[AT] Sickle Mower Question

[Dick Day]

Mike, that is so cool!  One tool does it all.  Do they still make these? 
TSC? Harbor Freight?

Any time my skinny a** leaves the tractor seat, the engine gets shut off.  I 
have great respect for this old equipment.

I learned two years ago, when I first bought the mower, that I am not man 
enough to lift that 9' bar by myself.  If I need it to go higher that the 
cylinder will lift it, I get help.

Thanks once again!

Dick

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Sloane" <mikesloane at verizon.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 7:55 AM
Subject: Re: [AT] Sickle Mower Question


If you go to
<http://public.fotki.com/mikesloane/tools__equipment/rivettoolforsickleb.html>
you can see the tool that I use for dealing with sickle bar sections.
The nice things about it are that 1. you can use it without removing the
  whole bar, 2. it removes the old rivets easily and cleanly, 3. and it
does an excellent job of setting the new rivets very quickly.

I managed to hit a metal fence post with the end of my IH 100 mower a
few days ago, and it took only a couple of minute to remove the remains
of the broken section and rivet on a new one. Of course, I have had a
lot of practice over the years. :-(

When I use the IH 22 mower on my '48 Farmall Cub, I keep the belt a
little bit looser than recommended - if I encounter an obstruction, the
belt slips, stalling the bar and saving the expense and effort of
replacing the Pitman arm.

As far as the cutting, I agree with others that you should keep the
ground speed down when cutting weeds and trash, but you should keep the
PTO speed up in order to prevent the mower clogging.

One note, Dick: the sickle bar mower is one of the most dangerous
implements you can own. If you have to leave the seat of the tractor for
ANY reason while you are mowing, it is a good idea to not only disengage
the PTO, but shut down the tractor. Those mowers can cut off a finger
just as quickly as they can chop down a 1" sapling. One particularly bad
time is when you are manually raising or lowering the bar - it can move
just enough to cut whatever is in the way. I treat the bar very, very
cautiously. And, of course, keep children and other small animals far
away from the machine.

Mike

Dick Day wrote:
> Thanks. I really like the "same number of fingers" idea :)
>
>
_______________________________________________
AT mailing list
http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at


__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature 
database 4150 (20090612) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com