sickle mower pole length?

[PeytonM]

I searched pole length and didnt have any luck, any one know what the length of a pole for a sickle mower? Its a case #5. I asked my great uncle that is starting to loose it a little bit and he didnt know the for sure length but thought it was 9 1/2 feet from end of pole to hitch point and then he said just add on from that. I would like to get this figured out ASAP cause I have hay that I would like to cut really soon just cause its going to be really nice out for a few days here, thanks for all the help. this is for belgians also, 17H

[Jay]

Generally, mower poles are 14′ over all. I would check any other poles you have, particularly ones you like hitching too and measure from neck-yoke stop to evener pin and use that measurement on the mower pole. I know that on most McD mowers, the length for the draft bar is right on 27″- that is the length of the draft bar, which gose from the evener yoke below the pole to the inside of the inner foot. They are fairly easy to make from 1/2″ steel- just heat it and bend. Maybe someone else can help with the length for one on a Case #5. Jay

[PeytonM]

well I have a old pole i had on a bob sled and I measured that and it was 10 ft. I just dont know how far the horses should be ahead of the mower, and I assume that would make a difference on the weight that would be put in the end of the pole that would sit on their collars. I sit on the back of it and it doesn’t move one bit so I thought of have the evener mounted on the bottom if it was too heavy but I don’t need to be getting flipped off. you know where I could get the part that goes on the end of the sickle, its like a board or something that pulls the hay in I’m assuming mine doesn’t have one of those.
thanks

Peyton

[Stephen Leslie]

A few years ago we got an engineering neighbor to help us restore a McD no.6 mowing machine. Trouble was, with Fjord draft ponies we couldn’t get the yoke high enough to get the cutting angle or balance of the machine correct (Lynn Miller suggests 32″ as the ideal yoke height in his book on Mowers).
I’d seen Donn Hewes with a no.7 mower with a new dolly wheel on it at the 1st NEAPFD and called to ask him more about it. He gave me the contact to purchase one and was very helpful in describing how to put it together with the mower. I’m not sure who actually makes them but you can get these dolly wheels from Leon M Brubaker in Trevorton, PA (and just about anything else HD you’re looking for). With the dolly wheel on you can then easily determine the ideal tongue length for your team. Best of all, the tongue pivots up and down from the wheel to the correct yoke height without impacting the angle or balance of the mower. Although this 3rd wheel creates a slight bit more draft, to my mind this is more than offset by the fact that it removes all the tongue weight off of your horses, increasing their comfort level to an enormous degree. Good luck mowing—waiting for the rain to stop here so we can bring in the rest of the 1st cutting, or as an old Vermont neighbor of mine says, “We’ll be bringing in 1st and 2nd cut at the same time!”

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[Donn Hewes]

Hi Peyton, The critical number is not the distance in front of the evener. As jay suggested, just use a length that already works for on another piece of equipment. here is how i would proceed.

First, do you have the draft rod, or need to make one? That is a rod that connects the cutter bar head, to the hitch just behind the evener. If you don’t have one you will need one before you finish the tongue. Guessing at the length of the draft rod would be all right, unless some one here comes up with a length for it.

Second, the critical length on a mower tongue is the part between the mower body and the hitch. That is because the hitch on these mowers is designed to swing forward and back to allow the cutter bar to float up and down over uneven ground. This will only work if the hitch is placed in the right spot (to the inch).

Solution: Don’t cut your tongue to its finished length. Leave 6 to 12 extra inches if you can. Bolt it in the mower body. Raise the front up to a good working height. Most mowers like their tongues pretty high as it will make the pitman shaft nearly parallel with the ground. Next hang the evener bracket with the draft rod connected at both ends. To locate this hole you need to put the cutter bar on the ground as if it were mowing. Now the bracket can be moved forward and back until it is hanging vertically, not leaning forward or back. also slide it up and down until it has enough room to swing freely. (not all the way up tight!)

once you have this hole drilled and the bracket bolted on; use a lock nut or cotter pin so this bolt isn’t tightened so the bracket can’t move, you can measure and cut the rest of the tongue for your desired length to the neck yoke. That is the best why I can think of to cut a good tongue length. Good Luck.

[PeytonM]

Hey Donn, don’t know what your talking about with he draft rod, pics? Also I was using it with my farmall h and it seems it only will plug on the ends? An reason? Thanks for all the help I don’t really know what pole I should use cause I have 2 and I also have 2 different style harnesses and I use one on each. I havea side backer harness that carrys the pole super high and a marten gale harness that is a little lower.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Peyton, You want to use the side backer harness with regular draft collars. If you have been pulling it with a tractor do you have a bracket that the evener attaches to? The evener on a mower is not mounted on the tongue like it would be on many other pieces of equipment. There is a bracket that bolts to the tongue and allows the evener to swing a few inches below the tongue. You really want one of these brackets. is there any chain or rod coming forward from the cutter bar head when it is pulled by the tractor? If not this will throw off the timing and lead adjustments.

Timing and lead could well explain the problems plugging. It is also possible that the outer shoe ledger is dull and grass builds up right at the outer shoe. The inner shoe usually plugs from a slight over steer to the left. good stub guards can help make it not plug on the inside like that.

[PeytonM]

Don, the thing your talking about for the evener mounts on the under side of the pole and would creat a upward draft? I do not have one, on the tractor its fabbed to sit high, its hard to explain but if I had a horse with thepole 34 in from ground the way the mount ison the. Tractor is set to the same height, I don’t have. Any mount or chain you speak of, pics please

[Donn Hewes]

The best thing would be to find some one near you with a working mower. Even if it is not a Case I think it will give you the idea of what is needed. I would take a picture, but my mowers are all set up with dolly wheels and that won’t help as much.

Dolly wheel pictures are on my web album: picasaweb.google.com/mulemandonn

[PeytonM]

I. Dont know anyone that cuts hay with a sickle mower for horses by me. Ill look on google thanks

[Jay]

On McCormicks (#6,7 &9) the draft bar is about 27″ long, though I am not aware of any reason it couldn’t be an inch or 2 longer or shorter AS LONG AS other things fit it. The evener yoke needs to hang freely straight down from the pole when the draft bar is connected to it and the mowing mechanism on it’s rear end.
The bar it’s self has a hook on the forward end as though bent around a 1″ piece of pipe.
On the rear end it usually curves down about 2-3″ (to clear the pitman stick and reach the hole where it connects). It then has 2 right angle bends about an inch and a half apart to fit and be locked into the connecting hole.
There is a fairly good diagram/picture of a mower with draft bar on page 50 of Lynn Miller’s Mower Book. On page 118 there is a clear photo of how it connects at the rear end to the “yoke”/mower bar. Hope this helps. I don’t have a way to get pictures on to the computer. Jay

[Barw]

Most mower poles are 14′ long.
Barw

[Bill Doyle]

The pole in my #4 JD I found in the rafters of an old shed. Still had the tag wired to it and the part # on it Z 6189 H.( which is correct for my Big #4 according to the owners manual ) It measures 12′ 9″ total length. The holes where all in it for the yolk and prop rod, it bolted right on. I thought at first it would be too short but it is not , works great. ———Bill

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