my new prize

[ericlb]

i was cleaning up a place for a elderly friend, and found what i had always thought was a jd 3 point sickle bar mower, i had seen this one run and mow.... about 10 or 12 years ago,then lost track of it, i have a use for one and i asked him what he wanted for it, he told me to take it he couldnt use it anymore, upon getting it unburried from in the barn, turns out it isnt a jd, its a ford 501, painted to go on a jd somewhere in its day. its all there, including the sway braces but they were given a quarter inch cut each to the webbing, he bought it like that,so i have no idea why it was done, the pitman arm is good, but probably,ly should be replaced due to age in the barn, and barn patina, cats, doves ect, im guessing the mower has a following based upon how many parts are available for it, now, it was running behind a 50 hp kubota when i saw it, it looks like i need to shorten up the top link to the last hole to make it sit straight up and down, i believe the 501 is made for the naa and newer tractor which is what i put it on, the driveshaft is too long, now i do have a orc on my pto, but if i take it off the shorten the pto on the tractor im back to the factory 1 and 1-8th pto shaft, the mower has the newer 1 and 3-8th shaft size on its coupler,what have you guys done to work around this? change the tractors shaft to the more modern size or use a solid conversion adapter, which is shorter, or shorten the mowers drive shaft, this thing is not the simple modern hollow 3 sided shaft, this thing has about a inch of solid steel bar stock, dont know if thats factory on it or not, i have no paperwork on it

 

[Farmer Dan]

I had a 501 mower on my 9N for a few years. I replaced the PTO shaft to upgrade to the new larger size. I hate using adapters.

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 18:28:48 12/05/18) i was cleaning up a place for a elderly friend, and found what i had always thought was a jd 3 point sickle bar mower, i had seen this one run and mow.... about 10 or 12 years ago,then lost track of it, i have a use for one and i asked him what he wanted for it, he told me to take it he couldnt use it anymore, upon getting it unburried from in the barn, turns out it isnt a jd, its a ford 501, painted to go on a jd somewhere in its day. its all there, including the sway braces but they were given a quarter inch cut each to the webbing, he bought it like that,so i have no idea why it was done, the pitman arm is good, but probably,ly should be replaced due to age in the barn, and barn patina, cats, doves ect, im guessing the mower has a following based upon how many parts are available for it, now, it was running behind a 50 hp kubota when i saw it, it looks like i need to shorten up the top link to the last hole to make it sit straight up and down, i believe the 501 is made for the naa and newer tractor which is what i put it on, the driveshaft is too long, now i do have a orc on my pto, but if i take it off the shorten the pto on the tractor im back to the factory 1 and 1-8th pto shaft, the mower has the newer 1 and 3-8th shaft size on its coupler,what have you guys done to work around this? change the tractors shaft to the more modern size or use a solid conversion adapter, which is shorter, or shorten the mowers drive shaft, this thing is not the simple modern hollow 3 sided shaft, this thing has about a inch of solid steel bar stock, dont know if thats factory on it or not, i have no paperwork on it

he good solid adapters lengthen the PTO shaft & the slip over adapters that do not lengthen are junk & will not last long enough to bother. The mower shaft is a simple tube with the female 'shaft-keyed' part welded into it, so it isn't just a simple cut to shorten it. 501 was made to fit N tractors, but with adapter kits, would fit later Ford tractors such as 2, 3, 5, and even 6000. Several of the clamps and attaching hardware were different in those kits. I have pdf of operator's manual and parts lists, but they won't post to this YT site. If you use YT SAFE_MAIL to email me (open in Modern view), then I can capture your e-mail and will send those to you if you wish. I have two of those 501 mowers.

 

[HFJ]

i'll second what dan said. do u have any implements that take a 1 1/8" shaft? if not, i'd just replace the PTO shaft.

 

[ericlb]

(quoted from post at 16:01:38 12/05/18)

(quoted from post at 18:28:48 12/05/18) i was cleaning up a place for a elderly friend, and found what i had always thought was a jd 3 point sickle bar mower, i had seen this one run and mow.... about 10 or 12 years ago,then lost track of it, i have a use for one and i asked him what he wanted for it, he told me to take it he couldnt use it anymore, upon getting it unburried from in the barn, turns out it isnt a jd, its a ford 501, painted to go on a jd somewhere in its day. its all there, including the sway braces but they were given a quarter inch cut each to the webbing, he bought it like that,so i have no idea why it was done, the pitman arm is good, but probably,ly should be replaced due to age in the barn, and barn patina, cats, doves ect, im guessing the mower has a following based upon how many parts are available for it, now, it was running behind a 50 hp kubota when i saw it, it looks like i need to shorten up the top link to the last hole to make it sit straight up and down, i believe the 501 is made for the naa and newer tractor which is what i put it on, the driveshaft is too long, now i do have a orc on my pto, but if i take it off the shorten the pto on the tractor im back to the factory 1 and 1-8th pto shaft, the mower has the newer 1 and 3-8th shaft size on its coupler,what have you guys done to work around this? change the tractors shaft to the more modern size or use a solid conversion adapter, which is shorter, or shorten the mowers drive shaft, this thing is not the simple modern hollow 3 sided shaft, this thing has about a inch of solid steel bar stock, dont know if thats factory on it or not, i have no paperwork on it

he good solid adapters lengthen the PTO shaft & the slip over adapters that do not lengthen are junk & will not last long enough to bother. The mower shaft is a simple tube with the female 'shaft-keyed' part welded into it, so it isn't just a simple cut to shorten it. 501 was made to fit N tractors, but with adapter kits, would fit later Ford tractors such as 2, 3, 5, and even 6000. Several of the clamps and attaching hardware were different in those kits. I have pdf of operator's manual and parts lists, but they won't post to this YT site. If you use YT SAFE_MAIL to email me (open in Modern view), then I can capture your e-mail and will send those to you if you wish. I have two of those 501 mowers.

thanks, i dont have any original 1 and 1-8th impliments, so i guess its time to upgrade the old ford to the 1 and 3-8ths shaft to run modern impliments, its been doing that for 30 + years, but its always just worked with the orc, so i havent changed it out

 

[Ultradog MN]

That Is a prize.
They are good mowers and still fetch a good price. There's been one on Minneapolis CL for a while that they're asking $600 or $700 for.
I had one for a few years. Quasi restored it. New paint, belt, one new ujoint, etc.
At the time I also had a parts Dearborn sickle mower that someone had put nearly all new guards on and I discovered those fit on the 501 so I swapped them over and sold the Dearborn.
It took me a while to get it all adjusted right but I did finally get it to cut nice after quite a bit of trial and error.
Ultimately I really didn't need it and ran out of room to keep it inside so I let it go.
Brush and finish mowers suit my purposes better but a sickle mower is just perfect for mowing along ditches and roadsides. Kinda wish I had kept it but...
Manuals can be picked on Ebay fairly often.
I suggest you get one for it just to learn how to mount, time and adjust the thing.
Congrats on a nice machine.

 

[shaun wallace]

No over running clutch needed on sickle mower. They will fit multiude of tractors. We had one on 430 Case years ago.

 

[Ed S.]

Mine’s an old New Idea.... when it’s working well, it’s very relaxing to spend a few hours mowing...

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