[AT] Mott flail mower problem

[Herb Metz]

Years ago, for several years,  Steve was one of the Portland August show 
participants, back when we had close to two dozen campers in the ATIS group. 
Good to know he is still around, and hopefully doing well (health wise that 
is; Steve will always do well in the business world).  If memory serves he 
was in New England states.
Larry's recommendations are good, like usual.  I also agree with Phil.
If you have time to pursue the "original setup"; suggest trying to find an 
old Mott dealer and determine if they have any old literature, or an old 
employee who might be knowledgeable.  Guy Faye, an old ATIS member, last 
heard from six or eight years ago, worked part time for Wisconsin(?) 
Historical Society, was a good source for similar information for IHC.
I am interested in the performance of your Mott flail mower as I bought one 
fifteen years ago at an auction for $15; you can imagine the shape it is in. 
Blades are badly worn, and one of the two bearing cages is cracked, but 
repairable or replaceable.  I plan mounting it at right front of an Allis G, 
between front and rear tire.  A neighbor back in Indiana had one mounted in 
that manner; his wife enjoyed mowing their large country lawn every week. 
Would appreciate your general opinion and any concerns.
TIA,
Herb

-----Original Message----- 
From: Larry Goss
Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2013 10:01 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Mott flail mower problem

I think Steve has the right idea for this.  The last I knew, heat is the 
release agent for Lok-tite.  A few seconds of exposure with a popane torch 
will make it "disappear."

Larry

----- Original Message -----
From: Mike <mikesloane at verizon.net>
To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Thu, 09 May 2013 09:43:12 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [AT] Mott flail mower problem

I have been using an ancient Mott flail mower lately for some field
mowing. This is a 60" pull-behind that must date to the 1950's (It came
to me with a Farmall AV that the PO used to use to mow his field.) It
works well enough, but lately, the idler pulley that keeps tension on
the belt comes off. I had installed a new 5/16" NF bolt and washer to
hold it on, but the idler turns counterclockwise and managed to undo the
bolt. An image can be seen at
<http://public.fotki.com/mikesloane/other_machinery/mott-mower-idler-pulley.html>

The gearbox also leaks fluid, but I can live with that for now and just
keep adding 90 weight periodically...

Steve Offiler suggested that I use Loctite blue to keep the bolt on, but
that seems a little extreme to me - I may need to change that idler some
day, and Loctite blue is relatively permanent. One problem is that I
don't know how Mott configured the setup originally - what fasteners
were used and if they were special or just ordinary hardware. It is a
wild shot in the dark, but I wonder of anyone has a similar machine that
they could take a picture of and/or any of the user manual pages.

Any thoughts?

Mike
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