need help repairing a new big 4 sickle bar

[mountianman]

im trying to find parts for a new big 4 horse drawn sickle bar. i went to tractor supply looking for cutters but the "A-" they sell is not the same as what it takes. if anyone has any info will you please let me know. thank you

[rambler]

Is that a brand name? Not so familiar with the words you used there, must not be that brand around here. Mostly New Holland, JD, Massey, MacDon, Hesston, etc.

Paul

[agmantoo]

Look through this listing. There are more from the selection at the bottom of the page. Get your dimensions and call them tomorrow if you cannot find what you want here
http://www.shoupparts.com/product/se...kle%20sections

More sickle sections here
http://mower-blades.agrisupply.com/s...ickle+sections

[FarmboyBill]

Is it JD??
What is a cutter? The sickle??
IF it is the sickle, What is the length?
IF you cant find a 5ft or 6ft, BUT you can find a 7ft, you can cut the sickle bar to fit. IM MEANING THE BAR THAT HOLDS THE INDIVIDUAL SICKLE SECTIONS. BUT you have to be VERY careful to your measurments.

Find the outer end section that has a VV in the section. It helps stop end plugging.
IF I remember right, The BIG 4 is a 6ft mower. Both my #9 IHC, and #35 MH are 6ft horse mowers.

Are you replaceing the sickle cause you don't have it?
I had mine sharpened at a sharpening shop for the first time this year, in my life.

[FarmboyBill]

AG2 is there any place selling the whole sickle? With the ball?

[jwal10]

New big 4 was JD

New #4 was McCormick Deering. They made several #4 mowers, the old, new and the small #4, a single horse mower

A lot of companies made #4 mowers


....James

[FarmboyBill]

I saw a IHC #4 once. It had a wood handle for the lift with a metal hand squeeze to lock it in place,

[rambler]

Then there were New Idea sickle mowers, to keep going with the 'new' part of it.....

Paul

[mountianman]

its a mccormick. sorry forgot to put it in all that. its only a 5 foot bar. but it works better than the oliver 8 foot i have.

[FarmboyBill]

Since it has 1/2 nearly less the cut of the O It should work as good if not better, all things being equal. I take it the O is a tractor mower?

I put 6in rollers on my 3 sickle bars. 2 to each one. Thatll make it cut around 6 or so inches from the ground on the haygrazer, leaving the hay less stemy, and making the regrowth faster.

[mountianman]

the oliver is 3 point but is constantly gettin cloged no matter the speed you are cuttin. the big 4 cuts much smoother but has chunks missing from the cutter teeth. but i cant seem to match them up with what anyone has. it has an "A" stamped on it but all other "A" s dont match up.

[COWS]

If it is a Mccormick, It should have the model number stamped on the toolbox lid. The ones I have some knowledge of were number 7 and number 9. If you are having trouble matching up the knife sections, the crucial measurement is the space between rivets. The IHCs have the same spacing as the New Holland mowers and the knife sections will interchange.

I don't know if the present day Case IH company carrys knife sections or not, but NH does. NH also has the cutter bars which has the correct hole spacing. You could get a new bar, redrill holes if necessary for the little ball thing that attaches to the pitman rod, attach knife sections, then cut to length.

For a 5 fot mower I don't see why you need 4 horses, my Daddy used 2 mules to pull the number 7, later got the number nine and made a tractor hitch for it. I still have the 2 horse tongue for that mower.

COWS

[FarmboyBill]

They used 3 horses on those mowers around NE Kans. On on the R of the tongue, and 2 on the left.
Ive never had a problem with finding sections for the sickle on my MH 35. Ive never used the #9 although it came from a farm just down the road a thousand feet. Belonged to Fred and Lee Pollard.

[jwal10]

Originally Posted by COWS

For a 5 fot mower I don't see why you need 4 horses, my Daddy used 2 mules to pull the number 7, later got the number nine and made a tractor hitch for it. I still have the 2 horse tongue for that mower.

COWS

It is a big 4 McCormick Deering horse mower....James

[mountianman]

i got NH sections but they fit the oliver and not the mccormick. they both have "A" stamped on the knifes. but the rivet holes are off by half a hole. if i can keep from modifying it to much i will be happy. trust me i have modified enough up here. lol.

[FarmboyBill]

Which end does the O plug up at. IF the outside, what dos the last section in the sickle bar look like. IF its like all the rest of the sections, get one of the end sections that have 2 peaks of different highths and replace the end section.
Are the top pieces of the rock guards down to but a hair of touching the sickle? If not, take a hammer and tap them at their ends till they are all but touching.
Are you using a swathboard? Is the swathboard, assuming you are using one canted at too much of an angle?
What are you cutting?

[mountianman]

was cutting a field for hay. the O plugs up at the pitman arm side. i think i need to shorten it up 2 or 3 inches. and im not real sure what a swathboard is you will have to fill me in on that. i used to use a 10 foot hay bind for everything until the neighbors started slashing my tires and being a royal pains.

[FarmboyBill]

A Swath board is just that, a board mounted onto the outer shoe of a sickle mower. It usually had a broom stick sized handle mounted on the board and extended above it, and sometimes at a slightly different curve than the board. It clears an area say around 6in between the cut hay, and the standing grass. IT COULD BE, that IF you mount one on your O, that it might not plug up around the inner shoe.
The board was around 6in wide, and usually had a rounded outer end which stuck up from the ground around between 8 to 12in. Depending on the highth of the grass being cut The lower the grass, the lower the board was set. It ran usually 2 to 3ft long. The grass rod would be around 3ft long also, and b e mounted around 1/3 to 1/2 way from the front side of the board to towards the center.

[gunslinger598]

If you haven't yet found what ya need ya might try going to the Rural Heritage website then go to the Front Porch forum and ask. Most these folks all they do is work horse drawn equipment. It's an open type forum no need to join & new people seem to be treated well. Good Luck!

[FarmboyBill]

I have just put sharpened sickles in my #9 McD and #33 MH mowers. All that's needed to operate the #9 is a pitman which I have made up, but not on the mower, and a swath board for it. The #33 is ready to go to work, along with my #25 IHC simi mount tractor mower, which I put a new belt and sharpened sickle into.
I figure, IF I don't get any help for cutting my 12 acres at the end of the month, I wont need/use the horse mowers, unless the tractor mower breaks down. IF I get a couple out her to help, they can use a tractor and the #33 MH. IF I get a couple couples out here which is HIGHLY unlikely, then Ill put in the pitman and make a swath board for the McC #9