No.7 McCormic Deering Mower

I used my mare single on a mower that size. You should have NO problem pulling that with a team of Haflingers. The last thing I would ever think of doing would be to put a motor on a mowing machine. If there is any reason to cut hay with horses, it sure as heck isn’t to smell and listen to that beast.

The motor may help the novice by giving power in those situations when turning, or in thick hay, but this is an art that deserves practice, and short-cuts may look attractive, but will not advance the effort. You really should have that team functioning in good order before you attempt that chore.

Carl

Rod, the #7’s are good machines if they’re set up properly with a sharp knife and guards, maybe even a few stub guards towards the inside shoe helps them not to clog. Replace the inner and outer ledger plates, the hard ones on the outer shoe and inner shoe, it makes a difference.

Then sevens are heavy, i used to run one with a western britching style then went to a D-ring………….big difference, much better weight transfer to their backs. I’ve found they run smooth because of the extra weight as compared to a rubber tired #9. I know people that think the #7 seven is a better machine then the #9 in fact. Tongue truks work well. In one of the recent Small farmer’s journal there is a guy pulling a #7 with a tongue truk and a single gelding, you might want to check it out. Your haflingers should be able to handle it no problem……save the motor for something else.

From what i’ve been told the older mowers and even the #7 and #9 all had similer dead tongue weight but it was the gearing that created the leverage on the pole when mowing. The #9 gearing supposedly reduces that leverage effectively, the best HD engineering at the time.

Good Luck

Neal McNaughten
Unity, Maine

Carl,

I think the other hands on here have addressed and defined the tongue truck addition to the number 7 mower or any mower. We use the same ones that are on the front of the disk, which are steel and we still use the stock doubletree attachment with the spring to take some of the vibration out of the machine. These mowers will adapt to different guards that will make them more efficient. Mowing while turning is not as effective as in a straight line. These mowers are great for clipping pasture and can mow nice tall hay also.

I can’t imagine wanting to have a hot internal combustion machine on the mower with me. Not only is it noisy, hot, it is a cost I wouldn’t want to pay for in the cost of purchase, installation and fuel. Ground driven is the way to go. Often modern approaches use more power than needed. Ground driven is appropriate technology. It is quiet, cooler and keeps things within a balance of only being able to get down an amount of hay that you can get up.

As hot as it is at the moment and seems to be getting more hot, keeping things cool makes the work more fun. Is anyone else experiencing the intense heat of early June……?

The reason IHC used binder trucks is because the have escentric steering and when the end of the cutter bar is pulled back by friction the escentric steering straitens it up again. the binder truck is also at the right height for the mower if you use a 4′ stub pole. I sent you some plans and pics that sould help
Neil

Hi, I hope this helps, it out of the Blue Ribbon Mower book from IHC,
Neil

If you can find out who buys all the scrap at auctions in your area, put a bug in his ear about buying them and you’ll find you’ll have a collection in no time. some tome and add in the local paper helps.