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Sickle Bar Mower


HubbardRA

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I am currently restoring a #210 sickle bar mower for use on my 61 Wards. I installed a new bar to replace the broken one, removed some extra pieces that had been welded on, and will repaint to factory (or close) color. I also will fabricate a swath board as listed in the "how to" section. Problem: I don't have either of the two chains or the clutch pedal guard. Hopefully someone can answer a couple of questions for me. 1. How much slack is in the rear support chain when the bar is on the ground? 2. Where does the transport chain (one that holds bar in vertical position)attach to the chassis and what is done with this chain when mower is in use? 3. Why is the clutch pedal guard needed for this mower only? I hope one of you guys has one of these and can help with the setup.
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Rod, The rear support chain never has any slack. It holds all the weight of the sickle. Sorry, can't answer the other FDT questions.
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Rod, I have the book for the #2025058 sickle bar mower. This is the style that uses the pulley and cable mounted to the right side of the tractor and attaches to the lift arm. The transport chain attaches to the front mount bolt of the cable pulley, the hook end of the transport chain just hooks on an outboard skid shoe. I don't know what you do with the transport chain. I never used it because I couldn't find a place to secure it that I trusted. The book shows the transport chain loose out in front of the right front wheel?? For transporting I used an old long drive belt that I looped around the skid shoe and a hook I bolted to the right foot step. The looped belt gave some "spring" to the bar when transporting. When not transporting the old belt fit around the seat. As far as a clutch pedal guard, I don't know what that is. I don't have one and the book is not showing one. As Dutch and JohnMark stated the rear chain supports the whole works and when sitting on a level surface should keep the main drive part of the sickle mower slightly off the ground.
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Rod, The #210 is the sickle that is raised and lowered by a separate handle, not the tractor lift..... Right? That's nice design. It can easily be converted to use the tractor lift. The others can't easily be converted to use a separate handle. My RBT planetary uses the tractor lift, but I prefer to use a rope to operate it. I have thought about installing a linear actuator, or one of those little $50 winches to replace both the lift and transport chain. Just an idea for you to think about. BTW - Here's a #210 that I reconditioned. Couldn't use it on my RBTs. Sold it. [img]http://home.att.net/~netco-nj/long.jpg[/img]
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I have a book on the #210 and it shows the transport chain bolted to the frame using the bolt to the left of the oil check on the engine. The bolt that holds the hood/grill support on. I imagine you just use a longer bolt to go through the end link of the chain. When the chain is not in use you curl it up and lay it inside the tractor frame next to the engine. The support chain needs to be only long enough to let the mower drive hang level under the tractor off the ground. The picture shows 6 links plus the clevis end. I imagine its the same sort of chain that is used to lift a mower deck on the old tractors. "I think" the clutch pedal gaurd is put there to act as a stop for lifting the arm into transport position, so you cant raise it striaght up and down where the bar may interfere with operating the clutch. With the gaurd on, the braket the lift arm is on will contact the guard when in the up position. Sam
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Sounds like the length of the support chain and the diameter of the clutch guard will become more obvious when I eventually get it mounted to the tractor. I've got a little bit more work to do on the mower, then I have to remove a few items from the tractor that were installed for pulling and replace the PTO pulleys and engagement lever. Thanks for the info, Dutch, John, Mike and Sam. Dutch, Where did you get the decals for the one in the picture that you refurbished? Sam, You just gave me an idea. For the transport chain bolt, I think I will use a long bolt with a nut to tighten against the chassis, cut the bolt head off, and drill a hole for a pull pin. Then I can remove the pin and take off the chain without removing the bolt when I'm not using the mower.
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Rod, Don't know if it is original and correct but will try to get you some info on the support chain this weekend. Sorry about the delay. Had a rough two weeks of work with long hours and no days off. Roy
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Rod, I had my sign guy make the decals. They were copied from my planetary sickle. The #210 didn’t come with any decals OEM, but I thought it was a good idea to add them. I gave the buyer an extra set, as well as extra new blades and rock guards. [img]http://home.att.net/~netco-nj/detail1.jpg[/img] [img]http://home.att.net/~netco-nj/spares.jpg[/img]
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I used a shackle to attach a chain to the front axle of the Putt-Putt and a grab hook on the bar end. There is what looks to be a home made add on bracket on the other end of the front axle. I loop the chain over it and slip a link over the rod there, then run the rest of the chain back and hook it on the side of the grill bracket.

