No.7 McCormic Deering Mower

[Rod]

I just picked up a pretty nice No. 7 McCormick Deering mower which I plan to use behind my Halflinger team. We are working on the cutter bar which needs some work but otherwise it looks to be in good condition. Has a 5′ bar.

Question is while I have it apart I am considering whether to add a 5 hp engine to run the sickle bar same as outlined by Carl Byerly in an article in Rural Heritage some time back. I have the copy of the article. He was using a team of Halflingers also.

Do the experienced folks here think I will need the engine or should my team be able to handle it with the standard ground drive.

[Gabe Ayers]

A number 7 will need tongue trucks, it is very heavy on the pole. I think the ponies can pull it fine, just rest them plenty and keep it sharp and well tuned.
It is essentially the same as a number 9 but the gearbox is further forward on the axle and that makes it much heavier on the tongue. This was the first mower I every used and it will mow well, but had to have a tongue truck eventually to keep their necks from getting sore.

[Carl Russell]

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]

Jason

What is a tongue truck? Is this an extra wheel under the tongue? And would a “D” ring harness change what you said as the weight could be better distributed to their backs?

Carl

Advice well taken and I do listen to the voices of experience with appreciation.

[ngcmcn]

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

[Neil Dimmock]

The front trucks or little wheels of a binder fit right on the mower and the manual for the 7 mower shows the same trucks. if you put a 3″ ring over the king pin and hook the knife daft rod to the ring and make one that hooks to the ring and to the double tree clevis that you rob off the old horse pole, it hangs at the bottom of the pole straps for the binder pole. the stub pole that you’ll need from the mower to the trucks is 4′ long then just a binder pole or one that is 10′ long will work. once you go trucks you wil not go back.
Neilk

[Gabe Ayers]

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……?

[Rod]

I think I have the idea about the tongue trucks (wheel). How do I set the truck to get the correct angle for the sickle bar with respect to the ground surface? If I use a 14′ pole to determine the height of the pole at the point where the wheel goes should the end of the 14′ pole be 31″ off the ground, same as shown in the Les Barton video? or is there another measurement I could or should use. I don’t have a manual for this machine but am interested in buying one if anyone knows where I might locate the same. Thanks.

[Neil Dimmock]

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

[near horse]

Rod,

I’m pretty sure that Small Farmers Journal has a reproduction of the #7 manual available. I have a Big 6 that I’m putting back together and they had that manual available. Also the editor, Lynn Miller, has a couple of books that pull together a lot of information – one is “Haying with Horses” and the newer one just deals with mowers (don’t know the name). Also, the folks over at Tillers International in Kalamazoo MI used a tongue truck on their mower that I thought they purchased as an aftermarket product. I apologize if I’m telling you of resources that you’re already aware of.

BTW – we were in NH over the weekend and got some of the 95+ heat and returned home to find temps in the 30s/40s and a light snow falling. Now that’ll shock your system.:(

All the best

[Neil Dimmock]

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

[Rod]

Hi Neil, That a great illustration and I can see how that will help a lot. I was thinking about using a dolly wheel which fits my 3 wheel forecart but can see how that would not work with the side draft issue.

You don’t know where I might find one of those contraptions around New England do you, or anybody else know of one available?

[Neil Dimmock]

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.

[Neil Dimmock]

Here are some pics of my mowers.

[Neil Dimmock]

[Author]

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