUOTE There was a little bit of a learning curve in setting and hooking it up, but after that, as long as I go slow, it does a fine job. I have cut many small tallow tree saplings, prob up to 3/4", without it missing a beat. I think I have about $1500 in it now, including a new belt and all new grease zerks. I will only use it two or three times a year so it was about the cheapest option I could come up with.[/QUOTE]
Sickle bars work well with a little learning how the bar swings out from the tractor. A mid-mount with hydraulics makes it a little easier to watch as you drive and the hydraulic lift can help raise over rocks and obstacles. It will clip the new canes and shoots up to about 3/4" as stated and it can reach out under tree limbs to tidy up around fields and along lanes... just take your time with a low ground speed so you can spot problems. Maintenance of knives and guards keeps it cutting.
Sickle bars work well with a little learning how the bar swings out from the tractor. A mid-mount with hydraulics makes it a little easier to watch as you drive and the hydraulic lift can help raise over rocks and obstacles. It will clip the new canes and shoots up to about 3/4" as stated and it can reach out under tree limbs to tidy up around fields and along lanes... just take your time with a low ground speed so you can spot problems. Maintenance of knives and guards keeps it cutting.
Thanks guys for the great responses. Is there a brand and model that will work best for me and allow to find parts in the future should/when the need arises? I do not have remote hydraulics so a manual cutter would be it. I would like to install another rear circuit, but that’s another issue. Again thanks
Instead of getting a sickle bar mower I’ve decided to give the DR 3 ph string mower a try. I figured it was about the same cost without the headaches associated with a sickle mower. I will leave my impressions here once the new mower is in motion. Thanks again for your inputs.
https://www.drpower.com/power-equip...t-fence-line-trimmer-pro-xl-speedhead-new.axd
https://www.drpower.com/power-equip...t-fence-line-trimmer-pro-xl-speedhead-new.axd