Sickle Bar Tach help needed (MF135)

[SWMO 135]

I rec'd this cutter when I bought my MF135 deluxe. It was rec'd the same way as it sits in the photos (which I hope work out!) below. I could use all the help necessary to get this thing mounted & operational. Any manuals available for this unit? What to look for in possibly a dangerous operating situation?
Also need help with the tach for the tractor- how can it be hooked up if there is no way visible to mount to alter/generator? Also, there is no cable out the back of tach, but looks like there should be. And a cable driven tach is what I'm used to.

Many thanks in advance-Les

 

[SWMO 135]

sorry it would only allow 2 photos at a time
Les
PS: in the second(lower) photo in 1st post, the spring and the lever are 2 individual parts.
lg

 

[SWMO 135]

OK, for some reason, I can't seem to post another photo and this would be the one of the head unit of course! I can tell you that the serial # found on the plate is 0442, thats it, nothing else but a number on the cutting edge side of the head unit casting, it reads M-F and right below that, it reads 413 or 41-3 ? 4-13 ? Anybody got any ideas? or why I can't seem to post more photos? Thanks Again, Les

 

[chuck41]

Les, Ironically the mower is a 135. Yellow in
color sold thru industrial or red thru ag dealers
I do have an orig but lightly used man for $9 with postage. The 135 tractor is probably a gas
model(4 cyl continental)and if the gen was switched to a alt. there went the drive. The gen
has a little gearbox in the back to drive the tach. If it is a Perkins diesel(or Perkins gas)
the drive is at the rear of the camshaft and
drives with a flex shaft. Chuck

 

[SWMO 135]

Chuck, thanks for such a fast reply. The numbers will make everything a little easier to remember, if nothing else! lol Does the manual you have show both parts and how to operate cutter? If you would prefer to contact me thru e-mail, feel free to do so. Would love to have it, if we can work it out. The tractor is a gas (Continental Z145), but alas, no drive to attach tach cable anywhere on the alt/gen (how can I tell which it is?) It's 12 volt, if that helps. Would you know if there is anyway to hook up a tach in this situation? Would prefer something other than ear to guess at rpms! Thanks so Much for your help on this one (or 2), Les

 

[Anonymous-0]

An alternator is short and fat. A generator is much longer that is in diameter. An alternator is usually aluminum, a generator is usually steel painted black, though the one on my MF-135 is painted silver.

With the Continental engine the tach depended on the gear box on the back of the generator.

The only alternative I've found is a digital tach that will fit the hole and be driven by the ignition system, getting a signal from the points. They can be had (for a princely sum) with hour meter and maybe 3000 RPM full scale on a pointer though most made for auto racing like to be 8000, or 10000 RPM full scale which is useless on a tractor. A digital meter with 10 RPM increments ought to do well, I've seen one like that at JC Whitney in years past.

A tach is very handy on a tractor.

Gerald J.

 

[SWMO 135]

Gerald, thanks to you also for the reply about tach issue. I was going thru this website for parts after your reply (I have a generator from your description!) and saw a "Proofmeter", which looks like it is made to re-fit a Delco generator w/gear drive for tachometer so a cable may be attached to it? Am I thinking correctly here? Not sure yet if the gen I have is a Delco- but I'll chk today. I don't remember seeing a tag on it, so is there another way to tell what brand it might be? Help w/how to proceed would be most welcome as I totally agree on the "handiness" of a tach.