Ford 501 Sickle Bar Mower

[ridgeandvalley]

OK. I posted earlier about a NH 469 haybine I was having some problems with, and was trying to decide if it was worth it to fix it. I only cut about 7 - 8 acres of grass hay at a time. I have a Ford 501 sickle mower that I picked up as a backup a couple of years ago. The first time I used it, was on a second cutting and the grass hay was pretty fine and thin. I had a lot of clogging and frustration, and finally got a neighbor to mow my field for me. Kind of regretted buying it. Before giving up on it, I took some time to watch some videos and look over the user's manual and I made some adjustments to it. I've used it for first cutting a couple of times since then, and it's done a nice job. Used it to clean up some fence rows and an old field that was overgrown in weeds and thistles and it mowed it right down. Right now my haybine is not operational and I'm planning on using the Ford sickle mower for my second hay cutting, but I know the hay (mostly orchard and timothy grass) will be much shorter and finer stemmed than what I've been mowing. Does a simple sickle bar mower handle second cutting grass as well as the taller, coarser first cutting? I'm just not sure if my frustration the first time I used was due to the fact I was new to it and it wasn't adjusted right, or if it was the nature of the second cutting grass. Thoughts from those more experienced with this old equipment?

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

There was a 501 here back when the 8N was around, but didn't use it much outside of cutting the lane. Currently I have an IH mower & will tell you a
sickle bar is a sickle bar is a sickle bar. They're basically all the same. Now.... I can cut anything from corn stalks to the front lawn with my
120 & have no issues. It just has to be kept after.

There are several things that can be causing you issues. Knife section type comes to mind first. Are they smooth sections, over-serrated or under-
serrated? Smooth or serrated ledger plates or is the ledger plate cast onto the rock guard? Are JUST the tips of the knives touching the ledger
plates or are they above them? Is the knife in register? Is the slab or bar itself flat or taco'd/bent/twisted?? Was the pittman stick replaced &
could it be the wrong length if it was?

What say you?

Mike

 

[paul]

What Absent says.

My 501 struggled in some fine stemmed grasses, cut anything and everything course stemmed. Mine had a lot of wear, it needed a tune up.

The scissors action and the type of sickle blade and ledger plate makes a lot of difference. Course stems like serrated stuff, fine stems do better with nearly no
serration.

A good compromise is bottom serrated knife on a smooth ledger plate.

A lot of us are good at watching the sickle for sharpness. I think many of us kind of forget we need the ledger plate just as sharp and square, we let them round off
some without thinking.

Paul

 

[Leroy]

You will not find a smooth ledger plate, not made. The smooth section was designed for grass and tat is all there was when things were designed in the mid 1800's, Big thing is wore out ware plated and hold downs. that are avaible. You will not find a guard now with replaceable ledger plates, all forged in one piece and angle of mount of guard is important.

 

[paul]

Picked up some ledger plates at a hometown type farm store last year, old stock then Im sure.

I understand.

Paul