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- Donn HewesKeymaster
Mike’s food last year at the Annual gathering was one of the high Lights! Don’t miss it. D
Donn HewesKeymasterKevin, Looking forward to meeting you. Donn
Donn HewesKeymasterI have had the same problems as crabapple, but I wouldn’t put heat tape on them. They are not freezing up top. Mine often will have freezing problems when the weather starts to warm a little after a cold spell. A rising water table, and a poorly drained barn meet the still cold ground. Better drainage would be the only solution I could think of. I the worst case I carry a hot tea kettle and pour that on slowly. That will usually get it going. D
Donn HewesKeymasterInteresting question. You may need to make a custom cross check for it to be long enough to set them that far apart. I would also make the cross check long enough to set it back further on the other line. The angles created will effect how they turn in in some tight turns. It would also be interesting to see how they would drive with a different set up altogether. I think lynn Miller talked about driving horses hooked to a buck rake where they are far apart and driving each one separately. I almost wonder if you could put a team line to each animal, but without crossing them. Flip them around so the long one is on the out side, but it would only need to be a couple inches longer. Then when you drive them you are essential going forward and turning by slowing one or the other. I think that would be a fun experiment.
Donn HewesKeymasterWe finished the first cutting yesterday! Yes, I know August 8th is a little late. We made 47 acres and 2700 bales. All mowed, tedded, raked, and baled with horses (and one mule that learned to rake and ted). I did use a tractor to move a few wagons one day when rain was threatening while we were still baling; and yesterday a neighbor helped us move four wagons with a truck after we made about 10 acres over a mile from home! The day before we pulled three wagons home (up hill) and it took longer to draw and unload wagons than it did to bale them. When the baler is working well in good windrows, and the hay is dry we are putting over 100 bales on a wagon and filling two wagons in just over an hour.
One of our experiments this year was 12 acres that had been grazed in May. This year the hay quality from that field was great in mid July when it was finally dry enough to make the hay. We made about 600 bales off that field that was practically second cutting quality.
In a couple weeks I hope to make about 20 acres of second cutting. We will see how it grows from here on out!
- This reply was modified 9 years, 3 months ago by Donn Hewes.
Donn HewesKeymasterHere, Here to five more years! DAP is still just getting started in helping folks interested in farming and working with draft animals.
Donn HewesKeymasterThe last photo is a little hard to see, but if you know what this bushing should look like; it is a lot gone! also possibly pushed back? I had to weld a handle on the broken shaft to get the pitman nut off. Now I can cut that off and press out the flywheel. I hope to drill and tap the remaining shaft in the pinion to remove the end of the shaft from there. I will save that for a rainy or snowy day! I hope to put the new bushings in tomorrow and put the mower back together. D
Donn HewesKeymasterNo, I bought that plus some other nice wrenches when a local hardware was going out of business. I will take a couple photos when I get a chance to add those extra bolts. Here are few pphotos from another repair I got over the weekend. I will probably need to accept payment in the form of two Amish boys clearing fences for me. The pitman shaft was broken in mid length. In looking at the wear on it and how the outer bushing is almost gone, this shaft broke after it had been rattling around for a while. These are hard working machines.
In pulling a spare shaft and pinnion out of a parts mower I found something interesting. The pinnion on the left came from the parts mower and has all the shoulders busted off of it. I believe I can still use it as a replacement part. The pinnion on the right has the shaft cut with a sawzall; that was the easy way to get the rest of the shaft out as you can’t unscrew it.
Here is how I think It was broken in the first place. the inner gear is sloppy on it’s shaft; much more so than the other mower I have open. This slop was enough to allow the gears to hit and bust of this shoulder.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.Donn HewesKeymasterIn the attached photo above you can see the hole that normally holds a steel pin. That goes through the hub and the axle, and must be driven out before the hub can come off. There is also a tapered key driven into the end of the axle (hidden in the photo by the puller) that holds the hub from spinning on the axle and adds strength to the pin which might eventually shear with out the key. Folks often try to get these keys out before removing the wheel, but I don’t know of any easy way to do that. I just pulled the key with the wheel and the hub. Then knocked it out after the hub was off.
Between the hub and the wheel there are pawls and springs, so be careful not to loose them when they fall out! Both parts can be purchased new but the pawls seldom need replacing. The springs could be broken or just rusted / worn out. Also new hubs can be purchased as these are often broken on old hedge row models or sometimes worn out. they can be broken taking them off if enough force is used and I have broken one over tightening a key after replacing it. When buying new hubs remember the left and right are opposite and the part numbers are not the same.
