No.7 McCormic Deering Mower

[Neil Dimmock]

Ya I cut a lot of Hay!

[Neil Dimmock]

[Rod]

This is what I came up with for a truck on my no. 7 McD mower. I use this dolly wheel on a forecart and on a wagon. It just plugs into a reciever on each piece and my pole plugs into the reciever on the top. I can’t figure out how to get a photo up here so I will add it to the photo gallery.

[Mark Cowdrey]

Rod,

That is an interesting looking rig. Any chance of some close up photos? What did the dolly wheel come off from?
Thanks,
Mark

[Rod]

Hi Mark

The dolly wheel was fixed onto a homemade forecart I picked up somewhere. We took it off and added the male reciever part, the hinge was on it we just beefed it up a little. Then we put female recievers on our equipment and added a male reciever part to the pole. That way we can use the equipment with the wheel or direct with the same pole for all the carts etc.
I will get you some more detailed photos and send them direct so that I don’t clutter up the photo gallery with them. That is unless I can figure out how to get the photos from my computer into a URL address so I can post them with the message.

[Rod]

I Figured it out I think. This is another picture from a little closer. The red bracket will be bolted to the mower pole. The reason it’s taller than the pole dimension is so I can adjust the pole height at the wheel. The wheel tracks the horses direction because the pole steers the wheel. You can see the hole for the pin to attach the wheel mechanism to the mower bracket. The pin is not in place, just slid in for the photo opp. Let me know if you want anything else by way of photos.

[Carl Russell]

Those photos represent a lot of great discussion, but I am really confused about the entire enterprise of putting a tongue truck on anything that already has a pole.

A 1000 lb horse can carry 200 lbs on its back with no problem, and when split between two horses, there is no way that any mower is going to put too much pressure on a horses back. Putting so much thought into the enterprise seems to me to be distracting.

Using D-ring harness, which would be a much more cost-effective investment with more practical options for use, will solve all the problems with tongue weight.

Working animals can be as uncomplicated, or as complicated, as you make it. I opt for uncomplicated myself. There are already a lot of moving parts on a mower, I don’t think I would add another.

I hope it work out for you though. Carl

[Neil Dimmock]

Well some just wont, Its like the diff, between a two wheeled cart and a four wheeled wagon, I have had a set of d ring to use here and it took some neck weight off but not much and its a 200lb vibrating load so even if you moved all the load to the back it still would sore, but if you are happy with it so be it but some like me that cut 200+ acres each year it only takes a couple of afternoons to see why trucks are liked. No sores any where, your back is not so sore from the mower wiggling and waving around the field, your but is not so sore from the vibration of the seat( yes trucks help a lot with that to) and your ( teams ) are not as tired at the end of each day, All the new comers that cut hay with me end up using the mowers with truck after a few days, Its easy for some one that has not preconceived Ideas to see the benefits, if you have only 10 acres to do or just tow afternoons then your not going to need any but any one that cuts a lot of hay will like them, I teach seminars on Driving, farming, showing, training, Harnessing, competing and if I have a student that seems confused I try and piont out the the blinders are for the horse:)

[Rod]

Well the mower tongue was already cut off when I bought it and I had the wheel with the receiver part on it. The adapter was easy to make so I think I will try it and see. Being new to all this driving stuff and a engineer by training I like to try doing different things and like my wife says I build myself out of every problem. But you know engineers have a tendency is to complicate simple things while trying to make them work better, look at our modern automobiles or tractors (great while they work..). Anyway thanks for all the interesting comments.

[Neil Dimmock]

Hi Rod, one thing I would like to mention, you should pull your cutter bar, where the doubletree draft rod hooks to the mower you should run a rod or such to the pole or where you plan to hook the doubletree, lot of horse mowers were broke when people cut the pole off and just hooked on the the end of the pole, as the cutter bar pulls back it puts strain on the mower frame and it will break it.

[Carl Russell]

Neil, I have no doubt about your experience, but your comments are less than convincing. I can see the truck being a solution to harnesses that are poorly adjusted, or that put weight on the collar.

When the D-ring harness is adjusted correctly, it will put ALL the weight on the back pad. Hitched so that the tongue weight is entirely on the jack saddle, there is no slack in the traces, and with the belly band tight, there should be very little vibration transferred to the back, certainly not enough to cause sores.

Thousands of acres of hay land have been mowed all over the northeast without a tongue truck. They may work, but certainly are not necessary.

Carl

[Rod]

I was wondering about that. Lynn Millers mower book and the no. 7 manual shows that rod going to the place where the evener hooks below the pole and via. a spring. This arrangement it looks like it pulls on the end of the cutter bar through a lever and a spring loaded evener attachment. I still have the spring setup on the part of the pole that was on the mower. Do you think a rod direct from the point on the cutter bar to the pole will be sufficient or do I need to mess with trying to make a spring setup work like the original.

[Neil Dimmock]

You can see how mine are done in the pics but as long as you pull the bar, a heavy spring would be better than a dead hitch to the pole

[Neil Dimmock]

you can start a fire with two sticks, but I like a match, I have used all kinds of harness and teach classes on how to fit harness and have used mowers with and with out trucks so I can say with out guessing which works better( Have You ) or are you just guessing? thousands of acres have been cut with trucks to, and no sore necks plus no one had to sell all there harness and buy some obscure d ring thats ok but not necessary, I could care less if you are not convinced but running down a good idea that you may have or not used just adds to the confusion and they don’t complicate the mower in the lest, not much to go wrong there, and I can say that with certain because we have used them for over 20 years and not one has broken or wore out!

[Carl Russell]

Neil, I have no need to no need to use a truck on a mower, nor does anybody else that has an appropriate harness, and learns how to use it.

I was not running down a good idea, merely pointing out the human tendency to over-think problems that have uncomplicated solutions.

Every region has customs that are different than others, which doesn’t diminish the value of either.

Your allegiance to the tongue truck is similar to my allegiance to the appropriate use of the d-ring harness.

I am merely pointing out that where the comfort, and practical application of the horse is concerned, the d-ring harness is a more versatile investment than the distraction of trying to modify a piece of equipment.
Carl

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