Question on a JD 350 sickle bar mower

[MacCabin375]

I picked up a JD 350 sickle bar mower that is in very good shape. It came with boxes of new knives, rivets, tools, guards, and a brand new cutter bar sealed in the factory box. I got it for mowing the roadsides on our field roads and our dead road which all have ditches. I haven't used a sickle bar mower since I was a kid, 50 some years ago. Not to mention the one I did use was a belly mount. The gentleman I bought this mower from has it set up for the narrow position. My question is what determines what position you set this up for? Is it the angle of the cutter bar to the tractor or what? The guy I bought it from tried using it on a very small, maybe 25hp sub compact tractor, but he found it lifted his front tires off the ground. I will be using it on our JD 5075 tractor. I assume I will need to change over to the wide position but I am just curious as to what dictates which position you use.

Thank You!

 

[Jim.ME]

I picked up a JD 350 sickle bar mower that is in very good shape. It came with boxes of new knives, rivets, tools, guards, and a brand new cutter bar sealed in the factory box. I got it for mowing the roadsides on our field roads and our dead road which all have ditches. I haven't used a sickle bar mower since I was a kid, 50 some years ago. Not to mention the one I did use was a belly mount. The gentleman I bought this mower from has it set up for the narrow position. My question is what determines what position you set this up for? Is it the angle of the cutter bar to the tractor or what? The guy I bought it from tried using it on a very small, maybe 25hp sub compact tractor, but he found it lifted his front tires off the ground. I will be using it on our JD 5075 tractor. I assume I will need to change over to the wide position but I am just curious as to what dictates which position you use.

Thank You!

Go to https://techpubs.deere.com/ and get a free copy of the Operator's Manual which has the set-up info. I cannot make a link direct to the manuals for you, due to the site.

On the bookstore homepage, Click on Equipment Publications.

On that page, In the model search/keywords box type OME58660 if your serial number is 800000 or before. Type in OME87606 if your serial number is 800001 or after.

The manual info should open and in the upper right of the box you should see the download icon (down arrow with a line under it). Click on the icon and it will download a free pdf copy to your device that you can save, to your device, and print in the future as you want. If you want you can purchase the printed or other media types there if you choose.

 

[DanielW]

There's a cylindrical(ish) tapered block (first pic) that can go in one of two positions on the frame (second pic). The cylindrical piece has a threaded extension cast into it, and some heavy washers on the back bolting it in one of two positions. Don't go crazy over-tightening the nut - those threads cracking off are one of the two weak points on the 350 mowers - the threaded portion can crack off. If that ever happens, just remove that cylindrical piece, take it to your drill press, drill right through it for a 7/8" bolt to go through, and re-install with a bolt. Will be 10X better than the original design.

The other weak point of those mowers isn't really a 'weak point', but rather something that always gets overlooked. You need to keep all grease fittings on the knife head/wobble mechanism fully greased. There are two fittings in particular that are very hard to find, and you won't see them unless you're looking in the right spot and have it rotated to the correct position. In addition to the knife head, there are (I think) three fittings across the top and two at the bottom. If you think you've got them all, chances are you haven't. Best to get a manual and make sure you know where each is. I'm working on mine tonight - will take a picture if I can.

Excellent mowers apart from that. We still cut between 50 and 70 acres of hay a year with our 9' model at our Northern farm. In good standing hay I can run at 8-9 MPH.

 

[matthies]

I picked up a JD 350 sickle bar mower that is in very good shape. It came with boxes of new knives, rivets, tools, guards, and a brand new cutter bar sealed in the factory box. I got it for mowing the roadsides on our field roads and our dead road which all have ditches. I haven't used a sickle bar mower since I was a kid, 50 some years ago. Not to mention the one I did use was a belly mount. The gentleman I bought this mower from has it set up for the narrow position. My question is what determines what position you set this up for? Is it the angle of the cutter bar to the tractor or what? The guy I bought it from tried using it on a very small, maybe 25hp sub compact tractor, but he found it lifted his front tires off the ground. I will be using it on our JD 5075 tractor. I assume I will need to change over to the wide position but I am just curious as to what dictates which position you use.

Thank You!

The wide position takes special brackets, that go over the two point pins. You will need to limit the raise height as if you just throw the lever to raise it will come up so fast you think it will take your head off. You can look for JD publications to look at an online manual. Otherwise a good mower.

 

[wore out]

I picked up a JD 350 sickle bar mower that is in very good shape. It came with boxes of new knives, rivets, tools, guards, and a brand new cutter bar sealed in the factory box. I got it for mowing the roadsides on our field roads and our dead road which all have ditches. I haven't used a sickle bar mower since I was a kid, 50 some years ago. Not to mention the one I did use was a belly mount. The gentleman I bought this mower from has it set up for the narrow position. My question is what determines what position you set this up for? Is it the angle of the cutter bar to the tractor or what? The guy I bought it from tried using it on a very small, maybe 25hp sub compact tractor, but he found it lifted his front tires off the ground. I will be using it on our JD 5075 tractor. I assume I will need to change over to the wide position but I am just curious as to what dictates which position you use.

Thank You!

Ideally, the inner shoe would be in line with the RH rear wheel track, so the mower would be set to narrow or wide depending upon the size/tread width of the tractor.

 

[wore out]

The wide position takes special brackets, that go over the two point pins. You will need to limit the raise height as if you just throw the lever to raise it will come up so fast you think it will take your head off. You can look for JD publications to look at an online manual. Otherwise a good mower.

IF the "special bracket" you mention is what I am thinking of it adapts the mower to a "quick hitch" rather than having anything to do with setting up the mower in the "wide" position.

I have a "424" IH with a "350" mower attached, set in the "wide" position AND attached to a quick hitch WITHOUT using the special adapter bracket.

Drawing of the brackets.

Photo from the 'net of the adapter brackets installed.

 

[DanielW]

I agree with wore out: There are no special brackets required to go from wide to narrow or vice-versa. There is the chain that has to be hooked to the drawbar in addition to the three point hookup to get the bar to lift properly (otherwise the end of the bar won't lift), but that's nothing to do with narrow vs wide. You do have to move the trip arm bracket to the other mount location - it'll be pretty obvious where it goes when you start looking at it.

 

[MacCabin375]

I appreciate all the information from everyone and the link to a manual. I will swap it out to wide position this weekend. Thank You!

 

[Jim.ME]

I appreciate all the information from everyone and the link to a manual. I will swap it out to wide position this weekend. Thank You!

The Operator's Manual will tell you that changing the wide/narrow position only requires swapping some component, already on the mower, around.

 

[Leroy]

I appreciate all the information from everyone and the link to a manual. I will swap it out to wide position this weekend. Thank You!

I am not that familar with that model mower but earlier mowers were either the narrow for about a 60" wheel tread standard for most work or a wide version for a tractor with the wheels set for cultivating 40" corn rows. I dought that your tractor is set for an 80" wheel tread spacing so should use the narrow setting.