Putting the hub on with all the pawls and springs fitting in can be a little tricky. I bet there would be a way to do it with a little thread to hold them. I have always just poked them in place while turning and pushing the hub on. When the springs slip out of place you pull it off and start again!
- This reply was modified 9 years, 3 months ago by Donn Hewes.
Donn HewesKeymasterThis is also why working on the timing and lead can be so annoying. In trying fix one it is easy to throw off the other. Donn
Donn HewesKeymasterHi Mitch, The knife and the pitman don’t line up exactly. The far end of the knife or cutter bar is slightly in front of the inside end and the reason for this, is the pressure of the grass while mowing will push it back to a straight line. This is what we call the “lead”. If you measure the lead with a string running straight down the pitman the outer end of the knife should be 1/4″ per foot advanced. That means a five foot bar would have 1 1/4 of lead and a six foot bar would have 1 1/2″ of lead. You can usually eyeball lead by getting down on the ground and looking up the knife at the pitman. There is some flexibility with how perfect the lead needs to be. I have seen many mower with the lead less than perfect that ran good. when the bar appears neutral or actually behind the line of the pitman is when I have started to see problems with broken pitman bolts or plates, or other mowing issues. So, use a square to check the pitman and a string to check the cutter bar.
Donn HewesKeymasterThere are a lot of different theories on how to get the proper lead and timing. The method I subscribe to does not include pulling the head end of the mower forward. I learned from an Amish shop (Rudy Beiler – Fort Plain, NY) that the lead is lost through the push bar (big diagonal bar from under the seat) looses the correct angle where it is bent on the big end. A combination of a jig (to ensure proper realignment) and a heavy press are used to rebend this bar slightly. The reason this becomes important is it allows the head to stay where it belongs. The pitman stick should be square to the pitman shaft and this is easily checked by placing a framing square against the face of the flywheel. Now as I turn the threads to adjust timing I use the framing square each time I put the head back in to maintain the same placement. I move the push bar threads and timing bar (bar in front of pitman) together (both in or both out) to adjust the timing. Anyway that is how I do it. If your pitman stick is far from square it is generating torgue that will be relieved with bad barings or broken plates on the pitman stick. Donn
Donn HewesKeymasterInteresting thoughts Wally. I think it is similar to the advantage / disadvantage of driving a single versus working a team or group. Horses are herd animals. Leading one single is challenging it to accept the fact the you are the beginning and end of the herd. That is a great thing for your horses to learn, but not always as simple as we might think. For this reason I would say I have seen / heard of just as many single horses getting out of hand while leading as I have groups. I try to lead the same group sizes that I drive.
I think what happened for Daniel is just a good reminder to be aware of the mental state of the animals we are working with. Maintaining calm and relaxed animals is the key for me, although it is easy to say and can take a lot of work to create.
Donn HewesKeymasterThe “high gear” refers to the gear ration between wheel speed and knife speed. The “high gear” mowers knife will move about 10% faster than the “regular gear” at the same ground speed. Said another way, a team walking a little slower would still have good knife speed with a high gear mower. Mowers need a good knife speed and some momentum to work well.
Many have asked why all mowers weren’t made this way. The high gear will be a bit of a catch 22 with some advantages and some disadvantages. With the higher knife speed it may pull harder for the same acreage. With horses (or oxen) that walk a little slower this might be a good trade off. The pull required could also be adjusted with bar length. Five foot might be a good place to start with the high gear. While I have fixed some and seen some high gears work, I have never run one myself.
For folks with the “regular gear” mower, many find that they need to make the horses “rush”, or keep walking fast to keep the mower cutting. While it is essential to keep forward momentum in heavy mowing, one of the tricks I have learned is that my mowers will mow at a slightly slower, stead walk, if I ensure a good steady movement. With practice this is much easier to maintain than asking them to rush. This also depends on the perfect tuning discussed earlier. Figure out how much speed your mower really needs.
Donn HewesKeymasterI have only seen them at HPD and the like, but my impression is that the double acting knife is working great. Pulling easy and reducing plugging likely. Worth the extra expense? That depends on a few other factors. Your desire / ability to perfectly maintain the traditional mower. cash on hand, etc. One of the smart things I & J did was make that mower available in any set up. Horse drawn, PTO trailer, PTO with 3 point hitch, or small motorized. This makes the double action knife available to anyone with any team, or using a PTO cart (motorized or ground drive) or not; any size team.
I still like a well rebuilt #7 or #9 as they are much cheaper, and work great when set up well.
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