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Kirk, I see you also have a #210 bar. That is another good idea for the chain. "Putt-Putt" looks very similar to "Thunderfoot" out 61 Wards. This is the one that will be getting the mower. Iw will not work with the PTO setup on the 77 AC. Do you have the clutch pedal guard? I would like to know what the diameter is so that I can make one. Dutch, Did you sell that mower to John Holyfield? I'm going to see him in a couple of days. Rod
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quote:
Originally posted by HubbardRA
Did you sell that mower to John Holyfield? I'm going to see him in a couple of days.
No. It went to Tennessee.
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HubbardRA wrote:
quote:
1. How much slack is in the rear support chain when the bar is on the ground?
Well, I don't know about the rest of the guys, but on mine, it is slack. It only takes a load when the bar is lifted or is being transported. How much? I'd guesstimate 1 link more than what is needed on level ground, but that's just me. I want the bar to follow the ground on rough terrain, rather than hanging if it falls into a slight ditch.
quote:
2. Where does the transport chain (one that holds bar in vertical position)attach to the chassis and what is done with this chain when mower is in use?
As mentioned, it goes on the bolt next to the oil plug. A couple of big washers will do the trick. And for storage, I wrap my chain over the right step, around the lift lever and drop the hook on the frame between the right step and the engine block. I leave it there year round, and have never had it fall off in the 10 years I have been operating it.
quote:
3. Why is the clutch pedal guard needed for this mower only?
I don't know, as I have never used one. I've never had a problem with that... BTW, while I'm on the subject, is it possible to convert the "strongarm" lift-type sickle to the tractor lift, spring assisted type? It's getting real old lugging that heavy bar around... Thanks. Paul A. Cutler III ****************** "Yes, it's the Stay-Puft marshmellow man..." - R. Stantz ******************
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quote:
Originally posted by Paul3
Well, I don't know about the rest of the guys, but on mine, it is slack. It only takes a load when the bar is lifted or is being transported.
Paul, Since the sickle pivots on the two axle mounting points, the chain is the only thing holding the weight of the sickle and in the proper position for the belt. If your chain is slack, your sickle must be dragging on the ground. When properly installed, the relatively light sickle bar is all that follows the contour of the ground. It pivots separately from the main sickle hitch, and is relatively easy to lift. If you are fighting the hitch, perhaps that is why your bar seems heavy to lift.
quote:
Originally posted by Paul3
BTW, while I'm on the subject, is it possible to convert the "strongarm" lift-type sickle to the tractor lift, spring assisted type?
Yes it is possible. You will have to fabricate spring brackets, obtain a spring, and fabricate a cable and pulley system. As an alternative, you may want to consider installing a linear actuator, or one of those little $50 winches to replace both the lift and transport chain.
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Paul, If you don't like my actuator or winch idea, go to this link > http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11609
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  • 3 weeks later...
The following attachment bolt modification allows the two chains to be easily removed when the mower is removed. I cut the head off a long bolt, and drilled a hole for the pull pin. [img]http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/attach/HubbardRA/P000251.JPG[/img] The following shows the Assembly: [img]http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/attach/HubbardRA/P000248.JPG[/img] I also used washers on each side of the chain.
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Rod Look closly at the lift arm on my landlord... is this the guard you looking for? [img]uploaded/reeds/dscnm0005.jpg[/img]
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Reed, I really can't tell much from the picture. Based on the Manual for the mower, and some creative scaling, the guard is about five inches in diameter, the edge is bent over toward the tractor with a notch to fit the lift arm, and it is held on with a bolt through the hole in the lift arm. It may have a "U" shaped that fits on each side of the lift arm to hold it in place and is riveted to the center of the guard. I was told that this piece keeps the mower from being pushed up to a height that you can't get your foot to the clutch pedal. According to the picture in my manual, the piece is flat, but yours seems to have a protruding center section. Looks like yours would do the job. Could you send me a rough sketch with the size of the pieces and location of holes. I will draw it up and post it on the site, if I can figure how to get the @#$^$ pictures to post. Daddycat would like to make one also if we can get the part sketched out.
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Rod I am going out to the garage after i finish this post. I will remove the guard and see what I can do to get it drawn up. Might not finish til tommorrow. When I had this at brooklyn daddycat mentioned that that guard look like the guard for the sickle mower. I don't have nor do I expect to own such a mower, suppose I could be persuaded to part with the original.
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Both myself and DaddyCat have a -210 mower. Figure out what you want for it. One of us may be interested. I was getting ready to make one, I can come pretty close just from the pictures. By the way, "How do you get your pictures to post?" I can't get anything but an "x" button to come up. This button will take you to the picture, but the picture will not appear here.
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Rod, Good news bad news 1st, good news is I took several pics of the guard so that it can be seen, bad news is that it is cracked, not so bad that it can't be repaired but enough to be a pain in the a##.I also thought while not wanting to be an indian giver that maybe if you or daddycat wanted I would be more that willing to lend you this piece to make up however many you wanted using this as a template. As to posting pic's, this may take a bit, my first step is to upload them to my gallery(to do this you may need to resize them using your photo editor(usually smaller))Second step click on the photo icon this will insert a pair of image tags to your text. They will look something like this img /img (they will have brackets around and if I put them in here the comp will think I am trying to put in a pic).Between the tags you need to put in an url for the pics in the case of pics in your gallery the url can be uploaded/yourscreenname/filename.jpg. Here are the pics of the guard. [img]Uploaded/reeds/dscn0249m.jpg[/img] [img]uploaded/reeds/dscn0250m.jpg[/img] [img]uploaded/reeds/dscn0251m.jpg[/img] [img]uploaded/reeds/dscn0252m.jpg[/img] Let me know if you'd like to use the guard for template, Thanks
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Reed, Thanks for the offer, I'd be happy to take you up on it. No big rush on getting it, but since it's off if you want to send it now that's fine too.
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Reed You do not have to upload pictures to your gallery to post them. You can upload directly to the post useing the paper clip icon in the reply window not the Quick reply. Just be sure the file name does not have any spaces or other symbols in it. The picture can not be over 100 kb
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Maynard I haven't tried posting pics like that yet, I've been having good luck doing it this way and Rod was asking how I did it. Next time I'll try it that way. :) Kirk If you would like to e mail or pm me and give me an address or make other arrangements, the guard is off and I may as well let you have at it.
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