MPH 12 Posted September 2, 2007 Guess I gotta accept the fact I'm looking for too much outta this little sickle mower. Tried mowing my summers growth of clover today and found it so thick and tangled it kicks the bar back. Took my newly made swath board off to no avail. Ready to go First or 2nd gear, 1/3 throttle, made no diff. Maybe I'll try the 370 brush hog yet before I give it up and hope the moose eat it off clean this winter;) So much for getting the 370 mounted. Had a small area I wantted to plow under with the barley field but it just bunched up in the culter so needing to mow the lawn anyway I hit it with the 3314. About 1/4 swath did pretty good so I took care of the rest of it. Had too carry a stick across my lap to keep the discharge chute unplugged even taking only 1/4 cut. Also had to do a major wash job before I could mow the lawnsm00 The rollers were so gummed up they quite rolling:( If I get a sunny day tommorow I'll mow it again, might improve the quialty of cut a bit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
biggie_rat 0 Posted September 2, 2007 Martin, try 1st gear. ^ B.R. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
olcowhand 0 Posted September 2, 2007 That clover is gummy stuff & hard to cut with sickle mowers, especially if sickle is rough from rust or whatever. Give her a good coating of oil & see if that helps. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CarlH 406 Posted September 2, 2007 As best I recall from my youth, the sickle sections needed to be sharp and the clips holding the sickle bar had to hold the sections pretty tight against the ledger plates for an effective/efficient shearing cut. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
meck 0 Posted September 3, 2007 Clover is the worst for tangling, but I've mowed a lot of it with my B-10 and sickle mower. Slow is definitely the rule. Occasionally, it will get so thick you have to stop every few feet, back up and bounce the blade up and down to clear it. I carry a squirt bottle filled with half oil and half STP (to make it stick on longer). Fairly frequently I run some along the edges of the cutters. It seems to help. Most of what I cut, though, is fescue, bluegrass, and assorted weeds. With them, there's no trouble at all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skunkhome 0 Posted September 3, 2007 MPH, Do you have that 3314 set up as a FDT? Looks like there is no running boards as I can see your center PTO swing arm. Or is that just how the 3300 series is made? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MPH 12 Posted September 3, 2007 Phil, you talking about my 3314H FDT?8D:D:D Just haven't found good decal making material:) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skunkhome 0 Posted September 3, 2007 quote:Originally posted by MPH Phil, you talking about my 3314H FDT?8D:D:D Just haven't found good decal making material:) Did you do that modification? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites